Well, I guess I will jump in here and be in the minority. We had to have over $2000 worth of frame repairs in the pin box area of or Bighorn repaired. From what I have read about this type of repair, we got off lucky. Some have spent over $4000 to have the same work done. They had to remove our front cap and add gussets and re-weld poor welds and replace metal that was under-designed so badly that some of it had literally sheared and torn apart. However, I will say this, it is not just Heartland that has had problems with frames. Therefore I would not purchase ANY brand built on a Lippert frame. I know this greatly limits the choices, but I believe in the "better safe than sorry" theory. I would rather purchase quality than glitz and glamor. So many manufacturers nowadays are marketing on the glitz factor. Before you buy, ask the dealer to remove the basement walls and look at what goes on behind them. Is what you see a total rat's nest or is it neat and organized and easily serviced, if needed? I didn't know this when we purchased our Bighorn. It offered more bells and whistles than most others for the money. The first time I had to remove one of the panels to do some repairs, I was shocked at the wiring and plumbing mess behind our breaker panel and directly under the toilet. So anyway, my advice to anyone is look behind the walls where possible and consider that Lippert frames are suspect as far as quality is concerned. By the way we have NEVER driven with our trailer overloaded or our truck overloaded. I have more than once weighed our rig to make sure we are within the manufactures published design limits.
