2018 Heartland Bighorn Traveler 5th Wheel reviews

Although we only owned it a few months before downsizing due to different needs, we were pretty pleased with our 2018 Bighorn Traveler 39MB. The floor plan was great and overall quality was decent. The two issues that we did encounter: - the ducting for the bedroom AC had been taped over, evidently during manufacture/AC installation, so we had to fix that ourselves. - the ducting to the bunk room never worked, and we never had the opportunity to troubleshoot that. Show less

I drove 18,000 miles on a six month round trip loop from FL to AK. Then FL to NS loop the year before. Everything considered this was the comfort cruiser we were looking for. Very comfortable! Our third trailer, and our first fifth wheel. You have to realize these modern style construction trailers are not real houses with concrete or brick walls that can withstand storms. The fiberglass sandwich outer shells are delicate. Their construction weight is a major consideration when they add in so many amenities and make them so large. That means they are basically cardboard-like boxes on wheels that you pull down the highway at highway speeds. Even the "high priced" models use the same construction methods and materials. If you drive too fast or don't take care on rough roads, they will break! It's up to you to be careful and avoid overdoing it. I've seen overweight trailers speeding down the highways that are a danger to everyone around them. A blown tire can be deadly. I think those owners account for most of the complaints you see in these reviews. If you are not "handy" with repairs you will be frustrated when something happens. You have to maintain constant inspections of all seals and structures keeping it in good condition or problems can compound. A leaking seal that allows water entry will melt the box. You have to observe your weight restrictions and limitations. No procrastinating! Don't think "nothing is going to break." It will! Show less

The irony here for me is that we traded in our 2018 keystone cougar 5er,which we had just bought new, and were having ALL the problems mentioned here...for a 2018 Bighorn 3010. Our new rig has lots of rinky dink problems,also, but not so bad.the rig is much nicer,and we hurried and used it a lot in that first year warranty period. We do go out in the desert, boon docking,so we account some problems to that...but, after many discussions with travelers in the Quartzsiteand Yuma area my theory is there are higher quality crews or shifts or bodies of workers, and if your fortunate enough to get a better crew, you won't have cabinet doors falling off and missing molding, and screws,etc...Its confounding, the poor quality is so widespread! One biggy for me was how many voices, on the forums , emphasized the PDI, pre delivery inspection...we did that big time, and had many small things done b4 we drove off the "lot where they forget you". Show less

We camp seasonally therefore were in the unit every weekend. We leave the slides out unless bad weather in between trips. We leave food in the refrigerator so it runs all the time. We've had a few issues that the warranty department approved ASAP. We take the unit in each fall at the end of the camping season. Last year we found issues that couldn't be fixed until after the warranty expired. The warranty department honored the work knowing we camp seasonally and couldn't have the unit in on time. Not sure what anybody else could ask for. Show less

Poorest craftsmanship ever!! 1 of 4 rollers on kitchen slideout ripped out tearing linoleum, $1000 repair to fix roller only (reference skrews complaint). Had to spend a week at RV Renovators, Mesa AZ,for repair. Strongly recommend them, they're awesome! Shower doors/bracket installed backward (obviously no quality control) drained onto floor. Broken hose under unit, wrong parts sent from mfg for repair. Bed sliding out crooked therefore wouldn't seal and keep out water. Mfg refused to have fixed because it still operated, we paid to have fixed (uneven cables). Gray tank leaked, pullcable had to be tightened. Drawer catches do not hold. Hydraulics leaked needed tightened. Multiple roll-up shades failed. Endless screw failures (not warrantied) too short--must be big discount on pricing for short screws??! So much buyer's remorse and fear what major fail would happen next that after only two years we traded it in for an Arctic Fox (Northwood). Previously owned one for 12 yrs--great quality workmanship!!! DO NOT BUY HEARTLAND, too many regrets. Show less

The wife ordered this trailer through Rocky Mountain R V in Butte, Montana. The only thing that I wanted was 8000# axles. They were good, give us all the time we needed to get out of our Redwood 38rl. It was impossible to put our stuff from the Redwood into this. Lots of trips to the giveaway place. We have owned 5 5th trailers and 2 motorhomes. We're not new to this. Now to the trailer.... We had the trailer (2) two weeks when I noticed water coming from the belly. Come to find out the fitting came out of the BLACK tank, the belly was FULL of..... 3 days later the cupboard over the t v was falling down. Not 1 screw in the studs. A couple of days later the side cupboards started to fall,so I fixed them too. We never have been able to figure out the T V coax wiring. Several water leaks, new toilet. And then the pantry fell in. I had a new pantry built with roller drawers. This is the scary part, the fireplace melted the plug in AND the receptacle in the wall. Never popped the breaker!! A real electrician fixed that and installed more breakers. They were double and triple wired together. I don't know why it didn't burn down. Mother board furnace, 2 windows broke out,try to get that fixed before 2 weeks goes by. There's more but too depressing. Don't get single pane windows. As I said we have had several R V's. This trailer is the WORST trailer we ever had. Then the insulation, or lack of it. I wonder if this thing even made that stop. I've been in tents that didn't have as much air blowing through it as this trailer does. The blinds fall out and were installed crooked. The axles are out of alignment wearing the tires bad. Maybe we just got a bad one but I didn't have near the trouble with all the others combined. CYA folks. Show less

The overall quality and workmanship are sub-standard. Some of the issues are due to design flaws. On our first trip, which was a shake down trip because we expected problems based on other RVer’s experiences. We found numerous small issues all related to workmanship and quality control, lose screws, extra hardware, pieces of wire, wood and metal chips. The big one was no heat in the bedroom. After getting to the back of the furnace I found that the Flex duct that runs to the main duct that runs the length of the trailer was not connected and also pinched under a wire bundle. Also the hole where the air goes into the duct was not completely cut out, it was a half moon, restricting air flow. Rerouted and reconnected the duct I also installed adjustable floor vents so I could force more hot air into the bedroom. There should be a fan in the duct to move the air the length of the trailer, the blower in the furnace isn’t powerful enough. Also the toilet seat was crooked and the pins that hold the toilet lid on kept coming out. Straighten the seat and then pended the end of the pins that hold the toilet lid on and tapped them in, 12,000 miles later they still haven’t come out. The recliners weren’t installed correctly. Took them out and reinstalled the correctly. The first day of our first real trip the control board on the refrigerator failed, wouldn’t run on gas. Contacted a local repairman and Dometic they shipped the repair part over night and paid part of the repair cost. About 500 miles later the plastic brackets holding the clothes rod broke dropping the clothes on the floor of the closet. Replaced the brackets with metal brackets. A couple thousand miles later on our trip the hot water tank quit working on AC power. Called local repair guy, he found a lose connection. After 5000 miles on the road the furnace quit working, it was our last night on the road so I got it fixed at the dealer at home. Heartland replaced the furnace under warranty. It took a while for it to get from Heartland, but not should if the dealer may not have been part of the cause. After about 9000 miles the closet clothes rod bent, dropping the clothes on the closet floor. Replaced it with a piece of galvanized pipe. The problem is a poor design, no middle support for the span of the rod. After about 10,000 miles all the tires started to go bad, started separating. Luckily no blow outs. Of course the OEM tires are just junk to begin with. Also after about 10,000 miles had an issue with the bedroom slide not wanting to go out or in. Would start then go crooked and stop. Called a local repairman, he showed me how to use the slide controller to override to get it in and out and to re-sync it. Also told us to hold the switch for the count of ten after it stops moving to allow the motors to sync up. There was a design issue with the over head vent fans, the one in the kitchen was not powered, the one in the bathroom was powered but you had to stand on something to operate them, a safety issue. I replaced them with remote controlled fans. This Issue was addressed in the newer model. AC in the living room runs a lot. Part of this issue is due to poor placement of the thermostat, it is next to the outside wall and a window. It is mounted on a cabinet wall with no insulation behind it so the heat from the outside wall is channeled into the cavity behind the thermostat. Need to place insulation in there to prevent the heat being channeled. Had poor AC air flow due to improper parts being used. Found out that the depth of the ceiling grills blocks a good portion of the duct. I cut down the depth of the grill, this increased the air flow. I also installed adjustable AC vents in the bedroom and bathroom. These improvements have worked well in 100 degree temps. Another design flaw, but this is in every trailer I have looked at is there needs to be a flush system in the grey tank, just like the black tank. As for the mattress, a piece of junk, replaced it. Heartland needs to have experienced RVer’s review their designs for flaws. They also need to improve their workmanship standards and quality control. Show less

I love the RV i live in it all the time. Where i bought it is the problem.I told them i would be living in it all the time and no way to bring it in for warranty work, they told me no problem.They told me to buy an extended warranty and it would be no problem.I had a few problems with it and they told i had to bring it in. Everything that happened i paid for.All they did was lie,and i will never go back to that Dealer again. Show less

We were looking for an RV floorplan that we could live in for a couple of years. We loved this plan but were shocked with all the problems we had right off the bat. We have had quite a few RV's and none have had anywhere near the problems. These are almost all factory problems. Heat ducts not attached so no air blowing out, horrible water leak down the inside back from the rubber roof so the whole rear had to be removed and roof resealed, lots of misc plumbing leaks, TV antenna wired incorrectly, lots of loose trim pieces, couch spring sprang after just a couple of weeks, carpet was not sewn into trim so it frayed and had to be replaced. These were all in the first few months and unit had been parked the whole time. There have been issues constantly. The first few months the dealer had it more than we did and we were living in it which is very costly when you have to be staying somewhere else all the time. We felt Heartland should have replaced the unit but they wouldnt consider it and after talking to a couple of other owners who have also had similar issues, it wouldnt have done any good cause they are just made poorly. We cant afford to trade it in so hubby spends lots of time coming up with ways to improve on their shoddy workmanship. We are planning a vacation but are so scared to take this thing on the road. This has been a real heartbreaker. We retired and were looking forward to doing some traveling and this unit has spoiled our whole first year. BUYER BEWARE! I dont know about any other years or Bighorns but this one is total trash. Show less

Love this fifth wheel, perfect amount of space for a family of 4. We upgraded the bed and installed a washing machine. We haven’t had any major issues but common things such as seals not being tightened and little fixable things. Other than that, the fifth wheel has been a wonder to live in. Show less