Brand new to the forum. Had a 28' bumper tow previously. Got rid of it when my wife got pregnant as I didn't see us doing much camping over the next few years. My Daughter turns 3 this year and decided a week ago that I didn't want to sit around the house every weekend this summer, and wanted to be out making memories and enjoying time with the family.Found a 2015 Heartland Gateway used one season and sat the next season a few hours away from me. 41' with 5 slide outs, bunkhouse for the kid, and outdoor kitchen for me. 13k lbs dry weight, 15,500 max. Guy I bought it from paid $77k for it new two years ago, I got it for $29k.Bunkhouse has two bunks on top, one on each side, under the right side bunk is a leather sofa for watching TV which converts into a third bunkLiving room, dining room, kitchen. Full size fridge. Dining area converts to 2 person double bed. Recliners recline flatMaster bedroom with king bed. Master bath has shower and tub.As this is my first one, open to any recommendations on what to look out for/check as we go through the first season.Moderator edit to re-size pictures to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.

were you wearing a mask when you handed the guy the money???

USAFBILL wrote:were you wearing a mask when you handed the guy the money???Nah, just a smile :B

Congrats on your lucky find! If you have space at home, do several "driveway" camps in it now running all the systems to flush out any hidden unknowns. Also, if you use it at home, when you hit the road, you'll be all familiar with it and not have to through a learning curve in the campground.Hitch up a few times, pull out on the road, drive around, get comfortable with it, then bring it home, park it again, set up. Repeat 2 or 3 times before your first true outing and you'll be whiz, get to know the trailer, and find everything that may need a bit of maintenance attention. But more important, that 3 year old will have an absolute blast!We started our first kid tent camping 6 months after they were born (so the first one was born in December). We started our second kid tent camping 4 weeks after she was born (June). They grew up with it. We had an absolute blast.Now all 6 of my grandkids love to go with us. My one grandson and my son live with us now. When the grandson was 1 year old, my son started camping with us again. Now that little boy is 5 years old and is so excited every time we go "out", he's almost busting at the seems. Your 3 year old will have an absolute blast in the camper. Let her enjoy it at home too!Good luck and congrats!

DutchmenSport wrote:Congrats on your lucky find! If you have space at home, do several "driveway" camps in it now running all the systems to flush out any hidden unknowns. Also, if you use it at home, when you hit the road, you'll be all familiar with it and not have to through a learning curve in the campground.Hitch up a few times, pull out on the road, drive around, get comfortable with it, then bring it home, park it again, set up. Repeat 2 or 3 times before your first true outing and you'll be whiz, get to know the trailer, and find everything that may need a bit of maintenance attention. But more important, that 3 year old will have an absolute blast!We started our first kid tent camping 6 months after they were born (so the first one was born in December). We started our second kid tent camping 4 weeks after she was born (June). They grew up with it. We had an absolute blast.Now all 6 of my grandkids love to go with us. My one grandson and my son live with us now. When the grandson was 1 year old, my son started camping with us again. Now that little boy is 5 years old and is so excited every time we go "out", he's almost busting at the seems. Your 3 year old will have an absolute blast in the camper. Let her enjoy it at home too!Good luck and congrats!We towed it up to a friend's camp for last weekend. I installed Air Lift airbags with wireless compressor in my truck last week and it towed great on the 100 mile round trip.Unfortunately it will not make it up to our house currently as it goes from our bridge to a steep hill and the back will drag. Ordered the 6" diameter caster wheels to weld onto the rear of the frame so I can get it up to and down from the house. Its currently parked in the grass alongside our driveway right as you turn off the county road.Found one issue with the inverter. The inverter is supposed to run the fridge while on battery/12v vehicle power. Inverter and remote switch both turn on but fridge won't kick on.

Dan, I'd be =real= leery of installing those wheels on the back end of that rig. FW frames simply aren't designed to have that kind of stress put on them and you face the very real chance of bending the frame, or at least flexing it enough to cause damage to the superstructure and/or any number of components, from plumbing to gas lines to =all= the paneling (inside and out).Lyle

New to forum, just bought my first 5th wheel TT!

Roger10378
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2018
You better get some weights on your rig. You are probably over weight on your rear tires of you truck. With a GVWR on the trailer of 15,500 lbs you could be close to 3500 lbs pin weight.
Soldier415
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
ReneeG wrote:
Soldier415 wrote:
donn0128 wrote:
Inverter wont come on? Bad battery is my first guess. Thats a monster, sure hope you have enough truck. That much rewlly needs a dually to tow it.

Batteries are fine. Inverter comes on, remote switch comes on, but the fridge is not getting power.

Towing with a 2017 Chevy 2500hd crew cab w/ L5P Duramax

Did you check your fuse box?

Yeah. No breakers are tripped.
ReneeG
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
Soldier415 wrote:
donn0128 wrote:
Inverter wont come on? Bad battery is my first guess. Thats a monster, sure hope you have enough truck. That much rewlly needs a dually to tow it.

Batteries are fine. Inverter comes on, remote switch comes on, but the fridge is not getting power.

Towing with a 2017 Chevy 2500hd crew cab w/ L5P Duramax

Did you check your fuse box?
Soldier415
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
donn0128 wrote:
Inverter wont come on? Bad battery is my first guess. Thats a monster, sure hope you have enough truck. That much rewlly needs a dually to tow it.

Batteries are fine. Inverter comes on, remote switch comes on, but the fridge is not getting power.

Towing with a 2017 Chevy 2500hd crew cab w/ L5P Duramax
Soldier415
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
laknox wrote:
Dan, I'd be =real= leery of installing those wheels on the back end of that rig. FW frames simply aren't designed to have that kind of stress put on them and you face the very real chance of bending the frame, or at least flexing it enough to cause damage to the superstructure and/or any number of components, from plumbing to gas lines to =all= the paneling (inside and out).

Lyle

Hmmm. Guess I may have to re-think this, or just accept the fact that I'll never get it up to the house.
leggy
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
We had a bighorn Silverado by heartland with the back bunkhouse with opposing slides. We started getting fractures in the upper corners of the skin. Heartland wasn't much help so we traded it in. Just keep a look out, maybe they fixed the issue because ours seemed like a first run model. I would be cautious about putting wheels under the frame in rear also, especially after what I saw happen to our skin without added twisting.
ACZL
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
Congrats on the new "House on Wheels"!!! Looks great! I'd agree w/ laknox on adding the wheels to the rear. Thread over on Heartland Owners Club about a frame failure and HUGE crack/hole in sidewall. Tho the OP didn't add wheels, like laknox suggested, it "could" cause undo stress. Look into joining the HOC and attending a rally. Sadly, our plans don't take us to the Lake George area this year, could've met up. Your kids will love the BH as they have their own room and tv. Enjoy and hope it brings you many happy/fond memories.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jul 19, 2018
Good deal!!!

What u gots to tow it with?
ReneeG
Explorer
Jul 18, 2018
Wow! Great deal! A steal for sure! Is the picture where it's parked right now or is that at a campground?
donn0128
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2018
Inverter wont come on? Bad battery is my first guess. Thats a monster, sure hope you have enough truck. That much rewlly needs a dually to tow it.

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