Coachmen vs Heartland Wilderness…any advice?

Dtaylor wrote:
We have a Wilderness and really like it. The Wilderness is also made of AZDEL. We have had only a couple of minor issues, all of which were taken care of with no problem. Heartland customer service is great and east to deal with. The few items I had issues with, I simple called, emailed photos and they sent new parts directly to me rather than going to the dealer. The issues I had were: door lock would not lock, entry step had metal tab that broke allowing step to drop, and one 110 outlet quit working. None of these were the result of manufacturing but part failure.

After reading this, found several references to Wilderness being made with Azdel composite walls. For weight reference, a 2014 Wilderness 2850bh weighs 5727 dry. It is 32' 9" long. This advertised unit is listed as Azdel walls with laminated floor.
Possibly your Wilderness salesperson is not informed. I would call Heartland customer service and ask questions....as said they are very customer oriented.

Thanks Bruce...I've been told the average trailer is loaded with about 1,000 lbs of stuff....so that is cutting it close. What's frustrating is that I use my Avalanche for work and I really don't want to change vehicles just to tow a camper 10-12 times per year.

I assume you are going to max out your GVWR of 7,800 lbs with passengers, tongue weight, etc. The GCWR of 14,000 lbs leaves you with a maximum of 6,200 lbs for a fully loaded trailer. You should be looking for something with a dry weight of about 5,000 lbs. You're cutting it real close to your limits with the Apex at 5,200 lbs.

Bruce

I stand corrected...thank you! My GCWR is 14,000lbs. The GVWR is 7,800 lbs. Axle ratio is 3.42. Sorry for the miscommunication....this is our first TT that is over 16 ft...so these numbers have never really applied to anything I have pulled before. I feel like we will be ok with the Avalanche, but if anyone has experience or knowledge about them, I would appreciate any advice.

sandhills wrote:
GCWR is 7500 lbs...any thoughts?

That is most likely your GVWR, not your GCWR.

Bruce

GCWR is 7500 lbs...any thoughts?

What is the GCWR of your Avalanche? It looks like you're going to be cutting it close on the payload once the trailer is ready to go camping.

Bruce

Terryallan....I was completely lost on the 200 mile thing...lol! Ya...its probably not a big deal...but I was thinking would make it easy if a issues came up that I only had to travel 45 miles to get worked on. The dry weight is 5,180...and for around here, that seems about as light as I could find...at least in a fiberglass model. I just noticed my payload for my Avalanche is 995 lbs...so hoping with all things considered it can pull something this heavy. Most of our trips are only 1 hr away, but once a year we do pull it to sturgis s.d..., which is 8 hrs one way.

sandhills wrote:
Also...the Apex is around 5200 lbs dry...that seems very light compared to most other bunkhouses I've seen. Hopefully it's not light due to cheap construction?? We have not seen the Apex in person...just online....so its hard for me to compare quality.

Thanks for the help so far!!

In truth, that seems heavy for a Apex of that size. My Apex is a 288BHS, 30' long, and came in at 4810lb dry. AZDEL does not make it cheap. It makes it better. As I said. AZDEL is 50% lighter than the old fashion wood laminate construction of most TT.

However the choice is yours. I'm sure both are in the same place as quality goes.

sandhills wrote:
I have never heard of the 200 mile thing that terryallan referred to. Also have never heard of the Azdel siding. Obviously a rookie here:)

I got the 200 mile thing from you. You stated the dealer was 200 miles away.

Now as to AZDEL. It is a space age composite that has NO wood in it. It will NOT rot if it gets wet. It is 50% lighter than wood laminate siding, and stronger as well.