Heartland travel trailers

Question

We have a 2011 Heartland, North Country Lakeside and were wondering if anyone else has had trouble with leaking issues? We just recently had a de-lamination issue repaired and now we find the floor in a totally different location is rotted out next to the slide, no sign of any leakage from the top on this one - what gives?

I guess we should have known that we were in for it when we traded in our Puma (which we never had trouble with) for this North Country and went from the dealer straight to the camp ground where problems started to arise. The blacktank flush not working etc., so back to the dealer to drop the panel underneath and find the hose kinked so badly it couldn't work, QC?

A beautiful camper but I feel like it's a money pit.

Are we alone with these leaking issues or are there others?

jjensen79 · Answer

I also have a NorthTrail travel trailer made by Heartland.  It is a 2013 32 BUDS.  We didn't have any leaks in ours, but I started seeing rust streaks on the white plastic cover where the roof comes over the edge, and has all of the screws behind it.  What I found is water was getting into that screw strip and filling up and not draining.  Because of the length of the trailer there are two pieces of that screw strip and water was getting in where the ends met.  Almost all of the screw heads were rusting.  You might want to check there and see.

bubbachris · Answer

I'm the 2nd owner of a North Trail. There's a small amount of water damage in the front wardrobe. Almost directly above that area the seam between the front cap and roof was damaged by a tree branch.

Absolutely no other signs of water intrusion. When the camping season is close to over for the year I plan on having a leak test done (positive air pressure in the TT). At that point I'll know for sure how leak-tight my unit is.

The only real problem I've had so far was a leak in the shower diverter, which I atribute to the prior owner not winterizing properly.

goducks10 · Answer

We had an NT 26LRSS for 2.5 years. After the 1st year I noticed the front cap was getting wavy. Didn't think too much about it. I always made sure the caulking around the front was good so I figured it was just buckling from age and being exposed to heat and cold. My understanding is that the front Filon isn't fastened solid to the framing on the front and has a tendency to buckle easily. In the right light it looked horrible.

I did however notice two spots on the rear that were starting to bulge out some. Both about 3-4" in dia. Neither were close to a light or window. FWIW I'll never own another trailer without a solid fiberglass front cap. Way less chance of delame or separation of some kind.

hddecker · Answer

BubbaChris wrote:I'm the 2nd owner of a North Trail. There's a small amount of water damage in the front wardrobe.  Almost directly above that area the seam between the front cap and roof was damaged by a tree branch.Absolutely no other signs of water intrusion. When the camping season is close to over for the year I plan on having a leak test done (positive air pressure in the TT).  At that point I'll know for sure how leak-tight my unit is.The only real problem I've had so far was a leak in the shower diverter, which I atribute to the prior owner not winterizing properly.Save your money on a leak test, there are so many holes in places that you can't see that you won't build any pressure.The RV industry practices the "if the mitre don't fit, fill it full of muck and s@$&amp;" process of manufacture. Just look in some of the nooks and crannies and trim panels, you'll see what I mean.

michers · Answer

Interesting thread.  I recently discovered a leak thru butyl tape around a window in which the water ran thru the wall of the trailer, exiting at the bottom of the trailer thru the black mesh skirt.  The only damage was to the wood stick frames in the wall.  But this made me wonder if a leak test could have caught such a leak.  Has anyone have an experience where a leak test actually caught a leak thru a wall like this?

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