Heartland RV
Whats your feedback on 5th Big Horn or Big Horn traveller? Or the best Heartland RV We own a Royals International by Carriage.
Forum Discussion
- Yes keeping the Royal, earlier tonight I posted on lots of comments about the Carriage products present and past owner. And weird I forgot my username I figured it must be right, not sure how I was accepted in with username Broant which I have used in the past for other forums. Anyways, after reading all those posts I realized my husband had reasons for not parting with it. So we will see if we can change the interior with a more modern look. thanks all
justme wrote:
ReneeG wrote:
We installed solar panels five years ago and inspect our roof regularly. No problems to date.
The problem is that 1/8" luan is not as secure to mount solar panels as 3/8" ply wood. Yes one can mount them to luan, but if you are traveling 60mph into a 20+ mph head wind you are seeing hurican force winds that could play havac on anything secured to luan. Special precautions would be advised. I wonder if Heartland ever offered or even authorized solar panels on those roofs--. I beleive many folks did add them, but they are dealing with unknown risks. There are aluminum cross members every 4ft that one could ankor those panels to, but I don't think it is practicle unless they use unistrut ankored to those aluminum cross memebers with the panels ankered to the unistrut. Most RVs use 3/8" ply woods with cross members spaced at 16" which would provide a secure roof for mounting things on--- not to mention that any potential water intrusion damage would be significantly lessoned
As I said, we inspect and there is no movement, nothing that is loose with the panels or leaking with the roof. Our unit is a 2011 model and one of the best built. I would not buy a new one today.- Just a thought, have you ever considered refurbishing and upgrading your current Royals? You could check with Kansas RV has they do a lot of that type work, might even be cheaper in the long run.
- If I were in your shoes I'd keep that Carriage Royale. Far superior build quality than the 5th wheels on the market now. Seems like you'd be taking a big step down for one of the brands mentioned.
All the best, ReneeG wrote:
We installed solar panels five years ago and inspect our roof regularly. No problems to date.
The problem is that 1/8" luan is not as secure to mount solar panels as 3/8" ply wood. Yes one can mount them to luan, but if you are traveling 60mph into a 20+ mph head wind you are seeing hurican force winds that could play havac on anything secured to luan. Special precautions would be advised. I wonder if Heartland ever offered or even authorized solar panels on those roofs--. I beleive many folks did add them, but they are dealing with unknown risks. There are aluminum cross members every 4ft that one could ankor those panels to, but I don't think it is practicle unless they use unistrut ankored to those aluminum cross memebers with the panels ankered to the unistrut. Most RVs use 3/8" ply woods with cross members spaced at 16" which would provide a secure roof for mounting things on--- not to mention that any potential water intrusion damage would be significantly lessoned- We installed solar panels five years ago and inspect our roof regularly. No problems to date.
justme wrote:
Watch out for water intrusion on Big Horn and Landmark roofs. They are TPO/EPDM on laminate with 1/8inch Luan and foam. They are OK to walk on, and That makes them super intolerant to water intrusion as compared to TPO/EPDM on marine grade ply wood. Also, if you plan on solar panels mounted on the roof, there is not much material to mount the panels properly. Any water intrusion will cause bubbling and soft spots of the roof and could be expensive to repair if at all. It is a mystery why Heartland chose to luan instead of Adzel if they were laminating the roofs.
The newer unints may not be laminatied but prior to 2016 they were.
That does not speak well for long Gevity of those trailers.- Watch out for water intrusion on Big Horn and Landmark roofs. They are TPO/EPDM on laminate with 1/8inch Luan and foam. They are OK to walk on, and That makes them super intolerant to water intrusion as compared to TPO/EPDM on marine grade ply wood. Also, if you plan on solar panels mounted on the roof, there is not much material to mount the panels properly. Any water intrusion will cause bubbling and soft spots of the roof and could be expensive to repair if at all. It is a mystery why Heartland chose to luan instead of Adzel if they were laminating the roofs.
The newer unints may not be laminatied but prior to 2016 they were. B.O. Plenty wrote:
Sorry I knew I was close...
B.O.
Here is a little more info from the Heartland forum posted Aug 30th 2016.
"We have a 2014 Silverado. In 2013 it was labeled the Bighorn Silverado and in 14 just the Silverado. In 2015 it became the Oakmont and fell into the middle of the full profile models. It looks on the website like this is what the Traveler is. I don't know why they added the Bighorn name to it other than trying to up sales with name recognition."Me Again wrote:
goducks10 wrote:
I always thought the Elkridge was a mid profile 5th wheel. The BH and BH Traveler are full profile. How could the Traveler replace the Elkridge? It's the same as the BH except for amenities.
Same as the Grand design Solitude vs the Solitude S Class.
It was the Oakmont series that was replaced with the Bighorn Traveler. The Elkridge series remains.
And yes many Bighorn owners on the Heartland forum were not happy with the Traveler degrading the Bighorn name.
The Bighorn floor plans do not map directly to the Bighorn Traveler.
Sorry I knew I was close...
B.O.
Chris
