2010 Detroit Fall RV Show

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I went today and crawled around for three hours, concentrating primarily on the larger 5'ers. Did peek at a couple of diesel pushers, though. I looked at a Mobile Suites, very nice, with a price tag twice what I paid for my BH. Not real keen on the floor plan, but the thing that struck me was with all the glitz and bling in it, they had those flesh-eating door latches in the bedroom.

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But I did like their water distribution manifold easily accessed behind a sliding panel in the basement by their "UDC."

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The basement layout in the MS would make a great spare bedroom, though.


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Looked at some other brands, pretty, until you open the drawers and find trash plywood with ragged edges. Poor fastening job, too.

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There was a LM Rushmore to see. Kinda wonder who decided putting the hydraulic pump up inside the garage storage was a good idea. Still need to be a contortionist to get up there.

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While we're in the garage, there was another brand that had the crossbar for the electric jack on the ODS almost in your face at the door. Sure lose a lot of storage with that there or if something heavy, like outdoor furniture, etc., were to fall against it, a damaging load on the single motor.

Checked out a Greystone. No comment.

Back to the other HL's, there was a 3670 and a 3585 on display. The 3670 had the shortened bedroom dresser/overhead cabinets so the washer/dryer cabinet opened into the bedroom. Other than having front hydraulic jacks and slam doors, not too much different than mine. The 3585 was nice, but lacks kitchen counter space and the computer "tray" is more like a slide-out TV dinner table.

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Moving back to an SoB (don't remember which), here's another "Who came up with that" photo. The bedroom TV cabinet has doors which obscure viewing from the bed. I guess you could stand in the BR door and watch.

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Another design winner is this computer spot in the bedroom. Or at least I think that's what it might be.

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I didn't get a photo, but one model had the curved steps to the bedroom, with a cabinet off to one side at the base. That left a nice open place to take a half-gainer if you veered in the wrong direction at the top of the steps. I also don't like models that use a pit inside the rig at the door so they can get away with only 3 folding steps outside. And there are some steps that make ours look like the Rock of Gibralter.

Moving back to the Heartlands, it appears the factory has listened to the forum about the aluminum caps on the bottoms of the slides since they all had them covered. Not as wide as the ones I put on, but I guess they're sufficient. Some other brands had the entire bottom of the slide floor covered with a plastic material that resembled a cheap Harbor Freight black tarp. Maybe that works, I don't know.

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Overall, after looking at what was offerred, I'm real glad we went with the 3670, with full bedroom dresser and the single door fridge. It's big, roomy, I don't hit my 5'8" head in the bedroom, and we've got storage up the wazoo. We would really miss that pull out pantry, too.

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The 3670 on display had the barrel cabinet under the counter. I can see why folks are upset. It only took a slight flick of the finger to pop it open, and it had two of the plastic peg-in-the-hole latches. There was a SoB with a similar cabinet, but they had the same type of latch that HL puts on their standard cabinets. It took a bit of effort to pop it open and it was a single latch. Engineering change, perhaps??

And the cabinets in the HL offerings had hidden Euro-style hinges on the cabinets, not the exposed face frame type.

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Almost forgot. There was a Fuzion Toy Hauler there, also. First time I'd seen a TH with the rear set up with furniture and not just a rubber floor. Interesting.
 

imchud

Well-known member
Thanks John, Nice job. I just purchased the corner strips for my slides tonight, I couldn't find alum, so I got plastic (clear) it was the only thing Lowes had?
 

TGLBWH

North Central Region Directors-Retired
i have a barrel cabinet in my 2011 ER34QSRL that popped open on first trip. When i took it in for some warranty work it was replaced with a different latch on the top that I have had no problems with at all. Hope they change them all before shipping. DW loves that cabinet
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Although maybe a tad thicker, the plastic should work if it wraps the corner. Only other drawback might (repeat, might) be degradation over time due to weather exposure, but it shouldn't happen anytime soon. Not finding it right away is what led me to have it made to order. Still a bargain at $12.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
Hey John,

I was at the same show, probably at the same time as you, 4-5:30 PM. I had all the exact same impressions. I left there and came back and told my wife, nothing I would give up our 2011 3670 for, especially if price is a factor (which, it is!).

I complain from time to time about Heartland's lack of QC, but looking at Montana's, Jayco's, and the like, we've actually got it pretty good.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Hey John,

I was at the same show, probably at the same time as you, 4-5:30 PM. I had all the exact same impressions. I left there and came back and told my wife, nothing I would give up our 2011 3670 for, especially if price is a factor (which, it is!).

I complain from time to time about Heartland's lack of QC, but looking at Montana's, Jayco's, and the like, we've actually got it pretty good.

Jeff, I was there from 2:00 until 5:00. And definitely agree with you. All of the rigs look pretty from the outside, go inside and oooh & aahh at the furnishings. Then look at the floor plans. Some good, some mezzo-mezzo, some ???. But I think I was one of the few people that crawled around to the ODS side and opened the hatches, looked at the slide bottoms, and crawled into the garage areas. Raised a couple of salesperson eyebrows, but no complaints. When I encountered different brand or configuration of folding steps, I tried them for bounce and shimmy. Some were downright scary.

Talking about garage areas, there was one (don't remember which) that had the horizontal split door. With that one, I was able to stand upright inside the compartment without a problem. The front wall may have had an angle to it, rather than straight up vertical. Another something to look at for product development.

And to top it all off, I got a big warm hug from my saleswoman at the show, who now works for another HL dealer.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
Hey John,

It amazes me that so many of the mid-range rigs (even including Cameo) still wrap their slide floors in Darco, with holes in the bottom where the screws go up into the walls. This is a recipe for disaster.

I spent quite a bit of time looking at the two BH's, and even told a few people that I owned the exact model they were looking at, and that it was the best bang-for-the-buck at the show. The message was, I highly recommend this brand, but definitely not the dealer selling it.

To say that my every experience with General RV has been a frustrating disaster, is an understatement of biblical proportions.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Jeff, it is unfortunate that your experience with General RV has been bad. To the contrary, mine has been very good and this is the second rig we've purchased from them.

But, since we're now out of manufacturer's warranty, it really doesn't hold me to using them for service (not that there's a problem). Since my former salesperson is now with another HL dealer (as is her husband) and they have a dealership 30 miles from where we spend the summer, I know I could call her and get a "good word" to get taken care of if the need arose.
 
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