01 What makes it unique
The 38RE builds the coach around the screen: an entertainment wall spans the rear, four slides open the main living run, and the front bedroom sits over the pin — the layout that led the entire line in live listings on the 10 July 2026 probe. Two awnings (17 and 15 feet) cover the camp side.
One capacity figure separates this plan from everything else in the roster: 137 gallons of grey-water capacity — nearly double the line norm — against the standard 75 fresh and 50 black, making it the extended-boondocking pick of the range. The LP set runs two 30-pound bottles here (60 pounds) where most siblings carry 90. The platform is otherwise the full Bighorn build — 12-inch I-beam drop frame, 102-inch wide-body, CoreShield walls, painted cap, frameless glass, TrussXL truss, ThermaShield zero-degree package with the 40,000-BTU furnace, dual 15,000-BTU Whisper Quiet air, tankless water heater, hydraulic auto-level and the mandatory Premium Package. The printed 17,995-pound GVWR equals 15,275 dry plus 2,720 cargo exactly on tandem 8,000-pound axles.
At a 2,970-pound dry pin — second-heaviest in the line — this is unambiguous one-ton work, dually territory once loaded. RVUSA’s record carries the stale early-print weights; the current factory set, matched by the June-2026 dealer-network brochure, is used here. Couples who want the front of the coach to host instead should read the 39FL.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 42' 6"
- Exterior width
- 8' 6"
- Exterior height
- 12' 7"
- Interior height
- 8' 6"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight
- 15,275 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 17,995 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 2,720 lbs
- Dry pin weight
- 2,970 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 75 gal
- Grey water
- 137 gal
- Black water
- 50 gal
- Refrigerator
- GE 21 cu ft residential
Construction
- Frame
- 12″ steel I-beam · drop frame
- Sidewalls
- CoreShield 2″ laminate · high-gloss gel coat
- Front cap
- Painted fiberglass · clearcoat · LED
- Roof
- TrussXL truss · Alpha membrane (limited lifetime)
Running gear
- Axles (factory)
- 2 x 8000
- Hitch
- Fifth wheel · dry pin 2,970 lb
- Tires
- 215/75R17.5'H'
- LP
- Two 30-lb bottles
Galley & systems
- Refrigerator
- GE 21 cu ft residential · 1,800W inverter
- A/C
- 2 × 15,000 BTU Whisper Quiet
- Water heater
- Tankless
- Furnace
- 40,000 BTU
Sleeping & layout
- Sleeps
- Up to 4 (factory)
- Primary bed
- Front bedroom
- Layout
- Rear-entertainment quad-slide — theater wall across the rear, living area amidships, front bedroom, 17-foot + 15-foot awnings
- Awnings & entries
- 2 · 17′ + 15′ · 1 entry (RVUSA)
03 Bighorn floorplan family
Heartland's Bighorn line — the flagship luxury fifth wheel of the relaunched range: seven 2026 floorplans, every one a 102-inch wide-body on a 12-inch steel I-beam drop frame with a painted fiberglass front cap, CoreShield laminated sidewalls in high-gloss gel coat, the ThermaShield zero-degree package with a 40,000-BTU furnace, two 15,000-BTU Whisper Quiet air conditioners, and a mandatory Premium Package that includes six-point hydraulic auto-leveling, a GE 21-cubic-foot residential refrigerator with an 1,800-watt inverter and a GE appliance suite. All seven plans are profiled in depth on the Bighorn hub with verified weights.
| Floorplan | Nominal | Sleeps | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31RL | 36 ft | 4 | Rear-living entry — shortest, lightest, friendliest pin |
| 36RK | 40 ft | 4 | Rear-kitchen plan — the galley takes the back wall |
| 38RE | 43 ft | 4 | Rear-entertainment quad-slide — most-listed; 137-gal grey |
| 37MD | 43 ft | 8 | Middle-den quad-slide — two living zones |
| 39RK | 43 ft | 4 | Rear U-kitchen, bath-and-a-half — respec’d stretch; best margin |
| 39FL | 44 ft | 4 | Front-living flagship — five slides, heaviest pin |
| 40DB | 44 ft | 8 | Two bedrooms, two full baths — the multi-family flagship |
Every Bighorn is a 102-inch wide-body on the 12-inch I-beam drop frame, and the Premium Package is mandatory — its content (hydraulic auto-level, the GE residential appliance suite with inverter, central vacuum, gel-coat sidewalls) is part of the Base MSRP shown. This is a published-GVWR-clean line: dry plus cargo equals the printed GVWR exactly on all seven plans. RVUSA and the library brochure carry an early-print weight set superseded on five plans — the current factory pages and the June-2026 dealer-network brochure agree exactly and are used throughout (the 39RK was respecified from a 40-foot-4 two-slide draft to the current 43-foot-3 three-slide build, logged). Dealer placards typically run above Base MSRP while negotiated street pricing runs below it. A fifth wheel loads its pin into the truck bed — confirm the pin weight against the tow vehicle's payload placard, not its tow rating.
04 What owners & reviewers report
137 gallons of grey
Nearly twice the line norm — showers and dishes for a week between dumps. The defining spec of the plan.
The market’s pick
Most live listings of any Bighorn floorplan on the 10 Jul 2026 probe — the volume plan of the line.
60 pounds of LP
Two 30-pound bottles where most of the roster carries 90 — winter boondockers running the 40,000-BTU furnace should note the smaller reserve.
A 2,970-pound pin
Second-heaviest in the line dry; loaded, plan the truck around the payload placard, not the tow rating.
05 How it compares
The front-living inversion — the lounge moves over the pin on five slides; the trade is a 3,090-pound pin and 74 gallons of grey.
The rear-living entry — the same idea in three slides and 2,215 fewer pounds.
The luxury rear-lounge field — the 38RE counter is the 137-gallon grey set and the standard residential suite.