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)
Verified specs, drawn to scale
Original graphics built from this floorplan’s own verified figures.
Loaded weight budget
Size, drawn to scale
Holding tanks
These graphics are generated from the same verified record that builds the table above, and are published under this site’s own licence — nothing here is traced from, or derived from, a manufacturer drawing or photo. Where a figure is not published for this plan, the graphic that would need it is omitted rather than estimated. The full record is in the published dataset.
What it takes to tow this
Built from this floorplan’s verified weights. We publish the trailer side only.
We do not publish tow ratings for specific trucks. A single model can vary by thousands of pounds depending on engine, axle ratio, cab, drivetrain and package — the only authoritative figure is the one on your own door jamb. Loaded pin percentages are industry convention for fifth wheels (15–25% of loaded weight), not a measurement of this unit. Hitch classes are not used here as a rating: SAE J684 covers trailers to 10,000 lb GVWR and does not define Class V, and capacity boundaries differ between manufacturers — read the rating stamped on your hitch. On this plan the convention band’s low end fell below the published dry figure, so the range starts at the published dry weight instead — loaded is never lighter than dry.
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.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 75-gallon fresh tank is roughly 23% of the 2,720-pound cargo capacity, leaving the Bighorn 38RE with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 2,720 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (75 gal × 8.34 lb) | −626 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 2,094 lb | 23% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 524 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 4 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry pin weight of 2,970 pounds is 19% of this floorplan’s 15,275-pound dry weight. Fifth-wheel pin weight rides in the bed of the truck, so it comes off payload rather than off tow rating — and it rises with the trailer as you load it, not in proportion to what you put over the axles.
Nothing above changes the ceiling. Loaded to its 17,995-pound GVWR the Bighorn 38RE is towing 2,720 pounds more than its 15,275-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 75 gallons of fresh against 137 grey and 50 black, so waste capacity keeps pace with supply and the fresh tank is the constraint that ends a dry stay.
07 Where this floorplan sits
Ranked by GVWR, the Bighorn 38RE sits 3 of 7 in the Bighorn line: 17,995 pounds against a line that runs from 16,000 to 18,850 pounds. That position is the useful thing to know, because the plans immediately either side of it are the real alternatives.
Either side of it in the same line: Bighorn 36RK is 695 pounds lighter at 17,300 lb GVWR; and Bighorn 39FL matches it exactly at 17,995 lb GVWR.
1 other Bighorn plan shares this floorplan’s 17,995 lb GVWR, so the ranking above separates plans that tow to the same ceiling. On a shared chassis the figure that actually differs between them is cargo capacity and where the weight sits, not the rating.
| Comparable fifth wheels | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn 38RE | 17,995 | 15,275 | 4 | 42 ft 6 in |
| North Point 382FLRB | 17,995 | 15,470 | 8 | 43 ft 10 in |
| Puma Grand Mesa 393RL | 17,999 | 14,844 | — | 42 ft 4 in |
| Cedar Creek 381MUD | 18,000 | 15,429 | 8 | 43 ft 5 in |
| Influence 3003RL | 18,000 | 12,500 | 4 | 34 ft 11 in |
| Montana 3100RL | 18,000 | 14,030 | 4 | 35 ft 11 in |
| Paradigm 375RD | 18,000 | 14,771 | 5 | 41 ft 9 in |
Against the Bighorn 38RE: the North Point 382FLRB is 1 ft longer and sleeps 4 more; the Puma Grand Mesa 393RL is 4 lb heavier; the Cedar Creek 381MUD is 5 lb heavier and sleeps 4 more. Those are differences in the published numbers only — what they cost, how they are built and how they live are separate questions each of those pages answers on its own terms.
Those are the nearest fifth wheels from other lines by weight — one per line, picked by proximity on that figure and nothing else. They are listed so the same tow vehicle can be checked against real alternatives, not because they are equivalent inside; layout, build and price diverge sharply across that group.
For scale, the Bighorn floorplans profiled here run 13,060 to 16,110 pounds dry and 36 to 44 feet of exterior length across 7 plans. Where a floorplan falls in that spread usually says more about which vehicle can tow it, and which site it fits, than the layout name does.
Every profiled floorplan in this line, with the full weight table, is on the Bighorn line hub.
08 Common questions about the Bighorn 38RE
How much does the Bighorn 38RE weigh?
It leaves the factory at 15,275 pounds dry, and its manufacturer-set loaded ceiling (GVWR) is 17,995 pounds. Real towing weight lands between the two and depends entirely on what you load. Use the GVWR when matching a tow vehicle; the dry figure is only useful for comparing floorplans against each other.
How much can the Bighorn 38RE carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 2,720 pounds. That is the whole budget: water, propane, batteries, gear and everything you bring. Filling the 75-gallon fresh tank uses about 626 pounds of that.
What is the pin weight of the Bighorn 38RE?
The published dry pin weight is 2,970 pounds. It is measured empty; loaded, it runs higher, and it comes out of your tow vehicle’s payload rather than its tow rating.
What size tow vehicle does the Bighorn 38RE need?
Your vehicle needs a tow rating of at least 17,995 pounds — this floorplan’s GVWR — and enough payload left over for the hitch load, passengers and anything in the bed. This site does not publish tow ratings for specific vehicles, because one truck model varies by thousands of pounds across engine, axle ratio, cab and package. The figure that governs is the payload sticker on your own door jamb.
How many people does the Bighorn 38RE sleep?
It is rated to sleep 4. Rated sleeping positions include convertible furniture, so count the beds against how you actually travel rather than against the number.
What are the tank capacities on the Bighorn 38RE?
Fresh 75 gallons, grey 137 gallons, black 50 gallons. Tank sizes set how long the floorplan can sit away from hookups, and the smallest of the three is what ends the stay.
How long is the Bighorn 38RE?
Exterior length is 42' 6". Measure against your site length and your storage before committing — the exterior figure is the one that has to fit, and it includes the tongue or pin box.
Every figure in these answers is read from this page’s verified specification table. Where the manufacturer publishes nothing, the question is not answered rather than estimated.
09 What this page publishes, and what it does not
This catalog tracks 18 specification fields per floorplan. Named sources publish 16 of them for the Bighorn 38RE. The rest are not shown, because the alternative is reading a figure across from a sibling floorplan or from what the segment usually does — and a number nobody published is worth less than an admitted gap.
Not published for this floorplan: slide count, awning. If you find one of these in a manufacturer document for this plan, it belongs on this page.
The completeness figure at the foot of this page (95%) measures the same thing on the full field set: it is a measurement of how much this floorplan’s manufacturer publishes, not of how much research went into the page.
How every figure here was sourced and checked is set out on the methodology page.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the Bighorn line, and NHTSA holds 20 recall campaigns and 51 owner complaints against that line. They are separate records and are not added together — a recall is a manufacturer-confirmed defect with a remedy; a complaint is one owner’s account, which NHTSA does not verify.
What to look at on a used one. Across the 51 complaints filed on this line the most-reported components are tires (41%), suspension (14%) and structure (10%). That is where owners of this family have had trouble, so it is where an inspection is worth the time.
Recall coverage is not complete — our harvest of NHTSA’s recall API ran 1,556 queries, of which 0 failed and 242 returned an explicit zero. A line can still be under-reported where NHTSA files a roster under a parent name, or where a match rests on the wording of the recall rather than its model field. Complaints come from the complete bulk file but are unverified and self-selected: a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Bighorn line page.