01 What makes it unique
The 39FL inverts the coach: the living room rides up front over the pin — the raised, windowed lounge that makes front-living plans the hosting format — with the bedroom amidships and the galley aft, and it takes five slides to open it all, the most of any Bighorn. Two 14-foot awnings cover the camp side, and the tank set runs a balanced 74 grey / 74 black under the standard 75 fresh.
The platform is the full build at maximum stretch: 12-inch I-beam drop frame, 102-inch wide-body, CoreShield 2-inch laminated walls, painted front cap, frameless windows, TrussXL truss under the limited-lifetime membrane, ThermaShield zero-degree package, dual 15,000-BTU Whisper Quiet air conditioners, tankless water heater, six-point hydraulic auto-level and the mandatory Premium Package with the GE 21-cubic-foot residential refrigerator on its 1,800-watt inverter. The printed 17,995-pound GVWR equals 15,645 dry plus 2,350 cargo exactly — the tightest margin in the line — on tandem 8,000-pound axles.
The two numbers that govern the purchase: a 3,090-pound dry pin — the heaviest in the roster, and a loaded figure that will demand a serious one-ton, likely a dually — and 2,350 pounds of cargo margin that a filled fresh tank alone cuts by a quarter. Front-living coaches are bought for how they host, and nothing else in the line hosts like this; just buy the truck first.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 43' 10"
- Exterior width
- 8' 6"
- Exterior height
- 12' 6"
- Interior height
- 8' 6"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight
- 15,645 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 17,995 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 2,350 lbs
- Dry pin weight
- 3,090 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 75 gal
- Grey water
- 74 gal
- Black water
- 74 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 8,000
- Hitch
- Fifth wheel · dry pin 3,090 lb
- Tires
- 215/75R17.5'H'
- LP
- 90 lb total
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
- Mid bedroom
- Layout
- Front-living five-slide — raised front lounge over the pin, mid bedroom, rear galley run, two 14-foot awnings
- Awnings & entries
- 2 · 14′ + 14′ · 1 entry (RVUSA)
Drawn to scale
Weight budget
Size, with end view
Holding tanks
Axles, wheels and nose shape are schematic; not a floorplan. Data: dataset.
Towing it
Loaded range: 15–25% of GVWR on the pin, a rule of thumb, not a measurement of this unit. No truck ratings or hitch classes (why; NHTSA, DOT HS 809 433). The range starts at the published dry figure, because 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 Notes on this floorplan
Five slides
The most in the roster — the whole perimeter opens. Slide maintenance scales accordingly; the six-point hydraulic auto-level is standard support.
The heaviest pin
3,090 pounds dry over the hitch — loaded, this is dually math. The payload placard decides the truck.
The tightest margin
2,350 pounds of cargo capacity is the least in the line — full-timers should weigh the loaded coach axle by axle.
74/74 tanks
The balanced grey/black split suits the mid-bath layout — different plumbing logic than the rear-bath siblings.
05 How it compares
The rear-entertainment alternative — the lounge goes aft, the pin drops 120 pounds and the grey tank nearly doubles to 137 gallons.
The entry — 2,585 pounds lighter with the friendliest pin, for couples who host less.
The front-living luxury field — the 39FL counter is five-slide volume and the standard zero-degree package.
06 Loading it for a trip
A full 75-gallon fresh tank is about 626 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.2), 27% of the Bighorn 39FL’s 2,350 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,724 lb (431 lb per rated berth). Across 7 Bighorn floorplans the water share runs 21% to 27%, and this plan’s is the highest. Nearest on that share: Bighorn 37MD at 26%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.3).
07 Where this floorplan sits
Closest sibling: the Bighorn 39RK, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 7 of the 9 fields both publish (this plan first): length 43 ft 10 in vs 43 ft 3 in; dry weight 15,645 lb vs 15,200 lb; GVWR 17,995 lb vs 18,200 lb; cargo capacity 2,350 lb vs 3,000 lb; dry hitch weight 3,090 lb vs 2,960 lb; grey tank 74 gal vs 87 gal; black tank 74 gal vs 50 gal. They match on sleeps and fresh tank.
| Bighorn plans | This plan | Position, low to high | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| GVWR (lb) | 17,995 | 3–4 of 7 | 16,000–18,850 |
| Dry weight (lb) | 15,645 | 5 of 7 | 13,060–16,110 |
| Cargo capacity (lb) | 2,350 | 1 of 7 | 2,350–3,000 |
| Dry hitch weight (lb) | 3,090 | 7 of 7 | 2,405–3,090 |
| Length | 43 ft 10 in | 6–7 of 7 | 36 ft 0 in–43 ft 10 in |
| Grey tank (gal) | 74 | 2 of 7 | 50–137 |
| Black tank (gal) | 74 | 6 of 7 | 50–100 |
| Sleeps | 4 | 1–5 of 7 | 4–8 |
Either side of it by GVWR: Bighorn 38RE matches it at 17,995 lb GVWR; Bighorn 37MD is 105 lb heavier (18,100 lb GVWR).
| Nearest Bighorn siblings | Length | Sleeps | Dry (lb) | GVWR (lb) | CCC (lb) | Hitch (lb) | Fresh (gal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn 39FL | 43 ft 10 in | 4 | 15,645 | 17,995 | 2,350 | 3,090 | 75 |
| Bighorn 39RK | 43 ft 3 in | 4 | 15,200 | 18,200 | 3,000 | 2,960 | 75 |
| Bighorn 36RK | 40 ft 5 in | 4 | 14,465 | 17,300 | 2,835 | 2,600 | 75 |
| Bighorn 38RE | 42 ft 6 in | 4 | 15,275 | 17,995 | 2,720 | 2,970 | 75 |
| Bighorn 37MD | 42 ft 10 in | 8 | 15,650 | 18,100 | 2,450 | 2,705 | 75 |
| Bighorn 31RL | 36 ft 0 in | 4 | 13,060 | 16,000 | 2,940 | 2,405 | 75 |
All 7 Bighorn floorplans: Bighorn line hub.
| Other lines, nearest by GVWR | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn 39FL | 17,995 | 15,645 | 4 | 43 ft 10 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 39FL: the North Point 382FLRB sleeps 4 more; the Puma Grand Mesa 393RL is 4 lb heavier and 2 ft shorter; the Cedar Creek 381MUD is 5 lb heavier and sleeps 4 more.
08 Common questions about the Bighorn 39FL
How much does the Bighorn 39FL weigh?
15,645 lb dry; 17,995 lb GVWR, the most it may weigh loaded.
How much can the Bighorn 39FL carry?
2,350 lb, 13% of its GVWR (median across 307 fifth wheels here: 19%). A full fresh tank uses 626 lb of it.
What is the pin weight of the Bighorn 39FL?
3,090 lb dry, 20% of the dry weight (median across 386 fifth wheels here: 19%).
What size tow vehicle does the Bighorn 39FL need?
A tow rating of at least 17,995 lb, plus payload for the loaded pin weight, passengers and cargo.
How many people does the Bighorn 39FL sleep?
It is rated to sleep 4. 2 of the 7 Bighorn floorplans that publish a count sleep more.
What are the tank capacities on the Bighorn 39FL?
Fresh 75, grey 74, black 74 gallons. Off hookups, fresh water runs out first.
How long is the Bighorn 39FL?
43' 10" overall, tongue or pin box included.
From the figures above.
09 What this page publishes, and what it does not
16 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the Bighorn 39FL. Not published: slide count, awning.
Sourcing rules: methodology.
10 Manuals & documents
Sources: heartlandrvs.com, library.rvusa.com (linked below); the full source note is at the foot of the page.
11 NHTSA safety record
NHTSA holds 20 recall campaigns and 51 owner complaints against the Bighorn line. They are counted separately: a recall is a confirmed defect with a remedy, a complaint one owner’s unverified account.
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%).
Recall coverage here is not complete, and complaints are owners’ unverified reports (how this record is built). Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Bighorn line page.