Pocket Door - More poor workmanship - Montana Owners Club

Irlpguy · 10-30-2012, 11:49 AM

I wonder if anyone else has experienced a problem with their pocket doors in particular the fastening of the track on the door between the kitchen and bathroom on the 3402RL

On our last trip the door jammed when closed and I had to remove some of the fancy trim in order to get it off. I found the track was held in place with only 4 screws. Well the one way back between the shower and kitchen pantry had fallen right out and the other one located in that impossible to get at spot was half way out.

Not one of the screws was installed into the blocking of the spacer on which the track mounts, they just screwed them into the cheapest piece of material they could use for the bottom of the spacer. (see pictures)

I cannot get it into the dealer until the 16th of November to be repaired under warrantee. As with a lot of the Montana owners I have had a very large list of things that had they been installed with care in the first place would not be a problem. My list for the second trip back to the dealer is getting longer each time we use the unit. Nothing serious but irritating as %^$% .

kab449 · 10-30-2012, 01:45 PM

Just another example of the lack of quality control on the assembly line. Especially pronounced with the workmanship of items that are hidden from view. After the warranty is over I will repair/replace items on my trailer myself and do it the way it should have been done from new.

K&Gs3400RL · 10-30-2012, 02:21 PM

I had the same problem on one of our Cougars we had. And yes it is very frustrating.

lfw · 10-30-2012, 02:30 PM

That is about the same thing that happened to ours...I fixed myself because I did not want to take it back to the dealer.. do not get me wrong but the dealer has been good to us.. we were about 200 miles from the dealer.. Not worth the time and money to take it back to the dealer.. After I fixed it I know I will have no more trouble with it..That has been over 3 years ago.. no problems so far..

lfw

ray fischer · 10-30-2012, 02:40 PM

when mine fell off when f/w new, I used a 3" deck screw to re-attach stop block, and took out the screws in the track, inserted tooth picks in the holes and put the scews back in. Had to take the door casing off to get the door off & on. Re-attached that properly also.

PackerFan · 10-30-2012, 03:53 PM

The same thing happened to our sliding door also. Several screws fell right out and the rest were just barely hanging there. It looked like they over torqued the screws putting them in and striped the holes. I had to drill and replace them the right way. They are in secure now and holding well. Maybe the installers should go a little slower and use more caution when running in screws with drill drivers.

richfaa · 10-30-2012, 04:10 PM

make sure Customer service knows about that. I call them every time something goes wrong with this 2013 3402 Big sky and insist they log the problem under my VIN. When we get back in the spring there will be a long list of reported problems to be repaired.they need to know of the poor quality...

drknapp · 10-30-2012, 04:14 PM

We just had ours repaired for the same issue the end of June. The frustrating part is our extended warranty wouldn't cover it because they said nothing actually broke, since it was due to the screws coming loose. Our dealer did do a good job of repairing it, but we had to cover the bill.

steelpony5555 · 10-30-2012, 04:49 PM

The 2 doors on my Alpenlite came loose too. Those doors are hanging and they can flop around so anytime you hit some real rough and bouncey road they will bang around and will work loose. I fashioned a wooden wedge for when we travel. Now the door is supported and wedged so it does not flop back and forth. I had to do the board thing because the door hangs over the steps. If it hangs over just the floor you can buy those rubber door wedges and they will work fine.

**DQDick** · 10-30-2012, 05:59 PM

X2 on calling Keystone Customer service. Keeping on them has worked for us. The worst that can happen is that nothing changes.

Irlpguy · 10-30-2012, 06:14 PM

Well it looks like I am not the only one to have this problem. I would have already fixed this if I had any idea how to get at the track way back in a spot you simply cannot get your hand and arm into. I will be adding a block into the spacer to accommodate new screws in the part of the track I can get at, before it goes to the dealer for warranty.

I have built two campers and I cannot believe the effort Montana and others put into making the visible things look good, but completely ignore the important "do it right the first time" ethic, especially in places that are next to impossible to get at. The other pocket door is a piece of cake to get at, as you can get at the whole track up behind the wood moulding above the door. I will sure be wanting to know how they access this area to make the repair.

Also 4 screws in a 5 ft track to hold a door, give me a break.

If anyone knows how one might access the back of this track, please feel free to post, I might fix it myself and know it will be done right. I cannot take the shower out and don't even want to think how the huge floor to ceiling pantry might come out.

Exnavydiver · 10-30-2012, 06:41 PM

Rather than set the torque on their drills to a safe level they leave them tight and strip out half the screws they install. I have rehung the pocket door and simply replaced the stripped screws with longer and a bit thicker screws. I had to do the same thing to the closet sliding doors. I didn't bother to even use the old holes, I just made new ones and got into solid wood. I snugged the screws then did final tightening with a hand screw driver...

hookman · 10-30-2012, 07:47 PM

I had to cut a hole through the pantry wall to get at the screws to tighten them and put a screw at the end of the track so it can't come out of the track.

bigskyjimmy · 10-30-2012, 09:00 PM

Now you got me paranoid I have not had that problem nor have I had any problems at all with my 3402RL(YET)except for a busted toilet lever which was fixed chop-chop by the dealer. By the way I have never seen any body make that mod to the slide out CD/DVD storage, Are you a former long hauler "good Buddy" I didn't know anybody else besides truckers(LIKE ME) that still use CB's/HAM radios any more in their private rigs.....COOL MOD THOUGH!

waynemoore · 10-31-2012, 05:26 AM

I had to cut a hole in the cabinet wall above the frige to get to the back of the door. Replaced ALL of the screws with longer and larger ones. As for the CB radio I was a trucker many years ago and still have one in the T/V. By the way what ever happened to the professional truck driver? You know the one who when passed would flash their lights to let you know it is safe to return to the right lane. Seems they are about all gone how sad. Ok rant done.

bigskyjimmy · 10-31-2012, 08:36 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by bigskyjimmy

I know I have noticed that too lately I think now all the truckers are all young guns who do not have that professonal courtesy like us old farts, O.k.back to subject I checked my door and all is good now I will go back to being paranoid about my Marathon tires

2Wanderers · 10-31-2012, 09:16 AM

Had the same thing happen to mine. Dealer removed the shower wall, cut a hole in the wall behind it, and resecured the track. I have heard of others on this site who did it from the front side through a hole in the cabinet, then covered up the hole with a piece of wood. Some people have made a very long flexible screwdriver shaft with a torq bit to get to the screws behind the wall. Haven't had a problem with my door since the dealer reinstalled the track in Spring of 2010. However, to keep it from happening again I installed a stained and beveled 2x2 under the door to give the door something to ride on while traveling. This has kept it from pulling the screws out again on rough roads.

Irlpguy · 10-31-2012, 02:16 PM

Thank you for the replies, it would appear that if I were to do the job myself I would have to enter through the cabinet to access the track. I will let the dealer repair it this time as it is on warranty, however I will be giving them some instruction as to how “I” want it done and would do it myself. Hope your good luck continues bigskyjummy with no problems from your unit.

The original CD drawer is very heavy, it came open on our first trip and pulled screws out of the track and was sitting on my desktop. That was repaired by the dealer, but they did not add a second latch (I did) to ensure it did not happen again. I removed the original drawer, then made a completely new drawer and mounted the VHF radio (Not CB) in the top, and the separate faceplate of the HF radio is mounted on an aluminum plate to angle it toward me when I am sitting at the desk, the remainder of the HF (Kenwood TS480SAT) radio is mounted inside the drawer. I also ran #8 wire directly from the batteries to a terminal strip within the drawer to power the two radios. The antenna connections come in there as well and the antenna is mounted on a homebrew mount on the top of the ladder. No holes drilled in the unit to accomplish the install.

I have a VHF radio in the Dodge as well, connected to one of my gps units and I transmit my gps location via Ham radio APRS every 5 min when traveling. My kids and anyone else can then track me via a website.

I have never been a long haul trucker, my dad was for many years, but I do remember the day the truckers would let one another know when it was safe to pull back into the right lane. I am now 70 and still do that when someone pulling a rig passes me, especially at night.

Thanks again for the posts, just got finished checking my axle U bolts for torque. Glad to say all was well.

bigskyjimmy · 10-31-2012, 09:12 PM

AHHH Gottcha a VHF and a ham radio and you transmit your location every 5 min via GPS..THATS COOL!, I will keep a eye on the dvd drawer as ours is stuffed full and heavy and I am surprised it has not come open I would rather do what you did but the little woman is in charge of the inside decorating and my job is the outside and inside mechanical "GUY STUFF" Also I just checked my U bolts and they were all not torqued down enough If it was not for this forum I would have never checked

Irlpguy · 11-01-2012, 01:28 PM

Quote:

quote: AHHH Gottcha a VHF and a ham radio and you transmit your location every 5 min via GPS..THATS COOL!, I will keep a eye on the dvd drawer as ours is stuffed full and heavy and I am surprised it has not come open I would rather do what you did but the little woman is in charge of the inside decorating and my job is the outside and inside mechanical "GUY STUFF" Also I just checked my U bolts and they were all not torqued down enough If it was not for this forum I would have never checked

If you are handy at all, add another drawer catch on the other side as I did, it takes a good tug to get mine open now. If you want a laugh pull the drawer out as far as you can and look at how the tracks are anchored at the back. No wonder crap happens...

According to the Dexter Axle Service Manual the torque range for the 1/2" U-bolts on the 7000 lb axle is Min 45 and Max 70 lbs. None of mine were loose when I checked them, but I did torque them all to 65 lbs just to have them all even. It was the forums here that made me think to check as well. Great info and help here.

If you are interested in the APRS tracking website BigSkyJimmy here is a link to my ham radio callsign VE7HD. Since I am not on the move it will just show my home location or where it last received a transmission from my radio. I don't leave the gps in the truck all the time, only when traveling.

Link: http://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=9&call...timerange=3600

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