3575 "Empty" Weight Ticket

[NJ Hillbilly]

That was my mistake too, when I got my trailer back from Goshen last year it was totally empty. I should have weighed it then. My complaint about the CCC is tha fact that I don't have high gloss, a w/d or other options that carry any real weight, I even have the extra recliner in the house so a playpen can be set up.

The ticket for no battery is funny, when we got a new firetruck delivered it had a set of emergency triangles and a small 5 lb ABC fire extinguisher. Kinda ironis needing an extinguisher to drive a firetruck, "It's a DOT thing, You wouldn't understand"

John

[sreigle]

It does seem kinda odd. I have a copy of the 2003 specs and it shows brochure UVW at 9690. That means yours supposedly has 410 lbs in options. Now here's the catch. You don't have the hi-gloss. I do. That's supposed to be heavy. Brochure UVW on mine is 10,360. On the sticker it's 10760. That's 400 lbs in alleged options. 10 pounds less than yours! Yet I have the hi-gloss. What gives?

[Montana_2180]

Steve,

How do I know if I have the high gloss? Mine is shiny and all, but is it the "Gel coat" everyone talks about around here?

What are the advantages/disadvantages, if any?

[NJ Hillbilly]

When You look at the skin is it perfectly smooth like a boat hull or do You see some fibers. Gel coat is smooth, Filon is a little bumpy.

John

[sreigle]

3575Owner, John is right. It's also known as the "automotive finish". Smooth, shiny, none of the bumpy texture. What is confusing is that it's not hard like the endcaps and like a boat hull. It's more of a thin veneer of some kind. If you have it, you'll know it.

[Montana_2180]

Ah, well, I guess I don't. Mine is bumpy and you can see the fiber in it...

And I think I found about a 6 inch verticle crack near the top...guess I'll need to investigate that further.

If there is, what are my options? I bought it used, of course...

Tell me some good news!

Chip

[sreigle]

Chip, where is the crack located? The question is what caused the crack. You might want to check with a dealer or fibreglass people about this one. I'm not very knowledgeable on this kind of thing.

If the crack is at a corner of the bedroom slide, that's a different story. Might be some things on this forum to help you with that. Or maybe someone else here has been through fixing cracks.

[Montana_2180]

Steve,

the crack is on the road-side, about 2 feet in front of the large slider and right up at the gutter. It is verticle, about 6" long and looks like the veins of a leaf...more like a spider fracture than an actual crack. It looks like the resin is cracking, but not deep into the fiberglass...not sure what to think about it.

Would this be something Keystone would even talk to me about since I'm the 2nd owner?

I mean, it is ONLY a 2002...I would hope they would stand behind their product for something like this as it doesn't seem to be related to any kind of neglect...at least not that I would understand with it being way up there...

How would I find a dealer around the St Louis area? I sure would hate to have to tow it all the way to Goshen as I have a job and am not quite that free yet ...yet!

[sreigle]

Go to http://www.keystone-montana.com . Near the top click on "Dealer Locator".

Since you're out of warranty I don't know if Keystone will cover that or not. You might call them direct and ask. I would call, not email. On their contact page there should be an 800 number you can call.

Sorry I'm not much help but Keystone has to answer your question. Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

[Montana_1988]

3575Owner
Back to your original question. We own a 2003 Big Sky 3575RL. It has the Onan 5.5K generator mounted up front. I weighed my truck, full of fuel, and the monty with both propane tanks full. The monty is relatively empty as I was putting the trailer in storage. I'm guessing it has about 400 additional pounds over it's empty weight. The weight of the trailer, as put in storage, was 12,580. Weight of trailer and truck was 19,900

According to the Big Sky brochure the pin weight of our monty is about 2,200. This is totally empty weight of course. I have read on this forum where another Big Sky 3575RL owner with a Onan 5.5K generater reported his pin weight at 2,700 pounds. Based on his reporting and the brochure specs, I'm guessing my pin weight is between 2,500 and 2,700 pounds. I hope to get an actual weight one of these days.

Also, in another thread (I think it was on this web site), the actual length of our trailer was measured at 38'8", ladder to king pin, as compared to the 36'6" reported by Keystone.

The 3575RL has 6,000 pound axles. I will be upgrading the axles to 7,000 pounds to correct the inner tire wear problem that is noted so many times in the forums. I have also read that once I upgrade the axles I can have the GVW for the monty upgraded. Haven't decided if I'm going to check into that or not. My main reason for upgrading the axles was to correct the camber issue causing the tire wear.

For those who are wondering, it's not that big of a deal to upgrade your axles. You measure your current axles and then measure the distance from the spring mount to the end of the axle. You give this info to an axle company and get your new axles. All I'm replacing is the tubes. I will be taking the brakes and hub assembly from the old axles and installing them on the new tubes.

I checked into having the axles aligned and was told it was $55 an axle. I checked on buying new Dexter axles and found that I could get them for $153 each. What I don't know at this time is if the Al-Ko brakes that are on the trailer now are 6K or 7K pound brakes. I contacted Keystone and they told me to contact Al-Ko. I contacted Al-Ko and they never returned my phone call. If I find out that the monty only has 6K brakes then I'll install new 7K brakes on the new axles as another project. I do all my work myself so I don't know how much it would be for someone to change the axles for you.