Black Undercover - Montana Owners Club

Kathi · 03-18-2006, 08:21 AM

Just before Paul had his stroke we were pulling out of the drive and noticed something large oval and black hanging from the bedroom slide. Well today while hooking Monty up for some pre spring repairs at the dealer and we extended the bedroom slide to see what it was. Under the slide there is this black cover. It was all broken up split and shattered. That is what was hanging down. Our friend Jim had to hold it up there while we closed the bedroom slide so that it would stay up there till we can get it to the dealer on Monday. Don't know how it happened. The plywood is all exposed. That black thing covers that plywood, I guess to keep it from weather damage. Has anyone else had this problem: We are still under warrantee till April so we are safe, but I think that is really shabby workmanship. I am hoping that all these things that haven't been fixed in the past when we have had it in for repair will all be fixed this time. A word to the wise! DO NOT GO TO MIKE THOMPSON RV IN COLTON FOR REPAIRS!!!THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT SUCKS!!!Every time we took our trailer in for things to be fixed we would give them a list. When we would go and pick it up, there was always about 3/4 of the things that still needed to be fixed. They always had an excuse like, Oh we misunderstood what you were saying! Now we would go there and walk them through the complete list and they would write it down. Still they couldn't get it right...We are now up in Montana and are going to Gardner's RV in Kalispell. I have already called them and my list is the same list I gave to Mike Thompson's, lets see how they do...I have written a letter to Thompson's to voice our displeasure with their service. That is just about all I can do at this point.

rvfirefighter · 03-18-2006, 09:12 AM

I hope they are not getting paid warranty work for things that are not getting done. Keystone needs to know of things like this if it makes any difference. Problems like this and the problem that sixcampers is having with their leak really make you wonder who cares.
Good Luck

Chuck and Carol · 03-18-2006, 10:10 AM

Yes, as a matter of fact we just took our 3670 to our dealer to have the same problem fixed. They said they had never seen that problem before. We knew something was wrong when there was a grinding sound when we tried to put the slide out. We quickly put it back in so it wouldn't get stuck out. Ours was cracked and jagged in several places. Still some inside.

Carol

countrygirl · 03-18-2006, 10:55 AM

Kathi, David and I had a similar experience when we bought our 2002 2955 Montana. The first day that we had it we noticed that when we extended the slides, that a piece of rubber gasket was hanging out about 8 inches on one end of the bedroom slide. To make a long story shorter, we finally got it fixed after going to two different places. Evidently, this wasn't a bad problem, nevertheless, we didn't know at the time exactly what was happening and what was causing this gasket to keep coming out from under the bedroom slide. Now, after 4 years of use, it is still working fine and we have had no other problems with it. Is this a similar situation that you are having with your Montana? Good Luck in getting the problem fixed.
Countrygirl or Shirley

richfaa · 03-18-2006, 10:56 AM

But what was it and what did it cover and why did it fall apart.

Chuck and Carol · 03-18-2006, 11:20 AM

If Kathi's problem is like ours, underneath the slides there is a hard substance colored black. Under that is plywood. Ours cracked crooked with zig zag pieces. It must be some kind of hard material to protect the plywood from the weather. It definetly isn't weather stripping. Check under your slides and you will see this stuff. Ours reminded me of slate.

Carol

rak · 03-18-2006, 11:53 AM

Our new 3500RL has the same problem. We found it during the second walk through of the unit at the dealer. They are fixing it at this time as we are to pick it up this coming Friday. I too would like to know why it cracked. I will ask the service people why. They are pulling the bedroom slide so that they can replace the plastic piece. I am glade we found it before we signed the final papers.
Have a great one.
Dick

Kathi · 03-18-2006, 12:21 PM

Chuck and Carol, that is exactly what it is. That piece of black flat stuff that is suppose to cover the plywood. Not the gasket. That whole thing just disintegrated. No reason. We are so careful with our trailer. I am glad to hear that it isn't just ours. Well glad in the sense that it is a problem with Keystone product not something that we did. The end result is that it needs to be addressed. We will see what happens on Monday at the dealers. Kathi

richfaa · 03-18-2006, 01:04 PM

Ok, I know what it is..I was at a mini Rv show today and looked under the slide of a Challenger to see what kind of insulation was under there. I noted this black stuff that was hard when I knocked on it. I thought it was a good thing but I guess not..I will add that to our PDI listing. I wonder if that stuff is supposed to be insulation? Ask when you are at the dealer..

dsprik · 03-18-2006, 01:20 PM

I can see it now, Kathi. Mike Thompson is the penguin in your signature that is walking by, and you're the penguin "helping" him into the water as he unsuspectingly passes you. Too bad you can't label that video clip...

Kathi · 03-18-2006, 01:37 PM

You can bet that I will be asking a lot of questions, you can be sure of that...I just can't figure out how it cracked and split. It is almost like something penatrated it and then when we put the slide out it cut it like a knife or something...Then it just cracked and is falling apart. Like I said, Jim had to bend under there and hold it in place so that I could close the slide. I have never seen anything like it.

Imp · 03-18-2006, 03:11 PM

We had a problem with the rubber gasket tearing all to pieces and a groove on the black cover. We took it in to be fixed and evidently Keystone only approved a certain amount of time for the repair..so all they did was replace the gasket and black cover. Lo and behold the gasket tore again. So we took it back and then because it was out of warranty there was a hot discussion on who was going to pay. I told them they were or Keystone because they started the repair 3 months ago and didn't fix it. Our extended warranty wouldn't touch it either. Well that is when we found out about the time allotment. We called Keystone customer service and got approval for the complete fix. It took putting a plastic shim on the side where the tear and groove were. It is still working fine and no more tears or further grooves. It will take them almost a full day to do the work as they have to take the slide out completely to work on everything. Be sure you pack up all your stuff in there to help out the process, otherwise they remove the bedding etc before they take out the slide. Good luck, it is fixable and Ihope they do it right the first time.
Myrna

patodonn · 03-18-2006, 06:52 PM

Kathi: Be sure to contact Keystone and get all your unresolved problems "on record" with them before the warranty period runs out. I just don't think talking to the dealer is enough. Keystone gave us an extension on some warranty issues a couple of years ago to allow us to get to Goshen on our schedule instead of having to "race" up there to beat the warranty clock.

I also will never deal with MTRV Service Dept again, for the same reasons you outlined. Sales staff was fine, pre-delivery work OK, but once they have the $$, their only goal appeared to be to push other new rigs out the door. Warranty service, once they have the $$ and from our observation, is absolute bottom priority, and they have a whole litany of why they failed to complete the work promised. In late 2003, I gave them 9 days to do 2 days (at the max) worth of little "stuff". They only did 4 of the most insignificant items and needed 12 days to do those..we got those fixed in Goshen at D&T's in 3 hours, along with some other warranty stuff in July '04.

old turbo · 03-19-2006, 12:02 AM

I made a suggestion a while back that we need to get a dealer rateing forum.We all know that their are excellent, good, bad, and real bad dealers.Could be listed by states .I have a couple of good dealerships up here in Michigan, but my Mouantaineer is out of warranty so I do all my own fix ups.I have often made the comment that a product that cost as much as a travel trailer should have a two year warranty on parts and workmanship.

richfaa · 03-19-2006, 01:10 AM

We are learning much from this forum.Here is what we have decided to do in terms of Warranty issues. First we hope we have none..However if we do we . We will document each problem and how it was resolved or not resolved and take pictures of the problem if possible . That documantation will be sent to Mark Kroll ,Our Montana / Mountaineers Districy rep( and a good man) we will keep a copy and since we have a good friend who is a attorney he will have a copy. Hopefully this will all be wasted time..but..just in case...IMHO many if not most of thse Warranty issues are dealer issues and in part we share the blame. Keystone has a HUGE service center and all the vendors for everything that is part of the RV are nearby. First we always ask for the work/ purchase order from the dealer to show that the part has been ordered. We are also compiling a list of "important" phone numbers at Keystone /Montana. Once you have the copy of that work/ purchase order you have all the info needed to track the order yourself. Dealers do NOt keep a inventory of large vendor items in stock, But If my H.P computer can be shipped direct from Singapore to Ohio in 5 days via UPS. My part can be here from Goshen in that time or less..

Illini Trekker · 03-19-2006, 04:51 AM

Kathi I also had trouble with that cover piece. I believe that plastic board acts as a cover for the plywood and also works with the Teflon slide strip on the bedroom slide. On your trailer the black plastic board had a grove wearing in it, a screw was wearing a grove in the board. The dealer filed the screw down flush with the Teflon slide strip. If the problem had went unnoticed that screw would have wore through the black board.

After the old board is replaced, have the slide worked in and out several time and look for a the possibility of one or many screw digging into that board!

Our dealer said the sideout would have the be removed to replace that board. Good luck with the fix!See-Ya

surfrat · 03-20-2006, 11:18 AM

Kathy, my wife and I had the same experience with Mike Thompson's service dept. Many times they actualy made things to be repaired worse. Lots of excuses. We had a theft (stero, clothing etc...)and someone using the toilet (urine in the bowl). They do not care! We bought a new 2955rl from them, but would never recommend Mike Thompson's to anyone.

DL N K · 03-24-2006, 06:27 AM

Our '05 3500RL has what appears to be a black plastic type fabric under the slides.
When examined closely, it has what appears to be a sort of basket weave pattern. Seems about the thickness of a "blue Tarps" from Wal Mart. A length of tape across the bottom of the kitchen slide is what caused our carpet replacement episode.

Kathi · 03-24-2006, 07:03 AM

I CAN'T SAY THIS ENOUGH! DOCUMENT, KEEP ALL REPAIR ORDERS AND FIXES THAT WERE DONE....CONTACT KEYSTONE AND ASK FOR A RECAP ON PAPER OF THE TIME THAT WAS OK'D TO DO ALL JOBS...They have these, because when I called yesterday the rep that answered my call could quote everything to me that was said in the conversation between my dealer and Craig GROUCH!!!

richfaa · 03-27-2006, 06:47 AM

I shot off a Email to Mark krol, Montana/ Moutainerer District sales reap (and a very good man) about the Black undercover insulation problems. His reply was that this is not a known problem From: Mark Krol
To: Richard LaScola
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 12:20 PM
Subject: RE: Black plastic stuff

Mr. LaScola,

Not sure what black plastic stuff you are describing. We are not having widespread problems with the slide-out seals or the waterproof Darco wrap cracking and falling off. Can you please be more specific? I will check with our product manager to see if he has heard about anything out of the ordinary.

Mark Krol

District Sales Manager
Montana and Mountaineer

I told him to come to the forum and where to look however it might be a good idea to send him a E mail. Mark is alwyas ready to help but he needs the proper data.

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