Rusting Awning Bracket Bolts

[ronnilu]

We took delivery of a new '06 3295RK on Dec. 22 here in Calif, and were at the beach for about 10 days right after the 1st of the year. While there we had about 4-5 days of torrential rain & when things dried out I noticed rust stains running down the side of our rig from the upper brackets of the awning. Inspection shows the mounting bolts/screws are rusting. I've owned about 7 previous rigs & have never had this occur before. The mounting bolts at the bottom brackets appear to be painted or powder coated. Anyone else had to deal with this or is it just a fluke?

[Montana_4221]

Mike,
We took delivery of ours in August of 2005 and have not experienced any problems like you describe. I just walked out to look at the mounting scews and there is no rust present. They do not appear to be stainless but are holding up well to the weather.

Perhaps the wrong screws were used during instalation on your rig.

Also our unit has not been exposed to salt since the purchase.

Good luck

[jrgwdenner]

I don't think it's a fluke. When we were looking at our Montana almost two years ago, we commented on the rusty elements on the outside of the Montana, mostly the holders that keep the basement doors held up, but other metal hardware, too. We wondered at the time why any metal that would rust before they got off the lot were used. It's not uncommon. I'm sure being at the beach is the ultimate test.

[ronnilu]

Thanks for the replies. I really can't imagine being at the beach for only 10 days would be the reason for the quick onset of the rust, but maybe so. Further inspection shows the wheel lug nuts are all banged up and rusting and one of the storage compartment latches used to hold open the door is pitted & rusted. A quick look under the dinette slider shows everything under there is rust red as well. Maybe road salt coated everything when they were transporting it from the factory in Indiana to Calif. through snow country around the 1st of Dec. Anyway, the unit is back at the dealer & those things are on their list.