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Old 12-01-2017, 07:27 PM   #1
scottkeen
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Generator bay in 347THT?

Hi everyone, I'm not yet a Montana owner and hope to be soon! The 347THT looks like it would be right for me, and I just went and looked at my first 347THT in person yesterday and the layout for me is PERFECT! Can't wait to get a 347THT!

So, the one I looked at appeared to be in really good condition. But one thing really caught my eye, the front bay where a generator would normally go.

Does this look right? It lookes like someone cut out the floor and the belly looks like it was tack-welded back on.

What's going on here?

 
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Old 12-01-2017, 09:56 PM   #2
mtlakejim
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I hate to tell ya but that is the way they come from the factory!!!!! You would think that Keystone salesmen would insist they dress it up somehow! I am assuming that Keystone assumes you will be putting a good for nothing Onan generator in the bay and that the cut out in the bottom is to allow for cooling air circulation and or the oil pan? And then there is the way they have all that excess foam hanging out! Regardless it does look VERY poorly constructed. I could see where it could easily turn off prospective buyers!


Worse yet the sheet metal used does NOT go all the way to the top of the available space. If your not going to use the bay for a generator then your losing several square feet of additional storage area. I am considering cutting the sheet metal out of my brand new 2018 381th and going back in with something custom built to hold my grills and such (I might use 1/4 aluminum plate just so I can retain the value of the generator prepped area for trade in value down the road....).
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Old 12-02-2017, 08:38 AM   #3
Jsh
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If you are not going to put a generator in the spot, you could easily put a piece oh aluminum or steel in the cabinet to have a flat floor. Depends on individual use, may decide later to install gen set, and all would have to do is remove the piece of metal. Myself just installed an onan in the unit in August and love it. I know they are a lot of onan bashers on this site but I have now had two units with them and no problems. They are no difference than a brand of vehicles they are bad ones in ever brand.
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Old 12-03-2017, 03:36 PM   #4
sdunkley
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Congrats on the 347THT. We had one for 6 years. Absolutely loved it and had no problems with it. Liked that you could use the bathroom without having to put out a slide-out plus could get to the refrigerator. Never had any problems with it. It looked new when we traded it.

--Sam
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Old 12-03-2017, 04:12 PM   #5
mtlakejim
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Jsh,
I have already added a sheet of plywood to the floor in that area as a start. However, the factory installed sheet metal robs you of a couple of feet of storage above the top of it. As I mentioned I am considering ripping all the factory sheet metal (heat guard?) out and going back in with Aluminum that goes all the way to the top of the compartment then adding shelves. That will give me a lot of additional storage where I plan to store cooking grills. If I do it that way then if someone after me wants to install a generator it would still be useable for same as I don't plan to remove the wiring.


As for the generator, there is a good reason for a lot of Onan bashers on this site. Your one of the very few people that I have ever heard that liked Onan. I suspect the main issue is they just about have all the RV market. If they had some serious competition I think they would make the improvements that need to be made. Getting their pricing in line would be number one. Followed closely by major improvements in their service centers and information for owners to do their own repairs (better and more accessible manuals/troubleshooting guides). Is your new unit fuel injected?
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Old 12-03-2017, 07:06 PM   #6
Jsh
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It's a 5500lp, as far as maintenance facilities, I have always done the general maintenance that they mention in the manual myself. The 2012 model Fuzion we had, has a 5500 gas unit in it. When sold this past spring it had about 700 hrs on it. No problems just oil, filters, and plug changes. This one I just installed it in August and it only has around 75 hrs on it. But so far so good, will change all fluids, in spring. As far as price I'm with you. But like has been said here about other items. With what we pay for these units in the beginning, might as well not skimp on accessories to make it easier to use. As in just push a button and be able to power the whole coach with no worries. But all of this is just my opinion.
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Old 12-03-2017, 07:19 PM   #7
DQDick
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On our old rig I just put a piece of plywood over that area and then six AGM golf cart batteries on it to support our solar system. Never a problem in about 60,000 miles on some pretty rough roads.
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Old 12-03-2017, 09:34 PM   #8
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Well those batteries should hold down the plywood really well LOL. But I don't think they will operate our two ACs very long??? I work in the oilfield so not very big on the whole "green energy" thing ya know....Besides with a diesel dually pulling a 42' 5th wheel my "carbon footprint" looks more like jet set Al Gore's with his multiple mansions than a family of 4 in their tent.......But to each his own.
I plan to stick with an outboard welder/generator between the hitch and cab in our long bed 1 ton. I have use for the welder around our home front so it will pull double duty. And it might be handy at a rally or two to weld up stuff for my fellow MOC friends??
That being the case and considering that the original poster of this thread was showing how poorly constructed the generator compartment is and I agree, I like the idea of converting that space to grill storage....
One thing for sure, Keystone needs to use some common sense and dress up their construction in this area of their units. Anytime a prospective buyer open up that compartment and sees the shoddy/sloppy construction they have to be thinking "wow, if they are this sloppy here, what does it look like where I can't see?". I know that was what I was thinking......
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Old 12-04-2017, 07:50 AM   #9
scottkeen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mtlakejim View Post
I hate to tell ya but that is the way they come from the factory!!!!! You would think that Keystone salesmen would insist they dress it up somehow! I am assuming that Keystone assumes you will be putting a good for nothing Onan generator in the bay and that the cut out in the bottom is to allow for cooling air circulation and or the oil pan?
Thanks for the reply! Wow, I didn't expect to learn that this is how all Montanas come from the factory.

The Onan generator is no good? Was it an option with new Montanas? What's a better option?
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Old 12-04-2017, 10:38 AM   #10
mtlakejim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottkeen View Post
Thanks for the reply! Wow, I didn't expect to learn that this is how all Montanas come from the factory.

The Onan generator is no good? Was it an option with new Montanas? What's a better option?
The generator question is a can of worms. It's sorta like asking guys which brand of truck they prefer. You will get some folks that will defend the Onan but I would say it is about 5 to 1 against them. There have been a few other brands try to compete with them in the RV market but not with much success. Onan/Cummins has been very successful in all but locking up the market. In part because they have made deals with the RV manufacturing companies. It is going to be very difficult for any other company to gain market share under current conditions. Generac has come up as one brand that did try to compete with Onan for built in units.

The other route to go is using a free standing gen. (IE: not designed to be permanently installed). Honda is generally considered the "gold standard" of free standing gens. for RV use (there will be some argument of that point too). There are some other up and coming brands and some are considerably cheaper than a Honda. I have a Champion myself. It is about half the price of a Honda BUT it is not built as well either. I also suspect that the listed rating is a little high of it's actual output but the brand is at least giving Honda some competition that is improving both overall quality and pricing (IE: we are now seeing fuel injected and dual fuel gas/LP models coming out).

I plan to buy a welder/generator and place it in my truck bed in front of the hitch (One of the many advantages of a LONG Bed---Long bed vs short is another can of worms to "discuss" LOL). Tractor supply sells a unit for about 3K which is about what a built in Onan would probably cost and it doesn't have a welding feature.....Granted if you don't weld then that would not be for you but I will get a LOT of use from the unit so it works very well for me. Since we would only use the generator when overnighting on the way to a distant campground (IE: at a truck or rest stop) there isn't any issue with the generator being on the truck. Plus in most cases we will have a motorcycle in the basement garage (advantage to 381TH!) on many trips if the need arises for transportation while on the generator.

If you are the kind of family that would boondock and would have need for the generator to stay with the 5th wheel (say because you have small dogs that would be in the camper while your gone in the truck) then you need to look at onboard somehow or you will have to leave your a standalone unit sitting on the ground beside your camper and that of course leaves it open to theft.....

There are all kinds of different lines of thought on this so sit back and enjoy.....
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