Slideout Cracks

[Ed&Kim]

Having been through the repairing of the bedroom slideout cracking nonsense...all 4 corners, its not surprising to me to see the other two slides now have the same problems...cracks. Each slide opening has a 4-6 inch diagonal crack at the corner. I cannot attribute this to frame flexing maybe there is too much hydraulic pressure on the slideouts. Any others been through this?...the unit is a 2000 Montana 3280.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Ed&Kim

Having been through the repairing of the bedroom slideout cracking nonsense...all 4 corners, its not surprising to me to see the other two slides now have the same problems...cracks. Each slide opening has a 4-6 inch diagonal crack at the corner. I cannot attribute this to frame flexing maybe there is too much hydraulic pressure on the slideouts. Any others been through this?...the unit is a 2000 Montana 3280.

Our 2000 3555RL developed the cracks around the bedroom slide and one on my entertainment slide. Though you may think that flexing does not cause the cracks on the other slides, Truck Builders, who repaired my flexing problem said that it is entirely possible for cracks to appear on the other slides also. This is because when the front flexes it puts strain on the aluminum structure in the rear of the rig. On our rig, after repairing the flex problem, Truck Builders then did a great amount of welding on the aluminum structure around the bedroom slide and bolted the chassis together through the structure from the propane bottle cavities to the rest of the chassis. Ours does not have a problem now and has not shown any sign of cracking for the past two years. However, we've been sitting in one spot for the past 14 months.

Orv

[sreigle]

ED&Kim, I think the 2000 model year had the smaller frame and some problems that resulted. Keystone has a fix for those to strengthen the frame. Those who had it done reported the frame was then much stronger. You might call Keystone and ask about it. Have your VIN ready. In the past, this fix was done at no charge and could be done locally rather than at the factory. But I don't know if they'll still do it for free on a 9-yr old rig. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Good luck. The subject frame is an 8 incher. The newer ones are 10 inch frames.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

ED&Kim, I think the 2000 model year had the smaller frame and some problems that resulted. Keystone has a fix for those to strengthen the frame. Those who had it done reported the frame was then much stronger. You might call Keystone and ask about it. Have your VIN ready. In the past, this fix was done at no charge and could be done locally rather than at the factory. But I don't know if they'll still do it for free on a 9-yr old rig. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Good luck. The subject frame is an 8 incher. The newer ones are 10 inch frames.

Steve,
I doubt that Keystone will pay for a nine year old rig. They wouldn't pay for mine when it was six years old. But there's always that chance that they might. I'm one of those who feels that the work I had done on our rig to reinforce it was well worth the money spent. We had an expert do the repair. I say expert because he builds trucks! Big trucks!

Orv

[Ed&Kim]

Hi All
Thanks for the replies and information. Still not sure if I am heading in the correct direction. I have never been impressed with how much pressure (strain) that the slide puts on the wall when it is pushed out. The early 3280's and I'm guessing most Montanas of that time period had one central hydraulic line that pushed out all three slides at once...well they kinda did their own thing as to which one went first.But each slide had to be all the way out and then the next one would move and so on. Still feel that it puts a lot of strain on the outside wall.
I did measure the frame and it is a 10 inch beam...the unit was manufactured in April of 2000.Never had these cracks until last year...maybe the unit is just loosening up.
Anyone add individual controls to the slides in these units?

Thanks
Ed

[ols1932]

Ed,
I know of some who have modified their older rigs to allow individual control of each slide. Believe the cost was in the neighborhood of $2,000 - $2,500.

Orv

[dieselguy]

Check out my old post
http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ydraulic,slide
I made my slides move independent of one another as indicated in the above post for about $350.00 back in 2005. The $2000 - $2500 Orv quoted is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much for what it takes to do the job. If the slide seems to be pushing too much on the end of the stroke as it seals against the wall, there is an adjustment for that. If you look at your slide cylinder and both nuts are run up against the bracket ... that's your first problem. The cylinder has more stroke that is needed to open the slide completely, thus a space between both lock nuts and the bracket is required. A call to Lippert for the adjustment procedure is advised. MIMF can also guide you. There was a frame upgrade in the early 2000 timeframe ... I had it done to my old 2000 model 2850RK. You might check into that issue also.
On edit: I just realized your 2000 model won't have the manual slide valve block to work from ... it can still be done, it'll just take an isolated 4 port manifold block.