delaminating sides

[tacodave]

We have a 2000 3555RL Montana and have noticed two areas where the exterior sidewalls appear to be delaminating. One place is near the bottom front corner of the bedroom slide out and there is also a 3" surface crack in the "skin". The other place is near the upper front corner of the living room slide out. The slides work fine, no binding etc.
Has anyone else had this problem? Haven't taken it to dealer yet.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[DrivesBGM]

So sorry to hear of your problem. I'm not an expert but I can think of two things.

First I'd try to figure out WHY this has occurred so you can correct the problem so it doesn't happen again.

And next, I would proceed to get this corrected ASAP. I think that delamination is like cancer, it spreads.

Craig

[sreigle]

The crack near a bottom corner of the bedroom slide has been a problem on a number of the early model Montanas, including your year. Newer models have an expansion joint in this location, to prevent that problem. Keystone has, from reports in this forum, been repairing these under warranty even though warranty is expired and/or it is not the original owner. Your dealer should contact Keystone about this. If not, then you can call Keystone and talk to them. Calling seems to get better results than email in most cases. One thing they'll have the dealer check is for any frame problems that caused the crack. From what we're hearing it apparently is normal for some flexing at that location but they check for frame problems anyhow. I can't promise they'll fix yours 'under warranty', I don't have that authority. I'm just telling you what others have reported here.

The delamination might be a different story. Is it bubbling or is it delaminating starting at the crack? You might have your dealer check with Keystone on that LR slide crack to see if they cover that, too. You might be on the hook for that one. I don't know how expensive a repair might be or if there's a way to fix it yourself. Maybe someone else can help with that. First I'd see what Keystone says.

[NJ Hillbilly]

Is the crack in the slide itself or in the sidewall under the BR slide? The crack under the slide is cured with an expansion joint the crack in the slide itself is another story.

John

[tacodave]

The 4" crack is in the side of the unit starting at the bedroom slide opening on the lower front corner and proceeding at a 45 degree angle away from the corner. The delaminating here is minimal. The other area is much larger, maybe 18" square, and no cracks. You can just see it when the light hits it the right way.
I'll be heading to the dealer after the holiday weekend. Thanks for the comments.
Dave

[NJ Hillbilly]

The bedroom slide crack is a relative common occurrence that will get fixed and an expansion joint will get installed to keep it from happening again.

Good Luck with the other spot.

John

[sreigle]

Sounds like the other problem is a bubble caused by delamination. I had that on our 2880RL but it was under warranty and Keystone fixed it. The fix was to cut out the bad section and put in a new section. The repair facility did an excellent job of matching and making it very difficult to tell it was patched. In our case the bubble was just above the shower. Our dealer, at our request, had caulked around the base of the shower stall walls. We've since learned this is a no-no because it doesn't allow moisture to escape. So it finds another way out, and eventually delaminated the outside wall. I'm mentioning this in case you had the same thing done, so you can un-do the caulking.

[Montana_650]

I've got my 2004 2980 at the dealer right now for a delamination bubble. Apparently they start by cracks in the filon and then become larger as the delam takes place. The dealer is talking to the factory right now and thinks both sides need to come off and be replaced. I can tell this is going to get ugly. What kind of warranty would you expect after both sides have come completely off and been replaced? I'm afraid of future leaks and roof failures afer gutting this rig. My dealer has been great so far but there is only so much they can do with a problem like this.

[lightningjack11]

Dave,

When you call Keystone have your VIN number handy and make sure Service Advisory 00-8 has been performed. This maintenance is a frame upgrade for 99-2000 models. If it hasn't been done Keystone should perform this without charge.

I don't think that this is related to your problem but it needs to be done.

[ols1932]

I agree with sriegle. Call Keystone. They repaired our 2000 3555RL on August 2, this year. They "went the extra mile" for us.