Structural Issue?

[Marty 579]

My 3820FK just went into the shop in the last couple of weeks for what we believe is sidewall separation from the aluminum frame. The way I discovered the issue was that the front Schwintek slide was not going all the way in on the front lower side. It lacked about 1/2 inch of travel to get all the way to the sidewall panel. I put a straight edge on the sidewall panel and you could see where the sidewall drifted inward near the lower section of the sidewall.
Keystone has authorized a repair that involves pulling the front cap and repairing the sidewall. Dealer says they will inspect further when the cap is off to see if it might be something else too... Dealer said they had estimated 20 hours if it is frame separation.

[mootana]

Originally Posted by Wally Dad

I noticed today that the right sidewall is separating when we hitch up. When we loaner the landing gear, the sidewalk reseats and the aluminum skirt beneath it buckles slightly. We also have a seam in the bedroom floor that runs sideways along the point the bed slide travels. I’ve attached some pics.

We are in WY on our way to Colorado Springs for a month. I hope to get it into a local dealer then. Has anyone experienced this? Any advice?

Dear Wally Dad,
I'd like to try and help you. I've sent you a PM (private message). Please respond when you can.

[Wally Dad]

Update: We have contacted Keystone, provided pictures, and have been advised to make an appointment with a service center. As we are in Colorado, we would prefer to use one near our home in Southern Indiana. Call after call resulted in waiting periods over a month to get in or even complete refusal to make an appointment. Finally, we found a service center in Goshen Indiana (4 hours away from our home) that will fit us in at a convienient time. We confirmed with Keystone that we can move the trailer and that we can remain here in Colorado for the month (so we don't lose our pre-paid monthy rent).

So I hope that we are on the right track now. Given the the Keystone factory is in Goshen, if the service center can't complete the job, at least we don't have far to go!

[Marty 579]

Wally Dad,
I'm curious as to what they found on your rig. Mine is still in the shop.

[Wally Dad]

Originally Posted by Marty 579

Wally Dad,
I'm curious as to what they found on your rig. Mine is still in the shop.

We will pull into the shop on 18 July. Hope to find out what’s up then.

[Wally Dad]

Originally Posted by Wally Dad

I noticed today that the right sidewall is separating when we hitch up. When we lower the landing gear, the sidewall re-seats and the aluminum skirt beneath it buckles slightly. We also have a seam in the bedroom floor that runs sideways along the point the bed slide travels. I’ve attached some pics.

UPDATE: We pulled into Affinity RV on 18 July, went over our issues so that Affinity could submit a warranty repair request. The "flex frame" repair was authorized, but the floor issue was not. Keystone seemed to think that fixing the flex would also address the floor without any additional work. I asked Affinity to address it anyway at my expense.

We went to pick up the trailer two weeks later and oooops, they had only fixed the driver's (left) side! The problem I described was still there on the passenger side. Their explanation was that "this repair" is typically only needed on the side with the bed slide due to its weight. However, my problem was mostly affecting the opposite side. Fortunately, a Keystone representative was on site (they are next door), so he looked at it and authorized the "additional" work. That also gave me an opportunity to actually see what the repair was. Essentially, they opened the front cap and removed lag screws from the bottom of the wall. They then drove long wood boards into the hollow aluminum supports and replaced the lag screws with much longer ones. So now this has been done on both sides. There is not any visible movement anymore - I am hoping that the problem is permanently solved. Pictures attached.

[richfaa]

That is what they do to correct the problem as they did it on our 06 3400. It may or may not hold. It held for a couple of years on the 06 3400 then broke again. We are high end users with many road miles a year,

[FreeRoamn]

Originally Posted by Marty 579

My 3820FK just went into the shop in the last couple of weeks for what we believe is sidewall separation from the aluminum frame. The way I discovered the issue was that the front Schwintek slide was not going all the way in on the front lower side. It lacked about 1/2 inch of travel to get all the way to the sidewall panel. I put a straight edge on the sidewall panel and you could see where the sidewall drifted inward near the lower section of the sidewall.
Keystone has authorized a repair that involves pulling the front cap and repairing the sidewall. Dealer says they will inspect further when the cap is off to see if it might be something else too... Dealer said they had estimated 20 hours if it is frame separation.

Not to hijack the thread but I just dropped my 2017 3160RL with outward bulging wall and separated seam at the lower left corner of the bedroom slide. Dealer said yep, broken wall stud, frame flex likely the issue. They will remove front cap and re-weld, re-enforce frame, etc. 23hr repair job. Said they have done this repair on 4 other Montana's and have all the factory tools to complete the repair and said it will not happen again once they are done with it. We shall see.