Am I the only one?

[stiles watson]

Am I the only one to have a problem with the catches, that hold open the bay doors, rusting out? They are chromed metal on my Monty. All four, one on each basement door and the two on the front bay door had significant rust, not on the outer chrome, but on the base that was screwed to the shell. In any case, I replaced them with plastic ones. When the UV rays destroy them, I will be looking for another solution. Always lookin' for a better mouse trap.

[foggyb]

They are terrible but the plastic ones break too easy. Dan

[prariepoodle]

I have not had this happen yet but will now be watching them closely.

[nkwist]

I had 2 replaced under warranty. I'm going to put car wax on them now to see if it helps. ???

Norm

[joe2speed]

Mine began to rust when the coach was only a few months old. It began to leave rusty stains on the side of the coach. I guess Keystone's vender for the catches did not chrome them properly. I have changed mine to the plastic ones they sell in the Camping World catalog. They haven't broke yet, and if they do they are cheap enough to replace. And no more rusty stains.

[stiles watson]

Ditto on the rust stains. That's why I changed mine at a cost of $1.30 each from my local RV dealer plus probably five cents worth of plumbers putty. Stains cleaned up easily, but I am concerned that in cold weather whether the plastic ones get brittle and break easily as many plastics do. I guess we'll see.

[Chester]

We had the plastic catches on our Montana. In 4 years only one broke. That was when the wind caught the entry door and blew it into the opened basement door. The catch broke and that was all the damage there was. Had it been a chrome catch there may have been damage to the entry door. Our fiver sits outside all winter here in Ontario Canada and the cold has never been an issue with the catches...but obviously they don't get a big workout during this period.

[sgf]

Same here too, the back rusted when the unit was only a few months old, dealer installed new ones, did the same.Went to the local Carriage dealer and bought there style,stainless steel type for only 3 bucks each, no more rust.

[Mr Zip]

Mine rusted with in two or three months they had installed them up about four to five inches above the hinge the wind caused them to unlacth twice and I guess it was the second set of stars that made me decide to do something. I bought latches exactly like the one that hold the entrance door open only these are about two inches long so now when I put it up it stays until I decide to close it.

[stiles watson]

Marvin, maybe you have found the better mouse trap.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Marvin, Gotta agree with Stiles, you may have found the solution to 2 problems.
I had thought of taking the catches off and painting them with a clear urethane but your idea would also save me a few headaches as well. Those doors do hurt when they close unexpectedly. Been there, done that toooo many times.

While we are on the subject of the compartment doors, has anyone replaced the foam rubber seal around the doors?

[thundercat]

I had to replace ours after about three months. The chrome doesn't rust but the pins and springs are standard unfinished steel and rust quite rapidly. I replaced them with plastic ones that have stainless steel hardware. The rust problem is gone but the new ones don't hold the large hatches as well so every once in a while you get knocked in the head with a falling hatch.

[joe2speed]

Glenn, I'm glat you asked that question about the rubber seal around the compartment doors. A couple of mine stuck to the door and when I opened the door it peeled about a foot of it off. Tried sticking it back up, but it keeps coming off. I am keeping an eye out for some 1/4 inch sticky back foam.

the rubber seal stuck to the door and peeled the rest off. I am keeping an eye out for some kind of sticky back rubber foam to replace it.

[Montana_2230]

I redid the compartments striping on my pull behind Outback. I got the 1/4 inch stuff from Home Depot, Lowes also has it. Not a hard task to do. Just takes a little work to get some of the old striping off, I cleaned the channel with some cleaning fluid before applying the new stuff . Just make sure you leave it be for a while before closing the doors on it. I let my sit for a day..after messing up one compartment. Also before taking the the old stuff off , notice how it fits in the channel and put the new stuff in the same way. Mine was butted up to the top/ outside part of the channel. It may not be called a channel, but it's where you stick the striping to the metal. Good luck.

[Montana_2360]

We are buying a new 2004 2980RL. When going over the coach with the dealer I pointed out the rusty catches and stains on the surface(this a new coach). He assured me that they would replace the catches and remove the stains. I asked him why Montana did not put on stainless steel catches since this was obviously a continuing problem. He replied that they were too expensive and that consumers wanted RV's they could afford so Montana had to hold down cost. After reading the above it looks like the cost difference between the catches currently put on the Montana ($1.70 each)and the stainless steel on a Carriage ($3.00 each) is a $1.30. So my new Montana could have stainless steel catches for a grand total of $1.30 x 6 catches or $7.80. Now I would think Montana should be able to find $7.80 to keep from having to replace those catches and keep six rust stains from running down the side of a white $35000.00 trailer every few months.

[stiles watson]

Every once in a while we see that the tail wags the dog.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

quote:Originally posted by joe2speed

Glenn, I'm glat you asked that question about the rubber seal around the compartment doors. A couple of mine stuck to the door and when I opened the door it peeled about a foot of it off. Tried sticking it back up, but it keeps coming off. I am keeping an eye out for some 1/4 inch sticky back foam.

I replaced the seal shortly after I got the rig. Within a month the crap that came from the factory started to come off. I bought some 3M foam much like Montana used and that didn't stay on any better. I found some weatherstrip made by Henkel Consumer Adhesives, same people make Duck Tape.
I found it at WallyWorld. The actual name is SuperR, R-Seal Weatherstrip, R-profile seal. It comes in white, 3/8"Wide X 1/4"Thick X 17"Long.
Here is the best part. Instead of placing it on the frame of the opening where the original was located. I put it on the door itself where it gets less abuse form puting things in and out of the compartment. Just be sure you get all the old adhesive off. Being white it is hardly noticed when the door is open. It's been on over a year now with no problems.

[ousooner]

I have seen a very similar product at Lowes. It had an adhesive backing and looked like it would be a pretty simple project to change.