Wall flexing when operating slide

[CT Wanderer]

Brought my 305RL into the dealer because of a loud bang as the dining slide reached all the way out. I assumed it was the gear motor as the kitchen slide was making the same noise last year just before the gear motor failed and I couldn't move the slide. Well the dealer looked at it and said the wall is flexing when the slide moves out. They put in a ticket to Keystone and was told it is out of warranty. The dealer is following up with them and is pursuing Keystone good willing the repair. I see that others on this forum have had success with Keystone covering the repair. We were planning on leaving to go camping for two weeks but are delaying at least a day to hopefully get a favorable answer from Keystone.

[richfaa]

Good luck .That is a long time out of warranty but Keystone has done it on occasion. You might want to revisit the value of a good extended warranty

[CT Wanderer]

I have an extended warranty but I told it doesn't cover structure repairs. It covers any components that fail. The gear motor repair on the kitchen slide was covered. When you say good extended warranty are there ones that cover anything that goes wrong?

[1retired06]

There have been other posts on this forum re High Country wall flex with cable slides. If I recall, keystone repaired at least one Forum Member rig by reinforcing the wall design.

[Loneoak]

We had a weld break and the wall moved when the slide moved. The service place fixed it, and Keystone agreed to pay the bill (a few hundred dollars). We have yet to see the money, however. The repair took place in November.

[mootana]

Originally Posted by CT Wanderer

Brought my 305RL into the dealer because of a loud bang as the dining slide reached all the way out. I assumed it was the gear motor as the kitchen slide was making the same noise last year just before the gear motor failed and I couldn't move the slide. Well the dealer looked at it and said the wall is flexing when the slide moves out. They put in a ticket to Keystone and was told it is out of warranty. The dealer is following up with them and is pursuing Keystone good willing the repair. I see that others on this forum have had success with Keystone covering the repair. We were planning on leaving to go camping for two weeks but are delaying at least a day to hopefully get a favorable answer from Keystone.

CT Wanderer,
I might be able to help. I've sent you a PM.

[mootana]

Originally Posted by Loneoak

We had a weld break and the wall moved when the slide moved. The service place fixed it, and Keystone agreed to pay the bill (a few hundred dollars). We have yet to see the money, however. The repair took place in November.

Loanaok,
I'd like to know more details about your repair. I've sent you a PM.

Thanks

[darrylwt]

Originally Posted by CT Wanderer

Brought my 305RL into the dealer because of a loud bang as the dining slide reached all the way out. I assumed it was the gear motor as the kitchen slide was making the same noise last year just before the gear motor failed and I couldn't move the slide. Well the dealer looked at it and said the wall is flexing when the slide moves out. They put in a ticket to Keystone and was told it is out of warranty. The dealer is following up with them and is pursuing Keystone good willing the repair. I see that others on this forum have had success with Keystone covering the repair. We were planning on leaving to go camping for two weeks but are delaying at least a day to hopefully get a favorable answer from Keystone.

When I had my HC 305RL I had the wall on the main slide pop loose and wall moved 2" I heard it break the welds I took it to the dealer and they drooped the skirt and supported the wall and did a great job and in the inside added a black piece of angle iron to support it to the floor and added molding to cover it and it was good after that... I am not a fan of cable slides thats why I got a Montana with hydraulic slides but everything has problems sooner or later

[Loneoak]

Originally Posted by mootana

Loanaok,
I'd like to know more details about your repair. I've sent you a PM.

Thanks

Just as an update, someone at Keystone contacted me and is looking after this.

It’s nice to know that they read the forum and take action.

[CT Wanderer]

I was contacted by the Assistant Product Manager for Montanna the day of my post. He forwarded my info to Customer Relations and I got a call from them saying they will do the repair on my wall. I'm now working with my local dealer to get the repair done.

Thanks to Montanna for monitoring this forum and standing behind their product.

[Martin Brown]

I’m having a similar problem on my 2013 Montana 3725RL. The kitchen slide goes out cocked. I’ve observed the rod that connects the two gears starts and stops rotating. Is there a quick fix or do I need dealer repair?

[CT Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Martin Brown

I’m having a similar problem on my 2013 Montana 3725RL. The kitchen slide goes out cocked. I’ve observed the rod that connects the two gears starts and stops rotating. Is there a quick fix or do I need dealer repair?

I can’t help you with that, my unit has cable slides and yours I believe are hydraulic. I know there are a number on this forum with a lot of experience with those slides that can probably help you out.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by Martin Brown

I’m having a similar problem on my 2013 Montana 3725RL. The kitchen slide goes out cocked. I’ve observed the rod that connects the two gears starts and stops rotating. Is there a quick fix or do I need dealer repair?

The rod connecting the two gear packs should rotate as the slide goes out (or in). It is the drive shaft for the gears. There is a shear bolt connecting the two pieces of the rod. I suspect it has broken. As I recall it is a 1/4" x 20 bolts. It is easy to replace. Be sure to get the slides gears aligned on the track before inserting the bolt.

A Search on "slide shear bolt" should uncover lots more discussion about this common problem.

[Rondo]

You beat me again Carl on giving some helping suggestions! You the Man

[Martin Brown]

Thanks. I’ll have a look. My guess was that something was preventing the shaft/rod from rotating correctly.

[Martin Brown]

I checked and didn’t see anything broken.
Guess I’ll have let dealer fix it. Hopefully my extended warranty will pay for repair.

[Old Okie]

Originally Posted by Loneoak

Just as an update, someone at Keystone contacted me and is looking after this.

It’s nice to know that they read the forum and take action.

We have a 2017 HC 305RL with a broken weld allowing the wall to flex when the slide is operated. At dealer now, also hoping for an out of warranty fix.

[CT Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Old Okie

We have a 2017 HC 305RL with a broken weld allowing the wall to flex when the slide is operated. At dealer now, also hoping for an out of warranty fix.

Hope you have the same result as us. It took them a few days longer because they weren’t setup for aluminum welding so they had to get parts and materials. This was the first aluminum wall they have repaired. We picked up our trailer on Monday and left Tuesday morning for the Outer Banks.
Got it back just in the nick of time to stay on schedule.

[Old Okie]

CT Wanderer: Glad you guys got fixed up and are headed for the outer banks. It's also good to know Keystone is monitoring this forum. Maybe it will help the case to get mine fixed!

[Old Okie]

My thanks to Keystone and Jamatt RV of Poteau, OK. The broken structural weld causing wall flex at the lower front end of the living room slide has been repaired on my out of warranty 2017 Montana High Country 305RL at no charge to me!

Evidently, the square (or rectangular) vertical framing tube for the slide-out had only been welded to the lower horizontal framing member on one side at the factory, rather than all four sides, a weakness which led to the failure of the one side weld. Keystone provided an engineered fix, which the dealer installed, consisting of repairing the joint with three steel plates bolted to the framing members. My understanding is that Keystone now has made a 3 year structural warranty standard on trailers manufactured since around September 2017 (mine was built earlier). So I suspect they've beefed up the quality control in this crucial area.

My advice for anyone experiencing this problem is to call Keystone Customer Service asap, then provide them with a good description of the problem along with pictures showing what is happening with the wall. Provide copies of the same to your dealer. Also, send a link to this forum thread to Keystone and your dealer. Doing this quickly and before leaving your trailer in the dealer's shop will probably work to your advantage.

Also, thanks to you other 305RL owners posting on this thread with the same problem! I think Keystone really wants to keep people seeing the Montana/Montana High Country brand as a premium one and this forum is both a great feedback tool to them as well as giving us owners some leverage in getting problems like this fixed!

Thanks again,

Old OKie