Cracked Frames

[Montana_63]

I spent last weekend at and RV park in Valdez Alaska. While there one of the other guests came by to ask about my truck. He mentioned that while he was having a rack for his truck made in Sacremento CA he noticed a Montana 5th wheel waiting for repairs. He asked the owner what it was in for and was told that it had a cracked frame. The owner also stated that is was the 4th one he had done. Anyone heard of a problem like this?

2003 Chevy Silverado LT,CC,SB,Duramax
Husky 16K Slider
2002 Montana 2955RL

[D and M On The Road]

While visiting with Hamrad and his lovely wife when they were in our neck of the woods in June '04, they showed us a crack in their fiberglass just at the lower left of their bedroom slide.
Well heck..... after thinking about it on our last camping trip we checked just below our bedroom slide and found a crack in our fiberglass.

Since we bought our Montana in Reno which is about 3 hours away from us, I guess the best thing for us to do is contact Keystone directly and see if they will authorize a repair and also a search of the frame to make sure everything is okay there also.

We'll probably miss some very valuable summertime camping because of this ..

We'll keep you posted.

[Gypsy]

Has anyone had a problem with the extended pin box coming loose up under the bedroom? I think that happened to my 3295RK yesterday. I noticed a lot of bouncing and sideways tilting as I towed about 30 miles. Earlier in the day I had some work done at a reputable dealer but nothing was related to the pin box. They tighted some screws that had come loose underneath the bedroom and added some others where they had stripped out, but that's the only thing I can think of that could be related. It was scary watching the trailer buck and sway behind me! Now I'm afraid to move as I don't want to lose the trailer while making a turn. I wonder if the RV dealer will make a house call? Any advice?

[HamRad]

GypsySCM
I'd drop the rig and grab onto the pin and see if it is loose. Look at all the bolts and make sure they are tight. I check mine from time to time. The bolts I've checked are so tight I don't think I could ever get them loose. I don't remember seeing where it is actually attached to the trailer. I'll go look this pm. If they did work in the bedroom area they may have done something to the pin connection. Like you said... not very likely but who knows! If it is moving more than you think usual or proper then get some knowledgeable person to check it out if you can't figure it out. Don't take a chance! Good luck and let us know the outcome.

HamRad

[Gypsy]

It turns out the welds started to crack, so I found a welder who would come on site to mend the cracks and add gussets to the corners to strengthen the whole assembly. I hope this takes care of the problem!

[HamRad]

GypsySCM,
Now that is scary. Sure glad you found it in time to avoid a disaster. Funny that the guys at the RV place where you had some work done didn't notice it. But maybe it only was apparent under a load. Whatever! The important thing is you found it and you fixed it before anyone got hurt! Hope you have many more happy RVing days.

HamRad