How Our Montana Spoiled Our Trip to Newfoundland

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How Our Montana RV Spoiled Our Trip to Newfoundland

By Dale H. Melton

When we set out on May 12, 2008, from our home in Sarasota, Florida, for the island of Newfoundland, little did we know what awaited us while travelling in our 2006 Montana fifth-wheel trailer. We had had earlier problems with the rig, but the challenges, inconveniences, and anxieties we experienced on the road were beyond belief!

Before leaving Florida, 170 miles from home, our tires began to shred. Determined to continue our trek, we purchased a new set of tires in Alachua, Florida, and stayed in an RV park there for the night.

Upon reaching Charlottesville, Virginia, our refrigerator stopped working. Certain that we could get a quick repair, we called mobile Marxway RV Service when we arrived in Salisbury, Massachusetts. After examining it, the service representative informed us that we would need to take it to a Dometic dealer for warranty repair or replacement and that we owed a trip charge. A call to Shannon at Dometic assured us that the appliance was still covered by the warranty as well as being on a recall list.

Another problem was our faux fireplace which broke from its brackets and slid back into its compartment. We repaired it by shoring up the side mountings with metal strips and long screws. Just another blip in a long list of woes!

Arriving in Windham, Maine, the home of our friends Rick and Nancy Goslin, we promptly left the RV with Scott Gardner, Service Writer, at Lee’s Family Trailer Sales and Service for several days of testing and documentation with Tommy at Dometic. Nevertheless, Lee’s service department employee, Randy, informed us that their staff would not be able to schedule the repair in a timely manner for us to resume our trip, and we owed for an hour of work.

Still determined to reach the Maritime Provinces, we compensated for a nonworking refrigerator by purchasing two Coleman electric coolers at Wal Mart, believing they were better than the ice-filled cooler of past camping trips in a poptop camper. Also, our traveling companions, Judy and Direlle Baird, generously shared their ice with us.

Shortly thereafter, while in Moncton, New Brunswick, the fan in our Atwood gas furnace began emitting high-pitched and scraping noises each time it was run. Thankfully, it continued to work even though noisily. Added to our other woes, the furnace was just an added stressor.

Assured that nothing else could possibly happen, we rolled through Nova Scotia, riding the Ferry to Newfoundland, and registering at Gros Morne RV Park in Rocky Harbor, Newfoundland. Within two days, while attempting to warm our dinner of black beans in our Apollo microwave/convection oven, we discovered that it, too, had stopped working. Could anything else happen?

Yes, it could! As we walked around checking the RV while waiting in line for the return trip by Ferry at Channel-Port aux Basques, I discovered that the wiring for the large slide had broken loose from its anchor so that it hung down well below the side moulding. Only because I had a bungie to secure it, did it stay well out of sight. What could have happened if it had caught on something and broken. This must be the last straw for a harried rver!

After experiencing all these problems on our trip, we began reviewing the history of our Montana since purchasing it at Suncoast RV in Pinellas Park, Florida. Most of the shanks on the compartment locks had had to be replaced because they were too short, causing the storage doors to open without notice. The dealer replaced two day/night shades and we reanchored or restrung three others (One still needs restringing). A leaking toilet was repaired by the dealer who gave us an extra seal “in case we had further problems”. Shortly, we had to install it in order to keep water in the bowl. The dining room slide has continually black-spotted the mint-green carpet, requiring its regular cleaning. Other problems include a couch cushion that tore at its seam, a defective converter the dealer replaced, and a circuit breaker that often trips when the rv is plugged into 50 amp power.

We want to keep this unit, our third Montana fifth wheel trailer, believing it to be structurally sound, with an excellent floorplan and beautifully decorated, but we now wonder whether we are making a wise decision. What should we do now, and what is still ahead? Is someone trying to tell us something? Is this what rving is all about? Could Montana’s owners, Suncoast RV, Dometic, Atwood and Apollo fix these problems and, thus, make it right again?

Incidentally, didn’t we hear that Thor Industries, Inc. bought the Keystone RV Company , Montana’s parent company? Could this unit have been built during the transition?