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Old 09-11-2020, 12:48 PM   #1
Donbar
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New Montana owners

Hello,
We took delivery of our first Montana in July. We've had travel trailers and campers for the last 25 years or so and this is our first fifth wheel. We purchased a High Country 294rl. So far we really like it but it is in the shop getting factory screw ups fixed at the moment. We've bought new trailers before and have not had as many problems as we do on this one. Hopefully we will get them all taken care of and will live happily ever after. My wife and are recently retired and looking forward to spending 4 to 5 months a year traveling around and getting out of the cold weather for a spell. Looking forward to all the information this forum has to offer.
 
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Old 09-11-2020, 12:53 PM   #2
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Welcome aboard! You've come to the right place. You're not a rookie so you already understand the ins and outs of trailering and will likely be contributing your experience here.

In the meantime, got a question? Just ask...
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Old 09-11-2020, 02:30 PM   #3
still working(NOT)
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Donbar,
I would be interested in what your problems were since we are close to a delivery date for our new 294rl as well.
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Old 09-11-2020, 03:11 PM   #4
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Welcome to the Forum and I am sorry to hear about your unit having issues. My 3160 also had quite a bunch of issues. You will probably find out that it seems like some units have lots of issues and others have basically no issues, of course there are some in between. Hopefully after these are fixed you will have smooth sailing.

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Old 09-11-2020, 04:16 PM   #5
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Welcome to the forum! May your new rig bring you many years of wonderful memories.
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Old 09-11-2020, 07:07 PM   #6
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Welcome aboard!
I believe the key to minimize the infancy defects and problems are in a very thorough PDI. Don't sign anything or take delivery until your punch list is completed and fixed to your satisfaction! There are some wonderful PDI check lists on other sections of this forum. Just do a search and you will find a bunch of them! Good luck!
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Old 09-11-2020, 08:10 PM   #7
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Welcome and safe travels!
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Old 09-12-2020, 09:25 AM   #8
Donbar
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Thank you everyone. In response to still working (NOT), most of the problems are minor. During the PDI we found two items - awning material blemish and frayed slide cable. The other problems were found on the first trip. The two big ticket items are the Darco material under the dinette slide is catching on something and tearing, lost 2/3 of a tank of fresh water that was sloshing out the vent. The other items are minor like - the toilet has water hammer when you flush, warped door on bedroom closet, weather seal started coming off one of storage compartment doors, missing the magnet that holds the glass closed by stereo and the emergency exit window is bent and it won't open all the way. Most of them are small easy fix items. We really like the trailer and once we get the bugs worked out I'm sure we will have a lot of fun with it. I've watched a lot of videos of RV's being built and the workers are moving at a high rate of speed. It's too bad the manufacturers can't come up with a cost affective way that would allow the workers a little more time to insure what they are installing is done correctly.
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Old 09-12-2020, 09:49 AM   #9
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Donbar, look at that Darco closely - that is a nightmare waiting to happen going forward if you don't get it now, and hopefully under warranty. Mine is in the shop now and that is the top priority of some of the things that are being done. The worst damage is being caused by defective/damaged rollers (LR slide). Kitchen slide is starting to fray on the ends from the wear bar (does not have rollers). I went through this on my last trailer and it cost me thousands to repair (out of warranty). Be very wary of how they propose to fix it, and, don't let them do it and then just tell you what the remedy was - too much as stake.

My glass over the stereo has the magnet in place but it still falls open over rough roads. Not enough magnet for the glass weight IMO. If they can't come up with a better solution I asked that they just place a like magnet on the other end of the glass panel.
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Old 09-12-2020, 10:07 AM   #10
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Congrats on the new 5er! I wouldn’t take any big trips until you have had a chance to do some “shake down” short camping near home. Thats when you start to find all the other snafus you missed. You will have a chance to get those fixed before any big trips. Test out everything in the rig. Hope there aren’t any more issues but at least you will have time to find them and get familiar with your rig.
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Old 09-12-2020, 10:09 AM   #11
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sourdough, The tear on ours is on the edge of the slide. Keystone's fix is to adjust or fix whatever is causing the tear and as far as the Darco repair goes the dealer has been instructed by them to put some Darco tape on the tear, bring it up around the corner and under the trim. Kind of hard to explain. The dealer told me the tape is 6 inches wide. I have my doubts I'm going to be happy with the fix. We are supposed to pick it up later this week. I feel it should be repaired just like it was when it left the factory. That would involve a lot work but it's not my fault the slide wasn't installed properly. The fix for the water coming out the vent is to raise the vent which requires bringing the vent hose up through a cabinet and then replacing the metal trim it was on. I can live with that as long as it works. I can't believe more people hasn't had this problem with the water. All the 294rl's I have looked at has the vent in the same location.
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Old 09-12-2020, 11:33 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Donbar View Post
sourdough, The tear on ours is on the edge of the slide. Keystone's fix is to adjust or fix whatever is causing the tear and as far as the Darco repair goes the dealer has been instructed by them to put some Darco tape on the tear, bring it up around the corner and under the trim. Kind of hard to explain. The dealer told me the tape is 6 inches wide. I have my doubts I'm going to be happy with the fix. We are supposed to pick it up later this week. I feel it should be repaired just like it was when it left the factory. That would involve a lot work but it's not my fault the slide wasn't installed properly. The fix for the water coming out the vent is to raise the vent which requires bringing the vent hose up through a cabinet and then replacing the metal trim it was on. I can live with that as long as it works. I can't believe more people hasn't had this problem with the water. All the 294rl's I have looked at has the vent in the same location.

All my tears/wear have been on the end edges of the slides. I knew the first response to repair the damage would be to put the tape on the damaged sections which I told the SM was a non starter. They had that on my last trailer and all it did was tear then roll up in balls under the slide because the wear bar just tore it off. What it is is a temporary solution to get you out of warranty then the cost is on you to fix it properly...and it ain't cheap.

Just as an fyi, in my conversation with a BAL engineer (maker of the AccuSlide) she advised that BAL does NOT recommend the cable slides w/wear bars to be used with a Darco bottom but Keystone persists. The answer? I don't know yet but I'm sure I'll be finding out in a few days; the SM has already told the Keystone rep that tape won't be the answer. We'll see.
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Old 09-12-2020, 12:02 PM   #13
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Wouldn't one solution be to just put the rollers in and keep the Darco off of the wear bar? I've thought about doing that
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Old 09-12-2020, 12:21 PM   #14
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Rollers are a better solution than darco running across the wear bar. I "thought" they had fixed the situation (running over the wear bar) with this one when I saw the roller. Did not count how many. Mine has 2 on the LR slide - the BAL engineer said on a 12' slide (approx.) there should be no less than 4 when I talked with her as I recall(couple of years ago).

On ours looks like one of the rollers was ruined from excess weight the first time the slide ever came out. The other rolls intermittently and hangs up the rest of the time. By the time I checked it (first trip) the Darco was damaged badly. The rollers did not roll properly. If it had been done/installed right I suspect the issue would have never arisen, but it wasn't. Unfortunately, now the Darco is damaged to the point of being a liability into the future unless something much better than repair tape is used. The service advisor proposed adding rollers (and replacing the bad ones) and I told him that was a partial answer. The replacement/repair of the damaged darco is THE primary issue. On my last one I caught it before the darco was so torn up and I had them put 1' strips of uhmw under the slides which fixed the problem. I don't think it would have weatherproofed the darco if it had been compromised so there will have to be a separate solution for that.
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Old 09-12-2020, 12:47 PM   #15
jsb5717
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Hmmm...so multiple issues.

Rollers installed early might be preventative and keep the Darco from being damaged.

Rollers installed incorrectly...a different issue

Darco already damaged - how to fix?
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Old 09-12-2020, 01:04 PM   #16
Donbar
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Originally Posted by jsb5717 View Post
Hmmm...so multiple issues.

Rollers installed early might be preventative and keep the Darco from being damaged.

Rollers installed incorrectly...a different issue

Darco already damaged - how to fix?
I have rollers and the damage is right where a roller is. I haven't been to the dealer to see what actually caused the trouble. I'm suspecting a roller was not level with the slide bottom and the metal portion of the roller was digging in. Just hope its a good repair job. Hate having to fight for everything to be done right.
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Old 09-12-2020, 01:41 PM   #17
sourdough
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Originally Posted by jsb5717 View Post
Hmmm...so multiple issues.

Rollers installed early might be preventative and keep the Darco from being damaged.

Rollers installed incorrectly...a different issue

Darco already damaged - how to fix?

Multiple issues is correct. If your Darco is undamaged installing rollers; proper number/size would probably prevent any damage to the darco material and is what BAL suggested to me.

If you do pursue the rollers call BAL and visit with them. They will want to know the height of the wear bar. The dealer said they had some "rollers" they could install and I told them I wanted the rollers that BAL recommended purchased from them, not some aftermarket item at a discounted price.

Permanently/properly repairing damaged darco to last 20 years is an impossibility IMO if the wear bar contact is not removed from the equation.
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Old 09-12-2020, 08:27 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough View Post

Just as an fyi, in my conversation with a BAL engineer (maker of the AccuSlide) she advised that BAL does NOT recommend the cable slides w/wear bars to be used with a Darco bottom but Keystone persists.
Keystone does other things not recommended by the manufacturer of components. What comes to mind is hanging holding tanks not according to specs. Not using the hydraulic slide motor breaker the manufacturer specifies. Not running satellite tv cabling to specs. Now this issue. How many more are there? If they intentionally use components outside of their design parameters they should stand behind the resulting problems.
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Old 09-16-2020, 06:50 PM   #19
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Hello
We have a 295rl and have had it out 3 times.
Nothing but problems. Most small problems but 2 days ago when we got to the campground. We started putting out the big awning and the right side corner were it attaches to the side of the outside wall it started coming out then i heard a popping noise and then i went out to look and it pulled the fist 3 screws out of the wall.
The screws were only 1/2 inch in wall and 2 others were stripped .
So i had to go and get bigger screws and silicone caulk at nearest hardware store .
Pics below.
Also gray & black tank pull rods for emptying out tanks were labeled wrong . Slide cable needed replacement due to installation been done wrong.
Top left clearance light on front cap hanging out of fiberglass cap. Ladder pulled out of wall on 2 attachment points.
And many other little problems.
Was told it would be 4 months to get it in to fix. So i done it myself.
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Old 09-18-2020, 07:35 PM   #20
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I guess they don't build them like they used to. 3 of 4 of my hydraulic slides glide on wear bars, and the darco is in perfect shape after 10 years of use. They have probably been in and out 500+ times. You could not give me a unit with cable slides or swintec slides.

I am holding onto my older unit forever. Way to many reported issues with the newer ones.
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