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Old 09-23-2019, 11:10 AM   #1
Golfmedik
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"Frame flex" 2 years after repair

Several of you followed my thread and story a while back about what has been referred to as "frame flex". Although we are talking about the aluminum framing, as in walls and floor, the name stuck.
I had two appointments with Keystone guys to come look at the camper while at the rally. Both appointments were no shows by the teams and a rep was contacted. (these guys were incredibly busy!) They came around lunch time on Friday. They both agreed that the left front was beginning to lift as it had done in the past which was tearing the caulking and showing the tan under the stripe. As I had figured would happen, they said they could do nothing and management would be in touch with me. They both agreed that the other issue of the skirting coming out from under the baggage door was just a poorly cut piece of skirting and both agreed that the left rear area between the front edge of the rear slide and the baggage door was in fact delam. The rig had been seen at the factory for that back when the front was repaired the first time and I was told it was just a "misaligned stud" in the wall. Thus the reason for the bulge. Funny thing is I can take to another '16 and an '18.5 that both have the same area starting to do the same.
We told the guys that I was disappointed as we were having to leave Monday morning going home and could not stay. On the way home, in Kentucky, I was called by the factory rep and was asked to bring it by so they could look at it. I explained we were on the way home and he said he was sorry that information had not been relayed to him. He sent me an email and his contact number and asked me to contact him when we got home. The techs had taken pics that he had, so I sent a few more when I got home in an email and also left him a voicemail last Wednesday. I haven't heard from him yet. It's really frustrating that after all this time, it has started to flex again. These are the pics I sent him via email. I also asked if it were possible for the delam area to have anything to do with the skirting buckling and pulling directly underneath. So, now we wait.
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Old 09-23-2019, 01:12 PM   #2
bshgto
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no confidence

Followed you from the beginning. My unit has done the same thing .2 trips to 2 different Cw and both let my unit sit for months and lied to me about it being worked on, went by the first Cw and it had not moved so I hooked up told them F off and left. Second did the same thing lied and finally went and got it cause the service manager said you can not fix a vacuum bonded wall so that`s all I needed and hooked up and left with my finger in the air. Keystone was following my problems but in the end didn`t offer any support other than telling me the Dealer must call and tell them it needs to go back to the factory for repairs before they will do anything about it. And that was it for me. Called a welder and 3 days of off and on of my work some extra hands for the cap removal rent 3 bucks of scaffolding and 3 hours and 400 dollars for the welder and I fixed it my self. You do not have to take the slide out either you take the dresser out then push the slide in after removing the outside trim easy peasy. So far so good with me.
I suggest you do the same. There are many many people on the different Facebook sites that have the same issue and have had them fixed with varying degrees of success. I`m done with Keystone and their Dealers. I had a plastic water fitting blow out and now I`m replacing all fittings with brass or shark bite fittings cause I can`t trust the plastic ones any more. Their are 2 other people that this has happen to on other Keystone forums so that`s enough for me to replace them all.The Montana Rep i talked to at the Hershey show said they are doing something else with studs now so it won`t do that on the new units. Not sure I believe him and really don`t care and told him I saw nothing in the new ones that would make me buy a new unit. He admitted sales are down but still can`t get all the units made already delivered because of the lack of drivers with trucks. I still like my camper and will be keeping it but fixing and paying for all repairs myself and just chalking it up to the true cost of ownership.
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Old 09-23-2019, 02:07 PM   #3
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Interesting. Julie asked me if my dealer was CW. Tehy are famous for throwing up their hands with this type of issue. Too bad Golfmedic you could not stay long enough to get CSC to look at it. I am willing to bet your results would have been different.

I also had an issue with the DS rear J trim coming loose. Looking at what was on the factory floor every one will have the same issue. I pointed it out to our tour guide. How in the world that gets by QA is beyond me.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:43 PM   #4
Mr Pachu
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My 2015 3790RD was was showing the same flex as Golfmedik's. The side skirting came loose on both sides like on Golfmedik's trailer. But also on my trailer, the back wall came loose all along the bottom, halfway up the right side and three feet up the left side. Along with numerous other problems, I got rid of that trailer ASAP as my dealer did all they could to get Keystone to help but with no luck.



No more Keystone trailers for me.
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Old 09-24-2019, 12:44 PM   #5
jcurtis934
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The keystone tour in 2013 I took showed no evidence of QA or QC on the lines. Do I believe they have people separate from the floor workers doing the assembly that can stop a line and get correction in a business like building trailers...no way. I also toured the drv plant at the same time, when they were not part of thor, and quality assurance and control was evident on the line. I still believe owners, other than the initial buying dealers, are the best workers to correct issues that we get in these units. We care more, we aren't time constrained to fix it right, we troubleshoot to understand the problem faults not just chase symptoms and throw parts at those. Of course, there are those owners that can't physically do this, there are owners that only camp close to home or weekend camp or short vacation in them...so a dealer is a viable source of failure remediation. And there has to be lots of trailers that make it through the line built by caring workers. We get what we get.
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Old 10-03-2019, 04:17 PM   #6
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Hi, we have a 2010 3400RL Montana and we have had the so called frame flex and lippert said that the frame tolerances were within specs, but everytime we hook up the sidewall of the front of the the sides (Both) seperate from the moldings. This has been going on for a couple of years with no solution. We are full time. RV'ers.
Good Luck.
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Old 10-03-2019, 06:46 PM   #7
bshgto
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so so

Quote:
Originally Posted by monterose View Post
Hi, we have a 2010 3400RL Montana and we have had the so called frame flex and lippert said that the frame tolerances were within specs, but everytime we hook up the sidewall of the front of the the sides (Both) seperate from the moldings. This has been going on for a couple of years with no solution. We are full time. RV'ers.
Good Luck.
Don`t you just love being lied to. Keystone and a lot of their dealers will lie to you to get you off the phone and think it`s perfectly acceptable to do so. I can take people making mistakes. I can even take peoples incompetence some times cause at least they tried. But when I`m lied to cause they think I`m stupid, uninformed or to incapable to understand the subject. They think they can feed you a line of bull, and I really think they pride themselves in doing it. But this is where I draw the line. Remember most if not all could not afford the unit you have and most if not all will ever be able to go out and find a job that pays anything because they are the dumb ones.
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Old 10-03-2019, 06:52 PM   #8
beeje
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Our unit displayed the same issues. I investigated it myself and I determined that some movement in that area is normal. What I did is remove the trim piece under the overhang and down towards the ground on both sides. What I discovered was MANY missing screws and absolutely NO sealant other than a caulk bead from trim to gelcoat siding.

I cleaned everything up and pumped a tube or 2 on clear silicon on each side, put in way more screws.

Its hard to explain in words, but to put in simple terms, they did as little as possible to seal up an area that flexes quite a bit.
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