First trip...shaking out misadventures - Montana Owners Club

BusyCarol · 09-03-2012, 12:03 PM

Well we are on our way home from our first adventure, and a good portion of misadventure, in our brand new 2013 3100RL.

Here is what we found for the shake down and misadventures on our trip. We were in Yellowstone for 5 nights. The first night we didn't arrive until 10:30pm because our first problem was a kinked fuel line that the dealer had to fix. Once that issue was resolved we were on our way...

1. While dealer was checking out the kink in the hose he evidently turned the back burner on low to check it out. Imagine my surprise when 2.5hours later I stepped in the trailer at a gas station to a horrible smell...the cooktop cover was being melted because the burner had been running the whole time we were driving! Good thing I needed to tinkle or it could have burned our trailer down! So my new cooktop cover that is a cut out of the solid surface countertop is all bubbled and melted!

2. We don't advise new fifth wheel owners to try parking at Fishing Bridge at night! We had trees on 2 sides of us and the space just barely fit after much manuevering at 11:20pm!

3. First time fifth wheel owners should remember to lower tailgate before unhooking rig! No further comment!

4. Auto leveling...although an amazing feature once you get the hang of it...it is NOT intuitive! So when you gleefully watch your landing gear lower your trailer all the way down...just remember you weren't the first person to watch this happen.

5. Wall paper trim likes adhesive if you would like it to stay up.

6. Keystone put EXCESSIVE amounts of plumbers putty in kitchen sink which, when heated to wash dishes, adheres to everything!

7. The bottoms of shower doors should be caulked with silicone before using...unless you want your wife to yell at you for getting water all over the floor!

8. Last but not least and definitely the MOST IMPORTANT...if you are the delighted owner of a new fifth wheel hitch please check ALL nuts and bolts to make sure they are secure before, during, and after your trip. Much to my surprise, when DH was hooking up I noticed the rails lift 3" off the unit. Evidently all 4 bolts had lost their nuts while we were traveling! Unfortunately we only found 3 of the 4! Luckily there is a repair shop in Fishing Bridge that had a nut and washer that allowed us to make it home. Thank God for pointing out the lifting railings or I might not have been around to make this post!

9. The pads on the leveling jacks need to be tightened down once in a while. At a gas station I noticed them wobbeling! We are now officially paranoid about checking every nut and bolt on the trailer!

Thank goodness both of us are handy with tools and are watching out for 'issues'!

We are halfway home...so keep your fingers crossed that we and the trailer/truck make it in one piece! We hope this post let all other new fifth wheel owners know they are not the only ones....

2.

bigred715 · 09-03-2012, 01:00 PM

Unfortunately, this all too common for our new Montanas. This is the sloppy workmanship at the factory and maybe you should send a letter listing all the problems to Keystone and tell them to get their act together. No excuse for this type of problems.

Exnavydiver · 09-03-2012, 01:13 PM

Another item you need to check is the U-bolts around the axles. Several of us have had them loosen to the point that the axles shifted and destroyed tires. Torque them to 75 lbs. You probably should not use an extension on the torque wrench. Just use a deep socket. There should be 4 nuts on each end of each axle. Just another item on the "things to check" list....

**DQDick** · 09-03-2012, 01:24 PM

Sorry you had your experiences, unfortunately it doesn't matter what make you buy quality control could be improved. Hang in there. Once you get them to make it right you can start making the changes that will truly make it yours.

richfaa · 09-03-2012, 01:42 PM

Please send that post to Keystone.Sloppy workmanship has got to stop. we have a nice list going for our 13 3402 Big sky.

BusyCarol · 09-03-2012, 03:48 PM

Thanks everyone for the sympathy! We are definitely going to let Keystone know via a phone call and a letter! I am overall happy, and even though I had a few moments of tears, I knew going into this adventure that there were going to be issues. Thanks to the members of this forum we were more prepared than most new owners!

BB_TX · 09-03-2012, 04:01 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BusyCarol

...............

3. First time fifth wheel owners should remember to lower tailgate before unhooking rig! No further comment!

..................

This holds true even after you have owned it for 3 years.

BusyCarol · 09-03-2012, 06:21 PM

Good to know Bill. I don't feel so bad now. The dealer never got a chance to go over hooking up with us because...well I don't know why but he didn't...and we did not realize how much they DIP when coming off their hitch! One small gouge later on the tailgate and a slightly paniced wife at 11:30pm will hopefully serve as a reminder for at least a while!

Champ_49 · 09-04-2012, 01:28 AM

Carol and Keith. To bad for the problems you had that should never happen in the first place. But I will say a trip to Fishing Bridge for a maiden voyage, arriving after dark and being completely new to you was by far a test that I would have never wanted to do. I would almost say you are now seasoned veterans......lol. Stay positive and keep pressure on Keystone to do the right things.

Dave

1retired06 · 09-04-2012, 02:02 AM

A couple of serious issues there!

BusyCarol · 09-04-2012, 05:07 PM

I spoke to Keystone today and gave them the entire litany of things that we had issues with. She thanked me profusely and said that she was going to contact the assembly line manager to let him know immediately about the 3 major things. For the rest she would submit a report...I bet I know what they do with that!

1. Gas line being kinked
2. Auto Leveling pads becoming loose
3. Less important but still a concern....the caulking under the shower doors and shower wall.

She was very nice and said for us to take the unit to the dealership and have them submit warranty claims. The dealership is going to try and get Keystone to pay for the solid surface covers for the stovetop because they would never have been in a position to have the burner on if Keystone hadn't screwed up with the gas line. I explained to the dealership that they should take some, if not all, responsibility for that.

As for the Pull-rite hitch the part that the nuts came off is part of the factory install NOT what the dealership did! So the dealership was in just as much shock as we were in and they assured me that they would make it right, check all of the bolts in the entire install, and immediately let Pull-rite know that they need to do some quality control. So a HUGE warning goes out to anyone who has a new Pull-rite Super Slide to check the nuts and bolts that hold the silver rails to the main hitch components.

Thanks Champ_49 for your kind words...'seasoned veterans'! After we went through all of this we were thinking 'complete idiots' but we will take Seasoned Veterans any day! Going to Fishing Bridge for 6 days/5 nights definitely put the trailer through her paces...it rained, it poured, we cooked, we vacuumed, we hooked/unhooked, we climbed to 8,530ft of elevation (Sylvan Pass) and we used every component of the trailer multiple times...maybe not correctly but definitely used!

'A couple of serious issues there!' definitely qualifies for the understatement of the year! We went to Red Lobster to celebrate the fact that we made it home safely! I almost kissed the stick house!

I will keep you posted! Dealership has been great about the whole thing. They are going to check into getting us new recliners because one of the issues I forgot to mention was that the armrests were crushed when someone placed the traveling straps over the arms of recliners and it crushed the arm rests and they never returned to their original shape. That was so minor compared to everything else I completely forgot to mention it!

Artemus Gordon · 09-04-2012, 06:02 PM

Like any new home there is a punch list. I had a few small things occur on our shakedown, but my smile remains! Good camping!

BusyCarol · 09-05-2012, 07:01 PM

Good point Gordon! The whole point of RVing is to relax. So, although I wasn't laughing when I saw the missing nuts and that the bolts were lifting out, we did realize how lucky we were to be out and about in Yellowstone and that staying in the trailer with all of the 'misadventures' still allowed us to have a wonderful time with our son!

Bigboomer · 09-06-2012, 01:06 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BusyCarol

Good point Gordon! The whole point of RVing is to relax. So, although I wasn't laughing when I saw the missing nuts and that the bolts were lifting out, we did realize how lucky we were to be out and about in Yellowstone and that staying in the trailer with all of the 'misadventures' still allowed us to have a wonderful time with our son!

Carol and Keith,

It looks like as long as you keep that positive attitude you will continue to enjoy your RVing experiences! Although none of us will ever poo poo the QC things, the key is to make sure you hold someone responsible for their actions and/ or problems.

You are going to find that no matter what trip it is you will find something will come up, small or large. Hopefully none are large and the small ones just become fodder around the campfire!

Must say that the break in trip to Yellowstone was an adventurous undertaking but heck, why not?

Safe Travels,

Les

BusyCarol · 09-08-2012, 05:24 PM

Thanks bigboomer! We always figure go big or go home...so that is why we decided to take the plunge and do Fishing Bridge. The good thing is that it was enough time to really put the rig through her paces. I think the only system we didn't use was the convection portion of the microwave. Otherwise everything is tested.

On a side note...I bet NO ONE ever asks you if your truck is big enough to haul your Montana!

BusyCarol · 09-08-2012, 06:16 PM

UPDATE: Wanted to let everyone with a new rig to know to check their linoleum floor in the kitchen. We discovered some bubbling on the floor near the counter & furnace vent area. It is about a 1' x 1' section. No big deal but I in the interest of full disclosure and for any other new rig owners I thought I should mention it.

We also found our u-bolts on the axle were not torqued all the way. So thanks to other MOC members for letting us know to check that.

Artemus Gordon · 09-08-2012, 07:23 PM

I agree with full disclosure. Look, it does not make "Montana" less of a product. It allows a good "heads up" that could save a life or at least prevent a disaster, like our slide issue. I love this group it's full of positive real people I think RVs are a work in progress. It amazes me they "take such a beating" and generally stay intact! That amazes me after a day on a rough roads, grueling day of curbs, steep driveways, sudden stops. You step inside and marvel at what still in place, not shattered. How many times have we all said "ouch, bet that broke something" after a large bump in the road. Open the door and chairs right where you left them, the candle you forgot on the counters, not on the floor! Wow what a marvel!

richfaa · 09-09-2012, 04:28 AM

The issues that may occur as we bump and grinds down the road are one thing and ues due to the beating these things take it is at times amazing that they hold together as well as they do.However....problems that come right off the assembly line should not be tolerated.We did on the last Montana....we will not on this one...

dejama · 09-09-2012, 04:27 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BusyCarol

Well we are on our way home from our first adventure, and a good portion of misadventure, in our brand new 2013 3100RL.

Here is what we found for the shake down and misadventures on our trip. We were in Yellowstone for 5 nights. The first night we didn't arrive until 10:30pm because our first problem was a kinked fuel line that the dealer had to fix. Once that issue was resolved we were on our way...

1. While dealer was checking out the kink in the hose he evidently turned the back burner on low to check it out. Imagine my surprise when 2.5hours later I stepped in the trailer at a gas station to a horrible smell...the cooktop cover was being melted because the burner had been running the whole time we were driving! Good thing I needed to tinkle or it could have burned our trailer down! So my new cooktop cover that is a cut out of the solid surface countertop is all bubbled and melted!

2. We don't advise new fifth wheel owners to try parking at Fishing Bridge at night! We had trees on 2 sides of us and the space just barely fit after much manuevering at 11:20pm!

3. First time fifth wheel owners should remember to lower tailgate before unhooking rig! No further comment!

4. Auto leveling...although an amazing feature once you get the hang of it...it is NOT intuitive! So when you gleefully watch your landing gear lower your trailer all the way down...just remember you weren't the first person to watch this happen.

5. Wall paper trim likes adhesive if you would like it to stay up.

6. Keystone put EXCESSIVE amounts of plumbers putty in kitchen sink which, when heated to wash dishes, adheres to everything!

7. The bottoms of shower doors should be caulked with silicone before using...unless you want your wife to yell at you for getting water all over the floor!

8. Last but not least and definitely the MOST IMPORTANT...if you are the delighted owner of a new fifth wheel hitch please check ALL nuts and bolts to make sure they are secure before, during, and after your trip. Much to my surprise, when DH was hooking up I noticed the rails lift 3" off the unit. Evidently all 4 bolts had lost their nuts while we were traveling! Unfortunately we only found 3 of the 4! Luckily there is a repair shop in Fishing Bridge that had a nut and washer that allowed us to make it home. Thank God for pointing out the lifting railings or I might not have been around to make this post!

9. The pads on the leveling jacks need to be tightened down once in a while. At a gas station I noticed them wobbeling! We are now officially paranoid about checking every nut and bolt on the trailer!

Thank goodness both of us are handy with tools and are watching out for 'issues'!

We are halfway home...so keep your fingers crossed that we and the trailer/truck make it in one piece! We hope this post let all other new fifth wheel owners know they are not the only ones....

2.

We also had the issue with what we THOUGHT was plummers putty. When we had it in for repairs and made a complaint they checked it out and found that ours had window putty not plummers putty. To quote the repair shop,...it was a mess.

dejama · 09-09-2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BusyCarol

UPDATE: Wanted to let everyone with a new rig to know to check their linoleum floor in the kitchen. We discovered some bubbling on the floor near the counter & furnace vent area. It is about a 1' x 1' section. No big deal but I in the interest of full disclosure and for any other new rig owners I thought I should mention it.

We also found our u-bolts on the axle were not torqued all the way. So thanks to other MOC members for letting us know to check that.

Ah yes, the linoleum, We too had trouble with ours..but only when the furnace came on and our floor would puff up like a marshmellow. We took the vents out and put duct tape around the opening sealing the linoleum to the subfloor and no more puffing up. Too bad that was not taken care of at the factory.

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