New to Montana, New to 5ers, and New to Forum

[CaptnJohn]

Lippert has sent welders to repair frames under warranty and beyond at times. Think they would for problems they could blame on Anderson? I'll stick with B&W!

[Sparatacus]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

We'd all like to think that Andersen would, in fact, cover frame damage that Keystone denies. I think most of us doubt it would be that simple. If an expensive investigation actually showed a broken weld, for instance, Keystone would blame that on the Andersen hitch and deny the claim. Andersen would claim it's a manufacturing defect and deny the claim. Who's left holding the bag?

It would be interesting to find out how many times that Andersen has actually covered a claim denied by an OEM.

You know, I was thinking the same thing in your statement.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

Lippert has sent welders to repair frames under warranty and beyond at times. Think they would for problems they could blame on Anderson? I'll stick with B&W!

I’m with you. Especially on a brand new unit. What happens if they both deny the claim, each blaming each other? How do you prove your claim in that situation? I think the OEM mfg warranty takes priority. I’ll stick with my B&W slider. If you stick with the Anderson it seems like your rolling the dice and hope its not snake eyes. Best of luck and hope there is never an issue..

[Sparatacus]

Or he can think about getting the Reese Gooseneck King Pin.

[USA-C2C]

Originally Posted by Sparatacus

Lol, it's like back to the future.

Do you have any pics of your setup?

I don't have any pics of the set up yet because the dealer is fixing the bedroom slide before we take delivery. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can take delivery and I will take some pics

[Fred]

Originally Posted by rolandsnyder

New to Montana and also new to this forum. We just traded in our 2020 Flying Cloud Airstream for a new Montana Legacy 3121rl hoping to enjoy a little more space. We went to pick up the new Montana from the dealer last week only to find out after arriving that the bedroom slide was broken. Disappointing to have to leave it there for repair and hopefully it will not take months and months to get it fixed.

Pulling it with 2022 Ford F-350 SRW diesel, 6 3/4' bed and decided to try the Andersen Ultimate Gooseneck Mount hitch from the dealer.

I am sure that once we get our RV, we will tap all of you on this forum for lots of answers, suggestions, and comments.

Welcome to the Montana forum:

AND welcome to the poor quality of the Thor brand and everything RV. I have a love - hate relationship with RVs.

Make sure that the Anderson hitch is permitted by Lippert, your frame manufacturer??? Don't you need a sliding hitch with a 6-1/2' bed???...... So you don't hit the back of the cab? Or is there enough off-set with the Anderson? Does the off-set affect ride quality?

We went with the Reese Goosebox and ball (8' bed though). Smooth as silk and takes up zero room in the bed of the truck.

First: Make sure you buy a tire pressure and temperature monitoring system and if you have a residential fridge upgrade to at least two (2) 100ah deep cycle batteries and get some solar to keep the batteries charged when towing and parked (your truck might not have enough output on the 7 way to keep up with the 400 watts 120V fridge on long drives.) When traveling remove the loose parts inside the microwave or you may find them in the sink in pieces when you arrive at your destination (don't ask why I know this). And, mouse proof your RV.

I have to say though. There's nothing like the room of a 5th wheel. We have 5 slides and is like a mobile office and condo.

So far: replaced front hydraulic jacks, (one of the slide pistons still leaks fluid though), replaced water pump, replaced furnace sail switch, reattached countless pieces of trim, replaced failed 1000W inverter, replaced all brakes and an obliterated brake assembly and drum on the drivers side that self destructed on I-70 in Colorado, replaced the rear 50 amp inlet plug assembly, repaired two broken wire support springs under the slides (easy repair), repaired bedroom sliding door tracks several times, Added 600 watts of solar, Repaired at least three window shades, The original batteries need replacing now and I've noticed that my bed slide now racks sideways when putting it in an out so maybe that's going to fail soon? The microwave has some how vibrated itself loose and is about to fall off the cabinet. I need to get that done before our next outing in three weeks.

From time to time you will find loose screws, bolts and broken screw heads here and there as things start to come apart.

We considered downsizing and trading in our M3561rl for an Airstream 30FC just recently. 14 month wait for delivery and the better part of a $100k more $$ plus the full trade value of the M. I'll stick with the traveling condo for now.......

Happy travels.

Fred
2019 M3561rl, 15,000+ miles
2019 Ford F-450, 100,000 miles, 10.0 MPG when towing.

[rames14]

For those with a bedroom slide synchronization error, just curious if you continue to hold the button in once you have it all the way in/out? Our dealer told us this keeps the two motors synchronized. We used to put slide part way out, then check surroundings. Our dealer told us not to partially extend or retract our schwintech slides (not referring to cable slides). So far, this has kept us from having issues. I believe if it does get out of time that running it in, holding it for 3 seconds, then extend and do the same may help. If not, here is Lippert’s procedure.
https://youtu.be/K7ooxh3IE8s

[432bartman]

If Anderson didn't honor a warranty claim, their business would very likely go down the toilet.

[USA-C2C]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

I’m with you. Especially on a brand new unit. What happens if they both deny the claim, each blaming each other? How do you prove your claim in that situation? I think the OEM mfg warranty takes priority. I’ll stick with my B&W slider. If you stick with the Anderson it seems like your rolling the dice and hope its not snake eyes. Best of luck and hope there is never an issue..

Thanks and probably a toss up with either Andersen or B&W since neither are authorized Keystone hitches. I have not done any searches to see if B&W has a similar extended coverage warranty like Andersen.

[USA-C2C]

Originally Posted by Fred

Welcome to the Montana forum:

AND welcome to the poor quality of the Thor brand and everything RV. I have a love - hate relationship with RVs.

Make sure that the Anderson hitch is permitted by Lippert, your frame manufacturer??? Don't you need a sliding hitch with a 6-1/2' bed???...... So you don't hit the back of the cab? Or is there enough off-set with the Anderson? Does the off-set affect ride quality?

We went with the Reese Goosebox and ball (8' bed though). Smooth as silk and takes up zero room in the bed of the truck.

First: Make sure you buy a tire pressure and temperature monitoring system and if you have a residential fridge upgrade to at least two (2) 100ah deep cycle batteries and get some solar to keep the batteries charged when towing and parked (your truck might not have enough output on the 7 way to keep up with the 400 watts 120V fridge on long drives.) When traveling remove the loose parts inside the microwave or you may find them in the sink in pieces when you arrive at your destination (don't ask why I know this). And, mouse proof your RV.

I have to say though. There's nothing like the room of a 5th wheel. We have 5 slides and is like a mobile office and condo.

So far: replaced front hydraulic jacks, (one of the slide pistons still leaks fluid though), replaced water pump, replaced furnace sail switch, reattached countless pieces of trim, replaced failed 1000W inverter, replaced all brakes and an obliterated brake assembly and drum on the drivers side that self destructed on I-70 in Colorado, replaced the rear 50 amp inlet plug assembly, repaired two broken wire support springs under the slides (easy repair), repaired bedroom sliding door tracks several times, Added 600 watts of solar, Repaired at least three window shades, The original batteries need replacing now and I've noticed that my bed slide now racks sideways when putting it in an out so maybe that's going to fail soon? The microwave has some how vibrated itself loose and is about to fall off the cabinet. I need to get that done before our next outing in three weeks.

From time to time you will find loose screws, bolts and broken screw heads here and there as things start to come apart.

We considered downsizing and trading in our M3561rl for an Airstream 30FC just recently. 14 month wait for delivery and the better part of a $100k more $$ plus the full trade value of the M. I'll stick with the traveling condo for now.......

Happy travels.

Fred
2019 M3561rl, 15,000+ miles
2019 Ford F-450, 100,000 miles, 10.0 MPG when towing.

Thanks for all your input and comments.

The dealer (Camping World) said I will have adequate spacing and off-set with the Andersen Hitch they sold me. That said, since we haven't yet taken delivery of the Montana, I might check into the Reese Goosebox since Reese is a Keystone authorized hitch. I already have the B&W ball set up.

They also said the Legacy model we are getting already has the tire monitoring system.

We upgraded the charge controller to 50 AMP and we also put in two additional solar panels and added two Battleborn lithium batteries so we should not have any problem keeping the residential fridge powered up.

Sounds like you are a pretty good handy man to deal with all those repairs. I guess it is the nature of the beast with these RVs bouncing down the road. Our Airstream spent 6 weeks with the dealer last summer fixing the bathroom mirror that kept falling down and a few other minor fixes. The Airstream was ok but we wanted more space in the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, plus we wanted to be able to relax in the recliners in the Montana.

[Old_Salty]

Welcome to the group. From my experience - this group is very knowledgeable and helpful!

[Sparatacus]

Originally Posted by rames14

For those with a bedroom slide synchronization error, just curious if you continue to hold the button in once you have it all the way in/out? Our dealer told us this keeps the two motors synchronized. We used to put slide part way out, then check surroundings. Our dealer told us not to partially extend or retract our schwintech slides (not referring to cable slides). So far, this has kept us from having issues. I believe if it does get out of time that running it in, holding it for 3 seconds, then extend and do the same may help. If not, here is Lippert’s procedure.
https://youtu.be/K7ooxh3IE8s

^^Yep this^^ this is a good practice.

[USA-C2C]

Thanks and that is great info on the slide outs.