Cracked Stair Bracket

[Mark N.]

Geeze... My Monty is 3 years old, maybe 30 nights in it so far and I just discovered the mounting bracket for the stairs is cracked. Unreal....

[Dam Worker]

Good thing you found it, somebody could have been injured if it had failed at the wrong moment. Three step or four step type ladder? Another thing I will have to check and keep an eye on.

Tom Marty

[CORattler]

Lowest bidder syndrome. Glad you caught it.

[DQDick]

We replaced ours with after market almost as soon as we bought the rig.

[jcurtis934]

Welcome to the stair club. Means you're doing your job of checking stuff. Hope you are able to recover. John

[richfaa]

Look for my post of May 7th...entry steps rusting off. Golly gee I guess I am not the only one .Our mounting bracket cracked in three places had to get it welded and re enforced. Lucky it is only you and me with that problem.

[mlh]

I wouldn't bet it's only the 2 of you. I would bet it's hundreds with the problem. They didn't make 2 bad sets of steps and you just happened to get them. That is just not how manufacturing works. You make hundreds of a part. If one is bad they are all bad.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

We know that Lynwood. The step bracket is flimsy. I am not a heavyweight and Helen might weigh 100 lbs. IMO this is a accident waiting to happen and my guess it has many times.I hope folks will take a good hard look at the bracket.

[mlh]

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Did anybody say anything about tires.
Lynwood

[Mark N.]

I sure wish there was some Japanese competition to wake them up just like happened to Detroit in the 80's. We would all benefit so much. This is what we see when the market isn't challenged by foreign competition. Remember when "Made in Japan" meant terrible quality? Yeah, well we are chasing them now and we only have ourselves to blame.

[Dmcgrew]

Wait!!! Your having stair problems, I have spoken to to Montana Service several times with no help or understanding of the problem. Replaced the first 4 step set on my aftermarket warranty and now the second set is cracking on the support frame again. Looking at replacing this set with aluminum. Any suggestions??

[richfaa]

It is not surprising that the service center never heard about it as it is a very minor problem that few here ever heard of apparently I was the first one who ever that had that problem.

[rohrmann]

Instead of replacing them with another step unit of unknown quality, you might be better off taking them into a welding shop and have them repaired and reinforced. Doing that might make them lifetime steps, and probably at a lower cost.

[rmthelen]

Rich, I don't know if you were the first one to have the problem or not. I had mine welded at the Rally last fall by the Service Center. I was told they had not seen it before and that it was an isolated incident. When did you discover your cracked bracket?

[mlh]

Some companies have a problem with honesty.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

Noticed it in Florida this winter but strongly suspect it was separated long before I checked it closely and found the split. As far as the "we never heard of that problem before" ..... right....

[Mark N.]

All I know is about 30 nights in my coach is practically brand-new as far as the stairs are concerned. I weigh 200 lbs, and my wife weighs 135, so it's not like there's a pair of elephants walking up and down those stairs. It's ridiculous that there would be a stress crack already.

[richfaa]

Look at the thicknes of that bracket.They re enforced it with something twice that thickness. IMO it is not the stairs that are the problem but the cage that it is mounted to.

[Carl n Susan]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

Look at the thicknes of that bracket.They re enforced it with something twice that thickness. IMO it is not the stairs that are the problem but the cage that it is mounted to.

Well I would have to disagree. Here is a picture of my broken stairs. Notice the main support bracket broke off near the large rivet is pivots on. Of course Montana had never heard, seen, or spoken to anyone before who had this problem.



You can clearly see the point where the bracket arm broke. Ignore that goldish bolt above the break. That was my temporary fix to be able to use the steps.



Oh yea, just to show I am not the first or the last to have this problem, check out this picture from Bill (Old Guard) Young. It was taken after he had repaired the break but is sure looks similar to my, never seen nor heard of, problem.

[richfaa]

OK that is a good one Carl. The more we talk about the steps the more we find out. They fail because the cage splits and they fail as yours did and Keystone never head of it. Well they did because I told them. I wonder how many others have failed.