Panel aft of 5th wheel sagging

[Sammysmontana]

Anyone know what structure is above the area by the 5th wheel or below the bedroom? The fiberglass panel screws have come loose and longer or bigger screws won’t solve the problem. Asking before I have to remove the channel on one side to see what’s in there. We have a 2014 3100rl.
Thanks

[RMcNeal]

Are you referring to the area around your pin box? On our 3791RD, the washer/dryer hookup and bedroom closet is in that area. How badly is it sagging? Could it be water damage?

[Mikendebbie]

I think that is a sheet of fiberglass without a laminated plywood back - therefore it is not a rigid panel. I think it is a single sheet that fits the soffit under the tongue area and it wraps down over the front fascia where it is held in place by trim on both vertical sides and bottom. The trim around the door frames also hold it in place. I have never taken mine off. I would characterize mine as “in the saggy family”. It is certainly not straight and flush like the body side panels. I tighten my screws from time to time.

[Montana Man]

Same^^^

[Sammysmontana]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

Are you referring to the area around your pin box? On our 3791RD, the washer/dryer hookup and bedroom closet is in that area. How badly is it sagging? Could it be water damage?

Could be water damage if there is OSB above but Keystone used self tapping sheet metal screws. Have a row of only three screws on either side, all have come loose. It definitely needs to be fixed. Guess I’ll be doing some exploring. Thanks for the reply.

[Daryles]

Next to the pin box is steel. Further out is 3/4" OSB. Mine kept backing out. I replaced them with the next size up stainless steel screws and washers. I put a little silicon caulk on the screw threads and holes (like locktite) to keep them from backing out.
So far so good
You can add more screws. Just keep them short so they don't go through the floor into the inside.
Be aware your 7 way wiring harness runs through there somewhere.

[Mikendebbie]

The screen shots below are from youtube video "keystone Montana factory tour" by Home with the Hoopers.
First shot shows the front end framing (sort of - a bit dim to see it all clearly)
In the second shot I sketched in (red) the fiberglass panel and some of the screws going into the steel framing.

You might find other factory tour videos that show the typical framing a bit better than this.

[laverdur]

The panel under the bedroom and extending down the front of the trailer by the battery/gen compartment is filon, It is held in place with self-tapping sheet metal screws which can and do vibrate loose. More than once at the end of a drive I would find one or more in the bed of my TV. I put Loc-tite on the screw threads and they seem to be staying put. I vaguely recall that I had to redrill one of the holes because the screw broke and left a piece in the hole.

[Sammysmontana]

Originally Posted by laverdur

The panel under the bedroom and extending down the front of the trailer by the battery/gen compartment is filon, It is held in place with self-tapping sheet metal screws which can and do vibrate loose. More than once at the end of a drive I would find one or more in the bed of my TV. I put Loc-tite on the screw threads and they seem to be staying put. I vaguely recall that I had to redrill one of the holes because the screw broke and left a piece in the hole.

Laverdur, thanks for the post. Ended up removing the side support closures on both sides to see what’s going on. Found 5/8” OSB (the floor above) on top of the aluminum frame. The expert craftsmen at Keystone then took some 1” thick scraps of crap wood (the thickness of the aluminum frame) and scabbed them below the 1/2” OSB with narrow crown staples. They then screwed the fiberglass to the wood with-self tapping sheet metal screws not wood screws. Of course the staples slowly worked loose and the whole fiberglass sheet dropped down. Removed all 6 of the crap wood, replaced with CCA scraps I had, used construction adhesive and reattached with 1 1/2” stainless #10 pan heads with washers.