Frame Flex NON-Repair with pictures - Montana Owners Club

DHenry · 09-16-2007, 07:53 AM

A year ago this month I drove my Montana to Pendleton, OR. for frame flex repairs. I made them aware of the broken welds that needed to be re-welded, they confirmed with me that indeed they did re-weld the broken welds and the fatigued metal. Well I have been noticing that my bedroom slide is still not square in the hole, so this morning I took down the fiberglass panel under the bedroom and found that not only did they not weld any of the broken welds now there are two more broken than I originally found. Along with the other two broken welds now there are two more areas of metal fatigue.

Guess another call to Goshen will be in store for tomorrow.

If any of you read this that are at the factory please pass this post and a few of the pictures to someone with some authority,
and while your telling them about the broken welds would you mention to them I need new graphics because mine are looking real bad now and curling right off the Montana.

Thanks, Doug

The first picture shows the fatigued metal corner and the first broken weld that was the reason for the trip to Oregon last year.

The second picture shows the second broken weld and another fatigue spot. There is another fatigue spot further down similar to this one.

The third picture shows another broken weld.

dieselguy · 09-16-2007, 08:43 AM

Sorry to hear of your situation, but things like this are becoming the norm in today's society. Unless it's a hands down warranty issue (and then I watch the repair), I prefer to go the DIY route. I've worked in the service industry most of my life and I'm just stating facts ... few have the skills and few care nowdays. I realise not all of us on the MOC have the same skill levels, but I often smile to myself when I read posts about preferring to let someone else do the task at hand. The service industry (the industry that I eluded to in my 3rd sentence) loves that mind set. Gosh, I'm venting and this isn't my own post! ... Sorry ... Keep at em ... the squeaky wheel does attract attention! Pendleton needs this type of recognition if this is what goes out the door!

adelmoll · 09-16-2007, 09:12 AM

Doug, We won't be here for long but I printed this our and will see that Glenn or RV Lady gets the pictures. I'm sure that they will get them to the correct person at Keystone.

Helen

HamRad · 09-16-2007, 11:44 AM

Doug,

Sorry to hear that they did not do what they were supposed to have done! That is not a short trip. Perhaps they can get someone locally to fix it the way it should be fixed. You may have to stay and watch them to see that they do it correctly.

The "fix" that they did on my rig is also showing some signs of not being completely fixed. The little vinyl strip they placed in the little trench is coming out. No biggie but water can get in there and cause things to rust. Will get it back into dealer when we get home. The frame flex does seem to be holding OK.

Hope you get some quick and easy resolution to your problem.

See you soon.

Dennis

DHenry · 09-16-2007, 12:07 PM

Thanks Helen, I appreciate it that you are looking out for me :-)

Dennis, I am leaving the fibreglass panel off for a while, you may get to see the problem first hand when you get here.

mobilrvn · 09-16-2007, 02:52 PM

DHenry, our 2004 had frame flex problems. You need to keep a close eye on it to watch for further damage. On the side of ours the metal holding up the wall failed causing the wall to give way over the outriggers above the wheels. This caused all the walls to shift, the counter top to break and put untold stress on the whole rig--we are still suffering the afteraffects with walls out of plumb. Every stop on the way to the factory for repairs showed some additional damage.

DieselGuy, guess if one want to have a great rig, then we'd have to build it ourselves. Things will never get better until we make the dealers repair all of the warranty problems and the mfgrs. costs increase to the point where it is more cost effective to build them better. After 14 yrs of fulltiming, we're pretty handy at making repairs, but we didn't buy the 5W as a continuing repair project.

mobrownies · 09-17-2007, 03:55 AM

My wife and I took a tour of Keystone's Mountaineer fifth-wheel plant in Goshen last week. There were three Keystone employees on the tour with 4 visitors. I asked why Keystone had been unable to fix the frame flex problems after all the years of problems. The Salesman looked me in the eye and said he had never heard of it before. The other two guys kept quiet. So I showed him the joint in the wall under the bedroom slide and he explained that it was there to keep the wall from cracking. I said that was part of the frame flex problem, but I don't think they caught on or else they knew about the problems and just wanted to avoid the subject.

As a side note, Lippert also makes the frames for Holiday Rambler and they don't put a joint in the sidewall under the bedroom slide. I wonder if they have frame flex problems or if they have figured out how to avoid it?

Glenn and Lorraine · 09-17-2007, 04:53 AM

Doug,
Montana has been notified of your situation and it will be looked into and some how corrected.

DHenry · 09-17-2007, 05:08 AM

Glenn, Thank you for helping me with this.

littlespud · 09-17-2007, 08:54 AM

Doug, finally got it into the dealer, they dropped the panel, and guess what, same as you. I am sorry they didn't fix it like they were suppose to, but thanks for given us all a heads up, I will be on top of them every minute. The dealer told me the crack was caused by stress, and now Keystone is putting a relief in the new trailers just like they did yours, and adding the trim to fill the crack. I don't know about that, it is sure odd that Crack=broken welds, I don't think we will ever get the real reason why the crack, and the broken welds. It would probably cause a huge recall, and keystone would not like that. Keep in touch.

Fire5er · 09-17-2007, 04:25 PM

So where should we be looking to find this known problem?

DHenry · 09-17-2007, 05:10 PM

If you see that your bedroom slide is not closing plumb then you might suspect that your having some frame flex going on. I took off the fiberglass panel under the overhang and found that I had broken welds on the passenger side. There are other signs also such as cracked siding around the bedroom slide, cabinets moving in the bedroom when closing/opening the slides, the molding on the drivers side dropping more than a quarter inch when loading the 5th wheel on to the truck. I would think that these symptoms will be found on the 2005 and below models more than the newer ones but keep an eye on it.

DHenry · 09-21-2007, 11:03 AM

Well here it is Friday already and I have not heard anything back from Team Montana. I guess you guys at the rally have them all so busy that they can't take care of any other problems :-]

I will try calling them again on Monday.

Bill and Ann · 09-22-2007, 01:37 AM

Doug, for info, as we have the same coach. I had mine over to the service centre last fall rally and they made an appointment for last Nov. and had the coach for 2 days. They fixed a flex problem and did a retro on the bedroom slide. By the way, they replaced the entire Big Sky decals on the cap because they were curling badly.

5rvers · 09-22-2007, 02:10 AM

Doug,

Thanks for the info on what to look for. I'll keep a closer look on my Monty.

Thanks!
Lou

DHenry · 09-25-2007, 07:46 AM

I just got an email from Team Montana regarding the repairs to my Montana. They have agreed to work with a Keystone dealer to take care of this issue.

Now all I have to do is get it in and see that the repairs really get done this time.

THANKS TEAM MONTANA, you have come through once again which is why your company is the greatest.

mobilrvn · 09-25-2007, 04:56 PM

Lippert frames are used by many mfgrs. There have been other reports of frame-flex problems with some of the others, too. I have been told by other users of Lippert frames that they don't have such problems because Lippert builds the frames to the mfgrs' specifications. Could well be true or BS by the other guys, but food for thought.

sreigle · 09-26-2007, 04:57 AM

Doug, when they fixed our 2003 3295RK, besides fixing the welds they added triangular gussets in corners and inserted wood into the open frame pieces for the screws to bite into. I understand they do all this on the new ones as part of building the frame but haven't looked to verify that.

Sorry to hear about the problems. Hopefully this time it will be fixed correctly.

adelmoll · 09-26-2007, 11:15 AM

Way to go Doug.... I knew they would come through.

Helen

littlespud · 10-03-2007, 06:57 AM

This is something that appears to be showing up more frequently, than not. I have a 2005 3400RL; I noticed a crack looking at the bedroom extension, upper right side, and the crack is heading to the roof. At one of the Northwest rallies, I showed people what was happening, and one of my friends showed me the same crack, same place on their rig. He contacted Keystone, "short story" they had him take it to one of their manufacture plants, and they fix it by putting a expansion plate behind the crack, and a piece of molding on top. But that's not all, they pulled the underbelly, and found the all the wields had broke. Facing the pin, they were all broke on the left side, front to back. Well guess what, I just took mine in to the dealer after three months of contact with keystone, and the dealer, I had to finally put my foot down, and insist that they look at the problem, they had taken pictures of the crack, and sent them to Keystone. They pulled the underbelly off, and the same thing as happened to mine, wields on the left side facing the pin were broke. The pictures of the broken wields have been sent to Keystone, and now we are waiting to hear back. The dealer tried to tell me the crack was caused by a stress point at that corner, "has nothing to do with the wields being broke", "not so sure, but can prove otherwise", and that on the new rigs, keystone has now put in a stress joint, there will be a piece of molding at the upper right corner of the bedroom slide. I can't prove that is has been done. I don't believe this is going to be a recall situation, "yet" it is going to be handled individually, so you have to do what you think is right for you. Good luck.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was before I heard back from Keystone, and the dealer. Keystone will have it fixed. They are sending a Repair Kit to the dealer. The dealer is authorized to hire a local wielder certified for frames. As SREIGLE stated, they are going to add several new pieces of angle iron, on both sides, and replace or add additional wood bracing, they are opening the side panel. Thanks to DHENRY I will make sure the job is done before they button it up. The dealer agreed to call me when they start the repair, so I can go, and take pictures. This should happen in the next week or so. He told me it takes 2-3 weeks to get anything from Keystone. We will see. Will let all know when completed

You may also like: