Montana 3780RL Stress Crack

[Scotty79]

We are new owners of a 2020 3780RL and love the Montana line.


However after one trip between Colorado and Phoenix we noticed a 7 inch crack underneath one of the bedroom slides as anybody hear have experience with this? What is the best way to get this resolved? Is it fixable?


Thanks so much

[beeje]

That is defiantly not good and will require major repair. Get that to your dealer ASAP and do NOT let Keystone off the hook.

[Scotty79]

Thanks for the quick reply. It's in storage down in Phoenix now we contacted a couple of local dealers. Our purchased dealer is in Cheyenne Wy. They haven't helped us yet so we contacted Keystone directly. Not sure how best to proceed. We are full timing in this so it's really hard to know what to do or who to call. We don't want to pull it anywhere now......

[beeje]

You are certainly in a very tough spot being your living in it. It will certainly be a difficult process of getting it fixed. But if you don't do it now while it's under warranty you're going to be in for a world of hurt.
I would start looking for a place to live while it's being repaired. It will definitely be weeks hopefully not months

[beeje]

Sorry my bad I misread that. You're not living in it it's in storage. But that could be just as bad if it's sitting there unrepaired while your warranty is Drifting by

[Scotty79]

We purchased this in July. We can't believe that our 1st trip from Colorado to Arizona would have resulted in this disaster......

[beeje]

There had been quite a few threads about "frame flex" that caused similar issues. If I am not mistaken, most of them have been the Montana High Country version though. I am sure others will chime in.

[Madmax07]

Make sure you document everything all correspondence, etc. That’s too bad...can be fixed though.

[ChuckS]

Sorry to see this on your fifth wheel. It’s been and on and off issue across all fifth wheel builders for quite a long time.. some have the issue and some dont...

This file will give you a general overview of the issue and repair entailed

[jeffba]

As said you have frame flex. We had it on ours. It was fixed by the factory. I am not sure I would let a dealer fix it. At least not where we bought ours from.

Is the bottom of the slide out further than the top? It looks like it maybe. IF so definitely Frame flex.

You made need a dealer to confrm it, but insist that it goes back to Goshen for repair.

[CADman_KS]

Originally Posted by beeje

There had been quite a few threads about "frame flex" that caused similar issues. If I am not mistaken, most of them have been the Montana High Country version though. I am sure others will chime in.

A lot of the posts that I recall seeing are actually Montana's, and not HC's, but that certainly doesn't mean that HC's are immune...

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by beeje

There had been quite a few threads about "frame flex" that caused similar issues. If I am not mistaken, most of them have been the Montana High Country version though. I am sure others will chime in.

I do not recall an MHC being plagued by FF.

It may have something to do with teh Montanas being heavier than MHC

[BobStack]

I have the 2020 3781RL, please keep us informed as you go. Wishing you the best of luck and hoping it stays away from my rig! All our best.

[kescue]

Yes, I had a similar issue with my 2018 Montana High Country 381TH. (Purchased the HC at Camping World in Jacksonville FL) The good news is that it should be fixable and since you bought it in July it should also be warranty work. The not so good news is this is not a quick repair job.

The day we took delivery of the HC, on the walk around I noticed the crack on the door side of the RV at the front slide. (I attached Picture of crack). I discussed with this with the sales person and maintenance folks. They said this was definitely not right. They took pictures and made note of the crack. Since I was scheduled to do a race event in Chattanooga TN we agreed I would take the rig on the trip and also make note of any other issues found. (Found a couple other minor issues they also corrected)

Took the rig back to CW Jacksonville after the trip and they repaired the problem. The stress crack was caused by a bad weld on the wall of the unit thus causing the crack. It was a pretty extensive repair $$$$ and time to fix according to the maintenance team I talked to. I know there is a lot of bad press on CW, but I will say that CW of Jacksonville corrected the problem and did a really nice job on the body work/paint.
(Thus far I have had good service experiences at CW of Jacksonville and Tampa)

So you definitely need to get it repaired and need to find a repair center that has a good body/paint shop.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by kescue

Yes, I had a similar issue with my 2018 Montana High Country 381TH. (Purchased the HC at Camping World in Jacksonville FL) The good news is that it should be fixable and since you bought it in July it should also be warranty work. The not so good news is this is not a quick repair job.

The day we took delivery of the HC, on the walk around I noticed the crack on the door side of the RV at the front slide. (I attached Picture of crack). I discussed with this with the sales person and maintenance folks. They said this was definitely not right. They took pictures and made note of the crack. Since I was scheduled to do a race event in Chattanooga TN we agreed I would take the rig on the trip and also make note of any other issues found. (Found a couple other minor issues they also corrected)

Took the rig back to CW Jacksonville after the trip and they repaired the problem. The stress crack was caused by a bad weld on the wall of the unit thus causing the crack. It was a pretty extensive repair $$$$ and time to fix according to the maintenance team I talked to. I know there is a lot of bad press on CW, but I will say that CW of Jacksonville corrected the problem and did a really nice job on the body work/paint.
(Thus far I have had good service experiences at CW of Jacksonville and Tampa)

So you definitely need to get it repaired and need to find a repair center that has a good body/paint shop.

That is very strange for the crack to have happened right there. The vertical piece underneath that corner molding is there for a purpose. The Sidewall was purposely cut there and that is an expansion joint so things can move freely. You will see that expansion joint on many campers with slide outs above the overhang

[Scotty79]

Wow! thanks for the detailed information guys. This forum is great! I'm so glad I'm not alone out here trying to figure all this out. Really appreciate your posts!

[jetskier]

Originally Posted by beeje

That is very strange for the crack to have happened right there. The vertical piece underneath that corner molding is there for a purpose. The Sidewall was purposely cut there and that is an expansion joint so things can move freely. You will see that expansion joint on many campers with slide outs above the overhang

It's not strange at all. The stud weld breaks in the wall at that corner of the slide. The stud is free to move in and out of plane of the wall as the frame below flexes. The vertical joint they put there can only do so much. Mine broke there and I caught it before it tore the skin over Memorial Day weekend trip. I fixed it myself and it's been problem free since I did the repair. Here's a link to the post with pics. Middle pic is before, last is after. The first pic is the bracket I made that bolts to the frame tube and pulls the wall in at that corner.

https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...10&postcount=2

I guess this proves the new design by didn't work. By new design, I mean the taller wall section under the front slide-outs in later 2020 models. They still need to work on the frame stiffness on the overhang section that support these walls. From all the pics and videos I've seen of the bare frames at the factory, the frame tubes need to be deeper there to limit the deflection and the compatibility (structural engineering term) between the wall and frame.

[Daryles]

There is one at Affinity for repairs like this
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Mont...8351831324091/

[Rogerak]

We have same flex frame issue email keystone ASAP start that paper trail. Hope Ashley gets back to you soon. But this is a flex frame issue and only a few places actually know how to fix it properly meaning affinity Rv in goshen Indiana. And there’s a place just west of Little Rock Ar.
With ours the factory is replacing the side wall So if your not full time. I’d take it to affinity Rv for the repair. This way if it’s worse then expected the factory is right there to send people over to get a game plane.

[dallasrules]

I have this on my 2003 Montana. I can't belief after 17 years, this still happening. You would think that by now they would have resolved the issue.