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Old 12-19-2015, 02:54 PM   #1
omextreme
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Wall Ripped away from frame on new Montana

First post here hope yall can offer some Advise.

I have posted over at the keystone forums with little response and the guys at RV.n e t Said to ask here.

I have a 3 month old Montana HC 340BH and the wall adjacent to the main slide has broken free of the frame.

History....
After the first 3 or 4 trips we noticed the main slide was starting to stutter / jerk / not retract completely smoothly. Upon further inspection it turned out to be the forward roller has side brackets that were slightly higher then the actual roller and were digging into the plywood underside of the slide.
- Unit was repaired at a dealer by grinding down the high sides of the roller bracket and repairing the fabric under the slide
- Repairs seemed fine until last trip
While retracting my main slide, the silde started to stall after only moving 10" - 12" inward. I immediately stopped moving the slide and went to investigate the cause of the jam.

While looking at the cables the wall "popped" out and broke away from the frame of the trailer. What appears to have happened is that the jammed slide pulled the wall outward 3", ripping the interior wall and bowing the fiberglass side of the unit.

After looking more closely at the structure failure and I am dissapointed in Keystone on this one. The vertical side wall support was only welded on 1 side to the lower frame. The aluminum tubing tore where it was welded. This location is an EXTREMELY high stress spot since the entire weight of the slide leverages against it.

This area SHOULD have been reinforced with more metal or at least heaver strength aluminum.

Now the question is how should this be properly repaired, It this something you would trust the local shop to handle or should I push for this unit to go back to Keystone and be repaired there?

If the unit goes back to keystone generally how long does that take?




 
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Old 12-19-2015, 04:00 PM   #2
halfwright
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I would think that it is warranty work, Keystone would have the final say in where it goes. But, I have been wrong before.

Good luck with the repair.
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Old 12-19-2015, 04:11 PM   #3
Rondo
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First thing to do is contact Keystone Customer Service and tell them what is/has happened. They should start a file on it! Second thing is to take it to your dealer and show them. Since your unit is still under warranty all this should be covered under it. Customer Service may ask you to bring the unit back up to Goshen,IN for them to look at it and do the repair but if you trust your dealer and their maintenance shop I'd take it there. Estimate on repair time would be from a week to a month but don't quote me on that. They more than likely will have to remove the whole wall and slide and take it from there. Keep us informed on what you find out and what turns out to be the problem.
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:03 AM   #4
DarMar
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It's your choice as to where you feel most comfortable/convenient to have the repairs done but certainly get a file started with Keystone customer service. We are far enough from the factory and have a very good experienced dealer that takes care of most anything that appears. Sometimes they use a more experienced shop that does specialized work that they may farm it out to depending on the problem.
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:40 AM   #5
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I always wondered about the lighter structure of the high country. It may be fine and you got the unit not done as good as it should have been. This could be a case where the assembly worker totally failed at adjustingthe cable system...instead of lighter wall frame failure. I know I would push for the factory to fix what they built, if it were mine. Clearly, this is major work and I would think a month minimum to do if not at the factory. It is sad that you are saddled with this failure...sorry. john
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:44 AM   #6
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This is the weakness of the cable slide system. They put enough force, pressure on wall to move the slide. If the slide doesn't move free or the wall isn't built strong enough the wall will fail. That is what has happened. I see no way to fix it that you or I would be satisfied with. It can be fixed by putting a piece of aluminum on the outside and an aluminum angle on the inside bolting them together and them bolting it to the floor but I would NOT be happy with that if it were my new camper. I see no way to fix the problem without replacing the wall.
Throw the ball over on Keystones court and tell them to fix it or replace the camper.
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:45 AM   #7
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It has been my experience that repairs always take longer than I think is reasonable. A repair like that will likely be measured in months, not weeks.
I hope that is not the case for you and all repairs exceed your expectations. Please keep us posted. Good luck!
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Old 12-20-2015, 11:04 AM   #8
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The only thing I would do with that is insist it be repaired at the Service Center at Keystone in Goshen. That's too much complicated damage for me to feel good about having a dealer fix it and the Service Center won't poke around fixing it.
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Old 12-20-2015, 02:28 PM   #9
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If keystone agrees to repair at their facility, how does that work? Who is responsible for transporting it to them, We are about 800m away where we live.

I would prefer to have it repaired there personally but the thought of taking it up to them would possibly make me reconsider.
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:10 PM   #10
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That's why your first move is to contact Keystone with your pictures and story. It's rare, but I have heard of Keystone sending someone to get a rig and bring it back when the issue is bad enough. We had ours into the service center twice because we wanted the work done there. Both times we had to get it there ourselves, but we hauled it up from Kansas because we wanted the issue solved correctly.
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Old 12-20-2015, 03:57 PM   #11
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I had a wall failure under warranty. Montana/Keystone picked up the rig at the dealers, hauled it to the repair facility and returned it to my dealer. No charge to me. It did take 3 months though.
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Old 12-20-2015, 05:02 PM   #12
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Well this has been a fun day... Moved the camper from storage to house to get ready to drop off at the dealer and 2 unfortunate issues...

Header trim over the kitchen slide broke free during drive

blew out my Right side back window and dented truck on a not super hard RH turn. I had previously tested limits of turn radius in a hard left turn and I can go darn near 90 deg, In the Right turn today blew out window at maybe 75 deg.... Not sure why since the turn was not that tight and the ground was flat... Just an all around frustrating week!




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Old 12-21-2015, 02:28 AM   #13
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Frustrating is an understatement!
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Old 12-21-2015, 03:43 AM   #14
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I'm surprised that one of the main slides would be cable and not a full hydraulic. Is that the nature of the High Country?. For lighter weight or dose it make it cheaper? My Mountaineer only has the cable on the bed room.
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Old 12-21-2015, 11:17 AM   #15
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Your not the only one. My header trim on the dinette side fell off on the last trip, damaged the table one chair and header trim. After looking as to why, the gun nails were only a 1/4 inch longer than the top material when the base material is 3/4 inch. If they would have used a 1 1/4 inch long nail and put more than 4 in it this would not have happened. talk about cheap. I removed the other 2 off the slides and found the same condition. Ran a bead of construction adhesive down the length of the base material and used the proper length nails in sufficient quantity to hold the weight of the trim until the glue dried.
I stood there and wonder if they actually hit the studs for all the cabinets mounting screws or if they over drove them and ruined the clamping force. Coming from a custom home builder background you never know how a customer is going to load a cabinet so it has to be install correctly. I know importance of this, Especially after they have been loaded with aunt Miley`s china collection and then add in bouncing down the road. But I sleep well knowing keystones line workers know more than me.
Sorry for the damage keep and eye on everything. I`ve said it on other posts, my wife and I still love our Montana but some days that statement really gets tested.
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Old 12-21-2015, 12:12 PM   #16
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Eagleback all of the slides on the HCs are cable slides. I think they make the camper both cheaper and lighter. I read on this forum they made the camper 500 pounds lighter. They work fine until something like this happens. Normally if they break its a cable or cable end that I can fix in under 30 minutes.
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Old 12-21-2015, 01:31 PM   #17
richfaa
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That header also fell off our kitchen slide last year on the trip down to Florida half of the staples holding it on had bent over and were holding nothing..
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Old 05-05-2021, 07:55 PM   #18
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I know this is a very old thread but I have the same issue on my 2016 340bh, except on both slides. What ended up happening here? Do you think its worth calling the manufacturer at all where I am so far out of warranty?
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Old 05-26-2021, 07:13 AM   #19
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In your repair of the facia, how did you determine how they are attached? I have a 2018 3721RL with a long slide on the bedroom which is driven by cable. I have been reading about cable replacements if in time the need comes and I have not been able to figure out how the facia is attached?
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Old 05-26-2021, 10:02 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glendodom View Post
In your repair of the facia, how did you determine how they are attached? I have a 2018 3721RL with a long slide on the bedroom which is driven by cable. I have been reading about cable replacements if in time the need comes and I have not been able to figure out how the facia is attached?
Hate to say it but the facia is attached with either pin nails or small finishing nails. I've taken to running screws in from the back side to hold facia on. And on some where it is harder to get to the back of facia, I run a washer head screw in from the front and touch up the head to match trim color. Touched up or black, if you are not looking for it you won't find it.

Heaven help a shop if I forgot to tell them they are SCRWED ON.
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