Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Montana Rog
I know this has been gone over time and time again, but need information about frame flex. The trim on the right side front..the horizontal trim moves about 1/4 inch when the unit is hitched to my truck. I have a 2003 3670RL Montana. For the past two falls, I have taken the front bottom cover off, and inspected all welds. Never found a broken one, but I have this flexing on the right side. Is there someplace I should be looking besides the bottom under the bedroom? I'm getting frustrated by this. None of my cabinets are moving, no delamination of the side walls, only that trim that is moving. Maybe I am over reacting, but just want to know if I have a potential problem.
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Our unit was a little over seven years old when it developed the same problem as yours. If you check my post entititled Frame flex on July 19, 2007 you can get an idea of what we had to do. Keep in mind that we had no broken welds. Here's the post (it's long):
This is long.
Just thought I'd pass on something to you that has occurred to us. I had noticed that I was beginning to get some flexing of the frame of our 2000 3555RL. So when I was at my dealer’s shop (Ketelsen RV in Hiawatha, IA) for normal preventive maintenance, I asked them to check the flex. They checked the flex and found it to be over 3/4" (flex is determined by how much movement upward there is in the kingpin between when the rig is sitting on its landing legs and it is barely lifted off the ground).
As regards the frame flex, what was disturbing to me was that the work that Keystone did back in 2004 for me with no cost to me did not hold. The fiberglass they put on continued to crack due to flexing. (I had noticed some small cracks around the bedroom slideout and realized that the pounding the rig was taking on the highways was extreme. So I had MOR/ryde Individual Suspension axles installed as well as a TrailerSaver air ride hitch. To my mind, this would relieve the stress on the frame. I didn’t know that the flex was already severe.)
My dealer got me in touch with Truck Builders in Marion, IA (a suburb of Cedar Rapids, IA). They checked the flex with a little more precision and found it to be 1 ½” whereas only ¼” or less is acceptable. They tore down the front end. Had no broken welds near the pin box, but the frame was not really connected together (the frame around the kingpin was insufficiently braced, allowing some side to side flexing as well as up and down). You could watch the frame move up and down, screws moving up and down when they raised and lowered the rig.
They continued to work on the front end to locate all the flex (there has to be “some” flex, otherwise the frame would break, according to Truck Builders). They removed the fiberglass that Keystone replaced around the bedroom slide. Lo and behold, the aluminum structures were not connected together and when they raised and lowered the front end the horizontal and vertical aluminum struts would move individually. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
This event may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the entire front end around the pin box has been reinforced with angle iron and welded plates to tie the entire front end of the frame together so it will operate as one member rather than several!
The estimate for the work was $3360 and the actual cost was $3155. We stayed right in the rig while they worked on it for four days. We had a bird's eye view of the work being done.
Although the rig is seven years old, my dealer had Truck Builders give them the estimate, with pictures of the damage and they sent it to Keystone. This was done more for alerting Keystone of the problem than to try and get them to foot the bill. No one expects a company to do warranty work on something that is seven years old! But there is always the chance. Both the dealer and I talked to Keystone about the problem and the owner of Truck Builders took several pictures and sent them to Lippert. He has a pretty good relationship with Lippert so there is a possibility Lippert may help a little with the bill. When I talked to Keystone, they told me it was possible but they wouldn't promise me anything.
Yesterday (July 17, 2007) my dealer called me and told me they had received an e-mail from Keystone who said they denied any claim for the repairs since the rig was seven years old. This was no surprise to me.
The only reason I'm posting this is because Truck Builders told me that they had to pick up a 5er on the freeway that had a complete collapse of the kingpin area—and it wasn’t a Keystone product! I certainly wouldn’t want that to happen. This is our home!
I learned something also while at Truck Builders, but it is what I have thought all along. People with problems with their RVs will NEVER get the manufacturers to go along with any repairs, out of warranty, if you go direct to the repair shop. What I did was call Keystone, had a great discussion and was told to have my dealer call them. Then my dealer sent me to Truck Builders who then made their estimate and sent it to my dealer, copy to me. Tim Wentz of Truck Builders says this is the only way you'll ever get any manufacturer to respond with any help. He also went on to say that the manufacturers do not want failures of their products like we've been experiencing.
While there may be some that will say that manufacturers are at fault, I differ in that these rigs were not meant to be lived in 24/7/365. They were meant for “recreation” for short vacations and weekend camping (although I can’t imagine camping in a 36 ft rv). Our rig has a lot of miles on some lousy highways. But I am only disappointed that Keystone didn't do a little better job of repairing the rig in 2004. The repair turned out to be a “quick fix” and mostly cosmetic.
I am completely satisfied with what Truck Builders did for me and although it cost me, it was well worth it. I’d still buy another Montana.
My advice to all who travel a lot and over long distances, use every bit of technology available to allow the best ride possible for your rig (and yourself) and maintain an inspection schedule of your rig to spot any malfunctions early.
Orv
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