It continues

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by dfb

Thanks for the clues... I just took it to an alignment shop.... Hopefully this will take care of the wear issues.. I had the Trailer King E rated tires and the only tires available at the time were Trailer King , however moved to the load range Gs....

I'm not in the market for an RV but I think dieselguy may be right. No matter what brand, model etc. of an RV (any kind) there is seemingly an unknown algorithm that specifies some unit comes out with a manifestation of "bugs". You may have one. More importantly, if you break out in a sweat any time the thought of using it happens, and the fun no longer exists, I'm not sure you can eliminate that by continuing to make repairs. Exiting ownership will probably be a huge relief and give you a chance to start over on a different one. I was in the exact same position with a beautiful mountain home we owned for 25 years. Eventually I would not go there because every single time I had to spend all my time doing repairs and maintenance. Sold it in March and although we had made many forever memories there I breathed a sigh of relief and felt like a mountain was removed from my shoulders - I am very happy about it. Might be the same for you.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

Moving on past the beating on the drums and tambourines for the Montana brand by the true blue owners on the MOC. All manufacturers make a bowl of lemonade from time to time on the assembly line ... it surely appears "dfb" has landed one. Whether he will risk faults in another unit or brand by starting all over seems irrelevant here. This one creates anxiety ever time he hooks up ... even GolfMedic came to a point where he threw in the towel on his ill fated Montana. Even if I'd loose a little $$$, I'd start looking for a replacement no matter what flavor of fiver. It's no fun just waiting for the next tragedy to strike when it seems surely to do so.

My most recent RVs. We had a Tiffin DP and decided to back to a 5er for space and more. I had a Heartland that was a good one, so good it was traded in 4 months. Next was a Forest River I thought would run out of needed repairs. That didn't happen after 16 months and I didn't learn, bought another FR. Bigger mistake than the 1st. I was ready for another Tiffin. Wife talked me into one more try, bought a Cougar and it was great. Now on our 3rd Montana without a problem. Luck of the draw!

[Last2Die]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

Moving on past the beating on the drums and tambourines for the Montana brand by the true blue owners on the MOC. All manufacturers make a bowl of lemonade from time to time on the assembly line ... it surely appears "dfb" has landed one. Whether he will risk faults in another unit or brand by starting all over seems irrelevant here. This one creates anxiety ever time he hooks up ... even GolfMedic came to a point where he threw in the towel on his ill fated Montana. Even if I'd loose a little $$$, I'd start looking for a replacement no matter what flavor of fiver. It's no fun just waiting for the next tragedy to strike when it seems surely to do so.

I agree 100000%. My last trip I thought I was lucky until I was on the way home and the roof started blowing up... last year was axle alignment and new tires. The year before that I couldn’t use it because CW had it for 6 months fixing and re-fixing and breaking things and have if to fix those too. I think I may be lucky and won’t take a hit when I sell thank god !! I’m tired of waiting for the next shoe to fall. The wife is now worried about the roof, even on a new unit she wants to know the roof won’t fly off. The ac unit won’t leak from the return vent, sorry it just keeps going. I know I got a lemon CW used my unit as a demo and never told me until after I signed. So the 6 months they had it to fix things... they charged keystone for everything doesn’t seem right they messed it up and made keystone pay for it. Anyway sorry about rambling....

Tony

[Last2Die]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

My most recent RVs. We had a Tiffin DP and decided to back to a 5er for space and more. I had a Heartland that was a good one, so good it was traded in 4 months. Next was a Forest River I thought would run out of needed repairs. That didn't happen after 16 months and I didn't learn, bought another FR. Bigger mistake than the 1st. I was ready for another Tiffin. Wife talked me into one more try, bought a Cougar and it was great. Now on our 3rd Montana without a problem. Luck of the draw!

We’re looking at the 39rkfb riverstone, and the 382 NP Jayco. Feels like gambling.... I’m exhausted it shouldn’t be this hard to get something that just works....
Tony

[richfaa]

Originally Posted by dfb

Thank You Richfaa.... I love the rv.. Just hate working on it... Heater and Air work great. Bathroom is plenty big with a heated floor.. pass thru cargo.. When ever my wife says, "lets take the RV and go, I break out in a cold sweat... lol

There was a time when I could handle most of the problems with our Rv's. That time has past as one does not fool with Mother Nature .It is very expensive to have the dealer or other repair shops do the work as we are now finding out but that is life.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Last2Die

We’re looking at the 39rkfb riverstone, and the 382 NP Jayco. Feels like gambling.... I’m exhausted it shouldn’t be this hard to get something that just works....
Tony

As I said and you quoted it is Luck of the Draw. On my 4th Keystone ~ 3 Montanas~~ without a problem. I have a friend with a Riverstone and says he thinks about trading for a popup. Two friends with a Jayco and both like them. We are usually in our Montanas about 7 months of the year traveling. Still you get a bad taste if you get a bad one. I'd give up traveling if I had to use any FR product given free. It's not fair but feelings due to experiences.

[Last2Die]

I hear ya... we looked at a Jayco today seemed nice but yeah whatever we choose it’s a gamble.

[Montana Man]

I've had a few trailers. My friends have had a few trailers. I find it difficult to believe that some folks say they've have had no problems with their trailer. I have never witnessed it. I suspect that what may be a minor nuisance to one may be considered a problem to another. But an RV that has no issues whatsoever I would bet does not exist.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Montana Man

I've had a few trailers. My friends have had a few trailers. I find it difficult to believe that some folks say they've have had no problems with their trailer. I have never witnessed it. I suspect that what may be a minor nuisance to one may be considered a problem to another. But an RV that has no issues whatsoever I would bet does not exist.

Nothing that required warranty or after service except a HW tank elec problem. Keystone sent a taillight on a recall. Tighten something here or there. I'd not call that problems. I'm proactive like on the last I went straight to the tire shop from the dealer for Sailuns, that one and this Thetford toilets were trashed before use, replaced (3) with Dometic 320. Wife just reminded me, the hot and cold water lines to the washer were switched ~ that's a biggie there. Perfect no, problems not at all.

[dfb]

Originally Posted by jimcol

very well said!

Me and a buddy fixed the large kitchen ,tv slide yesterday. 8 hours. every time we had the slide even from front side to back side and moved it, would come out of alignment by 4 inches. We cut the underside material to get-to the hydraulic ram. The big bolt at the back of them ram was so loose. 4 inches of free play!. We tightened that bolt with loctite..Then we adjusted the slides. Finally goes in and out without banging and binding..
Now i need to find out why my black water comes sloshing out. Then the emergency exit latch that broke again. Then replace the mor-ryde center block between the tires.. im so sore owning a Thor..

[dfb]

Originally Posted by Last2Die

I hear ya... we looked at a Jayco today seemed nice but yeah whatever we choose it’s a gamble.

Jayco is now a Thor product.

[richfaa]

We have had 6 RV's over the years the first 4 all different brands the last 2 Montana's the 06 3400 and this 13 3402. We were weekend rv'ers for the first 4 they were simple units no slides and we did maybe 12/13 weekend campouts over the summer most of them within a 50 miles radius and occasionally a vacation trip as we both worked.The longest was to the outer banks. We did have problems with all 4 the worst was bent axles on a Coachman and sidewall leaks on a Terry. They all had the little issues we have come to expect on any brand RV.

When we both retired we went to the Montana line as we were going to do a lot of travel and a lot of living in them. We have done well over 100K miles in the Montana's since 2006. These things are far more complicated than the previous units. We had problems. Tanks leaking or splitting. Tank vendors said Keystone did not support them properly. We ordered these things with G6 14 tires and within the first 6 months installed the Mor ryde IS. We replaced the fender screws so the fenders did not fall off and we had hot water tank problems that turned out to be improperly installed at the factory. We had a inner bearing fail on the RV causing the wheel to separate from the RV in spite of them being checked every two years. The latest was a hydraulic jack failure requiring a jack replacement covered under our RV ESP.

Having owned RV's and even sold them for dealers at RV shows we expected failures.

IMO the Montana is no better no worse that any brand in the price range. We have also had excellent service from keystone the service center and dealers .

These guys are high maint units and preventative maint pays off.

We are nearing the end of our RV journey and we have no complaints.

[uhftx]

Quote below:
I've met rich and Helen at some rallies, I've never known (jokingly) to be in the market for a previously enjoyed unit. But these are difficult times. Maybe he is looking for a deal vs the 3800 model?
rich I hope you can still take a joke.

Honestly, After spending the kind of money on a new Monty, These kind of issues should not be a concern as a new owner. On the used market they should also hold up better the other brands. They have in the past. But maybe not of late.
I have read so many horror stories with new motorhomes and in most cases lemon laws do not apply. But consider all the electronics and systems in the newer vehicles. My wife CRV has over 6K in possible electronic repairs if complete failure. Translate that to a newer rig. Some times Old school simplicity is success and screw the new bells and whistles which will all go wrong eventually. It is only a matter of time.
Manual this or that is fixable without a Ph.D in electronics.
Which I work with and do for a living.

Originally Posted by richfaa

I vote you get rid of this RV purchase another brand and hope for better luck.

[richfaa]

Tour a RV factory any of them and one can see there is little quality control at each station of construction and I believe there are 16 stations from frame in the door to complete RV out the door. No Chris this is our last RV. We have never purchased a used RV can't tell you why.

This 13 3402 is a much better product compared to our 06 3400.The hydraulic jack failure is the worst issue we have had with this one and IMO if I had paid more attention to my own preventative maint schedule it may not have happened.

[mazboy]

to be honest, most of what you have experienced has been experienced by many of us.


if all of what happened all at once I'd say the same, but it is part of RVing.


I think you are about $10-15K too high on the price from looking at RV trader however.

[dfb]

Originally Posted by mazboy

to be honest, most of what you have experienced has been experienced by many of us.


if all of what happened all at once I'd say the same, but it is part of RVing.


I think you are about $10-15K too high on the price from looking at RV trader however.

So 39k to 34k for the 79000 Montana?