Another Frame Flex issue

[buck119fa]

Well it happened, the dreaded frame flex. Notice the problem starting over the summer. Opened a case with Keystone, Called Affinity and made the appointment for January. Got it in to Affinity and low and behold the wall was damaged on both sides of the bedroom slide. I added a couple things I needed done while it was there also.
After Affinity did the quote to Keystone they wouldn't cover the repairs, out of warranty. 8600$ quote on the repairs.
Frustrating to say the least, but what choice do you have? Broken wall studs, rotten wood from the separation and water leak, etc... can't really travel like that so, fix it.
I have 2 things to take away from this adventure...
1. Affinity is great! great communications, inspection, repairs, photos, did the little extras that they found with no charge. They were absolutely great to work with and did great work on all the repairs.
2. Keep talking to Keystone, polite descriptive and firm emails got the company to came back with the offer to cover 50% labor and all parts for the frame repairs.
With my add on fixes my cost went down to 3100$. we're pretty satisfied.
If anyone has this happen and they denied the warranty repairs, I cant say enough on continued contact with Keystone to come to an agreement.
Now it's time to get it packed back up and ready to travel this year.

 

[Pest]

It's good to hear you're getting it fixed with reasonable support from Keystone. May i ask what year and model your Montana is?

 

[scottz]

I like the looks of those repairs. It would have been good if Keystone would have covered it 100%, but I'd call about 65% reimbursement a win for a six year old unit.

Enjoy your like-new unit and move on.

 

[buck119fa]

it's good to hear you're getting it fixed with reasonable support from keystone. May i ask what year and model your montana is?

2019 3131rl

 

[buck119fa]

I like the looks of those repairs. It would have been good if Keystone would have covered it 100%, but I'd call about 65% reimbursement a win for a six year old unit.

Enjoy your like-new unit and move on.

Oh we'll enjoy it for sure. I agree they should have done it right at the factory. I get the out of warranty denial, my argument was the "known" issues they have with this so that's what I fought it on. I'm good with their response and offer and felt it was good based on 3 yrs out of frame warranty.

On to enjoying the seasons coming up.

 

[fuquatj]

I advise keeping an eye on the frame flex in the future. I have a 2020 3781RL that is at Keystone right now for a second repair of the same issue in the same location (bottom right corner of the door side bedroom slide). It first cracked in 2022 while still within the 3 year warranty. Keystone authorized Camping World Nashville to do the repair in accordance with the Keystone Service Bulletin for this issue. The repair lasted until November 2024 then started cracking again.

Keystone has been great so far in that they picked up my camper and will fix the problem once again. In addition they are going to mount a new set of Sailuns including spare; as well as fixing a couple of other issues at no cost.

But, the bottom line is that the Keystone certified repair done by Camping World did not last, don't be surprised if it happens again.

 

[Mikelff]

I advise keeping an eye on the frame flex in the future. I have a 2020 3781RL that is at Keystone right now for a second repair of the same issue in the same location (bottom right corner of the door side bedroom slide). It first cracked in 2022 while still within the 3 year warranty. Keystone authorized Camping World Nashville to do the repair in accordance with the Keystone Service Bulletin for this issue. The repair lasted until November 2024 then started cracking again.

Keystone has been great so far in that they picked up my camper and will fix the problem once again. In addition they are going to mount a new set of Sailuns including spare; as well as fixing a couple of other issues at no cost.

But, the bottom line is that the Keystone certified repair done by Camping World did not last, don't be surprised if it happens again.

Camping World is notorious for poor quality work, however, this is more an engineering flaw and hard to know if it Was Camping World poor repair, or if they had to follow a Keystone directive. Hopefully, Keystone will fix it right this time.

 

[Reichster]

Does anyone know of a shop in the Pacific Northwest that makes frame repairs? I live in California, on the coast, just below the Oregon border. We took a tour around the western states (with our 2019 / 3021) and when we returned, I noticed the weather strip on the expansion joint just under the bedroom slide had a gap between it and the side wall, about a 16th of an inch, and the front fiberglass skin is slightly bowing out at the same point. Looks like it's in the same place as the pictures above. My cousin and his wife followed us around pulling their Refection on the trip we took and 4 days ago over lunch he stated that he just got a letter from the manufacturer to take his unit into the dealer he bought it from for a frame inspection, and they would cover the cost of any repairs needed. He said he didn't have any issues he knew of but in talking to the dealer he was told that there have been enough lawsuits files against Grand Design for frame issues, especially his model that they're trying to get a handle on it.

 

[twindman]

Buck, I am shocked you got anything from Keystone. A 6 year old getting repaired is kind of unbelievable!.

 

[buck119fa]

Buck, I am shocked you got anything from Keystone. A 6 year old getting repaired is kind of unbelievable!.

Persistence pays off sometimes. I was a little pushy with Keystone on this, a lot of emails and phone calls later... We went back and forth for a little while on it. I was pretty satisfied with the end results and the conversations I had with Keystone on the situation.

 

[Reichster]

Persistence pays off sometimes. I was a little pushy with Keystone on this, a lot of emails and phone calls later... We went back and forth for a little while on it. I was pretty satisfied with the end results and the conversations I had with Keystone on the situation.

Anyone that has had an issue with frame flex or frame failure needs to file a complaint with NHTSA. When I talked to the investigator, they need a certain number of filings to open an investigation and once they find fault with a safety issue, the manufacture, Keystone and or Lippert will have to conduct a recall. If you have already paid for the repairs, they should reimburse you. There was a Keystone manufacture bulletin back in 2021 of a notice to NHTSA (Campaign Number 10187442) of the instructions to dealers to make repairs of the frames (KSB-210218 and KSB-18032, which covers 5 different Keystone models, but at the time it wasn't a mandatory recall and they didn't notify owners about the notice or what indications you could spot to indicate a frame issue. Keystone knew they have a manufacturing defect with the frames. Lippert has stepped it up for frames manufactured in 2026 with thicker steel up front, a ton more bracing and cross bracing in the pin box area, the side rails under the front deck (bedroom) is much beefier and thicker and there are a number of other areas down the length of the frame they have increased thickness of the steel rails. Grand Design has issued recalls for their 5th wheels to inspect for frame breakage and even if they don't find any apparent damage, they are adding pieces to the frame to prevent the frames from breaking in the areas that are most prevalent to the issue.