Possible frame weld broken on new Montana

[nremtp143]

Hi guys. Our new Montana was delivered in April and last week while unhitching the unit at home, I noticed the side- nose wall of the camper had broken the silicon bead at the bottom. Once I put the weight back on the truck, you could see the gap at the bottom trim move. The dealer says nothing he can do about it and I've emailed my factory rep, Montana Customer Service and Lippert. I've heard from Montana's Owner Relations only so far. I was asked a hundred questions as to how this occurred(like I know) and everything from what kind of hitch I use and what kind of truck I tow it with. I know they are just doing their job and patiently waiting to see what can/will be done. I have some trips coming up very soon that have been paid for for over a year and worried about making them. I've sent them the video I have below as well as several more pics from every angle. Just waiting to see where to go and what to do next. I have friends that work at an RV plant in Indiana and says possible weld or a wall-frame mount has come loose. Have any of you ever seen one do this?
Gap at bottom widens

[work2much]

Wow. For such a brand new trailer with such major structural defects they should replace this with a brand new unit and take your camper and tear it apart as a "lessons learned" and "How the hell could this have happened" investigation. Keystone should be downright embarrassed by such a failure and the way they are treating a customer. Unbelievable.

[nremtp143]

The root cause of the flex has been identified as a broken weld in the nose of the camper. I specifically asked if it was on the Lippert frame and was told YES. The area joint was being rewelded and plated today. Also in the nose of the camper, there are three aluminum tubes that offer support to the front of the rig. These tubes are filled with wood to allow the bolts through the aluminum to adhere to something. Two of these tubes had no wood in them and the bolts pulled through the aluminum. That too is being repaired. I've been told I will be receiving pics of the before and after. I will update as soon as I know something else.

[filrupmark]

Our fiver went back to the Augusta factory in Indiana . Lippert reinforced the frame. They also added a Trailair tri glide pinbox. That was over two years ago and everything has been fine since. Hopefully they get your unit fixed properly also.

[nremtp143]

bodyshop bob wrote:
Any update on this? Curious minds and potential future Montana owners would love to know.

I was told by a Montana rep approximately ten days ago that I would be contacted when the work was started on the unit. So far, nothing! I emailed the contact I was given today to see if they had any information on my unit. Of course, I've emailed them four other times within the past three months and not heard a single word from them. This is now truly beginning to worry us as we have a 10 day trip planned for our son's spring break 5 1/2 weeks from today. That doesn't sound that bad, but considering they've had the unit a month today, yes, it is starting to worry me. I will update when I hear something. Thank you for your interest in this ridiculous matter.
I am not impressed at all by Keystone's handling of this if any of you can tell. This is a far cry from the response I got from Forest River when I had an axle problem with my Sandpiper.

[bodyshop_bob]

Any update on this? Curious minds and potential future Montana owners would love to know.

[FishOnOne]

Hope all goes well Monty. Note to self... Never purchase a Montana product. Lack of customer service is a big problem.

[nremtp143]

minnow wrote:
Lets hope when they have the cap off, they'll do a through inspection of all the welds. In a perverse sort of way, I'd kinda hope the unit they are repairing now has defective welds on the other side which might cause them to carefully look your unit over real good.

True.

[minnow]

Lets hope when they have the cap off, they'll do a through inspection of all the welds. In a perverse sort of way, I'd kinda hope the unit they are repairing now has defective welds on the other side which might cause them to carefully look your unit over real good.

[NJRVer]

Sounds to me that they have a can of worms on their hand. That is why the previous one is still being worked on. Not an easy fix.

On the one hand, you hope the are taking their time to fix it correctly and permanently.

On the on other hand, you hope it isn't some really big structural issue across that model line and they are trying to figure out how to fix it since you say others are having the same problem.

[nremtp143]

DELAYED!!! I finally got someone to answer me back today after I called and left messages. When she called, she was apologetic that she had failed to tell me the unit was at the factory. As we were talking I asked if it was being worked on and her reply was, "No". She said they are running behind and that the guys assigned to this unit will not be finished with the unit they are working on now until the END OF NEXT WEEK and that my unit should be started after that. So, apparently the quickest it will be torn into is a week from this coming Monday. She did say that they had done a preliminary exam of the unit and it appears that one of three things has happened. 1- Broken weld in the nose, 2-the relief cut under the slide did not go all the way through the side wall to effectively stop the flex, or 3- that the aluminum beams in the front that sit on the steel beams were not "stuffed with wood for the bolts to adhere to when put in from the steel beams to hold them together":-arrgh I asked for a guestimate as to how long it would take and she stated that at least a week for the flex, then the interior wall and the AC units will have to be tested. This may be a several week process before the unit comes back. I was afraid of that!!!!! She stated that once the nose was removed and the problem found, the plant manager and the production manager have to examine to see if correct procedures were followed. No estimate on time received. Which brought me to the videos! I asked her had anyone seen them and she didn't even know what I was talking about. So, I explained to her the stud problem(short, shoddy welds, etc) and the videos that were taken and she stated that even she couldn't see the videos because they were YouTube, but there were people in the plant that could see them and she would make sure that happened. I gave her a list of the ones I'd sent them to. This is just adding to my disdain for this company now. I wonder why I wasn't told of the delay! I also wonder if that is why they haven't contacted me due to this delay. I told her that this would probably not sit well with my forum friends and others having the same complaint. I told her there were more and she was silent. I finally told her that this entire ordeal has been going on since July and has now been seen over 85,000 times. Again, she was silent. I know it is not her fault and I stayed pretty calm with her as I wanted to stay that way, but I'm ticked at the entire Montana department. This has gone on WAY TOO LONG! She promised to update me:-huh from now on once it makes its way to the floor. So, that is where it stands as of now.

[MPI_Mallard]

I really feel for you as we went through it this fall, last winter I noticed the lower seam on our 07' Cedar Creek daydreamer was opening on both sides and when I contacted CC's warranty dept. they told me even though the warranty was up they'd be happy to repair it as they consider this to be a safety issue and not up to the standards they want for their products! All they asked was that I bring it to them (were not far from Topeka Indiana) on their schedule as they only have one repair bay. they pulled off the front cap, side walls and underside of the deck area and had Lippert fix their frame then CC had them come back and re-do it as the guy's in the repair shop weren't happy with the repair! It was done on time and has been a rock-solid repair top to bottom! This is how Cedar Creek looks after their customers!!!

Red Green: Remember, I'm pulling for ya. We're all in this together!

[nremtp143]

It was supposed to have been moved to the work area on Friday, but I haven't gotten an email saying it was done, so I'm not sure if it was started on. While discussing this on FB with other Montana owners, I had three more contact me with the same issue, so I am not alone now. Two of them are the sister model to mine the 3791RD and the other is a front living 3711 which has two front slides as opposed to my one. All of them are flexing on the left front between the slide and the nose. My fear is they will not take the nose loose, slide out and peel back the side a bit so they can actually see the roof try to pick up before the floor does when it is lifted by the pin. I'm betting they will only shoot the new glue up under the side panel and shoot the 5 screws in the side and call it a day.

[greende]

Thanks for the update.

[nremtp143]

The unit arrived in Goshen after hours on Friday. It was being checked in at the factory today.

[nremtp143]

I understand what you are saying and I brought up this very point to the Montana management member handling my case. I was told that once it is in the system as being brought back for a repair such as this, that if I had a problem later such as delamination in the area or another break in the area, that it would be covered. I asked to get that in writing and was told it would be no problem. Before I get too comfortable, I would like to see the documents on how it was handled and what actually was done at the factory.