Keystone - never again

[RBPerry]

New 2017 Keystone trailer, on trip of 600 miles. Cabinet door hinges falling off, dealer never flushed antifreeze from system, Water heater won't work on propane, water pump wouldn't work was sucking air. Dealer adjust electric brake controller wrong, repaired myself. Door to bedroom opens the wrong way and hits bed blocking access to bedroom.

But the WORST thing is tires are not rated for gvw of the trailer, they over 1000 pounds under, and they are junk tires. Dealer said I needed to get authorization from Keystone to replace, Keystone said I needed to go to dealer.

I'm a retired truck technician, so I took it down to my local CHP office and the DOT guy says, ya, tires aren't right, I tell him to give me a ticket for it. Now dealer tells me it will be a couple months before they can get everything done, ticket says I need it corrected in two weeks, that is unacceptable, next step is a lawyer to see if I can get dealer to take this thing back.

I ended up fixing the water pump myself. I have never seen such terrible workmanship in anything.

[Fresno_Tundra_D]

RVers may not always be the most sympathetic bunch but they certainly are not lacking when it comes to discernment.

[dodge_guy]

I'm wondering if the OP is looking at the rating of the tire if they were used as duals? Single tire use has a higher rating. That is why I'm waiting till I see the sidewall of the tire.

[kilbearcamper]

hohenwald48 wrote:
So, the OP purchased an as yet undisclosed model of a Keystone trailer. Claims Keystone put some kind of unidentified 1,500 pound rated tire on it. Claims he went to some kind of DOT location and requested a ticket be written to him by a department that has nothing to do with non-commercial vehicle enforcement.

Until he discloses the trailer model, the specific tire size installed by Keystone and posts a copy of his "ticket", I'm afraid I'll at least have to call "HOGWASH" if not "TROLL".

x2,3 and 4

[hohenwald48]

So, the OP purchased an as yet undisclosed model of a Keystone trailer. Claims Keystone put some kind of unidentified 1,500 pound rated tire on it. Claims he went to some kind of DOT location and requested a ticket be written to him by a department that has nothing to do with non-commercial vehicle enforcement.

Until he discloses the trailer model, the specific tire size installed by Keystone and posts a copy of his "ticket", I'm afraid I'll at least have to call "HOGWASH" if not "TROLL".

[gmw_photos]

I looked at the Keystone site, it looks like they use the typical 205/75-14 ST tire on many of their models. Like another poster said, these usually are 1760 pounds rated, so that's a bit over 7000 total. Taking into account tongue weight, yes, it sounds like the RV manufacturer met their obligation providing a tire that is "adequate" by the numbers.

If you want some better tires, simply go buy them and have them installed. That is what many of us do.

[Community Alumni]

1500 lbs of capacity? What kind of tires are these and what's the full specs on them. Are you running P metric tires or something? Even some of the cheapest 205/75-R14 Load Range C ST tires typically have at least 1760 lbs of capacity.

[DutchmenSport]

RBPerry,

I find it interesting that on March 20, 2016 you responded on another thread. I'll quote your response:

"I'm currently negotiating the purchase of the new TT, and have told the dealer I will not purchase it with the current (in my opinion cheap foreign tires). I want quality LT tires such as Good Year or Firestone. I definitely don't want a 10 ply rated tire, I fear the trailer would ride like a tank. For some reason the dealer seems very reluctant to replace the tires, but that is a deal breaker for me."

Your comment. Click here.

My question to you? You said in your response it was a deal breaker if you did not get the tires you wanted. Quite obvious, you went ahead and accepted the camper with the tires you did not want. Why did you cave-in and take delivery of the camper. It quite obvious you were fully aware of the tires when you took delivery. Did the dealership offer to switch them after your purchase, is there more to the story you are not telling?

[dodge_guy]

As an RV`er you`ll have to learn how to fix things on your own, even when under warranty! A lot of the things you mentioned are easily repairable. Is it right? No! but its part of RV ownership. As far as the tires, I can`t tell you without seeing the sidewall of the tire, the loading label on the side of the trailer or the model number of the trailer.

[mike-s]

Still no details.

TROLL.

[RBPerry]

Why did I go to a DOT officer, well I have worked with them for years, mainly on over the road trucks. No they would never normally inspect a RV unless it was a blatant visible violation. I could not get Keystone or the dealer to deal with the tires, now I can replace the tires and take them to court for the cost because I have a legal document (ticket) proving the tires should not have been put on that trailer. The tires are rated for 1500 pounds, the trailer gvw is 7700, do the math. I also have a equalizing hitch that transfers some of the tongue weight back on the trailer axles.

[mike-s]

RBPerry wrote:
Reality is they are suppose to carry GVW plus 5%.

Nope, that's made out of whole cloth. Post a photo of the certification labels and the tire info, or I call troll.

[RBPerry]

I deducted the trailer tongue weight, and it is still off by a thousand pounds. Not only that you must consider with a multi axle trailer there are times when one axle or the other is carrying more of the load, that is generally momentary.
As for the ticket, I asked the CHP to issue the ticket, I wanted proof that the tires weren't adequate to carry the GVW. Reality is they are suppose to carry GVW plus 5%.
The guy that gave me the walk through took about twenty minutes with me, hardly spoke English and after reading the owners manual he gave me some really bad advice.

When I purchased this thing, they told me they would make the repairs before I picked it up, when I picked it up they said the parts hadn't come in yet. We had a trip planned to we accepted it, our mistake.
Screws holding cabinet door on are too short.

[Mike_E_]

Regarding the tires, I had a similar concern when I picked up my Salem a few years ago.
Tires were under-rated for the GVWR, and when I asked the salesman about it he said, "Hmm. It's not likely they'd allow a trailer out of the factory without the proper tires."

He looked into it (after I prodded him) and the factory said that because the tow vehicle would be taking the tongue weight that the tires spec'd for the trailer were sufficient to handle the rest of the weight.

[rbpru]

Yup, the gross weight on my TT is 7700 lbs. the tires were rated 7080 or so. The tongue weight is expected to handle the remainder.

I ran my China bombs for 15,000 miles, they were four years old when I bought the TT and 7 years old when I replaced them.

On our walk through the dealer and tech went through each item and I made them repeat if I did not understand.

I have heard many horror stories from new owners, so maybe the previous owner of my TT had them fixed. That said, I am now repairing a bed frame that the gas shocks pulled off the wall. So much for older and better.

The RV industry has honed the product lines to the bare minimum that is still acceptable to the buyer.

Keystone recently started construction on two more plants to keep up with their production schedule.

I would not expect any changes in the RV industry any time soon.

[Tyandkate]

I got my jayco used maybe previous owner fixed all the little hiccups but as for me I haven't had any trouble out of it. 07' and hanging in there. The wife and I were however out at camping world dreaming over a fifth wheel and noticed several screws laying around that 40,000 dollar getup! And all though the salesman was rather pushy we walked away and are still enjoying the jayco!