Poor Planning

[GlasNav]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

About 10 or 12 years ago when I was at the factory for a tour (been several times since then) there were two workers on the roof of a Montana trailer (3/8" OSB roof decking) and one worker was showing the other how to "knock a vent hole in the OSB" rather than walking to the scaffolding to get a hole drill to cut a proper hole. He "slammed the hammer into the OSB, then used both hands (maybe all his strength) to push a bigger hole by breaking the shards of wood. End product was a "shoddy hole with rough edges", but once the EPDM (at that time TPO wasn't used) was installed and the roof vent was glued/screwed in place, it would have been impossible to know how the hole was created.... When I asked the tour guide about what he'd done, the guide (who was one of the line managers in a coat and tie) just shrugged his shoulders and moved us on down the line to the next "point of interest"...

Since then, Keystone only offers visitor tours of the assembly line when the crews are finished for the day, which is usually after 2PM. I won't suggest that my question was the motivation for that tour schedule change, but I've no doubt that Keystone doesn't really want the public observing some of the "shortcuts" that workers take on the line to keep up with the rapid paced schedule.....

So, even if interferences are being considered by the engineering staff, the assembly line gang apparently do whatever they want. Is it safe to assume jigs and layout guides aren't used and it's simply eyeball, slam bam done method?

[rlh1957]

I would move the island myself or trim off part of the counter.
Many have upgraded their kitchens and totally redone cabinets and islands.

[mformica]

Originally Posted by HeadHam

Just a general observation on the 2023 Cougar 29RLI. With a little bit of planning, if they had moved the kitchen island back by just 1", you could open the refrigerator door with the slide in.

How does your Ram 2500 Diesel do with the Cougar 29rli? I just got the same setup and was a little worried about it...

Thanks,

Mike

[dutchmensport]

The reason we never settled on a Montana Fifth Wheel front living room model was because every one of them had islands in the middle of the kitchen (in the middle of the camper) that blocked everything when slides were in. We searched for a couple years for one that did not have the island blocking.

Then Keystone came out of the 375FL (Front Living room) Montana HIGH Country and it did not have an island. The kitchen is 100% accessible with the slides in. Long story short, that was 5 years ago and we still love this floor plan.

The "HIGH Country" is one step down from the main Montana line, but it had the floor plan and the design we were wanting. Sometimes, price is NOT what it's all about. We took the lesser, but we ended up with "the" more!

[Bill-2020]

One of the main reasons we picked the 23MLE Cougar, access to fridge, bathroom and bed without having to open any slides.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

One of the main reasons we picked the 23MLE Cougar, access to fridge, bathroom and bed without having to open any slides.

Same on my model, except when the slide is in, the two rooms are separated. DW and I just spent an interesting night on the road (and probably several more to come) after our slide failed. We could access the bath and all the appliances, but there was nowhere to sit without stressing the closed slide, so we spent all our time in the bedroom. Going between the two areas entailed exiting one door and entering another, which got old real fast, especially for late night pitstops. Gotta find me a repair depot somewhere.

[NH_Bulldog]

I am surprised with all this talk about trimming the countertop or moving the island? If possible, why not just swap the swing of the refrigerator door and be done with it?

[PolarisCobra]

Swapping the door would be another good option. But - It might be a real pain when the slides are open, and you are standing in front of the stove, and need something from the fridge, and the door swings the wrong way.

Too bad the fridge doesn't have french doors, we would not be having this conversation.

[coastn]

Bit off topic but felt compelled to respond to mformica's question. Others might have interest?
Just returned from a month long spring break from CO to Palm Springs, CA and back. My previous ('14) and current ('23) RAM 2500 diesels have handled the 29RLI beautifully. Colorado mountain passes, no problem. Towing on the flatlands of AZ and CA averaged 12-13 MPG. Am really happy with the setup.

[GlasNav]

Originally Posted by coastn

Bit off topic but felt compelled to respond to mformica's question. Others might have interest?
Just returned from a month long spring break from CO to Palm Springs, CA and back. My previous ('14) and current ('23) RAM 2500 diesels have handled the 29RLI beautifully. Colorado mountain passes, no problem. Towing on the flatlands of AZ and CA averaged 12-13 MPG. Am really happy with the setup.

Quoting Tim the tool man Taylor, "Grunt, Grunt, MORE POWER"!

Sounds excellent, hope to get the same with ours, unfortunately it has been blowing something fierce every time we've towed in the last month. Bucking an additional 20 - 30 MPH of wind makes a huge difference.

[O2BNDKeys]

That's exactly what we measured out. But now that I know it was poor planning, rather than a manufacturing mess-up, I will "let it go". We like to stop every few hours and if I could keep items in the fridge, we wouldn't have to carry our cooler.

[O2BNDKeys]

We have really enjoyed the Cougar 29RLI...still love the design and livability. We stay in it for weeks at a time.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by O2BNDKeys

We have really enjoyed the Cougar 29RLI...still love the design and livability. We stay in it for weeks at a time.

Yes, owning an RV is an endeavor in compromise, concession, adaptation and.....fun and adventure. The design and livability while in the unit (floorplan) is about at the top of the list. We are the same way and some of the little stuff is forgotten in short order. Happy camping.