Keystone Factory Tour

SummitPond · 07-08-2017, 05:43 PM

On our travels across the country this spring (we traveled from FL to Denver for a wedding, then on to ME) we stopped in at the Keystone facility in Goshen for a tour of our line, the Bullet Premier. Other tours were also going on concurrently, so that precluded us from viewing more than one. Prior to the start of the tour, we sat in a waiting room where a TV monitor played a continuous loop of Keystone-produced advertising videos. They all stressed one thing – quality. According to the videos, many of the build-related issues we discuss on this forum should not occur. Enough said on that!

The tour was very interesting. I’ve provided a few photos of what we saw.

The first photo of the assembly floor shows the frames, right-side up, with the fresh water and gray/black water tanks laid in place. The underbelly is already attached; this is done with the frame flipped upside down prior to this step. Look carefully and you’ll see the tires are mounted on skids; the entire assembly gets manually pushed ‘down the line’ to have the various stages of construction completed.

There’s a photo of (I believe) an unmounted exterior wall, viewed from the outside, showing the aluminum frame structure.

The next photo shows the front of the trailer before any wiring has been strung to lights and before the aerodynamic housing has been attached.

The next three photos show work on the roof: open frame structure with A/C ductwork visible, the roof membrane being laid, and insulation being laid (which obviously goes in before the roof goes on).

The last two photos were taken at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart. One shows part of a large case that presented the entire fabrication process in miniature. The other photo shows a small part of the museum floor, focusing on what Thor Industries contribution to the museum. There was nothing at the museum related to Keystone, but there were a few very old Airstreams (you can see two in the foreground).

The person leading our tour (and we were the only two on this one) was a company Bullet Premier salesman (and he owns a Bullet trailer, too). He was very knowledgeable about the changes for the current year: granite-like countertops, a new frame manufacturer (related to BAL?), color schemes and other minor changes. We noted several QA-related finds identified by the staff (some amazingly nitpicking stuff, too) that were to be remedied.

If you’ve never been to the RV Hall of Fame, I strongly recommend it. We spent about 4 hours there – we could have spent more, but after a while, it’s not like everything starts looking the same, but …! The museum has travel trailers, campers (pop up as well as other earlier types), motor homes (some even new!) and a manufactured home (what used be called mobile homes, but the one on display is nothing like what I lived in 40+ years ago – this looks just like a house on the inside). They also had party cars for some famous (and some not-so-famous) people, as well as trailers used by Lindberg and others. There are grand plans to create a campground on land adjacent to the museum; I do not know the time line for this.

It's well worth the visit.

**chuckster57** · 07-08-2017, 06:07 PM

Factory tours can be very enlightening. I was sent to the Newmar motor home plant and spent 3 days touring the assembly plant. Since I was getting training, I was able to be "on the floor" with the people building the coaches. If your tour was like mine, you realize how little time the unit stays at any one "station", and as a tech I can see why some things will make you shake your head.

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine.

Tbos · 07-08-2017, 06:15 PM

Great review. Adding this to the bucket list.

2016 Passport GT 2810BHS, 2016 F350 CC DRW

busterbrown · 07-08-2017, 07:01 PM

Thanks for sharing. We may do the tour next year when we visit a Yogi Bear campground about 40 miles away. Would like to have eyes on production stations to see/experience first hand "WTF were they thinking".

xrated · 07-09-2017, 01:03 AM

On one hand, I think it would be interesting to take a factory tour and see how the RV's are built. On the other hand, after watching them build one, I might never buy an RV, especially when you see some of the things that they do that are just not very craftsman like!

**sourdough** · 07-09-2017, 09:37 AM

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we can make it there one day. We've talked about a trip like yours from FL then heading east. We've just got to get to FL from TX then launch from there

SummitPond · 07-09-2017, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we can make it there one day. We've talked about a trip like yours from FL then heading east. We've just got to get to FL from TX then launch from there

I will post a synopsis of our travels with some photos once I get organized. The photos won't be able to compete with those taken by Canonman, but I hope to give him a run for the money!

**sourdough** · 07-09-2017, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShacterShack

I will post a synopsis of our travels with some photos once I get organized. The photos won't be able to compete with those taken by Canonman, but I hope to give him a run for the money!

Thank you!

PARAPTOR · 07-09-2017, 11:30 AM

Thank You, for sharing your factory pictures!! Would like to see how these are built one of these days. I THINK

gregrc75 · 07-18-2017, 08:38 AM

Thanks for posting, especially since I have a Premier! I may save these photos for future reference, if you don't mind.

SummitPond · 07-19-2017, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregrc75

Thanks for posting, especially since I have a Premier! I may save these photos for future reference, if you don't mind.

Be my guest. There is nothing proprietary about the pics - they encouraged me to take them. I'm glad my comments and photos were useful.

**JRTJH** · 07-19-2017, 06:43 AM

I don't want to "take away any thunder" from ShacterShack's thread, but want to add a bit of information about factory tours. They are provided on a "brand by brand" basis throughout the week, so even if you're interested in the Passport tour, if it's not available when you can make it to the plant, all brands are built "essentially the same" so taking the Bullet or Laredo tour will still be very informative.

Don't expect to see any work being done. The tours are conducted "after working hours" and even though there may be one or maybe two people "working overtime", the bulk of the workforce will be visibly missing from the work area. So, you won't see any of the "un-craftsman like" activity alluded to in some posts.

On the tours that I've taken (which amounts to 4 if I remember them all) children were not permitted to enter the work area. So, if you have children and want to take the tour, make sure you discuss this when you contact Customer Service to book your appointment for a tour. It would be very disappointing to have the expectations of touring the facility, spend an hour driving there with a truck full of children anticipating the outing and to be turned away before stepping foot in the facility.

CrazyCain · 03-10-2018, 07:28 PM

I was gonna start a thread on this very subject, but searched first and found ya'll. We just booked a trip to the Keystone plant Goshen, In in Early June, That will be part of a 4 day trip to the ares.. (Free 3 day Hotel staying this time), thanks to rewards points from our Credit Union. Factory tour, Rv Hall of fame and Shipshewana. Because of this thread , i know what to expect at the tour

FlyingAroundRV · 03-10-2018, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyCain

I was gonna start a thread on this very subject, but searched first and found ya'll. We just booked a trip to the Keystone plant Goshen, In in Early June, That will be part of a 4 day trip to the ares.. (Free 3 day Hotel staying this time), thanks to rewards points from our Credit Union. Factory tour, Rv Hall of fame and Shipshewana. Because of this thread , i know what to expect at the tour

How do you book these tours? We will be in Elkhart to pick up our trailer late May/Early June and would love to tour the factory.

CrazyCain · 03-11-2018, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingAroundRV

How do you book these tours? We will be in Elkhart to pick up our trailer late May/Early June and would love to tour the factory.

DW just called the Factory, asked when they do tours for the Hideouts (Thursdays 2pm).Person on phone told DW that all we have to do is show up at the place 1/2 hour before the tour begins.

**JRTJH** · 03-11-2018, 05:25 AM

Keystone just recently updated and reorganized their website, so things aren't where they were last week..... That said, they do still have the "search feature" and this is listed under the search term "factory tour":

https://www.keystonerv.com/upper-nav...ur-rv-is-made/

ADQ K9 · 03-11-2018, 08:32 AM

Anyone know if they are given for the western production facility in Oregon?

**JRTJH** · 03-11-2018, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADQ K9

Anyone know if they are given for the western production facility in Oregon?

You can call and ask, but the last time I checked, there were no tours at the western facility.

ADQ K9 · 03-11-2018, 08:49 AM

Oregon is where out unit was built. We go through Indiana every fall on our way to Kentucky so it is still possible we might pick that one up. I would really like to get a Super Duty factory tour in Louisville.

**JRTJH** · 03-11-2018, 10:17 AM

The Ford Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP) is usually a closed plant, not open to the public. I haven't seen anything to indicate that will be changing any time soon. The only tours I've heard about (other than media tours) is the annual family day picnic tour. If you know someone who works there and can "wrestle them" into inviting you, maybe you can get inside. Otherwise, it's a U-Tube event or a website research event....

Here's one fairly good tour, old but still relevant (I think): http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2012/01...uck-plant.html

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