Stress Crack!!!!

ghastie87 · 09-01-2015, 05:57 PM

Hi All,

I was looking for some guidance

We just got back from a trip to NC, we are from NY. Was putting the landing gear down to unhook the truck and see this 12 inch crack coming from the corning of the bedroom slide. I took 2 pictures one hooked on the truck and one with it off. The one with it on has a slight gap, and unhooked it closes tight. Its a 2014 Laredo 335tg 5th wheel. The one year warrenty is up. The dealer said they are going to send it in to Keystone and try to get a goodwill repair. I am not to sure this will work, even though I think it should because there is obviously a structural issue hear, and if they do a repair I see it just happening again.

What should I do???

Thanks

cw3jason · 09-02-2015, 08:20 AM

I just had the same problem coming back from Florida. My crack is only 7/8 of an inch long and it runs diagonal from the corner. It is currently at the dealer. It can be fairly common if the structure underneath cracks. The fix is to weld the frame and reinforce it with more metal, then fix the fiberglass. My dealer is still evaluating ours, not sure what the frame looks like yet.

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cw3jason · 09-02-2015, 08:24 AM

Let me guess, did you travel down 95? We caught some pretty good bounces coming off those bridge abatements. My guess is that's what stressed my frame.

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omextreme · 09-02-2015, 08:28 AM

The stress crack can also be caused by that big pothole you hit back on that road and then the issue is an insurance claim....

sw342 · 09-02-2015, 09:34 AM

If you are out of warranty Keystone will probably do the duck and run. Good chance its a frame issue which they did not build, so they will probably have you take it up with LCI.

dcg9381 · 09-02-2015, 10:43 AM

'Cept the frame isn't broken. It's flexing, probably per "design". Hoping for Keystone to come through here.

sw342 · 09-02-2015, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcg9381

'Cept the frame isn't broken. It's flexing, probably per "design". Hoping for Keystone to come through here.

Guess he will find out. Its a Lippert frame so it would not be a surprise to most if there were cracked welds and it has to be re-welded along with some additional support added. It certainly would not be the first time this has happened. If so there is a good chance Keystone will push him off onto Lippert and then Lippert can send a welder out to his repair location and do the work.

And you wonder why so many people would love not to have a Lippert frame under their trailer.

mazboy123 · 09-02-2015, 01:28 PM

yep, you have flexing.

push for the repair, you need to get your trailer to the service center in goshen, this isn't a dealer repair.

you need to start contacting keystone yourself and push for the repair. my wife has direct phone numbers of the montana people who make the decisions, get yours too.

we have had 'flexing' on several of our montanas and one trailer was even replaced 3 months after we had it.

just forget the issue that it is out of warranty, keystone does and will repair things like what you are talking about.

ghastie87 · 09-02-2015, 04:16 PM

Wow, thanks for all the replies really appreciate it. Looks like I need to get in touch with a decision maker at Keystone. Anyone know of a good person to talk too? I really think if they just do a patch job that its just going to reappear.

Thanks again

ghastie87 · 09-08-2015, 06:26 PM

Still waiting to hear back from dealer on a fix, MAXBOY123 what repair shop in Goshen do you speak of ? want to start looking for another approach if this doesn't work out.

Thanks

Dooley · 10-06-2015, 07:09 PM

Did you ever it get it fixed . I am having the same issue on a 2015 Alpine , its at the shop now waiting for a reply from Keystone .

Dooley · 04-25-2016, 07:32 PM

Having the same issue in Alpine , fixed the first time at CW in Burlington. That took 5 weeks in the shop !

3 or so months later , same crack only worse. Returned from Fl., to CW in Burlington ,Wa. (as they did the first repair)

Just heard back from CW and now Keystone wants the unit returned to their facility,which is what I wanted in the first place when were in Fl.,to have it evaluated.Keystone forced me to drive back to Wa. , and now they want me to take the trailer to OR.

Very frustrated :

Anybody know of a good lawyer in Oregon

BSHGTO · 05-01-2016, 01:37 PM

It would be nice if we could have pictures of before repair and after of the structure, 2015 trailers shouldn`t be doing this, I travel 95 all the time.

Festus2 · 05-01-2016, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSHGTO

, I travel 95 all the time.

Scary. Really scary.

Bill & Deb · 08-08-2016, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghastie87

Still waiting to hear back from dealer on a fix, MAXBOY123 what repair shop in Goshen do you speak of ? want to start looking for another approach if this doesn't work out.

Thanks

ghastie87

What was the outcome of your crack issue?

I just had my trailer at a dealer to get assessed this morning. I had been in touch with Keystone and they wanted a dealer to take pictures and submit it to them for a possible warranty repair.

I have found the metal supports under the closet floor in the front storage compartment have broken welds on the trailer side but the box pin side are ok. So this may be the cause of the flexing.

My front cap is faded all to hell but that is another issue and Keystone gave me the sorry to hear that but not covered.

I'm including my pictures in this post.

Bill
Mine is a 2014 Keystone Laredo 329RE .

notanlines · 08-08-2016, 12:29 PM

Bill, Ghastie hasn't been heard from in a year. Hopefully you will keep us up on your outcome. Thanks.....

Bill & Deb · 08-19-2016, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notanlines

Bill, Ghastie hasn't been heard from in a year. Hopefully you will keep us up on your outcome. Thanks.....

Still waiting to hear from Keystone.

I took it to the dealer they took pictures... The week later the dealer called and said Keystone wanted more pictures. So I took them and forwarded them to the dealer.
So here I sit and wait.. I'll be calling again in about a week if nothing is heard.

Bill

mazboy123 · 09-12-2016, 06:20 PM

hope that the factory will accept your repair. if not you will be spendin $5-8K for someone else to do it.
do a search on line for frame flexing and read the forums; there are other forums and videos too.
i have the same issue and hope that montana will take us in when we go to the annual rally.
good luck

Cbrez · 09-13-2016, 04:23 PM

We have spider cracks all around the rear picture window. Pretty pathetic considering I haven't retired yet and we have minimal miles on the 5er. My suspicion is that the cracks were there when we purchased the Montana, but they are not very obvious. We filed a claim 2 months after the 1 year warranty expired. We recieved a polite one word rely saying denied (which was misspelled). Headed to Denali next year. Cannot imagine what the rear cap is going to look like after the trip. I don't think the 39 ft rig is really engineered to handle routine road stress. I hope you have better luck than us.

Bill & Deb · 11-09-2016, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill & Deb

Still waiting to hear from Keystone.

I took it to the dealer they took pictures... The week later the dealer called and said Keystone wanted more pictures. So I took them and forwarded them to the dealer.
So here I sit and wait.. I'll be calling again in about a week if nothing is heard.

Bill

So .... Keystone agreed to fix my trailer frame and crack under warranty. It's been at my dealer since late September. Email today has confirmed that it will be ready for pickup within the next two weeks.

I will post pictures of the repair when I get it back.

I have a copy of the repairs needed in PDF but will not post it till my trailer is done and back home.

Bill

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