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Old 03-13-2019, 04:46 PM   #21
cw3jason
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Hello, I am the Montana owner that had the front crack at the lower corner of my slide. The key to getting this repaired was the warranty manager at my dealer. They took lots of pictures, filed the claim and fought keystone on my behalf. keystone authorized a body shop to repair. Had it done 3 times before they finally took it back to the factory and reinforced the area. Never cracked again once they were done. Be nice, get the dealer in your corner, then follow thru with Keystone ensure they received pictures and repair request and that the follow thru with repair procedures. I got a long way by being polite and respectful. Good luck and let us know
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Old 03-13-2019, 05:00 PM   #22
larry337
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So the way I see it if by chance they happen to agree to a cosmetic repair, and neither one of you has discussed the possibility of more serious damage, then I would keep my mouth shut and just roll with it. Then when that doesn't fix the problem they already have the appearance of being liable as they have already rolled up their sleeves and gotten their hands dirty. I think it makes it a lot easier to hold their feet to the fire in repairing the true damage if it turns out to be something more serious. Just thinking out loud here.
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Old 03-13-2019, 05:05 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cw3jason View Post
Hello, I am the Montana owner that had the front crack at the lower corner of my slide. The key to getting this repaired was the warranty manager at my dealer. They took lots of pictures, filed the claim and fought keystone on my behalf. keystone authorized a body shop to repair. Had it done 3 times before they finally took it back to the factory and reinforced the area. Never cracked again once they were done. Be nice, get the dealer in your corner, then follow thru with Keystone ensure they received pictures and repair request and that the follow thru with repair procedures. I got a long way by being polite and respectful. Good luck and let us know

OP - THIS is how you get it done. I think you very well may have the same kind of issue as Jason - not cosmetic, the crack says differently. As in all warranty "requests" (remember you're pleading your case to the manufacturer through the dealer) the issue will ultimately be approved or disapproved based on what the dealer (your most productive interface to Keystone) has provided as documentation. Notice Larry was dealing with a "manager" not some service writer or clerk. I have personally intervened in a situation that was an obvious warranty issue but was denied. After escalation and investigation, the documentation sent to Keystone via the "service writer" was not only wrong, but bore no resemblance to the issue that both I and the service manager agreed upon. After some "purging" a proper description was sent and the repairs were authorized. You very well may be in that position. What you have, IMO, has to be a defect...even if I don't trust Andersen hitches..
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Old 03-13-2019, 05:15 PM   #24
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Who has had a sidewall crack by the front bedroom slide????

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Originally Posted by IMASAP View Post
I've seen other Keystone fifth wheels crack at the bedroom slide also. I don't recall seeing one owner of a Keystone where that happened, happy with the resolution from Keystone. If your search yields no results, I would willing to look for others that were in similar situations. I have seen the discussions on other forums. I don't recall where off hand, but I wouldn't think they would be difficult to find.

There have been people happy with the repairs approved by Keystone. In one case Keystone replaced the side of the unit with a reinforced side at the factory.

I looked at some older post and it looks like the OP has communicated with the individual I was thinking about.
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Old 03-13-2019, 05:44 PM   #25
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Another part of the crummy situation is that my dealer was bought out for its land and is no longer a dealer. So I’d have to start working with a dealer I did not buy it from to try and get this warranted. What I have been trying to do is find as many KEYSTONE’s with the same type of crack, so I can go to keystone and say, “look at all these cracks that happened, WITHOUT AN ANDERSEN HITCH!”
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Old 03-14-2019, 10:13 AM   #26
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I have the same crack on my ‘17 Alpine. It was two months out of warranty when I reported it so Keystone said the best they could possibly do is “help” with the repair cost depending on what they find. I was using a B&W Companion hitch at the time. This was 14 months ago and I have not yet had it fixed. I plan to stop at the factory service center in Goshen Indiana when I go to Indianapolis in a few weeks. I hope to set up an appointment for get it properly fixed this fall.

I doubt the Anderson hitch had anything to do with the crack, but as manufacturers say, they will deny claims just because of the Anderson. I have not read the Anderson guarantee but from many people on the internet who are using their hitches, Anderson will repair any camper that has damage repair denied by the manufacturer because the customer used the Anderson hitch. People claim the guarantee is the thing that sold them on the Anderson. It will be interesting to see if Anderson comes through.
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Old 03-14-2019, 11:09 AM   #27
Jllawd
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This is a manufacturer defect. what happened is in the corners of the slide room there are gussets. You see this happen when the weld breaks and no longer has support. so when you hit a bump(even with a smooth ride or airbagged hitch) it will crack the fiber glass.
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Old 03-14-2019, 11:10 AM   #28
Jllawd
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dont just have a body shop repair. it will crack again. you have to repair the corner gusset
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Old 03-14-2019, 11:22 AM   #29
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you should send this info to trailer life mag. they have a department that helps with these problems The will contact Keystone and they usually get results..
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Old 03-21-2019, 07:32 AM   #30
ciara_belle
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we had this happen on our prev 5th (carri-lite) was told its caused by frame twisting (hard turn into spots)
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Old 03-21-2019, 07:33 AM   #31
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I had this happen on my Open Range fifth wheel. OR did give some assistance when having it repaired as I was not alone in having the cracks show up. On mine, it was actually an issue with flexing at the frame and some poor spot welds in the wall. We cut a section of the wall out around the crack and repaired the aluminum welds. I also added angle iron bracing front to back in the propane canister section where there wasn't any to prevent the flexing. There is a whole thread on the Open Range Owner's forum about this and the resolution there.
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Old 03-21-2019, 07:34 AM   #32
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Had the same issue on my 2017 Keystone Raptor Model 398TS. Took it to my local RV dealer, not my selling dealer, and they had a local auto body shop do the repair. The 1st try didn't fix it but the 2nd try did. I do not know how they repaired it but it has not come back yet. It was a warranty repair. My hitch at the time was a Demco Autoslide 21K Above Bed Mount with Industry Standard Bed rails. Since that time I have used the Anderson Hitch and now I'm back using the Demco Autoslide 21K with Demco Under Bed Mounting System. The crack has not come back. For those wondering why I changed hitches, it was because I bought a new truck.
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Old 03-21-2019, 07:41 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Micslam View Post
Already tried this route. Spencer Andersen “is looking into it”. And “will get back to me if his engineering team this it could of happened because of the hitch.” Which it has had nothing to do with the hitch. So their warranty is misleading to say the least. Wish I would of know this beforehand.
In ran into a couple last summer in La Grande Or RV Park that had it happen. They drove it all the way back to Indiana to have it fixed. They said it is a know issue. The frames from LCI are not strong enough in this area to support the bed slide.

I’d fight. I believe if you google around you’ll find others that have had it fixed.
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:34 AM   #34
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this is the probelm

Here is your problem in a nut shell. You have broken welds on the AL studs in the front part of the unit in front of the bed slide. This front part is flexing now from the broken welds and the panel is the only thing holding things together until the glue gives up and it starts to crack. It will get worse every time you load and unload from the hitch.
Your Andersen hitch has nothing to do with this problem it`s a camper problem but Keystone will use it to deny the claim. I have included pics of this problem and repair. It is very common and I have found many posts of this issue on other forums. Keystone even has a documented repair procedure for this but most service centers can`t do this complicated and technical type of fix.
So how do I know? I have the same issue as you but my glue joints let go before the panel cracked in front of and in back of the relief cut. This is why you cant find more people with the crack, their glue just lets go first. There are many on Facebook and the Montana forum Borad, Heaartland and others. I am in talks with Keystone now to have the camper returned to them to do the fix properly because I have been turned away from every dealer in my area.
This has been going on since our last outing in January when I first noticed movement in the wall structure when loading. I wil try to get the YouTube video of the movement to post and then the pics. Good luck... we`ll need it.

Watch this video this is the start of the broke studs and your wall panels are trying to hold things together then you get broken glue joints or a crack.



You can see the broken welds on the first pic then you can see the fix on the last.
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:38 AM   #35
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Here are more pics of the repair. There lots of people with this and it`s just crap. But Keystone turns out 20 of these campers a day and the workers are piece work paid so this is what you get.
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:41 AM   #36
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same

More pics of my unit
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:43 AM   #37
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Bad situation

Sounds like you are in a difficult spot with dealer being out of business as a different dealer does not have the same incentive to correct the problem. If you get no where with dealer it might be worth paying for a certified rv guy to inspect. I can’t remember but think something like RVIA certified inspection. Be polite and cordial with keystone send all communication via certified mail return receipt. As an attorney I see a potential claim against Anderson for deceptive trade practice in the exclusion in the fine print. Involve an attorney only when nothing else works as it can escalate things and not needed yet. Also highly recommend trailer life providing them with details of the problem along with correspondence from keystone. Best of luck.
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Old 03-21-2019, 09:16 AM   #38
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My sealant separates right below that area from time to time so there is some flex there?


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Old 03-21-2019, 09:32 AM   #39
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[QUOTE=home29;331868]As an attorney I see a potential claim against Anderson for deceptive trade practice in the exclusion in the fine print./QUOTE]

Not trying to get into an argument, but I really don't see how it has anything to do with the hitch. Mine split while I was using a B&W hitch with an Air Ride pin box. The flaw is in the Lippert frame that flexes too much in that area allowing the sidewall to come apart. The issue is not with just one manufacturer, but across the board with the Lippert frames. We were able to fix mine ourselves, but I have a full bodyshop and welders at my disposal.
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Old 03-21-2019, 09:39 AM   #40
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We had the same thing - except we had purchased our keystone from a private party, used, and the warrenty had just run out. It took us months, but we did get keystone/LCI to repair the cracked frame and the sidewall rails under 'a good will repair' due to the fact a frame should never crack. We agreed to pay for the inspection - keystone said eventually - after just telling us no, (multiple times) that we had to prove it was a cracked frame. We did. We also produced our CAT scale weights prooving we were not overweight. The frame was repaired by an official LCI dot welder and they have welders who travel, so we did not need to go to Indiana for the factory repair - thats bull. The dealer who handled this for us? Camping World. Say what you want about Camping World, and they were at times a headache, but I don't think we would have got it done without them. You need a shop who is willing to say its a manufacturing defect, and a shop who does Keystone warranty work. I don't believe it needs to be the original dealer. I think the reason that Camping World has the pull that it does is due to the volumnes of sales - and the volumn of repeat issues they see. A smaller dealer who keeps turing in warranty work will sometimes just be dropped by the manufacturer but the manufacturers can't afford to drop Camping World.
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