Things are a little slow and cold this evening so thought I would share some newly found insight (I guess)…
I recently went RV looking with the intention of focusing on Grand Design. One of my main reasons is the elimination of the Darco on the slides. I went through the Grand Designs we were interested in and looked at other units as well. I found one thing; not one of the units I looked at had Darco under the slides - not one. I checked others (non Keystone) at another dealership and they didn't either. I will note I was not looking at entry trailers but Keystone uses it right on up to the Montana line as I recall.
Making the 2 hour return drive I kept mulling over our choices. The GD isn't a bit better than the Keystone but about 10% higher. You have to get to the top of the line Solitude before you get a MorRyde suspension...which came on my trailer. The FR products were what I expected them to be with extremely poor interior designs IMO. One of the primary drivers for a change is the elimination of the Darco and I want self leveling. I kept wondering WHY Keystone keeps using Darco. The Jaycos I've looked at didn't; Heartland no, etc. Years ago when I bought mine that was not the case but....that was 5 years ago. So,
I tried to contact Matt Zimmerman the CEO of Keystone. He had one of his senior management folks contact me. I visited with him today and here are some takeaways that may or may not be interesting;
The Darco is their current method of covering the bottom of a slide generally. The individual I talked to thought the other manufacturers were still using it as well and I advised I believe they have all moved on. This person has worked for Keystone for 10 years and previously worked for FR.
I asked about the BAL Accuslide cable system and why not rams etc. And this reply was interesting; he said they were very proud of their interior layouts, kitchens, islands etc. (of which I have been a fan for years). Those designs required that they have specific locations for tanks etc. and hydraulic systems restricted the needed versatility. He said in all their tests the 4 point suspension of the cable slides was as strong as hydraulic and provided more and better support of the slide allowing less flex.
I told him of the wear issues of the Darco due to the wear bar design and solutions using rollers, uhmw etc. that costs mucho $$ and is still not satisfactory. He said they do a "top 5" every month of warranty issues and Darco has never been on that list...or any other that he could recall. I told him it takes time for the wear bar to tear up the Darco so 12mos. was not a good timeframe, but, when it came time for the owner to repair it the cost was in the thousands.
Long story short he was unaware of issues with the Darco/wearbar/cable slides. I told him that didn't surprise me once you moved up the food chain. I asked if they couldn't have someone to just "look" at the competition and do some comparisons...and hopefully some upgrades in the near future. He advised his team had a staff meeting tomorrow morning and this would be on the agenda for discussion. Helpful? Don't know but I doubt it. I'm hoping it at least raises a flag and gets them to rethink. As I told him, I know they change units in the blink of an eye, maybe this could be in the next change they implement.
At least it's something....and my pot of stew is about done so now I'll fill up, eat my chocolate cake/milk, watch more "Chuck" and crash.