Who has had a sidewall crack by the front bedroom slide????

[Micslam]

Who has had this happen to their 5er?????

[goducks]

Yowza. I hope you're still under warranty. Interesting that Keystone has the vertical relief joint but it cracked horizontally.

[Micslam]

Happened at 4 months. But keystone is saying it’s not a manufacture defect. They’re not covering it.

[5J's]

Originally Posted by Micslam

Happened at 4 months. But keystone is saying it’s not a manufacture defect. They’re not covering it.

I'd fight them on that! Have you contacted Keystone directly?

[JRTJH]

If not a "manufacturer's defect" did Keystone offer any reasonable cause for the crack? I'd urge you to followup with your dealership, find out exactly what they submitted to Keystone and make sure that it's concise, includes all the information pertaining to what you reported, what they found on inspection and that their submission included all suspected causes, reasonable repair recommendations and any other information that might be important.

If, for example, your dealership just submitted a statement like: "Cracked FILON at the front corner of the bedroom slide" and that's all they submitted, then it's no wonder that Keystone refused the repair... On the other hand, if they submitted a detailed report with photos and their inspection results, it's difficult for Keystone to refuse to warranty the repair, especially just 4 months from delivery.... Something's amiss with either the way your dealer reported the claim or the way that Keystone interpreted what was sent...

This "should be a warranty repair" if you haven't abused the trailer or had an accident while towing.

[Micslam]

Yes. I have talked directly to keystone

[Micslam]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

If not a "manufacturer's defect" did Keystone offer any reasonable cause for the crack? I'd urge you to followup with your dealership, find out exactly what they submitted to Keystone and make sure that it's concise, includes all the information pertaining to what you reported, what they found on inspection and that their submission included all suspected causes, reasonable repair recommendations and any other information that might be important.



If, for example, your dealership just submitted a statement like: "Cracked FILON at the front corner of the bedroom slide" and that's all they submitted, then it's no wonder that Keystone refused the repair... On the other hand, if they submitted a detailed report with photos and their inspection results, it's difficult for Keystone to refuse to warranty the repair, especially just 4 months from delivery.... Something's amiss with either the way your dealer reported the claim or the way that Keystone interpreted what was sent...



This "should be a warranty repair" if you haven't abused the trailer or had an accident while towing.

Love them or hate them.... I was using and Andersen Hitch. :-/. I love the hitch. Hate the situation. It’s just “an out” for them

[gearhead]

I would forward the Keystone refusal info to Andersen. They heavily advertise if the manufacturer refuses a warranty claim blaming their hitch, they will cover it. Assuming I am understanding Andersen's advertising.
Please keep us posted.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Micslam

Love them or hate them.... I was using and Andersen Hitch. :-/. I love the hitch. Hate the situation. It’s just “an out” for them

Andersen hitch, as I understand it, has a "five million dollar guarantee" that if the hitch causes damage to your trailer and the manufacturer refuses the warranty, their "five million dollar guarantee" will repair your trailer. You might want to contact Andersen Hitch and initiate a claim against that policy ???

https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/...-warranty.aspx

[Micslam]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Andersen hitch, as I understand it, has a "five million dollar guarantee" that if the hitch causes damage to your trailer and the manufacturer refuses the warranty, their "five million dollar guarantee" will repair your trailer. You might want to contact Andersen Hitch and initiate a claim against that policy ???



https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/...-warranty.aspx

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.

[MattE303]

damn, sounds like a really sucky situation! Have they given you a repair estimate if you have to pay it out of pocket?

[Micslam]

No they haven’t. That’s why I’m searching hard to find others with this problem, regardless of the hitch they have used, to see what they have done.

[roadglide]

Originally Posted by Micslam

No they haven’t. That’s why I’m searching hard to find others with this problem, regardless of the hitch they have used, to see what they have done.

I have seen other situations where some how Anderson hitch collapsed it's called trolling the product , im saying this because i received negative
Reviews about anderson personal life useing amazon reviews .i wished i had reported and saved the reviws. I'm sorry to see your misfourtion but I'm having trouble imagineing how the Anderson hitch caused horizontal crack .

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Micslam

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.

It's unfortunate that they (Andersen) wrote their warranty in such a way as to make it sound like an "iron clad we will fix your trailer if you're using our hitch and the manufacturer says they won't repair it because you're using our hitch" and when it happens, they say, "our engineering team will look into this and I'll let you know".... Unfortunate situation where they make it sound like they'll back their product, then when a problem happens, they walk away, leaving you out to lunch....

This is one more reason why I won't recommend Andersen's products as alternatives to the "tried and true conventional hitches, both W/D and fifth wheel versions.

[goducks]

Take you problem to Trailer Life/Resolutions. Since you're under warranty they may arbitrate for you. Worth a try. I've read many times about them getting issues resolved for RV owners. It's out in print for the public to read. Lots of people read TL magazine.

[IMASAP]

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.

[Micslam]

Originally Posted by IMASAP

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.

If you find any others, can you point them in my direction? I’m having a hard time finding them. And I know they’re out there, but maybe not documented. You’d think google would be a lot more helpful, but it’s not.

[larry337]

First of all I'm very sorry you have to deal with this on a new trailer. I know of a Montana owner that had a similar crack in the same spot. At first it was repaired under warranty by the dealer. But it was only cosmetically repaired and the crack came back. Then it was determined there actually a broken weld in the frame behind the wall. Eventually Keystone authorized the unit to be returned to the factory and the frame and wall were repaired properly. I have a bad feeling your crack is also a result of a broken weld. I hope you get this resolved with no expense from you. Best of luck to you. Something tells me this had nothing to do with the Anderson hitch but Keystone will turn this into a he said she said finger pointing charade. Really hoping you get a satisfactory resolution.

[Micslam]

Originally Posted by larry337

First of all I'm very sorry you have to deal with this on a new trailer. I know of a Montana owner that had a similar crack in the same spot. At first it was repaired under warranty by the dealer. But it was only cosmetically repaired and the crack came back. Then it was determined there actually a broken weld in the frame behind the wall. Eventually Keystone authorized the unit to be returned to the factory and the frame and wall were repaired properly. I have a bad feeling your crack is also a result of a broken weld. I hope you get this resolved with no expense from you. Best of luck to you. Something tells me this had nothing to do with the Anderson hitch but Keystone will turn this into a he said she said finger pointing charade. Really hoping you get a satisfactory resolution.

Do you have any info on that Montana owner?

[larry337]

Originally Posted by Micslam

Do you have any info on that Montana owner?

I might be able to get you something there but I'm not sure anything would be relevant because you're dealing with a different brand, probably a different dealership, and the wild card being the Anderson hitch. To the best of my knowledge they never fought him on anything right from the start. Just the inconvenience of the downtime for the repairs. I mainly wanted you to be aware of the possibility of the broken weld so that you don't give up the fight thinking you'll pay the $1,000 for the cosmetic repair and move on with your life. It could potentially be several thousand dollars to repair which would then make it worth fighting for. Even if you had to go to court. The only other thing I can think of is a possible insurance claim, but not sure how you would even prove that. I just think this is something you want to fight tooth and nail. I wish I could offer you more advice on exactly how to go about that fight. I think Keystone knows that this could be a very expensive repair and that's why they're digging their heels in. If they thought they could make this go away for $1,000 I don't think they'd fight as hard. The Anderson hitch is their out. A sticky mess for sure.