2016 Montana High country 370BR

JAbraham03 · 02-03-2016, 09:03 AM

Wondering if anyone has noticed their fenders on the units? I have called Keystone and waiting on a response to whether the fenders are supposed to stick out or not where two slides come together. Tech support at Keystone seemed like they didn't think they are supposed to. Didn't think much about it when picking it up at the dealer until several screws came loose and fell out on the way home. Don't want them to rip off.

If they are supposed to be that way I may silicone them to secure them better.

Lkha · 02-03-2016, 10:01 AM

Our fuzion started to do the same thing going to have them check slide adjustment

JAbraham03 · 02-03-2016, 10:53 AM

Unfortunately slides are all the way in. If this is the way it is supposed to be then I may make the center part that isnt on a slide stand off so they all go flush upon shutting the slide.

cw3jason · 02-03-2016, 12:35 PM

the fender on the slide will not be flush with the one on the skirt. The slide sticks out slightly and so will the fender. this is normal

as for the screws. use these

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-Bol...3138/100338662

**sourdough** · 02-03-2016, 01:55 PM

That's the way they are supposed to be, unfortunately. My 2014 Cougar High Country look almost identical, and, they do cause a lot of problems due to vibration if you don't do something. I had to have mine replaced 3 times under warranty because they just kept coming loose or disappearing on the road.

The fix is really simple. The part of the fender that sticks out also acts like a big funnel for wind when driving down the road. If yours is like mine, and it appears to be, the inlet is unsupported (except for a screw) and the wind will vibrate the plastic so hard that the factory screws will never stay. I fabricated a piece of aluminum to fit inside the "mouth" of the fender that attached to the fender and to the side of the slide to prevent any vibration from beginning at the front of the fender. I pulled all the factory screws, installed finishing washers under them to spread out the pressure on the factory fender then screwed them into 8x32 speed nuts. No more problems, even on a round trip to FL from TX. This is a design flaw in my opinion but they have used it on lots of trailers and lots of folks have had to get creative to remedy the problem. Good luck.

gearhead · 02-03-2016, 04:03 PM

It was designed that way on purpose. After many hours in the wind tunnel Thor designed the fender skirt to direct air under the trailer to lessen the negative air pressure effect under and behind the trailer. I talked to the engineer that did the study and he said you will increase your mileage by 0.001%. ahem
Yes, it's pretty ugly.
I need to do what Sourdough suggests.
Hey Sourdough what are you calling "speednuts" , are you talking about nylon locking nuts?

**sourdough** · 02-03-2016, 04:34 PM

Below is a link to Home Depot with various types of speed nuts. I generally use the flat but have used the u shape and other designs. They all work . I've not lost ONE screw since I started using them.

http://www.homedepot.com/s/speednuts?NCNI-5

The link below is for the finishing washers I use. The fit under the small head of the screw and work to spread the pressure in the plastic over a wider area. I've had no more cracks in my fenders since using these under the heads of the screws.

http://www.homedepot.com/s/finishing%2520washers?NCNI-5

Hope that helps.

gearhead · 02-03-2016, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Below is a link to Home Depot with various types of speed nuts. I generally use the flat but have used the u shape and other designs. They all work . I've not lost ONE screw since I started using them.

http://www.homedepot.com/s/speednuts?NCNI-5

The link below is for the finishing washers I use. The fit under the small head of the screw and work to spread the pressure in the plastic over a wider area. I've had no more cracks in my fenders since using these under the heads of the screws.

http://www.homedepot.com/s/finishing%2520washers?NCNI-5

Hope that helps.

Got it. Thanks! I'll go to work on them in a couple weeks.
I need something to do these days.

JAbraham03 · 02-03-2016, 05:32 PM

I didn't think of those, was thinking locktite or silicone or even a regular nut but those may work too. Thanks for the idea!

I was thinking I would need to close the front of them. I figured that was the way they are supposed to be was just hoping their design team would have taken looks into consideration when the slides are closed. Other than that I am happy with it so far, other than the mass amount of loose/missing screws on the outside so far. One actually wasn't even into the trailer frame on the bottom, just a nick where the drill bit went through the skirt and skipped off the frame. I will be re-drilling that and correcting it.

Excited to get it out and put it through the paces.

**sourdough** · 02-03-2016, 05:46 PM

Check the skirting. Both front skirt panels on mine ended up flopping in the wind. Upon inspection I found that the metal strip and screws used to attach the skirting just below the fiberglass had missed most of the top of the skirt. I had to pull it down, readjust it, drill new holes, attach with new screws and fabricate new skirting supports to make them stronger.

I've tried Loctite and silicone both on the screws - not a good solution for me. Regular nuts aren't meant for the self tapping threads on the Roberts screws used all over the trailer. The speed nuts are perfect. When attached properly the tension from the nut holds the screw just fine.

JAbraham03 · 02-03-2016, 06:05 PM

Thanks for the tips. Our first outing with it to test everything out in in two weeks only 10 miles away so I will have time to redo all the screws and make up my squawk list.

JAbraham03 · 02-08-2016, 11:14 AM

Has anyone else purchased this unit that is on the forum? If so what are your thoughts of it and any tips and tricks that you have noticed yet or things to look out for?

JAbraham03 · 03-08-2016, 06:46 AM

We completed our first outting with the unit, just a quick 4 day one to check things out. Love everything on the unit other than the fridge. Was fine for 3 weeks plugged into power in storage nice and cold. 34, and was also fine for the first 2 days. Day 3 we noticed it going up and by the morning on day 4 was at 53! Everything got tossed. The fridge never tried to go back down regardless of cranking setting form 3-5. Drove it home. Plugged it back in after scheduling service appointment and 2 days later the fridge was back to 34.

No one was standing in front of the fridge for long periods when we were camping to let all the air out either. So we cancelled our service appointment once the fridge went back down to wait until our next trip.

I am convinced it is air flow on the outside but both Dometic and Keystone say this cant be the issue. Anyone have the 4 door Dometic fridge. I went with the propane option so we could dry camp. Thinking we should have done the residential fridge now.

Thanks!

JAbraham03 · 04-20-2016, 09:17 AM

So the shop couldnt find anything wrong with the fridge. So I added a fan on the inside and we will see if that helps or not. Last trip I did learn that putting a box fan on the outside of the upper vent panel really helped draw the hot air out and the fridge cooled better. So maybe I need to install better fans near the upper side to do this. Anyone have some mods for this with a slide out mounted fridge?

dcg9381 · 04-20-2016, 10:48 AM

It's a semi-common mod for non-fan'd older fridges. You can even buy a vent cap with a fan in it. We run a circulation fan on the inside of ours.

In regard to the temp rise, I assume the unit was running the entire time - no error codes or not problems trying to light the propane burner?

NotyetMHCowner · 04-20-2016, 10:54 AM

We are currently camping with our 2015 Montana High Country 305RL and 4 door dometic fridge. With electric on the temps rose to about 47. I put it on propane and by the next morning it was 33 and stayed under 35 all day. So I switched back to electric and it started rising slowly to 39. Apparently mine just doesn't work well on electric with food in it. I have 4 factory mounted fans in the top section of the fridge and I installed a switch behind the lower cover that I can switch the fans on 24/7 or only when the fridge calls for it. In the summer months I run the fans 24/7, even at home.

I had the fridge checked out this past winter under warranty, but it did not act up with them.

dfb · 04-20-2016, 03:40 PM

Fender skirts "flopping" here as well...

gearhead · 04-20-2016, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAbraham03

So the shop couldnt find anything wrong with the fridge. So I added a fan on the inside and we will see if that helps or not. Last trip I did learn that putting a box fan on the outside of the upper vent panel really helped draw the hot air out and the fridge cooled better. So maybe I need to install better fans near the upper side to do this. Anyone have some mods for this with a slide out mounted fridge?

Did you mount the fan near the lower inlet or the upper outlet? One of the little 4" electronic equipment fans? Plug in to 110volt so it runs whenever you're on campground power? I need to look around in there.

dcg9381 · 04-20-2016, 06:53 PM

I can tell you that having an older Norcold with no fans, it was capable of cooling well even in high ambient temps, as long as you kept the door closed.

Norcold will provide direct support.. Maybe your best bet next time things get a little warm.

**chuckster57** · 04-20-2016, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead

Did you mount the fan near the lower inlet or the upper outlet? One of the little 4" electronic equipment fans? Plug in to 110volt so it runs whenever you're on campground power? I need to look around in there.

Position of the fan isn't that important. I've seen them at the top above the coils and I have mine down under the coils. The fans are 12VDC and most have a temp sensor that controls on/off.

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