We spent the 2021-2022 winter in Pigeon Forge, TN workamping. This was our first winter living in our camper. As such, there were things we were prepared for and some that we were not. Before we got back on the road, repair work was needed – again, some we expected and some we didn’t.
We had a crack develop in the Galley gray tank, in a location that we couldn’t determine the cause. The first thought was freezing, however, based on the location and design of the camper, this didn’t seem to be the reason.
Reviewing some forum comments, we understand that cracking of the HDPE tanks were experienced, however, the cracks tended to occur in the higher stress locations, the mounting locations and the tank nozzle. Neither accounted for this tank crack. So this remains a mystery. We had the tank replaced as part of the maintenance completed.
WHEEL BEARINGS
The Keystone Montana Owners Manual recommends that the wheel bearings have grease added monthly using the Dexter EZ Lube System, basically a system to add grease to the wheel bearing without removing the wheels. Since the camper was going to be the shop for the grey tank replacement, I asked them to also grease the wheels. They told me that they don’t recommend anyone using the Dexter EZ lube system due to the common problem of adding too much grease and damaging the bearing seals. In the end I asked them to repack and inspect the bearings. They found excess grease I applied to the wheel bearings found its way into the wheel brakes, requiring the breaks to be replaced. Also, found out that while the Dexter EZ Lube system is factory supplied from Keystone, the wheels don’t need to be greased monthly. The repacking of the wheels should be done 18 months to 24 months, under normal usage. An expensive lesson learned.
Mo-Ryde Suspension System
Keystone installed the MoRyde Suspension System on our tailer. Basically, it is a solid rubber shock absorber with leaf springs attached that provides ad additional 2” or so of additional vertical movement to soften the trailer ride on rough roads. As it is solid rubber under cyclic loads, over time the rubber will fail. This results in the loss of the extra vertical movement.
The designers did it right though, there are no adverse effects beyond a rougher ride for the trailer, if the rubber fails. Our indication that the suspension had failed was that we noticed that the wheel clearance with the camper wheel wheels appeared to be get much tighter over time. The MoRyde suspension rubber shocks needed to be replaced, so this was part of the repair work completed.
LESSONS LEARNED
- OEM Manuals – are good and necessary, but can have unintended wrong information. This is not the norm. As a past maintenance engineer, the information written down in the manual should be accepted as true, but as the equipment gets older and changes may have been incorporated, the information needs to be verified.
- Sometimes, stuff happens, as in the case of the galley gray tank crack – need to get it fixed and move on.
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