[214skier]

Originally Posted by NixonFamilyRV

Greetings RV Friends,

I’m hoping to connect with other MHC 376FL owners here. We ordered ours in March of 2020, and just took delivery the first week of September. Bought it sight-unseen, though we had been able to take a tour of one in February before we made the final decision.

I feel like I’m struggling with a lot of disappointments with the RV. This isn’t my first new RV purchase, nor my first sight-unseen purchase. I fully expected numerous little ‘ankle-biter’ issues, and for the most part I’ve deal with the most annoying issues. But, honestly, we feel like Keystone really missed the mark in the quality department on this unit. We expected more for a “luxury” class unit. I’m waiting for the dealer to assist with a warranty claim for the LED strip that’s supposed to be across the top of the front cap (the unit arrived with that strip having been torn off and only about 6” of it were left, and it was pointing UP toward the roof...). I’ve recently discovered my rear AC does not appear to produce cool air, just blows outdoor air into the coach. That was a very unfortunate discovery while on our first trip out with the unit in Kansas City, MO. Yuck. It was HOT, and we were pretty miserable. There are a LOT of other dumb little issues I’m working through, like they mounted the microwave really crooked, we have blinds that don’t stay down when you pull them, other blinds not mounted even close to center to the window, one screen is the completely wrong size for the window and it just falls out, etc...

Right now, my main problem is the low tail. The dropped frame on the back, plus the length from the rear axle to the tail, seems like a bad combination. Additionally, the fresh water drain is clear back there at the tail, and I’ve scraped the tail enough times that the drain pipe has started leaking. It’s presently being held together with a generous amount of electrical tape, and I’ll be looking at options for relocating that drain. Seems that even the slightest of dip, even just getting in and our of some gas stations, was all it took for me to scrape the tail on the pavement. I’ve read online other owners have had little wheels welded to the tail to help. Is that really a viable solution? Wouldn’t that just put strain on the frame every time I whack the tail on the ground?

Another part of my trouble could be that my truck holds the trailer a little nose-high. Full disclosure: this is my first fifth-wheel trailer, but I’ve had several travel trailers. When building the hitch rig for this trailer, I opted to go with Pull-Rite’s CBT (clean bed technology) industry standard rail system. This system uses rails that are a little taller than standard rails that are bolted to the floor of the bed. I’m also using Pull-Rite’s Super Glide auto-slider hitch, which doesn’t have any height adjustment to it. I have a little over 9” of clearance between the bed rails and the bottom of the trailer overhang, which seems like a bit much. If I could get it lowered a couple of inches, I think it would really help.

Now that I’ve rambled a bit, this brings me to my second question for the group here. Does the 2021 MHC 376FL with the Lippert Rotaflex pin box offer any height adjustment? I’ve looked it over, and visually it appears that I cannot raise the pin box to lower the trailer. The pin box is already pretty close to the fiberglass that’s right above it, and I don’t see any holes left that would raise the box. It appears to already be at its highest adjustment point. As I mentioned earlier, I have just over 9” of clearance at the bed rails; bed floor to the top of my fifth wheel plate is almost exactly 20”. Partly because the Pull-Rite CBT ISR system uses rails that are about 3.25” tall, instead of the standard bolt-down rails that are closer to 1” off the bed floor if I’m not mistaken.

If I can’t lower the trailer at the pin box, my other options will require a fairly major change to the rig. Different hitch, different rails, maybe installing a gooseneck ball on the truck and trying the Andersen Ultimate, or changing trucks altogether and buying something with a factory puck system so I can attach the hitch directly to the floor of the bed.

In closing, I really want to love this trailer, but I’m struggling a bit. There’s plenty I do like about it, but right now I’m apprehensive to take it anywhere until I get it to ride level on my tow vehicle. I’m very hopeful that if I can lower the nose a couple of inches, it may help alleviate the headache of the tail dragging everywhere. Advice and questions are very welcome.

Thanks for reading,
Russ

Hey Russ,

So sorry your time with the 376 is off to a rough start. We took delivery of ours in August and had very good luck. We are coming from a Grand Design Solitude--and in my view the two rigs are very comparable from a "luxury / quality" POV.

A few comments--not sure if they will be helpful or not.

1) We tore off our front-cap LED, it caught a tree limb heading up our driveway. Keystone sent us a replacement I installed (using a little silicon to help really adhere to the rig).

2) We had our rig in 104' temperatures in August and the bedroom (while it didn't 'pump' cold air) it got the temperature down below 75' in the master bedroom which made it plenty pleasant for sleeping. Yours should be the same.

3) As you will note in my other threads about height--we have struggled with this issue too. We are running on a 2019 F350 Platinum and the 5th wheel sits about 2" ish higher front to back. We did upgrade the tires on the rig that helped lift the box closing some of that gap--but there is still noticeable lift. We also run airbags for extra stability. I have found that I need to dump the air in the bags if I approach any "tall" gas station entrances, and this seems to help. I am still considering doing a body lift on the Montana to bring it level and gain extra clearance in the drop frame. I am pretty confident that this will correct any drag issues in the future. My local shop that does suspension work quoted me $600 in labor to install the leveling blocks on the 5th wheel. I am thinking about 1.5" will bring everything square. Will report back when I do this.

I do share some frustration here. we didn't discover the height issue until AFTER we signed--obviously the last step is hook up to truck and leave. Our Grand Design rode perfectly level with no issues--so why would I ever consider there might be a problem with Montana. What is astounding to me is the fact I can not believe Keystone didn't consider F350 dimensions when they designed the rig--that does not seem likely. so what was the trade off?

4) Rear water drain. One of our early trips, I drug the rear end and shaved off the drain valve. It leaked for me too. Fortunately its a 1/2 standard fitting that was easy to buy a brass valve from the local hardware store and replace the factory solution with something less protrusive.