Originally Posted by ExPatNW
So if you have a 3790/91RD then you needn’t bother reading this post.
I have received so much useful help and information from this forum I thought I should try and provide some value back.
If you are considering a 2017 3790/91RD then here are some thoughts for you to consider.
Its based off our first trip to the Oregon coast, where we stayed for 8 nights in Lincoln City. Weather was mild, some dry days and lot of rain, hail and wind.
If it matters, our previous rig was a Montana Mountaineer 2010 345DBQ. We switched to the 3790RD because our kids are older now and we felt we did not need the bunk room which was great when the kids were younger.
We are not full-timers, and keep our rig in a storage facility when we are working.
First let me say my wife and I love our new Montana. We really love the layout of this unit, with what we feel are very distinct living areas, the bedroom, the kitchen and dinette and the living room.
Our opinion is the materials used are higher grade than we had in our Mountaineer. It’s also a heavier unit (and higher) for that I guess.
We love the size of the fridge, I love the gas oven with digital temperature display and the sink in the island. There are way more draws than we had before and storage in the kitchen is great (at least for us).
The space above our heads in the bedroom slide is more than we had before and the king-sized bed (an option we selected) is great.
The recliners and sofa’s in the living room are comfortable and I am surprised how much we did use the fireplace.
I love how many windows and the natural light this lets into the rig.
Outside storage is simply great on this unit – I have very little in the main storage area because all my chairs and mats and stuff are in the rear holds.
Its worth calling out that although you go up some steps to get into the living area, the roof is still high enough for me at 6’ 2” to stand straight up.
We have the newer MORryde Step. I do love the strength of this step. Its certainly a more positive step into the unit that the older fold out steps – but it is very large, and we are concerned that depending on how our neighbors in storage park, we may be able to get into the unit as we won’t be able to get the steps down. You also must adjust the feet sometimes depending on the surface where the feet will land, and this is not entirely easy.
Sorry – should have mentioned we had the legacy package. This provides us with the In-Command system, upgraded MORryde Suspension, a bike hitch point on the rear, the rear camera system and day night shades in the living area (not the bedroom). Honestly hard to say if the upgraded suspension is worth it or not – we are clearly never in the unit as we drive along. We like the IN-Command, although I do feel they could and should do more with it. The day/night shades are good. We have not had a rear camera before, and it works well, I think it will prove to be useful.
Warranty issues. 2 ceiling panels in the roof had been cracked around the air conditioning outlets. The cracks are 1-2 inches long, it’s not a major issue, but when you spend this kind of money I expect it to be perfect. Our door to area where the washer dryer would go does not latch, a simple fix, but one they can take care of. The finish of the wood trim annoys me a little, the pressure on the nail guns clearly not enough to embed the heads into the wood so several of those need to be hammered under and filled. Overall though its pretty good.
The 6 points leveling system was not set to proper level, at least according to my spirit level, so I reset that, will check on our next trip if its better now.
Dometic Thermostats. Disappointed Keystone don’t fit a programmable thermostat, given the price of these rigs. I will likely replace their thermostat with a programmable one. Also found it odd that the front A/C unit is unrelated to the rear system. Finally, if we set the living area to 72, the bedroom does not get close (may be 64), and that’s when using the furnace. We will likely use a small electric heater to boost the temperature in the bedroom.
Remote control madness! There is a remote for the TV, the stereo system, the fireplace and the sound bar. So that’s 4 by fault. We added one more as we like to have SiriusXM radio (we listen to music more than watch TV generally). This is way too many remotes, so I will likely replace them all with a Logitech Harmony.
Love the kitchen. The stove is nice, lights very easily, as does the oven. The light on the stove from the Microwave oven is way better than what we had before.
Not sure we will use the built-in vacuum system much (we have a small Dyson from our previous rig anyway). The built-in vacuum is not bag less and it’s a very small bag. I know SOB just comes with a Dyson.
In our previous Montana, we had three speakers sets, bedroom, living area and outside. In our unit, this is not the same. We have bedroom and outside, but in the living area and kitchen the only speaker for the stereo system is the sound bar. Not sure I like this – would have preferred at least a 3rd set of speakers in the kitchen. The TV is wired direct to the sound bar, so you need to use the Sound Bar remote to select the right input if you switch from one to the other. For many this may not sound like a big deal, but I would rather the TV sound went through the Stereo system – then I could leave the sound bar on and not have to bother with it much. I may do something about this – not decided yet. Have been surprised by just how many digital TV stations I can pick up over the air with the roof top antenna.
Towing. So our older Mountaineer was a little lighter and a little shorter (36’). Can’t say I noticed too much the extra length. My F350 2011 6.7PS SRW pulled it fine, but I do think a DRW may be in order.
It’s a beautiful looking 5th wheel, and we are super happy with it. A few niggles, and I think it’s true to say that any RV is a trade-off between different things (our old Mountaineer had 2 toilets which was great for 4 of us). But overall, and keep in mind we have only had one trip so far, so far so good.
Hope this helps someone.
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