Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

sreigle · 04-08-2005, 07:39 AM

We've been away from MOC for a month and have tons of posts to catch up on. So I confess to not having thoroughly read all the replies in this thread. So, if I repeat what others have said, please forgive. I did see Wordsmith mentioned that all three mfrs make diesels that do a great job and I agree with that. I also prefer Fords and will continue to do so as long as they continue to be so trouble-free for me (an exception I'll mention below). We've towed this Montana (13,980 lbs) with a 2001 F350 supercab shortbed V10, a 2003 F350 supercab shortbed 6.0 diesel, and now a 2005 F250 crew cab shortbed 6.0 diesel. All three were excellent. Our 2003 had one of the very early 6.0's, before the bugs were out. We had problems with it just up and stalling. They finally fixed that and it was fine after that. Other than that we're pretty much trouble free. One thing I really like about all three Fords, among many other things, is that none of the three EVER required any addition of oil between 5,000 mile changes (diesel. changed gas engine oil at 3000) and all were always at the full mark when it was time to change the oil. And we do a lot of heavy towing. I also love this builtin brake controller and the grade braking of the Torqshift automatic you get with the 6.0 PSD is fantastic. I do not see a need for an exhaust brake. I believe the GM transmission is similar in that respect. In any case, you'll do just fine with any of the newer diesels. Also, the Ford 7.3, predecessor to the 6.0 is a strong towing engine. The other brands are good, too, but I have no experience with them.

We tow with a shortbed and it's never been a problem. I do recommend a slider hitch if you go shortbed. The nose of the Montana is rounded, giving you considerably more turn range than many fivers. We've had to use the slider just four times in nine years of towing, including more than two years of fulltiming. But when you need it you'll be glad to have it. If money is not a concern, the Pullrite SuperGlide sliding hitch operates automatically and is a great hitch. We have the manual hitch and that's fine but someday I'll have the superglide. I have to wait for this hitch to wear out before I can justify the expense, though.

4x4 vs 4x2. Lots of opinions on this. Our '99 was 4x2 and I never felt the need for 4x4. The '03 and '05 are 4x4 and I have found it very handy at times. We have had a couple of sites we would not have got out of without 4x4 (hard rains making it muddy). I also found when we need to run up on several inches of blocks to level the rig, 4x4 low range is fantastic. Pops the Montana right up there with no revving of the engine as you normally get with an automatic transmission.

By the way, the '05 Ford SuperDutys have tow ratings to 19,200 and GCWR to 26,500. The F250 goes to something like 17,000 tow rating (would have to dig out the book to verify exact number), but I know GCWR is 23,000 and GVWR is 10,000, more than last year's F350 even. As equipped, ours is 15,400 tow rating, 10,000 GVWR, 23,000 GCWR.

04-08-2005, 07:39 AM	#19
sreigle Montana Master Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Oceanside Posts: 20,028 M.O.C. #20	We've been away from MOC for a month and have tons of posts to catch up on. So I confess to not having thoroughly read all the replies in this thread. So, if I repeat what others have said, please forgive. I did see Wordsmith mentioned that all three mfrs make diesels that do a great job and I agree with that. I also prefer Fords and will continue to do so as long as they continue to be so trouble-free for me (an exception I'll mention below). We've towed this Montana (13,980 lbs) with a 2001 F350 supercab shortbed V10, a 2003 F350 supercab shortbed 6.0 diesel, and now a 2005 F250 crew cab shortbed 6.0 diesel. All three were excellent. Our 2003 had one of the very early 6.0's, before the bugs were out. We had problems with it just up and stalling. They finally fixed that and it was fine after that. Other than that we're pretty much trouble free. One thing I really like about all three Fords, among many other things, is that none of the three EVER required any addition of oil between 5,000 mile changes (diesel. changed gas engine oil at 3000) and all were always at the full mark when it was time to change the oil. And we do a lot of heavy towing. I also love this builtin brake controller and the grade braking of the Torqshift automatic you get with the 6.0 PSD is fantastic. I do not see a need for an exhaust brake. I believe the GM transmission is similar in that respect. In any case, you'll do just fine with any of the newer diesels. Also, the Ford 7.3, predecessor to the 6.0 is a strong towing engine. The other brands are good, too, but I have no experience with them. We tow with a shortbed and it's never been a problem. I do recommend a slider hitch if you go shortbed. The nose of the Montana is rounded, giving you considerably more turn range than many fivers. We've had to use the slider just four times in nine years of towing, including more than two years of fulltiming. But when you need it you'll be glad to have it. If money is not a concern, the Pullrite SuperGlide sliding hitch operates automatically and is a great hitch. We have the manual hitch and that's fine but someday I'll have the superglide. I have to wait for this hitch to wear out before I can justify the expense, though. 4x4 vs 4x2. Lots of opinions on this. Our '99 was 4x2 and I never felt the need for 4x4. The '03 and '05 are 4x4 and I have found it very handy at times. We have had a couple of sites we would not have got out of without 4x4 (hard rains making it muddy). I also found when we need to run up on several inches of blocks to level the rig, 4x4 low range is fantastic. Pops the Montana right up there with no revving of the engine as you normally get with an automatic transmission. By the way, the '05 Ford SuperDutys have tow ratings to 19,200 and GCWR to 26,500. The F250 goes to something like 17,000 tow rating (would have to dig out the book to verify exact number), but I know GCWR is 23,000 and GVWR is 10,000, more than last year's F350 even. As equipped, ours is 15,400 tow rating, 10,000 GVWR, 23,000 GCWR.