New Montana

[Les]

Will pickup our new Montana Mountaineer 335RET this Saturday. We are moving up from an Outback 28KRS. Can't wait to get it on the road. I am towing with a Ford F-250. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. This is our first fifth wheel.

[boylanag]

Welcome to the MOC Forum, Les, a fine place to learn and meet great people. We were pleasantly surprised at the difference in towing when we moved from a TT to a MH to our first Montana. We believe that you will too. Enjoy!

[bjj5633]

congrats and good luck. alway's plenty of help from everyone on this site.

[Les]

Do any of you use a King Pin stabalier and are they worth the money?

[PapaBeav]

Congratulation's Les and enjoy your new rig. As far as tips go I would just keep reading this forum until you come up with a specific question and then go ahead and ask, you will get plenty of help here. A fifth wheel is a lot easier to tow than a TT, so if you mastered that you will have no problem with the 5er

[richfaa]

Don't know if they are worth the $$$ or not. We have one and if we did not have one I would not buy one.

[Delaine and Lindy]

For our use it didn't make enough difference with or without it so I think I gave it away????? I wouldn't buy another one. Just my opinion, others say they work great??? GBY....

[PapaBeav]

quote:Originally posted by Les

Do any of you use a King Pin stabalier and are they worth the money?

I was given one by a friend that bought a Motor Home but have only used it once. If I had to buy one I don't think I would because I am not all that happy with it. A lot of people on here have had the "JT's Strong Arm Jack Stabilizer's" installed and they seem to like those.

[H. John Kohl]

quote:Originally posted by Les

Do any of you use a King Pin stabalier and are they worth the money?

Congratulations on the new rig.

I have one to give away because I went with JT Stabilizers. If you don't like the movement suggest you hold the money on a king pin stabilizer and go with the JT or one like it.

[Waynem]

I gave the one I had away.

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by Les

Do any of you use a King Pin stabalier and are they worth the money?

I used one for a while. It helped some. But like many others, I installed JT Strongarm stabilizers. Far better.

[Art-n-Marge]

I have one and am probably one of the few that kinda like it but I do think it's too expensive for what you get. It cost me $70 on sale. They are typically $100 to $120 unless you buy used for most MOCers trying to unload them.

However, it only helps the front of the rig and I would now have preferred to put the $$$ towards a complete RV stabilization system for the rig. Some mentioned JT-Stabilitizers, but I like Steady-Fast (about $290) because they seem an easier installation and slightly less cost because less hardware is involved.

Then for a few thousand dollars more, there's the automatic leveler jack/stabilizer system. "Big Foot" comes to mind, but there are others.

As you can see, don't do what I did. I bought the 5er, 2 months later bought the KP stabilizer, waited 3 years, joined the MOC and learned what I should have done.

Welcome to the MOC!

[Cyrus]

You made a great choice, oh that's right I have a Mountaineer also.

King Pin stabilizer doesn’t even work well as a boat anchor. Have one in the shed, heavy, can't see enough difference to be worth fooling with it or carrying the extra weight around. I don't have the JT's but I think they would be a better investment but give the unit a try before you spend the money. I didn't see it as a big problem anyway with just the two of us, kids jumping around might be a different response.

I bought a couple adjustable bars, $25.00 total, that you use in the back of your pickup to secure the load. X'ed them between the front jacks and they take a lot of the side motion out, the best I can tell setting here at the house. It's been along cold & snowy winter here in VA so anything to keep me busy associated with the camper. Already done many trip plans with Trailer Life software, next week the camper get's de-winterized and hooked up for first trip of the year, if the rain ever stops and the creak doesn’t rise, oh it's already doing that.

Good luck with your new rig.

[exav8tr]

Same as BB TX. Gave mine away at Quartzsite.....

[Les]

Thanks for all the input. I will llok into the JT Strongarm stabilizers.

[randye]

I just installed the Jt Strong arm stabilizers. It took about five hours. I don't know how well it works yet it seems a little better. I will post in a few weeks to let you know how stable it is. Then I will give the Kinpin stabailizer To someone that would like to try it.

[lasater]

I have one that I have used all across the country...until I put on JT Strongarm (or is that Armstrong) Stabilizers. Haven't used it since. I still have it just because I don't want to give away a $150 hunk-a-junk.

Your real question seems to be "Will it do what you want it to do?" Nope. It will help. I used to put jack stands under the Montana when I used the Tri-Pod. Together, they helped but did not eliminate movement. The JT stabilizers do a BETTER job but still do not totally elimanate movement.

In my opinion, the tripod helped; the stabilizers help; the jack stands helped; but, as long as you are on the road, you will have some movement.