Montana vs Mountaineer - Montana Owners Club

Montana_3184 · 04-17-2005, 10:11 AM

Montana vs Mountaineer. We are looking for a new 5th wheel, what are the major differences between the Montana and Mountaineer. There seems to be about $10,000 difference in price on comparably sized units. I'm wondering if it is worth the extra $$$

MIMF · 04-17-2005, 10:45 AM

tdager,

Take a close look at the "little" things. Particular the finish and trim. Also, the Moutaineer has hydraulic slide rooms like the Montanas. But the Mountaineer will not come standard with the IRC valves for individual room control. The Montana will. Look at the pumps on every unit you look at. If it has the valves, you want them. If you by a coach without them, later you will decide you want them. But, to do it right, to control each room independently of the others, you are going to spend close to a grand in parts and labor to get it installed. If a Mountaineer is really what you want, maybe the dealer ordered the IRC valve on it. It is much easier to install it while it is being built.

That is not to say that a Mountaineer is bad, they are not! I am merely suggesting that you study the options between the two coaches, then spend what you can afford. It is true, the Montana will give you more bang for the buck. In my opinion, the $10,000 gets you more coach, including central vac system.

The only reason I bought a Challenger a few weeks ago was because it had the floor plan that caught our eyes and the Montana dealer in this area just didn't take me serious when I said that my wife and I were going to trade in our Outback. We looked at Everests also. But, that dealer wanted me to "give" him the Outback.

Good luck in your decision!!

azstar · 04-17-2005, 10:47 AM

tdager,

I think you will find that they for the most part are the same in construction. Same Alum. superstructure, wall, roof and slide construction, etc.

On the inside, same Furniture, H/W Heater, Toilet, Furnace, Refer, A/C unit, Water Pump, Hyd. Slide sys., Microwave, etc.

I believe the big differences are found in the Window treatments, Fabric, Carpeting, etc.

If not mistaken I think the Montana does have a two year and the Mountaineer gets a one year warranty.

Happy Camping

sreigle · 04-17-2005, 12:31 PM

We were told by a factory guy that with the Montana being upgraded to what the Big Sky used to be, the Mountaineer was also upgraded to what the Montana was just a couple of years ago. We have one of those Just a Couple of Years Ago Montanas and have been very happy with it. We also had a 2001 Montana, without the individual room controls and never found a need for them. We have the controls on this Montana and have used them a couple of times but I don't think I'd turn down a trailer because it didn't have them. We saw some Mountaineers at a show back in January and were very impressed with them. Just my opinion, but I thought the Mountaineer to be a great choice. As I said, just my opinion.

richfaa · 04-17-2005, 02:11 PM

MIMF..we are interested in the Challenger also. we are looking at the spec's of the Montana/Challenger side by side. The Challenger was once a Damon product and of High quality..Tell me what you think of the Challenger???

Montana_1190 · 04-17-2005, 08:10 PM

We have a Mountaineer and are very happy with it. We just looked at some Montana's the other day and I would say that the finish/trim is upgraded somewhat from what we have. Having said that, we are very pleased with the inside of ours; it's plenty nice for the traveling that we do. I still get tickled every time I walk into it!

Montana_3151 · 04-18-2005, 03:10 AM

Shopped for Montana's and wound up with the Mountaineer. For the difference in price, I could not justify the extra five grand. We wound up with the 297RKS Mountaineer and love it! It has most all comforts/options of the Montana except for independent slide control. Quality has been excellent so far....just a couple of small adjustments.

Just my two cents worth!

Jeff Heiser · 04-18-2005, 04:19 AM

We have a 2005 327RKS Mountaineer TT and love it. We looked at the Montana's and could not find a floor plan that just grabbed us like the 327RKS did. When we walked inside the the 327RKS we really liked it right off the bat and bought it. One of the things that sold the wife is she likes having the bed of the truck open instead of being taken up with a king pin. She likes to put the dog back there every once in a while when traveling. The bottom line is you have to like your rig and this being our third we learned that the right one will let you know its the one. I know that sounds crazy but I would have to say we looked at over 50 units this past time before entering the one we now have. When we entered the living area it was like "YES" this is the one. It just felt right. We love our 327RKS and plan on having it for a long time. I think the new version of ours (2005.5 and 2006) is the 33RKS. Have fun looking and dont buy anything until you find the one that really grabs you.

Jeff Heiser
Merritt Island Florida

Montana_2779 · 04-18-2005, 11:46 AM

Lik Culis, the 297RKS Mountaineer "spoke" to us (yep, so did the DRASTICALLY reduced price on 12-31-04-- they wanted that sucker off the lot!). The layout was one of the two or three that we decided would be appropriate for our fulltiming, and we absolutely LOVED the J-sofa. Unfortunately, it looks like they've dropped the J-sofa for late 2005 (ours is a really early 2005 model). The Mountaineer didn't have the Corian counters or super-grade carpet of the Open Road that we initially intended to buy, BUT it also came in at nearly $15K less!! We just couldn't justify spending nearly 50% more for a couple of feet of length and upgraded amenities. We are also pleased to report that we've had no malfunctions of any sort outside of a loose screw or two. So far, it's been a terrific value!

MIMF · 04-18-2005, 02:37 PM

richfaa,

The Challenger seems to be fairly well built. I set it up this last Saturday at our seasonal lot. I towed it 30 miles to the lot. It towed nice. There are a couple of things I need to repair like a couple pieces of molding. The pantry cupboards are about worthless, but I brought that to the attention of Keystone Customer Service when I had it over in Goshen last week.

The unit we bought is a brand new floor plan with 4 slide outs and a center island sink in the kitchen and is 37'1" over-all. I have most of the same issues that you folks talk about. For example. The remote control for the furnace and air conditioner is about 10 degrees off. I know what I'm going to do with that.

All in all, between the four of us, coach, truck, wife and myself, we're gonna' get along just fine. However, I still see a Montana In My Future.

cargary · 04-18-2005, 02:47 PM

MIMF:
Unless they (Keystone) have changed some of their options to standard equipment in the later 2005 models, the items you have indicated that come with the Montana's, such as individual slide controls and Central Vacumn systems, were options on my early 2005 Montana 3400RL. I'm not sure if you had meant it to sound like it was included with a purchase on a Montana, but to me you did. What I do know for sure is that on my unit, these features were options. As for what the differences are between the two 5ers, I'm not that familiar with the Mountaineers.
Gary & Carole

DiananColin · 04-18-2005, 03:32 PM

We were very happy with the two Mountaineer TTs we owned in 2004 before switching to the Montana 3400RL after the rally last year -I knew that was going to be a really expensive rally!!!!!!

Quality was excellent with all units - Montana does have the upgrades in finish, trim etc. and of course little luxuries like the individual valve control for the slides (Colin's favourite item) and the Central Vacuum (one of Diana's favourite items).

Our advice would be to go for the best you can justify to whoever controls your finances - you are only here once so if the Montana is talking to you - get it - if the Mountaineer is singing then go for it. Whichever you end up - the basics will remain - enjoy and have fun!

richfaa · 04-18-2005, 03:33 PM

MIMF...Thanks for the input..The Montana 3295RK is at the top of our buy list. Although we have not seen a Challenger for a while the floor plan you mention is exactly what Wife wants. We do have a Challenger dealer near us but he does not have that model.I just wondered if Challenger had kept up the quality when it went to keystone. We are in Northern Ohio about 3 hours or so from the Keystone plants.We did tour the Montana plant last summer will tour the Challenger Plant this summer.....Thanks again..The floor plan and storage area is what determines the Rv brand we buy.

azstar · 04-18-2005, 06:15 PM

[quote]Originally posted by DiananColin
[individual valve control for the slides (Colin's favourite item)]

Dianan,

I don't get it. Why would someone want this? Although we as you know only have two slides and can access everything without opening any slides so maybe it wouldn't be something we would need. Do you need to open your slides to use you rigs potty or something like that?

Happy Camping

jrgwdenner · 04-19-2005, 01:39 AM

We have a 3380RL, a model that they discontinued last year. It's very similar to the 3400 but has only 3 slides. The other major difference is that the L shaped kitchen counter opens to the living room area so we cannot access the refrigerator without opening the dining/sofa slide. So we really like the individual valve control. We set it so the dining/sofa slide can be opened about 12 inches and we can slip back to the frig and sofa where we use the coffee table to eat our lunch. We have been able to do this at a rest area or Walmart setting without offending anyone, I think.

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