New Members - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2992 · 01-26-2005, 08:07 AM

Hi Folks, I am Robin Winslow and my wife's name is Brenda. We are from East Harwich, Cape Cod, MA. Like many of the members here, we are easing into retirement and planning to head south for as many winter months as possible. We have not purchased an RV (Residential Vehicle

) yet, but we have done extensive research and are leaning toward the Montana 3295. We will be poking around the forum, hoping to learn as much as possible, and will try not to ask too many questions that haven't previously been answered elsewhere on the forum.

I do have one question for the moment: I absolutely do not want to get a dual rear wheel pickup to haul the 3295. Would a new F-350 supercab, shortbed, SRW, diesel, 4 x 4 be adequate for hauling this unit when loaded with most of the bells & whistles? Ford rates the 5th wheel towing capacity of that model at 15,500. Thanks in advance for your responses.

Montana_2992 · 01-26-2005, 09:44 AM

Hi Folks, I'm responding to my own message

. I found all the info I need on vehicles and towing in the "Vehicles and Towing" area (amazing). This forum is most excellent and extremely informative.

Glenn and Lorraine · 01-26-2005, 10:55 AM

First I want to Welcome you and Brenda to the MOC Family. Like you we also posted on here months before we purchased our Montana. That was back in July of 2003. In September of 2003 we bought out 2955RL and in October we went from the stickhouse lifestyle to Fulltimers. For the most part we have not regreted the move. We are originally from northern NY but have wintered in central Florida for the past two years.

Glad to see you got your question about the tow vehicle answered. As you may already have realized you don't necessarily need the F350 as the F250 will handle the job just as well. But I am absolutely positive there are some MOCers already using the F250 that will be jumping in here at any minite.

Joyce H · 01-26-2005, 12:26 PM

Robin & Brenda,
Welcome to the MOC Forum. You are looking at a great unit. We love our 3295RK and we are pulling with the F350. We felt since we were purchasing a tow vehicle it was better to go with the 350 rather than the 250 since loaded the F250 was almost maxed out. This way if we ever want to upgrade to a larger RV we will have sufficient power. Do note we have a long bed, with the short bed it will be necessary to have a slider hitch. Good luck in your new endeavor!

stiles watson · 01-26-2005, 01:02 PM

Hey, hey, welcome aboard the Montana line. Glad you see fit to join usins. I can understand why you folks north of here might want to come our way. I had to remove my short sleeved shirt in favor of a light cotton tee. I got up to 76 degrees in here -- just too hot. I may turn on the A/C. Gonna be a little cooler tomorrow, about 58 degrees.

That unit you mentioned is very popular. You can see what I am pullin' with an F250. I did the math. What ever you choose my hope for you is that your great adventure will meet all your expectations and beyond.

rames14 · 01-26-2005, 01:19 PM

Codfish -

Welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of good information here. Since it is not run by Montana, you will see all spectrums of feelings toward the Montana line. Obviously, when someone has a major issue with their unit, you will see that information here. When Keystone steps up to the plate for out of warranty claims, you will see that here also. There is at least one member who works for Lippert, the manufacturer of the Montana frames, that has provided some good information. But most of all, you will be meeting people that care about their Montanas and the RV lifestyle. Enjoy the forum and I hope that it helps you make the right decision for you and Brenda. There are over 2000 members that belong to the forum, so there is a wealth of experience. Best of luck on your purchasing decision. More than one person has made their decision to purchase a Montana based on their experience on the forum.

Montana_2992 · 01-26-2005, 03:49 PM

We'd like to thank you all for making us feel welcome

- it is much appreciated. We're really getting psyched about this new adventure. We went to the New England RV show in Boston last week and had a great time meeting and talking to current RV'ers. Everyone we met was very friendly, and they never seem to grow tired of talking about their rigs.

sreigle · 01-27-2005, 02:56 AM

Welcome, Robin and Brenda! The 3295RK is a great choice, at least for us. The truck you propose will do a fantastic job for you. It will have you smiling all the way up the mountains and all the way down. Be sure to get the Tow Command package that includes the builtin brake controller. It is one super sweet controller. I still can't believe how smooth it is.

Our 3295RK is loaded about as heavily as you can load one and still be within all the ratings. We first towed it with a '99 F350 V10 supercab shortbed 4x2 3.73 axle.. It did a very sweet job. Then we towed it with an '03 F350 Supercab Shortbed 3.73 axle, 4x4, 6.0L powerstroke diesel, torqueshift automatic and it did a super job. Smiles all the way. We now tow it with an '05 F250 Crew Cab Shortbed 3.73 axle, 6.0L PSD and torqueshift automatic. With the new frame, frontend, bigger brakes and springs, etc., this is one outstanding vehicle both for towing and for solo (great ride). All of ours are/were single rear wheel. The truck you propose will handle any Montana made. The 3295, by the way, has the second highest GVWR of any Montana, being 40 lbs less than the GVWR of the 3685FL front living room model.

I will have to add airbags to our F250 because we did not get the Camper Package that adds the additional leaf in the rear springs. The F350 tow package should have that already but the F250 tow package does not. You can identify this extra leaf because it is the top leaf and curves up on the ends, like it is upside down or something.

Sunshine · 01-27-2005, 04:04 AM

Hi Robin and Brenda,
Welcome to the Forum. As you have already experienced, it is a good place to lay the groundwork for getting into the RV lifestyle. The folks are nice and there is a wealth of information here. Have fun choosing which unit is best for you. We looked at 5th wheels for at least a couple years and knew Montana was the way we wanted to go. We were lucky enough to "fall into" a good pre-enjoyed 3255RL and are looking forward to our first full season of traveling with it.

BillyRay · 01-27-2005, 06:47 AM

welcome. I think you'll be more than satisfied with that choice!

Montana_2992 · 01-27-2005, 09:57 AM

----->We now tow it with an '05 F250 Crew Cab Shortbed 3.73 axle, 6.0L PSD and torqueshift automatic. With the new frame, frontend, bigger brakes and springs, etc., this is one outstanding vehicle both for towing and for solo (great ride).
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve & Vicki, I'm curious as to why you chose an F250 this time around? Is it because you feel it has a softer ride (than the F350) when un-hooked from the Montana?

sreigle · 01-27-2005, 11:11 AM

Nope. Nothing like that. Since the ratings on both the F250 and F350 for '05 far exceed prior years' ratings I felt either the F250 or F350 would be just fine for our needs. After that it came down to which I found first that had the cab and bed configuration, equipment, colors we wanted and a deal we felt is reasonable. To top it off, I found this one at the dealer where we bought the prior three trucks. Same salesman. I trust that salesman and have been pleased with the dealership in general. And that means a lot.

I cannot tell any difference in the ride between F250 and F350. Maybe with different configurations but not with same cab/bed/singlerearwheel, etc.

I did make one mistake. I got the tow package, the tow command package, and the 10,000 lb GVWR (higher than last year's F350) but did not get the Camper Package. The Camper Package is normally for slidein campers but this package gives you the extra leaf on the rear springs, the helper spring. Our '03 F350 had that and it handled our 3120 lb pinweight just fine. This one doesn't have that extra leaf. So, tomorrow morning I'm having air bags put on. I don't like towing with a little squat in the rear.

Probably more info than you were looking for.

Montana_2992 · 01-27-2005, 04:32 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Nope. Nothing like that...
Probably more info than you were looking for.

Not at all, I'm grateful for any info you are willing to share. I agree with you about towing with a squat rear on the TV - it makes the whole truck/trailer combination look overloaded, out of balance, and downright tacky... plus if you're towing at night your healights shine up into the trees (not to mention into the eyes of oncoming drivers)...

Just148 · 01-28-2005, 04:13 AM

I would like to welcome you both to the MOC. Enjoy the site and information you may receive.

RC and Samantha · 01-28-2005, 03:57 PM

Hello Robin and Brenda and Welcome to MOC.

I love your deffintion of RV (Residential Vehicle) it's great! I will have to echo what others have said before me, I really love our 3295RK.

Even though other models tempt me, none really fits my wants and needs like the 3295RK.

Ours is really heavy and we pull it with our Chevy 2500HD combo listed below. I'm sure the F-350 Supercab will do great. You may want to consider the Pullrite Superglide we have. We love it and it took a lot of the pressure off when we first started with our Montana since before we had a pop up. Now it's great not to have to worry about hitting the cab of the truck with the front cap of the fiver. It also allows us to put our bikes in the truck bed behind the rear window.

Patty

Patty

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