New Member Kicking Tires

[holligl]

To be honest, Not an owner yet, but doing lots of research. This Club and Forum is one of the added benefits for the Montana Brand. I retired last year, but my wife is still working in the school district, so has her summers off. She probably has a couple years before she retires. Her folks had a HitchHiker II back in the late 80s and wintered in Arizona for several years before upgrading to a park model.

I started looking at smaller travel trailers, but she really likes the room of the fifth wheels and we are looking down the road to being able to winter in warmer climates (currently live in the N/W suburbs of Chicago). I am also interested in supporting missions work with someone like the Nomads of the Methodist church. So we are considering going "all in" with our first unit. If we buy a unit, I would then buy a lower mileage used truck to pull it.

We like the raised den models, and the 3791RD Montana is what we are baselining to. Also considering the Jayco Pinnacle 38FLSA and the Evergreen Bay Hill 379FL.

I appreciate your Forum and advice regardless of the path we take.

Glen

[1retired06]

Hope the forum is usefull

[bigskyjimmy]

Yep we ALMOST bought a Pinnacle and they are very nice but the Montana we bought Loaded was 5K cheaper than the Jayco And our Montana dealer gave us a Lifetime Warranty thrown in for the price , we also looked at the Bayhill but it was SO much lighter than the Montana it made you wonder where are they are saving so much weight in the end it was a no brainer for us picking Montana And this Forum is the best One out there IMO ,BUT you choose what is best for YOU and buy from a good Dealer Good luck in your search ALSO by the way one thing Montana has that we LOVE is they have the Best TV-5.1 Surround sound in the Biz(SONY) not some cheap Magnavox, Jensen or IRVTV junk)My buddies with SOB's are amazed how nice it sounds compared to theirs

[DarMar]

Welcome to the forum. We hope you find the information you need to make your decision, good luck.

[Mudchief]

Welcome and enjoy this great forum.

[Olen1957]

Welcome, We just purchased the 3791RD & picked it up last week, We pulled it home with our 2015 Silverado 2500HD Crew cab LTZ Duramax/ Allison SRW, CurtQ20 slider hitch. with no issues, handled great. We've been doing some "driveway learning " and getting setup. The 3791RD has plenty of great storage. Planning our first adventure to Myrtle beach in mid March.

Good luck on your search.

[DQDick]

Welcome to the forum! First and foremost remember that this is a place to go for help if you need it and there are many more Montana's out there than any other brand, so the problems you see reported here are not the norm for everyone. When we went looking for our rig three years ago we thought we wanted a Jayco. On examining the infrastructure of the Jayco we found the materials used to be the same things we had in our TT. Since we paid a whole lot less for our TT we quit looking at them. A lot can change in three years, but remember to look at how the working parts are put together and what was used and not just how attractive the interior is.

[holligl]

quote:Originally posted by bigskyjimmy

Yep we ALMOST bought a Pinnacle and they are very nice but the Montana we bought Loaded was 5K cheaper than the Jayco And our Montana dealer gave us a Lifetime Warranty thrown in for the price , we also looked at the Bayhill but it was SO much lighter than the Montana it made you wonder where are they are saving so much weight in the end it was a no brainer for us picking Montana And this Forum is the best One out there IMO ,BUT you choose what is best for YOU and buy from a good Dealer Good luck in your search ALSO by the way one thing Montana has that we LOVE is they have the Best TV-5.1 Surround sound in the Biz(SONY) not some cheap Jensen or IRVTV junk)My buddies with SOB's are amazed how nice it sounds compared to theirs

The prices we are getting are almost identical for similar options. Getting a lifetime warranty could be a deal maker, as the Montana's standard is one year and Jayco plays up their two year hitch to bumper. The Montana has much more storage, but the opposing den fold outs are queens vs the jayco kings with a larger den. So far we have not been able to get into an actual FLSA model but have seen several 3791s. Please keep me informed on your likes and issues on you model. My wife is into the detailed utility (outlet placement, storage for dishes etc). She is 5'1" and I'm 6' so our perspectives are different. The Pinnacle is actually setup with a 60" name brand TV which might be TOO big. (Bigger than we have in our house). I do like the twin windows in the back on the 3971.

[holligl]

quote:Originally posted by Olen1957

Welcome, We just purchased the 3791RD & picked it up last week, We pulled it home with our 2015 Silverado 2500HD Crew cab LTZ Duramax/ Allison SRW, CurtQ20 slider hitch. with no issues, handled great. We've been doing some "driveway learning " and getting setup. The 3791RD has plenty of great storage. Planning our first adventure to Myrtle beach in mid March.

Good luck on your search.

Sorry, part of my last post should have come as a quote to you. Utility features of your specific model.

[DQDick]

Your title of your post caused me to think of one more thing. While your "kicking the tires" be sure your new rig comes with quality tires. Most manufacturers ship with the low tire bidder rather the the tire that really should be on the rig and Keystone is no different. The Goodyear G rated 614 option is actually what they should ship most Montana's with to start with IMHO.

[K0LCB]

Welcome! Happy hunting

[bigskyjimmy]

yeah you sound like me and my wife she's 5ft 2 and I am 6-2,we also had a hard time looking at to many Pinnacles as all the Jayco dealers here in Seattle said they are slow sellers so they do not carry too many ,as far as the model we picked the 3735MK is because my wife LOVES to cook and we are fulltimers and it has mass storage for dishes etc(she does use a little step stool to reach some shelves)... BIG Kitchen AND the biggest Pantry we have ever seen and a Huge living room and 2 Entry doors,,COOL ,but it is a big Decision and take your time but another good thing about Montana is they have a floorplan for everybody

quote:Originally posted by holligl

The prices we are getting are almost identical for similar options. Getting a lifetime warranty could be a deal maker, as the Montana's standard is one year and Jayco plays up their two year hitch to bumper. The Montana has much more storage, but the opposing den fold outs are queens vs the jayco kings with a larger den. So far we have not been able to get into an actual FLSA model but have seen several 3791s. Please keep me informed on your likes and issues on you model. My wife is into the detailed utility (outlet placement, storage for dishes etc). She is 5'1" and I'm 6' so our perspectives are different. The Pinnacle is actually setup with a 60" name brand TV which might be TOO big. (Bigger than we have in our house). I do like the twin windows in the back on the 3971.

[HOOK]

Welcome from NC