Montana pros and cons

[Karen Whitney]

We have been looking for almost a year for an RV to go full time in this year . . hopefully by July 23rd. After all that time, we have FINALLY narrowed it down to 6 5th Wheels. One of them being the 3791RD. We are hoping to finalize our choice within the next week or two. We got a contract on the house, option period is up on the 19th and we're putting a deposit on an apartment to be held until the 1st of April. BUT, if we can make our decision before that and get it purchased (hopefully not having to order one), then we'll get it and move straight in the RV even tho we have commitments here until July.

If you have . . . or have had . . . this model, can you tell me some pros and cons about it? Any information you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few questions that I do have some concern about:

1) the back storage under the Den . . . because it's not very tall, do you find it really hard to get to things? What do you store back there? I'm thinking tables/chairs, fishing poles, brooms/mops and narrow plastic bins. Can't think of much else that would fit there.

2) Is the bathroom too small to manauver around when you are a little 'fluffy'?

3) Are the bedrooms drawers barely worthless?

4) Is the living room furniture comfortable or really hard?

5) Do you have the new stove/oven combo? If so, how do you like it?

As I said . . . if there is anything you LOVE or HATE about it, please share.

Thank you so much!

[wal_mart]

Manufacturers taken over by Thor appear to go downhill on quality. We have had 3 Heartlands and two Keystone. We will be looking elsewhere if any manufactures are left.

[lundwc16]

Don't know very much about the unit you are looking at as we have a 2010, 3075RL. We are in it four months a year & it has served us well. A few issues, but nothing major. I suggest you attend an RV show, or find a dealer who has your unit in stock, & you will be able to answer many of your own questions. The biggest ugly we have encountered is Keystone, & total lack of customer support. The selling dealer is their customer, not you or I. Problems, or questions with the unit, or if you need parts their answer is contact the dealer. My winter neighbor has a 5th wheel made by a company that once made 5th wheels & motor homes, they stopped production of their fivers over five years ago. He can still call direct & get a question answered, or get a part direct from them if they still have it in stock. Keystones' answer is "call the dealer". As we travel & need something, when we contact the local dealer, the first question is "did you buy it here'
John

[Karen Whitney]

Originally Posted by lundwc16

Don't know very much about the unit you are looking at as we have a 2010, 3075RL. We are in it four months a year & it has served us well. A few issues, but nothing major. I suggest you attend an RV show, or find a dealer who has your unit in stock, & you will be able to answer many of your own questions. The biggest ugly we have encountered is Keystone, & total lack of customer support. The selling dealer is their customer, not you or I. Problems, or questions with the unit, or if you need parts their answer is contact the dealer. My winter neighbor has a 5th wheel made by a company that once made 5th wheels & motor homes, they stopped production of their fivers over five years ago. He can still call direct & get a question answered, or get a part direct from them if they still have it in stock. Keystones' answer is "call the dealer". As we travel & need something, when we contact the local dealer, the first question is "did you buy it here'
John

We have attended 2 shows . . . at the time we had so many RVs on our 'wish list' they didn't do us a lot of good. Well, that's not entirely true. They did help us eliminate ones for various reasons and like others for different reasons. So I guess they did help up. But what I want to know isn't what I can get from a REP . . . they are going to tell you what they think you want to hear. I want to know from those of you that actually use them and don't make anything for telling me what you think.

[CORattler]

Originally Posted by lundwc16

The biggest ugly we have encountered is Keystone, & total lack of customer support. The selling dealer is their customer, not you or I. Problems, or questions with the unit, or if you need parts their answer is contact the dealer. Keystones' answer is "call the dealer". As we travel & need something, when we contact the local dealer, the first question is "did you buy it here'
John

Yup, it's called the blame game. It's their way of weaseling out of responsibility for defects/ poor workmanship. Integrity and accountability seem to be foreign concepts to them.
"did you buy it here?" is a tool to avoid product support.

[CORattler]

Originally Posted by lundwc16

The biggest ugly we have encountered is Keystone, & total lack of customer support. The selling dealer is their customer, not you or I. Problems, or questions with the unit, or if you need parts their answer is contact the dealer. As we travel & need something, when we contact the local dealer, the first question is "did you buy it here'
John

Sadly, I got the same customer unfriendly attitude from both Keystone and dealers.

[dfb]

Originally Posted by CORattler

Sadly, I got the same customer unfriendly attitude from both Keystone and dealers.

Yesterday I called keystone and the Lady was VERY NICE!

[mlh]

My dealer sells several brands of campers and has a saying about them "they are all junk. Our neighbor just bought a new 5er retail price $125000, nice camper but it is in the shop being fixed. If you are looking for a camper you aren't going to have any trouble with, better not get a camper.
Lynwood

[JABURKHOLDER]

Potential 3791RD owner...


We currently have a 2016 3791RD and love it. The raised den and raised bedroom give defined room separation. It feels more homey as opposed to the open, one room kitchen, dining, living area of some floor plans.


Question 1. In the very rear storage I keep camp chairs, flea market cart, chocks and shore power cable. The next one forward I keep my grille, fishing gear, broom and wash brush. I have no problem accessing any of that gear.


Question 2. Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias) has lost a lot of weight. Most RV bathrooms are not roomy. Definitely not a two person room. The pivoting door on the new models might present a problem. Depends on how fluffy Fluffy is.


Question 3. We are not fulltimers so can't speak to how much clothes storage would be needed for that. We keep two weeks worth of clothes in the RV at all times and the dresser and closet works fine for us. I'm just glad to have a dresser as my previous RV's had none.


Question 4. The sofas and recliners are comfortable. The new recliners are power and have remote controls. Seems neat but I see potential issues. Something that can fail and you need to power back to the upright position to get up. Mine are manual. When sitting on the sofas, be sure to lean forward before getting up. If you don't, you WILL hit your head. Do not sleep on the sofa beds. There is a design flaw, unless they addressed it, that when open, the "leather" material will rub against internal frame work and rip.


Question 5. The new model has a new cook top and new self igniting oven. Wish mine had that. The new cook top gives you a bit more counter space there.


Other issues. Do not store anything fragile in the cabinets in the den. Things bounce around back there while traveling and will break. Secure the sound bar as it will bounce off it's mounts. Love the residential fridge. If you boondock much you may want to upgrade the batteries, add solar/generator or consider model 3790RD with the RV fridge.


Any other specifics, just PM me.

[bigskyjimmy]

There ya Go Karen and there is your answer,like I said on RV.net when ya asked a Question about a Montana come here and you will get a Honest informative answer

Originally Posted by JABURKHOLDER

Potential 3791RD owner...


We currently have a 2016 3791RD and love it. The raised den and raised bedroom give defined room separation. It feels more homey as opposed to the open, one room kitchen, dining, living area of some floor plans.


Question 1. In the very rear storage I keep camp chairs, flea market cart, chocks and shore power cable. The next one forward I keep my grille, fishing gear, broom and wash brush. I have no problem accessing any of that gear.


Question 2. Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias) has lost a lot of weight. Most RV bathrooms are not roomy. Definitely not a two person room. The pivoting door on the new models might present a problem. Depends on how fluffy Fluffy is.


Question 3. We are not fulltimers so can't speak to how much clothes storage would be needed for that. We keep two weeks worth of clothes in the RV at all times and the dresser and closet works fine for us. I'm just glad to have a dresser as my previous RV's had none.


Question 4. The sofas and recliners are comfortable. The new recliners are power and have remote controls. Seems neat but I see potential issues. Something that can fail and you need to power back to the upright position to get up. Mine are manual. When sitting on the sofas, be sure to lean forward before getting up. If you don't, you WILL hit your head. Do not sleep on the sofa beds. There is a design flaw, unless they addressed it, that when open, the "leather" material will rub against internal frame work and rip.


Question 5. The new model has a new cook top and new self igniting oven. Wish mine had that. The new cook top gives you a bit more counter space there.


Other issues. Do not store anything fragile in the cabinets in the den. Things bounce around back there while traveling and will break. Secure the sound bar as it will bounce off it's mounts. Love the residential fridge. If you boondock much you may want to upgrade the batteries, add solar/generator or consider model 3790RD with the RV fridge.


Any other specifics, just PM me.

[DQDick]

We've full timed in a Montana for the last 6 years now and love it. Our storage is completely containerized with containers purchased from Walmart and big box stores. The have a wide variety of hights and widths so you can maximise the use of your available storage. Works for us.

[Karen Whitney]

Originally Posted by DQDick

We've full timed in a Montana for the last 6 years now and love it. Our storage is completely containerized with containers purchased from Walmart and big box stores. The have a wide variety of hights and widths so you can maximise the use of your available storage. Works for us.

I am a BIG container user in our S&B home and I will be the same in the RV. I already have many totes in various sizes that I will not sell. They are coming with me.

[Karen Whitney]

Originally Posted by bigskyjimmy

There ya Go Karen and there is your answer,like I said on RV.net when ya asked a Question about a Montana come here and you will get a Honest informative answer

LOL!! I see you found me! Thanks for the tip.

[Karen Whitney]

Originally Posted by JABURKHOLDER

Potential 3791RD owner...


We currently have a 2016 3791RD and love it. The raised den and raised bedroom give defined room separation. It feels more homey as opposed to the open, one room kitchen, dining, living area of some floor plans.


Question 1. In the very rear storage I keep camp chairs, flea market cart, chocks and shore power cable. The next one forward I keep my grille, fishing gear, broom and wash brush. I have no problem accessing any of that gear.


Question 2. Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias) has lost a lot of weight. Most RV bathrooms are not roomy. Definitely not a two person room. The pivoting door on the new models might present a problem. Depends on how fluffy Fluffy is.


Question 3. We are not fulltimers so can't speak to how much clothes storage would be needed for that. We keep two weeks worth of clothes in the RV at all times and the dresser and closet works fine for us. I'm just glad to have a dresser as my previous RV's had none.


Question 4. The sofas and recliners are comfortable. The new recliners are power and have remote controls. Seems neat but I see potential issues. Something that can fail and you need to power back to the upright position to get up. Mine are manual. When sitting on the sofas, be sure to lean forward before getting up. If you don't, you WILL hit your head. Do not sleep on the sofa beds. There is a design flaw, unless they addressed it, that when open, the "leather" material will rub against internal frame work and rip.


Question 5. The new model has a new cook top and new self igniting oven. Wish mine had that. The new cook top gives you a bit more counter space there.


Other issues. Do not store anything fragile in the cabinets in the den. Things bounce around back there while traveling and will break. Secure the sound bar as it will bounce off it's mounts. Love the residential fridge. If you boondock much you may want to upgrade the batteries, add solar/generator or consider model 3790RD with the RV fridge.


Any other specifics, just PM me.

Thank you!! Your answer was very helpful. I am not too fluffy to not fit into the pivot doors. I like them MUCH better than the full swing doors!

I will have a ton of clothes cuz we are going to be FT . . I've already gone thru them a couple of times and will have to go thru the again when it gets closer to move into the RV.

Hubby will have to worry about the "hitting head" issue. He's 6'5" . . I'm short so I should be okay.

I'm kinda like you about the electric recliners. BUT, we may love them cuz we always have a hard time "kicking" the foot part back into place. We're getting old!!! ;/

We won't be doing much boon docking . . . so the refrig will be great for us. Oh . . . thanks for the tip on the den cabinets and sound bar. Those cabs will be mostly for movies, pictures and genealogy stuff.

I love the look of the new stove/oven. What I don't like that you can barely get 2 pots/pans on there. I thought the 3 burners on the old stove were going to be bad . . . these look like they might be worse. They are so close together. I finally got to see one in person the other day. Was kind of disappointed cuz we cook at home a lot. We usually do not use more than 2 burners at a time but we may not be able to have 2 at a time on these.

[BB_TX]

Quality, or lack of, is not limited to Thor. If you read the RV.net Open Roads forum you probably already know that there does not seem to be any brand that does not get postings about quality issues.

[Karen Whitney]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

Quality, or lack of, is not limited to Thor. If you read the RV.net Open Roads forum you probably already know that there does not seem to be any brand that does not get postings about quality issues.

I have done enough research that I do know there will be problems. I'm trying to find out about the comfort of living in them now. This is a lot of money to put down that will depreciate the second we drive off the lot. Trying to make the best decision possible with all the info I can gather from those of you who have "been there done that".

[dfb]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

Quality, or lack of, is not limited to Thor. If you read the RV.net Open Roads forum you probably already know that there does not seem to be any brand that does not get postings about quality issues.

No....it's cheap, sub quality, no quality control THOR.....garbage...trash..had many other brands, by far, Thor is the worst..fenders flapping in the wind, outside molding disintegrating in the sun. , cables for slides, the thinist roofing material I've ever seen..axles not aligned from factory, trim above slides falling down, .... ours stickered at 92000..... looking back I'd have to think hard. If it were 45000..... garbage...trash, junk....

[BB_TX]

Originally Posted by dfb

No....it's cheap, sub quality, no quality control THOR.....garbage...trash..had many other brands, by far, ............

I guess I misread the postings on the other RV forum. I thought sure that user reports were about quality problems from other manufacturers also.

So from your first hand information, all the Thor owned companies such as Airstream, DRV (Mobile Suites), K-Z, Jayco, Crossroads, Cruiser, Heartland, Redwood, and others produce sub quality products. And everyone else produces high quality products with no issues. Good to remember.

[dfb]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

I guess I misread the postings on the other RV forum. I thought sure that user reports were about quality problems from other manufacturers also.

So from your first hand information, all the Thor owned companies such as Airstream, DRV (Mobile Suites), K-Z, Jayco, Crossroads, Cruiser, Heartland, Redwood, and others produce sub quality products. And everyone else produces high quality products with no issues. Good to remember.

I have owned ALJO, A SKYLINE PRODUCT, TERRY, A FLEETWOOD PRODUCT, A TAHOE A THOR PRODUCT, AND A K-z New Vision Ultra MADE BY SPORTSMAN.. THOR JUST BOUGHT SPORTSMAN RECENTLY.. I HAVE SEEN THE NEW KZs.. Kz was top drawer. The roof was a thick rubber membrane, the quality was great. All manufacturers helped with my question. Now, Thor has bought kz. There is no difference between all Thor products.. I hate to say this but they have gone down since Thor has taken over. It seems the CEO buys these companies with great Names, and then chisels the products with fast production and very cheap materials.. I do love many ideas and things about our 2015 montana 3610 Rl legacy package.. however, in my opinion many materials could be better. Carpet is one, moulding son outside, the plastics has come off after one year. The roof could be a better material.. fast production? Our water heater was not connected from the factory, our thetford toilet could never be fixed. Thank to advice here we bought a domestic. I have seen Montanas going down the road with the rubber roof billowing in YHE wind. I have seen you tube posts of brand new Montanas leaking very badly..I'm disappointed in YHE money spent on this item . The money I paid was not defective,. Charge me more but don't sell me a product that I gave to repair more than previous ones I have bought.maybe Thor reads these and may put more effort in .. We are in YHE fifth wheel now and loving our travels.. bottom line? Love the Montana, but it could have been built better... imho...

[bigskyjimmy]

Tell us how you REALLY fell there dfb, cables for slides? UMM yeah most do thinner roof material than anybody else??UMM No,Fenders flapping in the wind??RARE axles not aligned?? VERY RARE COME ON MAN! and like BB TEX said before Thor owns MANY brands and they are ALL JUNK?? and anything Forest River and Winnebago are SOOO much betterQUOTE=dfb;1063146]No....it's cheap, sub quality, no quality control THOR.....garbage...trash..had many other brands, by far, Thor is the worst..fenders flapping in the wind, outside molding disintegrating in the sun. , cables for slides, the thinist roofing material I've ever seen..axles not aligned from factory, trim above slides falling down, .... ours stickered at 92000..... looking back I'd have to think hard. If it were 45000..... garbage...trash, junk....[/QUOTE]