Floor Plan Question

[Cat320]

The Montana 2980RL is on our short list for a new 5er. We have a floor plan question that we forgot to ask when vistiting our dealer, and it was suggested that we join the forum and ask it of folks that actually own the rig.

The 2980RL is a triple slide, with two slides in the rear of the rig being opposite each other. After studying the brochure (the rig had all slides open when we saw it), it appears that with both slides in the two slides will meeet in the middle. Therefore it would not be possible to get back to the galley area without climbing over the dinnette or the counter. This would be a real pain when loading and unloading in the driveway or if stopping for a lunch break while travelling.

Here's the floorplan: http://keystone-montana.com/?page=fl...091d1d718dad87

Any insight from owner's would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Kathi]

I can see by the floorplans that you are correct by saying that you would have to climb over everything. We have the 3400RL and even with the slides closed we can still access the frig, bathroom etc. You can adjust the slides to have one come out first from the others. They don't have to come out in the order that it comes from the dealer. Would that be something that you would be able to deal with. I mean 1 slide out. That way you could have the dealer make that slide with the dining table go out and then you would have access to the kitchen area. Leaving the other 2 slides in? I don't know, just a thought.

[jrgwdenner]

We have an older model that has the same accessibility issues as your model. It is easily remedied by Kathi's solution. We simply close the valves on two of the slides (bedroom and entertainment/frig slides in our case) when we're ready to travel. If we stop at a rest area or parking lot, we slimply open the dinette/LR slides a few inches and we can get to our kitchen, LR, dinette, frig, etc. It is open and sticks out less than our entry steps so we're not sticking out much at all. It works very well and I would not let the layout keep you from ordering the floorplan that you like.

[JH Sechelt]

Hi Cat320,

We have a 2006 2980RL and you can step over the table to get to the back of the unit or what we did......
Undid the screws holding the table to the floor and turned the table 90 degrees. Easy to walk to the back now
and you can open the fridge. This way we don't have to open any slides to stop for lunch.
We do bunggie the table and chairs together when traveling, so the table doesn't fall over.
We usually turn the table back to the position it was in when we get to a campsite.
Hope this helps.
J & D

[Cat320]

Really appreciate the repies. Never occured to us to turn the table or partially open a slide. We were at a point where we could not see spending that much $$$ to get a rig you where you have to be half monkey to get around with the slides in.

[DCP]

We also moved the table 90 degrees and took out two of the chairs. It makes a huge difference and everything is accessable when the slides are in. Good Luck!!

[jrgwdenner]

That is an excellent suggestion! We had already decided to take two of the chairs out and turn the table but didn't think of the benefit of being able to get to the 'frig. What a forum!

[rickety]

Phyllis and I have the same floor plan. We are living in it full time now, but when wer weren't we would partially extend the slides and load up ,close up and go. We also turned the table 90 degrees and got rid of two chairs. We love the floor plan, just right for us.

[jrjones]

Hey! What a great idea! I am going to do that tomorrow. Thanks

[markwick]

Just a side note - as the two rear slides are opposite each other the sofa is a 'jacknife' type as a regular fold out bed is too long for the space.

[sreigle]

We had the 2880RL, the predecessor to the 2980RL and a very similar floorplan. We also loosed the dining table but we didn't strap it down and it never moved. We did the same on our 3295RK back when the dining table still lived in its original factory location and it never moved either. But I can see where it might be a concern that the table would topple.

--on edit -- decided to edit this to note both our tables are/were the trestle type and therefore inherently more stable than the newer, pedestal style table. With the pedestal it might move around more easily.

[Mac]

Cat,

It's hard to go wrong with any Monty floorplan. Get whichever one you like best and works for YOU!

mac

[jrjones]

I have a 2980RL and love it! When I travel I open front storage where batteries are and shut off my bedroom and kitchen slides. Then when I stop in a rest area or Wally World I just run out the dinning slide. Works great for us.
I just ordered a 40" drop leaf table to replace our existing table. It will set flush to the window with leaves down and chairs will set on ends and 2 on side. Havn't got it yet but it should work. Then I can walk back to fridge with out moving anything. i'll post on here if or ifnot it works. Oh yea when I stop and run the slides out I can pull the table out put up the leafs and put 4 chairs around it. Did I just RAMBLE ON?

[simonsrf]

Has anyone with a 2980RL thought about moving the dining table to the back where the Lazy-boy chairs are located? Will everything slide OK? I want to get rid of at least one of those, and remove two of the dining chairs. My thought is that the dining table in the back would give me some addional counter space while cooking...any ideas?

[CountryGuy]

simonsrf

is this what you are talking about????

http://montanaadministrator.forumco....C_ID~15142.asp

[sreigle]

I edited my earlier post saying we unscrewed our table and leave it loose. We do, but ours is the older style trestle table with legs on both ends. The newer pedestal tables might be less stable and need to be held in place either by screwing them down or wedging something next to it. Or turning it upside down and storing things on top of it.

[simonsrf]

Moving the table to the back seems to be a logical choice for us, thanks for the link to the pictures. This forum is the greatest!