New 3295RK - Montana Owners Club

Montana_5043 · 12-13-2005, 02:21 PM

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased a new RV and F-250 to live in full time while I remodel and sell my home. After a year I'll know if I'm a real full timer or a pretender. I've been in it for four weeks and enjoying the RV/Park live. I have a lot to learn before I journey out on my first road trip.

Jerry

Charlie · 12-13-2005, 03:09 PM

The 3295RK suit our needs very well and the F-250 does a great job of pulling the Monty.....Congratulations on your new toys and hope that you get the maximum enjoyment from both.

jrgwdenner · 12-13-2005, 03:27 PM

You've made a good choice. The 3295 is a very nice model. Welcome to the forum.

BillyRay · 12-13-2005, 11:31 PM

welcome and congrats! the 3295 is a nice choice.

Wordsmith · 12-14-2005, 12:49 AM

We absolutely lovve our 3295 and F-250; they make a nice combination. One of our favorite aspects of the 3295 is the wide open space it offers. Congratulations on your new toys and enjoy both! Welcome to the forum!

Sweetfire · 12-14-2005, 05:21 AM

Still waiting to play with our 3295RK, it's sitting in the snow out back

A lot off good people and good information here, welcome aboard.

Parrothead · 12-14-2005, 06:02 AM

Welcome to the MOC. The 3295 was the model we went to buy and then fell in love with the 3400. Both plans are great for full timing. Keep us informed of how you are doing on your new adventure.
Happy trails...................

Sunshine · 12-14-2005, 07:16 AM

Welcome and congratulations on the new Montana and F250. Enjoy.

HamRad · 12-14-2005, 08:01 PM

jerry2rez,
We've had our 3295RK since 2002. We have really enjoyed it so far. WE do not fulltime but rather do some longtime camping. The wife loves the extra counter space. In addition to massive amounts of cabinet storage space. We both love the massive space that opens up between the living room slide and the kitchen slide. Gives a nice large open space. I love the way the rig tows. Unless you KNOW it is back there you sometimes forget it is there. Very nice.

The pin weight of this model is a bit on the heavy side so you need a tow vehicle that can support this extra weight. If you don't then your TV will sag in the rear causing the front to point up. This condition must be corrected as it is dangerous. Along with the weight issue is the stopping ability of the TV. If the CGWR is over by too much then you get what I call "tail wagging the dog" syndrome. This means that when you try to stop and need to stop NOW the trailer will sort of cause the TV to scoot around in ways NOT under your direct control. So get smaller trailer or larger TV. Or you can sort of beef up an under rated rig to perform better but it is only a stop gap process. We went from a Ford 250 PSD SD Long bed rig to a Ford 450 PSD SD long bed. No problems since we've switched TVs.

We love the rig and would get another one. It would probably be the same model or one similar to our current floor plan. The rig is large and does keep us out of some of previous favorite spots! Now we find a place close and go visit them.

Enjoy the rig it is great one.

HamRad and PERtired

Montana_5043 · 12-15-2005, 04:01 AM

HamRad, thanks for the good info now I have to do some research to understand what it all means. Are you saying you had problems towing the 3295RK with the F-250. I talked with the Ford and the RV dealer before purhasing the F-250 and both told me I didn't need the extra payload the F-350 gave me and both models had the same towing capacity. I've only towed my RV for about 2 miles and didn't experience any difficulty or notice any sag. I haven' towed it enough to expericence braking or wagging problems but when I do take it out for a test drive I'll pay close attention to these problems.

Jerry

Northstar · 12-15-2005, 04:47 AM

Welcome Jerry and you have a nice rig there. My wife now wants to buy a new 3295 model after seeing how it would fit our fulltimer life style. Merry Christmas.

HamRad · 12-15-2005, 05:13 AM

jerry2rez,
I had NO problem towing the rig with the 250. It pulled it with no problem. The only time I had any concern was with a "quick" or emergency type stop. But the 3295 is one of the heavier pin weights in the Montana line. And the load did cause the truck to sag. I had the SD version so it had all the HD towing options. It apparently did not have extra support in the rear however. The few times I traveled at night I got the headlight flash indicating oncoming drivers thought I had my beams on HIGH. If I had kept the 250 I would have put the air bags or the Timbren springs on it.

This was a few years back. The 250 was a 1999 or 2000 model. I now have a SD 450. It is a 2002 and still has the 7.3 PSD engine and the same transmission as the 250 that I had. The difference is in the frame and suspension. I also got a rear end with the 4.88 ratio. The 250 rode like a car and the 450 rides like a truck! Very stiff suspension. But I have virtually no sag whatsoever.

There are many folks pulling the 3295 with 250s and they report no problems. The new engines and transmissions plus the integrated tow package is fantastic from the reports I've read. I'd still plan on some extra support on the rear axle with the 250. I think there might be enough sag to warrant such a step.

Good luck.

HamRad

Charlie · 12-15-2005, 05:14 AM

Jerry-
There are several of us towing the 3295RK with a 3/4 ton TV. I did have to add Firestone Ride-Rite Air Bags as I had a little more squat than I wanted. The bags make it easy to level the truck and the trailer for easier towing.

One thing that you might want to remember....some of us here on the forum have had problems with the trailer brakes early on. Seems as if the axle manufacturer has had some assembly problems and it shows up as a pinched wire under the actuator on the door side rear wheel brake. If you experience this it will start showing up as errors on your truck brake controller. Mine happened first trip out and was intermittent but by the time I could get to a dealer the trailer brakes had failed totally. Your dealer should be able to repair this problem easily, but initially might insist that you should have your truck checked first.

sreigle · 12-20-2005, 05:03 AM

I think you made good choices on both the 3295RK and F250. We have the same combination although our 3295RK is a 2003 model. If you have a 2005 or 2006 F250 then it has far more towing capability than earlier models, including much larger brakes, heavier frame and suspension. As HamRad said, the 3295RK has a heavy pinweight. If your F250 has the Camper Package in addition to the tow package then you have the same springs as the F350. Ours does not have the camper package so does not have the extra leaf in the springs. We added airbags as we did have about an inch of sag. It's not very noticeable but I did notice it since our prior tow vehicle was the F350, 2003 vintage, and ran level with the 3295RK in tow.

Good luck with them. We really like our 3295RK for it's homey feel. Much more like a small apartment, in our opinion. One thing you might consider... several of us have swapped the locations of the dining table and the easy chair. It sounds strange but works very well for comfort and being able to talk without straining the neck. Whatever works for you, of course.

This is what it looks like although we've since moved the end table to between couch and chair:

stiles watson · 12-21-2005, 03:45 AM

Can't argue with a man who makes the same choices I do. Welcome!!!

Northstar · 12-23-2005, 03:11 PM

I like your change in the floor plan. Merry Christmas

dsprik · 12-23-2005, 03:58 PM

The 3295 has the largest Carrying Capacity of the entire line of Montanas. If you are chosing to full time in this, I think you have made an excellent decision.

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