2006 3400RL

[snfexpress]

My wife and I, who are in our mid-forties, just took the plunge and purchased a 2006 3400RL. Unfortunately, we don't own a truck, so I ordered a 2006 3500HD 4WD Long Bed SLT Extra Cab - won't arrive from GM until March, so the dealer is storing our 5th Wheel until then.

Anyway, wanted to introduce ourselves and ask a few questions, and post a few comments.

We had the opportunity to speak with Charles Wade, a representative from Keystone, and really enjoyed the hour. He seems to have alot of answers, but...here are mine.

We are in a position to retire, but want to keep our business going while we travel the country (we own a mortgage company). Any suggestions for Internet connectivity? With high speed Internet, we can operate from just about anywhere as we have a great staff. We want to spend a couple of weeks at a time on the road and then return home for a couple of weeks.

Anyone having length issues with a long bed truck such as the one we are purchasing? I think I might have gone overboard on the 3500 HD (Duramx diesel w/ Allison transmission), but the people I have spoken with encouraged me to go with the 1 ton model.

We have a labrador who is part of our family. In fact, he was my partner when I was a police officer, so he is very well trained and behaves well. Do most parks permit dogs?

With the 50amp service requirement, if we find ourselves with only 30, what can't we run inside? I heard that most parks won't permit the running of a generator, so I didn't purchase one.

How do you all hang your pictures in the coach? We have grandchildren and want the pictures along with us, but I don't want to go too deep with screws as I don't want to damage the exterior of the coach (duh!).

Do any of you have suggestions for newbies such as ourselves?

Finally, what clubs do you think are the ones to belong to? Good Sam's, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Michael and Kathy

[Charlie]

Congratulations on the purchase of your new toys. You are going to enjoy them. If you can manage your business over the net you might want to be on the road more than two weeks at a time. The urge to travel may overcome your necessity to return home.

To answer some of your questions, monitor the MOC as much as possible and you will get many ideas from experienced RV'ers.

Your truck is a great selection. The long bed is not a problem. I have 3/4 ton super cab with long bed and the two benefits that I get from it is extra capacity on the fuel tank and not having to purchase a slider hitch to prevent the clashing of trailer and truck as do the short beds without a slider. The Dura-Max will give you more than enough power to tow with.

The 50 amp service is available at more and more CG's. The two items that you will have to do with out on 30 amp would be a second A/C and a W/D, otherwise the 30 amp will run everything in your rig. I do not have either of these and only use a 30 amp cord even in a CG with 50Amp. Don't have to wrestle with the monster cord and some CG's will charge more to plug into the 50 amps.

Most parks allow pets but have restrictions such as on leash only, picking up after the pet and not allowing annoying barking. Some require additional fees for the pet.

On the hanging of pictures....I hate to run screws in the walls because there is no telling how they routed the wires in the walls. One way to hang them is by Velcro. If at sometime you wish to sell or trade the trailer and try to remove the Velcro from the wall it will tear the finish.

[CountryGuy]

congrats on the new rig

READ THE ARCHIVES and the old messages, use the search engine here. Most of your questions have been asked and answered, with some very interesting discussions.

Some parks do not allow dogs, get a park book, like Trailer life, or Woodalls, they spell it out.

Park long trucks out in the edges of the parking lots at stores, get some extra exercise

Many parks now offer wifi, but a good cell phone will also get you connected to the net, but, be prepared to go make a cup of coffee while it connects and gets to your first email message! HAHA. Some people have satellite systems for direcway and such. Lots of coin and well, I am not the biggest direcway fan, too much to go into, we have at home, and if we had another choice, we would take a gun to that dish! (oh, dear, those who love their direcway, forgive me for my sins!)

Al and I rarely use 50 AMPS, the exception being when we are here in Texas for 2 or 3 months. The cord is heavy and a bother to move around. We frequent many parks with 30 AMPS, and have learned you can only run so much, so, do the coffee, then the toast, don't try to run the microwave at the same time. That sorta thing. It is a way of life for us, no biggie, although there are others that will disagree

We hang stuff on the walls with super duty double faced tape, which we have found you can get off, if you are careful. If it does damage the walls, we hang something else up over the damage! We have a large wooden heavy racoon over the outside entry door. Lots of tape, does not move or fall on our heads.

There are a couple of unique ideas for headboards with photos, again, visit the archives here, you will have a good education.

[stiles watson]

Sounds like others are answering your questions, so I will just say hello and welcome to the forum and to the Montana family. I do have a friend who operates a business from his motor home. He and wife travel 4 to 6 months a year. With his cell phone, laptop, and internet services, he seems to have no trouble managing this fast moving, time sensitive business. I think it may take a little research on your part to determine the best combo for you. Happy RVing...

[Northstar]

Welcome and congratulations on your new coach. And the TV will have enough towing power for your needs. A lot of parks have both 30/50 AMP available so you will get used to having to watch what appliences you use at the same time.

[Parrothead]

Hi
You have the same model Montana we have only ours is an 05 and we have an 06 GMC 3500 D/A dually long bed crew cab. We went with the long bed mainly for the extra fuel capacity. But also because we have total turning radius. We have used the Montana and our 2 previous fifth wheels for home offices. We do have DirecWay for internet when parked a long while. More and more parks have WiFi and we use it when available. I also use the Mobile Office kit from Verizon for their cell phones. They also offer a high speed from the cell for $60 per month. However this work only if you are getting a signal on your cell phone. Some parks also offer dial up service but it is slow and they charge by the minute usually so can get expensive. At first I was apprehensive about driving the loooong truck. But now I'm use to it and it handles so nice I love it. Sometimes you may have to park way out in the parking lot but so far we've had no problems. We use the 50 amp whenever possible. In the 05 and 06's the 50 amp is not just for the 2nd AC and Washer/Dryer. We've had no problems when we have to hook up to 30 amp, you just can't run a lot of applicances that heat (toaster, hair dryer, etc.). But for the most part there is no problem. After a while you will get use to it. We belong to Good Sam and when we start full timing we will join a couple more mainly Passport America and Escapees. I found these clips that are for fabric cubicles in an office. They have 2 pins that hook into fabric and then a pinch clip. They work great to hook into the valances and hang pictures from them. Office Depot and Staples both carry them. Keep reading the MOC, come to some rallies, ask questions and in no time you will be old pros. (or young ones)
PS- You didn't overdo it on the 1 ton. Our truck does not swat when the Monty is hooked up and we have tons of power going up mountains. So we don't need any of the add-ons.
Happy trails........................

[ronnilu]

Michael & Kathy - welcome to a really neat website and congratulations on your new units. We pull with an '03 GMC Duramax/Allison 2500 4 door crew cab long bed (whew)and have been delighted with the performance. I prefer the long bed because it allows me to have a cross the bed tool box behind the cab, which with the 5th wheel hitch, takes up a lot of room. Having the long bed gives me some extra space to carry other goodies (porta boat seats, gas can, firewood, or other things that don't fit particularly well in our basement storage). I'm sure you will be happy with your decision.

[snfexpress]

Thanks, everyone for your messages. Yes, I will continue to forage around on this web site for additional information. Can't wait until we get our truck!

Michael & Kathy

[bobgay]

Michael and Kathy, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are starting off with good equipment and some good advice from the members.

[snfexpress]

I've been doing some research regarding the Direcway Internet service and have (wait for it....) another question. I think I want the satellite system (including television), mounted on the roof of the coach, but am wondering if there is enough wiring for both signals, and if I would be limiting my satellite availability as opposed to mounting the dish(es) on a tripod and moving away from the coach.

The idea of automatically seeking the signals appeals to me, but would like to hear some feed back from those of you who have Direcway and/or DirecTV.

Thanks,

Michael & Kathy

[Parrothead]

I would not mount the DirecWay on the roof. I think it is too heavy. If you are in a park with lots of trees you will be limiting your chance of getting a signal. I also think you might damage the transponder for the DirecWay. It and the dish are a lot larger than the DirecTV are. IMHO
Happy trails.....................

[HamRad]

Snfexpress,

The DirecWay system even with the DirecTV option would NOT be too heavy for the roof of the Montana unless they have changed the way they make the roof. While the automatic process definitely has it's advantages it also has some major disadvantages. The primary problem being that you cannot park in an area that blocks the southern sky. That's why a tripod is such a nice thing to have. Another problem that I've read about is that the rig must be almost perfectly level for the auto thing to work. I have no experience with the auto system. I'm just passing on what I've read. You might go to Datastorm.com and do some reading of the posts. Lots of good info.

Good luck,
HamRad

[cjenks234]

Nice choice, we love ours. We picked ours on 10/29/05 and sent 2 months in it straight from the dealership

[Dustytuu]

Welcome Michael and Kathy.

More and more parks are offering wi-fi.
We also use velcro to hang things on wall. We use an industrial velcro. Have not had any problems getting it off the walls.

You will love your Montana!

[snfexpress]

Well, the 5th wheel is at the dealer's getting prepped and am awaiting delivery of the truck - can't wait!

[richfaa]

Welcome to the forum..Great place for information.We are ordering our 3400 next month. Does yours have the new upgrades and were there any workmanship defects on delivery...

[snfexpress]

Yes, there was a workmanship error: the hole in the pantry is supposed to be down towards the bottom right. The factory had it reversed and put a cover over it. When I removed the cover, there was a hole in the pantry backing, but no corresponding hole in the shower backing. I told the dealer to R&R.

Other than this, though, no problems, so far. I will take the predelivery checklist with me prior to taking "delivery".

Michael

[richfaa]

Would you be kind enough to post how the Delivery went in terms of any defects.

[dsprik]

What are you up to, Rich? Why are you interested in defect details on this? Is it because this is one of the new ones that we will be ordering - new caps, hitch vision, Mor/Ryde, etc?

[Montana Sky]

Dave,
When are you placing your order for your 3400RL? Just curious.