Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

sreigle · 07-14-2004, 01:02 PM

Gordon and Carol, I think we'll all be happy for you no matter which model you get. They're all great, so get the one that works best for you. You're smart to ask the questions, though. Better to ask up front than to wish later you had thought to ask. (First hand experience here - we had our Jayco Eagle with a terrible floorplan for less than a year).

As for hitches, if you know how to use the Search function (upper right part of this page) just enter 'hitch' and let it search both subject and message and all dates, etc. You'll find plenty. Meanwhile, if you have specific questions, just ask away. If you start a new topic more people would likely catch your questions. There's a section on towing and tow vehicles that would be a good place for that topic.

Meanwhile, I suspect the "LB" in your signature line, related to the truck, means "longbed". So, you won't need to worry about a slider hitch. Nor will you need to worry whether it has an extended pinbox (if the pin on the fifthwheel itself comes straight down, it's non-extended. if it's attached to a box that moves it more forward then it's an extended pinbox).

So, all you need is a fifthwheel hitch that is rated to handle the weight of your Montana-to-be. Any from 15k up will work for any Montana. There are several good brands so I won't try to sell you on one brand or another. I've had an RBW brand and a Reese brand and liked them both. Current is a Reese 15K Classic.

I do recommend you get one with the 4-way pivot. Most have that nowadays but not all. The 2-way pivot lets the hitch tilt front and back but not side-to-side. For many years that's all that was available. And there are many of these in use today.

The 4-way pivot pivots front, back, and side to side. One advantage is when your truck tilts but the Montana doesn't (etc. etc.) it's not as likely to stress the hitch attachments on the truck and the pinbox attachments on the Montana. Just as important to me is easier unhitching on an unlevel site. If using boards under the wheels on one side to level the Montana puts the truck and Montana on different planes more than maybe an inch, then with a two-way pivoting hitch you'll need to also put boards under the rear wheel of the truck or the hitch will not release the pin. With the 4-way pivot you may still have to do that but I've had the Montana up 3 to 4 inches and not needed to raise the truck, too. More than that then I do. This doesn't sound like a big problem but, you know, those boards you use to raise the truck just aren't going to still be sitting in the right place when you want to back the truck up to hitch it all up and need to raise that truck wheel again. It's not a matter of lining up the pin and then placing the boards and backing onto them. Tried that. When backing on to the boards the hitch in the truck moves on an arc, throwing off my alignment. Not my idea of fun.

I got kind of wordy but hopes this gives you some idea of the concepts. Do a little searching, especially in the towing and tow vehicles forum then let us know what questions you still have.

Good luck.

07-14-2004, 01:02 PM	#8
sreigle Montana Master Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Oceanside Posts: 20,028 M.O.C. #20	Gordon and Carol, I think we'll all be happy for you no matter which model you get. They're all great, so get the one that works best for you. You're smart to ask the questions, though. Better to ask up front than to wish later you had thought to ask. (First hand experience here - we had our Jayco Eagle with a terrible floorplan for less than a year). As for hitches, if you know how to use the Search function (upper right part of this page) just enter 'hitch' and let it search both subject and message and all dates, etc. You'll find plenty. Meanwhile, if you have specific questions, just ask away. If you start a new topic more people would likely catch your questions. There's a section on towing and tow vehicles that would be a good place for that topic. Meanwhile, I suspect the "LB" in your signature line, related to the truck, means "longbed". So, you won't need to worry about a slider hitch. Nor will you need to worry whether it has an extended pinbox (if the pin on the fifthwheel itself comes straight down, it's non-extended. if it's attached to a box that moves it more forward then it's an extended pinbox). So, all you need is a fifthwheel hitch that is rated to handle the weight of your Montana-to-be. Any from 15k up will work for any Montana. There are several good brands so I won't try to sell you on one brand or another. I've had an RBW brand and a Reese brand and liked them both. Current is a Reese 15K Classic. I do recommend you get one with the 4-way pivot. Most have that nowadays but not all. The 2-way pivot lets the hitch tilt front and back but not side-to-side. For many years that's all that was available. And there are many of these in use today. The 4-way pivot pivots front, back, and side to side. One advantage is when your truck tilts but the Montana doesn't (etc. etc.) it's not as likely to stress the hitch attachments on the truck and the pinbox attachments on the Montana. Just as important to me is easier unhitching on an unlevel site. If using boards under the wheels on one side to level the Montana puts the truck and Montana on different planes more than maybe an inch, then with a two-way pivoting hitch you'll need to also put boards under the rear wheel of the truck or the hitch will not release the pin. With the 4-way pivot you may still have to do that but I've had the Montana up 3 to 4 inches and not needed to raise the truck, too. More than that then I do. This doesn't sound like a big problem but, you know, those boards you use to raise the truck just aren't going to still be sitting in the right place when you want to back the truck up to hitch it all up and need to raise that truck wheel again. It's not a matter of lining up the pin and then placing the boards and backing onto them. Tried that. When backing on to the boards the hitch in the truck moves on an arc, throwing off my alignment. Not my idea of fun. I got kind of wordy but hopes this gives you some idea of the concepts. Do a little searching, especially in the towing and tow vehicles forum then let us know what questions you still have. Good luck.