Brand Newbies - Montana Owners Club

Montana_6513 · 11-18-2006, 06:47 AM

My husband and I just bought our first rv a 2980 Montana with the works. We are so excited. We have squat experience. We lived for three months in spain last summer in a small C class and loved it. We will be full timing. We sold our stick house (lived there 26 years) last June and have been homeless until now.

I just looked at the rating CD (after we bought -grin-) and it doesn't say good things about the 2980 on Highway control. I was surprised and this has put a damper on our enthusiasm for our new home.

We're looking forward to getting to know you folks as we travel the roads.

bsmeaton · 11-18-2006, 07:15 AM

Congratulations Nancy!! Nice rig and you've got the right tow vehicle.

Not sure what that rating actually means - would be curious what others have to say about it on this thread. I know my 3400RL on order is not rated good either.

texdeano · 11-18-2006, 08:13 AM

O'well on the rating.I have no ideal what it would say on our 2006 3670RL or care as it pulls great.Hope you enjoy your new rig and have loads of fun.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 11-18-2006, 08:40 AM

Lost me, what is a rating CD??? And, what are they talking about???

Parrothead · 11-18-2006, 09:18 AM

Welcome. From what we have gathered talking to many MOCers all Montanas pull great. Not sure what rating you are talking about. Enjoy your new home - you will love it and I'm sure once you hook it up, you will find it pulls great.
Happy trails........................

boylanag · 11-18-2006, 10:10 AM

Welcome, Nancy and John. We just traded "up" from a 2002 2850RK to a 2006 2980RL and love it. We thought so highly of our first Montana that we only looked at Montanas for our next one. Don't know anything about a cd rating but the Boylan rating is very high. We also discovered that if we ever have questions or problems, the answers will come from this forum if we only ask. Enjoy your 2980 and forget the rating - yours is the only one that counts. Jim

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-18-2006, 10:54 AM

nancy784 Welcome to the MOC. As you must know, the letters MOC stand for Montana Owners Club but in this thread they must also stand for Montana Owners Consumers as we are the TRUE experts when it comes to our beloved Montanas.
I truely don't want to see a damper put on your enthusiasm for your new Monty and after a bit of research I found the RV Ratings CD you refer to and found it to be a CD publication from the RV Consumer Group. The CD is referred to as an "RV Rating CD Guide that assists you in your search for the right RV. It is a complete reference guide rating travel trailer coaches, fifth wheel travel trailers, and tent trailers." Sounds like something we should all be reading but for a few laughs rather than factual information. I was unable to find just who the experts are that were used to garner this information. They don't tell you how they get their material but it was clear that they did almost no inspections of their own unless they were paid to do so. Nor could I find any true criteria on how they arrive at these ratings.

IMHO-- I could possibly see an RV newbie being caught up on all this garbage but I would not take what is there as gospel. I could find a number of RV accessories to blow 80 bucks than on this CD. I also would join a true "RV Consumer Group" such as the MOC for FREE and find the true facts from the true "RV Consumer" experts.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 11-18-2006, 11:19 AM

OKKKK, Glenn, now, that we sorta have an understanding of what this CD thingy is, maybe Nancy784 could give us some insight as to what these genius types are saying about the Montana. ???

Highway control would sound like "what does this thing feel like when being towed". Or something like that.

Well, I have not towed a 2980, but have to figure it is gonna be close to what the 3295 is. The 3295 tows like a dream,and I mean DREAM!!!

Having pulled a 30 foot TT and still pulling the pontoon a couple of times a year with a hightop van, I gotta tell you, there is NO comparison.

The TT and the boat will and do give me white knuckles, and the drag when a 18 wheeler goes tooling by is horrid.

NONE of that with the 3295, and I would bet that EVERYONE who tows a Montana, no matter WHAT model is gonna tell you the very same thing!

Now, what do they really mean by Highway control???

By the way, welcome to the forum! Ask question, none are dumb, none are silly. The dumb and silly thing is NOT asking the questions!

stiles watson · 11-18-2006, 11:40 AM

Well, it has all been said. So let me add my welcome. Look ahead, not backward. There are always ways to garner "buyer's regret". The coulda, shoulda crowd never go forward. You made a good choice. Happy RVing....

LonnieB · 11-18-2006, 12:16 PM

Welcome, Nancy and John.
All I can say is, I agree with the others. I have pulled hundreds of trailers over the years, from single axle motorcycle trailers, to 53 foot vans, and my Montana pulls as good as any of them, better than most of them. I believe you will be more than pleased.

JH Sechelt · 11-18-2006, 12:44 PM

Welcome, Nancy and John.

As you can see by our picture we pull a 2980RL, and never had a problem. It's pin weight is a little more than some. (shorter unit with three slides). I'm not sure I would want to pull it with anything less then a one ton, but I'm sure many do. Our F350 pulls it better than it did our 2550 Wilderness Advantage. I think the longer wheel base made the difference. Enjoy your new Home.
(we have always loved the layout, the Wilderness was the same just smaller).

J&D

Montana_6513 · 11-18-2006, 02:13 PM

thanks every body. I threw the CD out and I'm just going to hop in our buggy and boogie. I'm sure we will love ours as much as you all love yours.

boat391 · 11-18-2006, 03:15 PM

Nancy and John congrats and welcome to this great group I too belive that my monty pulls as good or better than most of the others out there I drive truck for a living and am very impressed with our 3400 after we got the prodigy brake controller we did have a 31 foot komfort before this one and it pulled good but a little different than the monty the monty is much bigger and heavier and I do pull it with a 1 ton dually and feel its as safe to pull as anything on the road wish my big truck felt as good on some of the trips lol so good luck and many happy camping trip to you and your family hope to meet you on the road one day take care

Parrothead · 11-18-2006, 05:40 PM

This rating thingy reminds of the book I read about RVing. This was just a couple of years ago after we had been doing it for about 12-13 years. This guy had no clue to what he was talking about. It had a lot of "some say", "some believe", etc. I could dispute almost everything he said. It also reminds of the car ratings. When we were looking for a SUV several years ago, I did some research on line for ratings. We eventually bought a GMC Envoy. I loved it. Didn't agree with anything the raters said about it. I would still have it if I didn't love the Monty so much and want to GO places. We traded it in when we bought Brutus (GMC 3500 dually).

Sunshine · 11-19-2006, 05:23 AM

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new Montana. Can only echo the comments of the other members that the Montanas pull like there is nothing back there. Like everything else, you need to use common sense and caution, towing or not, and you should do just fine.

Montana_6513 · 11-19-2006, 06:18 AM

Thanks all for your kind words. I threw the cd in the trash. Now we're dealing with insurance. In Nevada you have to have insurance to register your car and rv and the good sam insurance people won't even give you a quote, let alone write the insurance if the rig is not registered. So, on Monday we will be looking for an agent here to write insurance. The Escapees club had a couple of recommendations. If anyone know of a broker in Las Veags who writes insurance for full timers we'd love the info.

richfaa · 11-20-2006, 02:45 AM

http://www.rv.org/ This who these folks are and how they come up with their ratings. We borrowed a CD and studied it before purchasing a 5th wheel. We thought it had a lot of educational and valuable information, After you absorb the information you can do with it as you wish, at least you have the information. We have the 06 Montana 3400..no regrets.

Trailer Trash 2 · 11-20-2006, 03:06 AM

Welcome to the forum

tom41 · 11-20-2006, 03:46 AM

Welcome Nancy and John to MOC, MY Nancy and I also have a 2980 monty , and tow with a ford f-350, havent had it very long but so far it pulls really well, never heard of a cd rating, but could be from ppl thats never ever towed anything, (like some rv's built by ppl that has never camped) anyways just enjoy your new unit. We also fulltime in our 2980 an love the layout and the "open feeling". good luck

Montana Sky · 11-20-2006, 04:14 AM

Congrats on your new home!! You have come to the right place to get all the info you could ever imagine when it comes to your new Montana. As Glenn mentioned, I would not be too concerned with the ratings. My 3400RL tows great, I am sure your new 2980RL will too. Enjoy and congrats...

You may also like: