Bighorn...your thoughts/opinions

[binkyk]

Thank you all for the responses. I didn't take anything as being negative. I fully expected everyone to vote for the Montana. That's why you bought yours. I'm sure if I asked the BH forum they would tell me why theirs is the way to go. Since no one brought up any "Ah Ha's", I'm going to assume both are quality units that have occasional defects. The decal situation seems to be a sore point, along with leaky shower floors, but I would guess BH will have a couple issues upon further investigation. Thanks again and I'll keep lurking until I decide on one or the other.

[Crooktail]

We too looked at the Big Horn as well as various other brands prior to purchasing our Montana. After looking at various brands that all looked good on the dealers lots, I began shopping used models. While our intention was to buy a new model, we were looking specifically at how the units held up over time. In my opinion, the used Montana's appeared to show less wear and tare. That was the tipping point in our purchase. Some of the things that we found were nail heads popping out, molding displacement and mis-alligned cabinets. Do your homework and ultimately choose what you think is best for you.

[kab449]

As stated before, do not discount the value of the Montana Owners Club of which you are participating. There is a wealth of knowledge here and the members are eager to help. Many posts contain a subject line that starts with HELP.

[HOOK]

Looked at BH , dealer was not knowledgable or at least chose not to answer. Service area was tiny, looked more like a used car lot than a new RV dealer. Also thought fit and finish was not as good as Monty . Monty Resale value is far better. Eye appeal of Monty was far superior to us. Yet all of this is IMHO and your opinion will be all important. Don't discount the MOC. Larry

[steelpony5555]

I just bought my Montana and walked away from a good deal on a Bighorn. On the Bighorn you will end up replacing the floors on your slides because they will rot out. We looked at several and they were either rotted or starting to rot. If you go and look at the black plywood under the slides it is unprotected other then the paint. It also is where the water will run down the slide and on to the edge of the plywood, the worst possible place for water on plywood. Look at the Montanas slide undeneath and the bottom is coated in heavy duty plastic. On several Bighorns we found the plywood had started to separate on the ends. We walked off the lot and came next door to a Montana dealer and bought on there. Now granted they all have their problems. But I don't need one before it even gets off the lot......

[rames14]

We are on our second Montana. We love the Montanas, but, that isn't the only thing that keeps us in a Montana. The MOC and it's members are. Darmar mentioned this, but also the Montana rally's. We have made every Goshen rally since the first one in 2004 when we got our first Montana. We have stopped and had breakfast with MOC friends in different parts of the country, had supper with them in other areas. Once we even had a mini-rally after a rally. The sharing of ideas and solutions along with the lifetime friendships are what we were looking for in our new RV. We found it in the Montana family. It worked for us. You need to decide what is important to you. Best of luck whichever way you go. If you go Montana, come to the rally and really be part of the family.

[1retired06]

We decided to get something different after two montanas and looked around. But then remembering that neither of our other montanas had ever seen a dealer (I fixed anything that went wrong) to include five years of fulltiming, we got a third one, and our current one 2010 has never seen a dealer and like the other two basically trouble free.

[Champ_49]

Well I have been very quiet and careful as to what I post on this site because of the fact it is after all a Montana site. I do not mean to be argumentative towards any of these posts, it is not why I am now posting. After seeing where this is going and the administrators being ok with it I will put my info in here. And most of all I like this forum for its info and what I call friends that I have made.

I owned a 2007 Montana 3400RL and loved it except for one thing. We didn't care for the bathroom being split up in the bedroom. Plain and simple, when our adult kids came to stay for a night or two they would not use the stool room as it was in our bedroom and they felt as they were intruding. Yes I know, it doesn't bother us, but it did them. So they got up in the middle of the night and walked to the CG facilities. So at the end of 2010 we decided to look into another Montana plan that would fit our needs. We found what we liked and tried to make a deal on it. Tried very hard and even went to other dealers trying to make a deal. It was pretty solid that no one was going to budge off there price. So we started looking at other brands, hence the Bighorn. The deal that was offered was a lot better. Not going to put cost factors in here, lets just say substantial difference. We found the 2011 Bighorn 3670RL which is almost identical to the 3400RL Montana except the bathroom is all in same room. I will say there is nothing on these units that make one better than the other as far as build, quality etc. One thing I do like about the BH is that it is supported by a 12" frame where the Montana was 10" at the time. Also after the PDI with the BH and the 3 things that had to be dealt with we have been problem free for the last almost 2 yrs.

If I was to buy again, I would most certainly look at Montana again as I do like them as well. Its all about your own deal and wants!

Thanks again for letting me post about a SOB unit on your web site, I find it very welcomed.

Dave

Actaully I posted the end of 2010 when we started looking, it was actually April of 2010. Time goes by fast when your having fun!!

[sreigle]

Dave, that's a good point about the bathroom and was a stop and think about it point for us. Our prior Montana was a 3295RK with the sliding door between bath area and bathroom. Since we have the same model as you I want to suggest to you a solution that works for us.

When our granddaughters spend the night with us, we place a simple curtain expansion rod, the round kind that holds drapes, the one with the spring and you screw it out to fit. Sorry I can't recall what it's called. Anyhow, we put that up between bed and bath area and drape a sheet over it. That gives us privacy from the bathroom visitors and they don't feel they are invading our space. I'd rather have the doors like our 3295RK but this works for those occasional granddaughter visits. Not ideal but it might keep your kids from having to trek to the CG facilities.

[richfaa]

Having toured both plants we did not note anything different in Construction or Vendors. We have had problems with this 06 3400 but the service from Keystone and dealers hs been outstanding. Our dealer sells both the Montana and the Heartland and like last time we will look at both models side by side and make the best choice for us.

[sreigle]

binkyk, you mentioned leaky shower floors. I guess I missed that discussion. The only shower floor problem we've had was we did have water under the shower. However, I removed the inspection plate on the side, found the hose connections to the faucet were dripping. I reached in and tightened them and have had no more problems with shower leaks. That was more than 5 years ago.

There has been some discussion when folks find no caulking between the tub and the shower walls but there is not supposed to be caulking there. Condensation formed because of cooler outside air during a hot shower has to escape somewhere. It is intended for it to escape out the bottom of that shower wall into the tub. The tub is caulked to the wall behind it but the shower wall is not caulked along the lower edge. If you caulk that lower edge the moisture will attempt to escape through the path of least resistance, which is through the exterior wall, where it causes bubbles on the wall. All this was explained to me after we got those bubbles on our 2001 Montana after having our dealer caulk between the tub and shower wall. After that, on three Montanas, we left those places uncaulked and have had no more problems.

Again, maybe there have been some other leaks I've missed reading about.

[binkyk]

Regarding the shower leak problem, I might have that confused with another brand. I thought there were some comments about leaks at the drain area, but with all the reading I've done in the last few months, my cranial filing system could have misplaced a file. Not unheard of.

[sreigle]

Thanks. I thought maybe I'd missed something or maybe CRS has a tighter hold than on me than I thought.

[binkyk]

Don't worry, that CRS sneaks up on us all.

[Recumbent]

After reading one of the above posts I do remember we also liked the Montana Mountaineer as we could get a full separate bath floorplan, as we did, and in addition to less weight and less cost while getting most of the features of the more costly regular Monty.

[CORattler]

That's good info Steve. I wouldn't have considered that the no caulk in that area was intentional and functional.

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

binkyk, you mentioned leaky shower floors. I guess I missed that discussion. The only shower floor problem we've had was we did have water under the shower. However, I removed the inspection plate on the side, found the hose connections to the faucet were dripping. I reached in and tightened them and have had no more problems with shower leaks. That was more than 5 years ago.

There has been some discussion when folks find no caulking between the tub and the shower walls but there is not supposed to be caulking there. Condensation formed because of cooler outside air during a hot shower has to escape somewhere. It is intended for it to escape out the bottom of that shower wall into the tub. The tub is caulked to the wall behind it but the shower wall is not caulked along the lower edge. If you caulk that lower edge the moisture will attempt to escape through the path of least resistance, which is through the exterior wall, where it causes bubbles on the wall. All this was explained to me after we got those bubbles on our 2001 Montana after having our dealer caulk between the tub and shower wall. After that, on three Montanas, we left those places uncaulked and have had no more problems.

Again, maybe there have been some other leaks I've missed reading about.

[exav8tr]

On my '06 Montana, my shower was leaking water underneath. I talked to several MOC members about the bottom not being caulked as sreigle mentioned. However on the right rear corner of ours the pan was cut at a 45 degree angle allowing water from the sprayer to exit the shower at this point. I ended up using silicone caulk only on that cover and no more problems. I don't know if the lack of caulk all around the bottom is a reality or just a myth. Every home I have owned has always been sealed completely around the shower and I have never had a moisture problem. This is just my opinion, but I would at least check the corner.....

[snfexpress]

Phil is absolutely on track when he states that the right rear corner is removed for ease of installation. I have mentioned this many times when we have had the opportunity to take the factory tour.

When I asked Aram about caulking all the way around the tub at the Tampa RV show in 2009 his response was that it would not cause problems with moisture. Yet, we all have anecdotal information that the walls need to breathe. So, who is right? I went with Aram's answer and have no problems...as yet...

[sreigle]

Michael, you may well be correct. I was told what I reported by Keystone and by Larry Fox of Fox RV in Middlebury, IN. So who knows. I do know we had bubbles from delamination and his explanation sure made sense. I hope it turns out either way is fine.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

When our granddaughters spend the night with us, we place a simple curtain expansion rod, the round kind that holds drapes, the one with the spring and you screw it out to fit. Sorry I can't recall what it's called. Anyhow, we put that up between bed and bath area and drape a sheet over it. That gives us privacy from the bathroom visitors and they don't feel they are invading our space. I'd rather have the doors like our 3295RK but this works for those occasional granddaughter visits. Not ideal but it might keep your kids from having to trek to the CG facilities.

I have been informed by another member of my family, the one of the two of us who really knows, that we do NOT "drape a sheet" over the curtain rod. We use a real curtain with curtain hooks. When the girls are not visiting, the curtain, hooks, and rod get stored elsewhere in the rig. Sorry for the confusion.