Future Big Sky owner

[stimpy123]

I've joined this owners group to see what other owners have said about any Montana product and help me decide which is best for us. We are fulltimers for 2 years in a 37' 5er. We bought the rig used and have enjoyed our travels. We are in the market for a new 5er and have fallen for the 340RLQ Big Sky 10th anniversary model, due to the appointments and quality we saw when looking at them at the Phoenix RV show last week. Thanks for any help you might provide to assist in our purchase.

[stiles watson]

Don't have the tenth anniversary edition, but if it is an improvement over the earlier 2008 model, it should be a winner. Ours is very comfortable for fulltiming. Dianna enjoys the kitchen layout with the double wide refrigerator and the larger microwave/convection combo. This is our second Big Sky. The 2003 3670 was roomy and open. The kitchen island takes a bit of that away, but the pluses outweigh the minuses. The living/entertainment area is comfortably functional. We opted for the stacked washer and dryer and the second A/C. As with all units there are little things we would prefer to be different, but the unit is a keeper.

[stimpy123]

Thanks for the info. I'm curious about the tow weight. I see, from the photo enclosed in your post, that you are using a dually. Is this really necessary? I have a 2500HD w/duramax and allison, long bed. I really don't want to go the 3500 route as I've modified my 2005 2500HD enough that I will have to hang on to it for another year or so to pay for the mods.

[stiles watson]

I moved up to a dually before I bought this rig. I had been pulling the 2003 Big sky with a 3/4-ton F250 that had been beefed up a little and it was adequate. I pulled it from Texas to Nova Scotia, back to North Carolina. The issue is not power, rather braking capacity. I am very careful about getting myself in a bind, but there were some scary moments. The old truck also did not have 4X4 which had been needed a couple of times under wet, slick conditions. I think you could pull with your 3/4-ton until you decided to do something different. Many MOC members are pulling with a 3/4-ton.

[stimpy123]

Thanks for your reply,
My unit is 2wd and only a couple of times have I had to use the 4X4, so have been fairly happy with the 2wd.
Regards and happy traveling

[bsmeaton]

That 340RLQ is a nice looking unit! And I haven't even seen the 10th Anniversary.

[stimpy123]

Here is a link to the Keystone BigSky website and a photo of the new paint scheme and all the options. I've only seen the one without the paint scheme. Pretty snazzy if you asked me. I didn't want to have a snazzy rig that wouldn't hold up to travel and use. This is why I wanted info from actual users.

[stimpy123]

OOPs.
http://keystone-bigsky.com/anniv_bigsky.html

[exav8tr]

Steve, Although not a Big Sky Owner, we have the standard 3400RL and absolutely love it. We can see ourselves in this unit for many years to come........

[stimpy123]

Phil and Cathy,
Thanks for your warm comments and replies. I went to your link of the photos of all the upgrades you've made and wondered if you sent those to the Keystone engineering department. You are a master of modifications, thanks for sharing the photos and info about them.
Happy traveling

[kwolff7]

Steve, We purchased our 2008 Big Sky 340RLQ in June of 2007 and are very happy with it. We have not seen the 10th Anniversary Model but sounds like the upgrades would be nice to have. Did they have one at the RV show and if so what dealer had it. Last year they did not even have a Big Sky at the show. Are you in the Phoenix area this winter. We live up at Anthem.

[stimpy123]

Kathy,
We are in East Mesa on Crismon until next wednesday. We have been here a month, and will be moving on to Henderson Nevada for a family gathering for the Easter holiday.
There are many Montanas on the road and we started looking at many different manufacturers to see which we would like to trade into. We saw the Big Horn (Heartland) at World Wide RV in Mesa, and then went to the RV Traders and saw the Montanas they had. Then we attended the RV show and saw many models of the Montana and think that the Big Sky is probably the model (340RLQ) will be the one that we will be moving into.
The RV Traders company had a variety of Montanas including a 10th Anniversary version. The didn't have one with the snazzy paint job, but many of the other options. They have two lots, one in Mesa on Main st. and the other in Apache Jct, on Apache Trail. We are still planning on a trade of our 2003 5er, but have to wait until after the taxes have been figured to make the numbers work for us.
Regards,

[Joe-n-Doe]

Steve,

Welcome to the gaggle. It is a great source of information.