Grand Junction 5th Wheel - Montana Owners Club

PennyC · 08-04-2006, 06:48 PM

Anyone have or know of anyone that has a Grand Junction 5th Wheel? Recently came across one and it seems to be comparable to a Monty. Can I have you opinion? Thank you,

PennyC

melnjoy · 08-05-2006, 03:48 AM

Our brother in law is thinking of purchasing a Grand Junction so we went out to look at them. When we talked with the salesman at the lot he told us their goal was to meet up to and exceed the features of the Montana's. They really are beautiful rigs. The only drawback that we could see was the weight. There is no way we could tow one of them with our existing truck, let alone carry our stuff. So... It is very well built, very pretty, with a reasonable price, but way too heavy. You'd have to look at the stats of the rig to get the weights of them as I don't remember what it was, only that we couldn't tow it.

Joy

Mel & Joy (1935)
Marysville, WA.
2002 GMC-Duramax/Allison
2004 3575RL

Our home sweet home is where you find us.

sreigle · 08-05-2006, 03:49 AM

Penny, the only thing I know about Grand Junction is it is built by Dutchmen. That in itself is enough to make me stay clear of it. Dutchmen repeatedly has the worst quality/dissatisfaction record per its owners of any brand, although I have not seen numbers in more than a year and not at all on Grand Junction. I do not like to knock other brands but do want to give you my thoughts on this. If you are serious about this brand, please look it over very carefully. Good luck. If you go with this brand I hope you get a good one.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

richfaa · 08-05-2006, 05:06 AM

The Grand Junction is built in Goshen by the same craftsmen that build the Montana.Grand Junctions parent company is Thor Industries, same as Keystone. Thor bought Dutchman in 1991. Dutchman did have bad quality and workmanshiop issues prior to that time. The Grand junction is heaver than the Montana..Ex the 34trg, about the same as the Montana 3400 is a bit heaver and in my opinion is out of the range of a 3/4 ton TV. They are however IMO a very nice unit comparable to the Montana in many ways..The additional weight kept us away..for one thing... In fact if you read the spec's they sound a lot like the Montana////

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

dsprik · 08-05-2006, 06:50 AM

We looked at a Grand Junction. I took Cheryl to see it after I saw one at a local dealership last spring. My major draw was the totally seperate bathroom. When Cheryl walked in the door, SHE immediately was drawn to the lack of living space DUE to this bathroom. It was their 34 model, I believe - comparable to the 3400. This was a deal killer for her.

Dave and Cheryl Sprik
Bellaire, MI

2002 GMC 2500HD 4x4 Ext Cab, LB, SLE (w/ full power/elect options)
Reese 16K Hitch, Draw Tite Brake Controller (Activator II)
Full undercoating, Rhino Spray-In Liner
2007 3400RL
Venetian Gold Interior
2nd A/C, Fireplace, Dual Pane Windows, Central Vac
WE'RE HOME!

Don't EVER give up on your Dream.

richfaa · 08-05-2006, 06:58 AM

I'm not sure we are in disagreement.I personally would not buy the Dutchman brand. That brand has had long standing issues. We have older and newer Dutchman in our local camping group and we see little improvement. I was refering to the Grand Junction brand. The spec's are very similar to the Montana line. Docking station, Mor-Ryde suspension, general construction. There are also some features that look like the Everest (bathroom) I had a good look at one at a show last week and it felt and looked very Montana like. But..I still prefer the Montana line..cost vs benifits.

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-05-2006, 06:59 AM

Although I have never looked at a Dutchman nor the Grand Junction I have heard pretty much the same thing that Steve is talking about from Dutchman owners themselves.

Rich just because Thor happens to own both Dutchman and Keystone it has absolutely no bearing on the quality of the rigs or the quality of service as we are talking about 2 distinctly different divisions of Thor.

Quote:

quote:"In fact if you read the spec's they sound a lot like the Montana".

Well of course they would as everyone wants to copy #1.

Parrothead · 08-05-2006, 07:56 AM

Don't be confused by parent companies. Thor also makes the Tahoe brand of fifth wheels which was not a good one for us. Of course it also did not cost as much but quality was very lacking.
Happy trails............................

Sue and Ed Rowe
Hemet California

2005 3400RL

2006 GMC 3500 Dually, D/A, Crew Cab, Long Bed

Mac · 08-05-2006, 08:02 AM

Don't know about the Grand Junction, but we owned a Dutchmen and had a lot of problems.

mac

1999 Silverado LS Extended Cab, Prodigy Brake Controller
2006 2955RL

richfaa · 08-05-2006, 10:57 AM

A great example of how long a bad reputation can stay with brand.I did not know the grand junction came under the Dutchman flag and thought it was a nicely built camper, still do..but it has the Dutchman stigma attached to it. That should be a lesson learned for other Rv brands.

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

sreigle · 08-05-2006, 11:37 AM

Thor bought Keystone in mid-2002. First thing we did was remove the Thor sticker on our new Montana. Didn't want that name anywhere to be seen. Thor does not have a great reputation. I don't know how they have affected other Keystone products but they seem to have not hurt Montana.

In a discussion a couple of years ago following a factory tour I was told Montana gets a lot of applicants from the Dutchmen plant because Dutchmen pays the lowest wages of any RV plant in Goshen and Montana pays far better. If that's true, then I can see why the Dutchmen quality level is not very good. They lose their better workers to other companies. I have no idea if this holds true for the Grand Junction. Maybe they build them better than the standard Dutchmen. But I also would not buy anything built by Dutchmen. Too many issues in the past for me.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

dsprik · 08-05-2006, 05:41 PM

They must be trying to overcome this reputaion with the G.J. The unit we saw had both the Mor/Ryde suspension AND the Mor/Ryde pin box as standard. I did not notice any quality issues while scanning the inside. Of course, bouncing it down the road is the real test.

Dave and Cheryl Sprik
Bellaire, MI

2002 GMC 2500HD 4x4 Ext Cab, LB, SLE (w/ full power/elect options)
Reese 16K Hitch, Draw Tite Brake Controller (Activator II)
Full undercoating, Rhino Spray-In Liner
2007 3400RL
Venetian Gold Interior
2nd A/C, Fireplace, Dual Pane Windows, Central Vac
WE'RE HOME!

Don't EVER give up on your Dream.

jpkelpe · 08-05-2006, 06:09 PM

Our first 5er was a Four Winds, which was actually a Dutchman...Don't even ask my husband about that one--that is why we don't have it anymore.

Paul and Jan Kelpe
Omaha, NE
2005 Mountaineer 298RLS
2005 Chevy Silverado HD 2500 4x4 ext cab with Duramax/Allison

smc · 08-06-2006, 02:49 AM

On the same vien, has anyone seen or heard of Sunnybrook rv. My son is looking at one.

SMC
Montana 2980RL
Dodge 1 ton Dually 4x4
Fulltiming

http://spaces.msn.com/members/ttsmc

CountryGuy · 08-06-2006, 02:55 AM

SMC, Sunnybrook has been around for a number of years, friends of ours had a TT a few years back, they liked it, I don't remember a ton of problems with it, but that is not a current report, and as we all know, things change daily in the RV industry.

richfaa · 08-06-2006, 03:47 AM

Sunny brook is built in Middlebury , Ind using the same skilled craftsmen and vendors as all the rest of them. They are a well built camper of (IMO) higher than normal quality. They are noted for standing behind the product.We did look at them closely but the deal breaker was that there was not a dealer withing range that we would deal with..

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

sreigle · 08-06-2006, 04:41 AM

In my opinion the Sunnybrook is a good rig, a direct competitor to the Montana. It was on our short list, also.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-06-2006, 06:47 AM

An MOC member and friend of ours has a Sunnybrook. They had a Monty but traded to the SB and they are very pleased with it. I won't mention his name but he just might pop in with some insider info.

PennyC · 08-06-2006, 05:43 PM

Thank you everyone for your opinion on the Grand Junction. When the DH brought the brochure home, my first words were,
"It's a Dutchmen", are you crazy. But after looking at the floor plans and going through the brochure, I started to think that perhaps this might be a possibility. Thanks again.

PennyC

smc · 08-07-2006, 01:49 AM

Thank you. I have been pointing him towards Montana, but he really likes the Sunnybrook. He is going to live in it and the Sunnybrook is saying they have a R23 value inboth the floor and ceiling. Since he will be in Alberta for the winter might be a good plan!

SMC
Montana 2980RL
Dodge 1 ton Dually 4x4
Fulltiming

http://spaces.msn.com/members/ttsmc

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