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Old 05-26-2005, 12:27 PM   #1
oldudbob
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Which Is Keystone's Best 5th Wheel?

Keystone has a number of different brands of 5th wheels. Which brand is their top 5th wheel line and best suited for extended living? Is there a major difference in the quality between brands?
 
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Old 05-26-2005, 12:39 PM   #2
CountryGuy
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Everyone has an opinion, but I believe the common accepted theory is that the Cambridge is the top of the line,and is considered a all weather unit?? or something like that. Do a search here at MOC and you will find a number of posts and some photos too. It is not in the price range of a Montana!

Others will offer their opinions on the quality, and you really need that from someone who has seen a Cambridge, we have not.
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Old 05-26-2005, 01:06 PM   #3
stiles watson
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Priorities dictate my answer. There are some units much pricier than others. My desire was to get as much coach and quality for the dollor spent. The Cambridge is the newest and ostensively the "best because of all the extras made standard, increasing the price to another level. However, it is still my considered opinion that the best, in relationship to cost, quality and durability, is the Montana.
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Old 05-26-2005, 02:10 PM   #4
sreigle
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Carol, we took the Cambridge factory tour today. Definitely a quality-built (but pricey) product!

I agree with Carol that the Cambridge is the top of the Keystone line. If you look at www.keystonerv.com you can see all Keystone brands and judge for yourself.

Second, in my opinion, is the Montana and maybe the Everest at the same overall level. The Everest will have a bit more eye candy, nicer appointments, etc., but the Montana has the better build quality. For example, you will not find an attic vent builtin to the Everest but you do on the Montana. This is not your usual inside vent but a vent to vent out any moisture in the roof area and prevent the resulting damage from dampness. I asked a Keystone rep (we're at the Keystone factory) on Tuesday and was told the same thing I was told a year or so ago. Both the Montana and the Everest have nearly identical overall budgets. How that money is spent is as noted above.

Below this level I'm not sure of which order they would fall.

The above is all just my opinion based on my understanding.
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Old 05-26-2005, 03:47 PM   #5
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Hello again, everyone. Back in March when Gail and I realized that trading the Outback was becoming more and more of a possibility, we were looking at Everest, Montana, Moutaineer and of course, the Challenger. The Everest was represented by one local dealer that was obvious he didn't want a nicer than new (because of all the upgrades)Outback. I had installed an Isolator airbag pinbox. Another local dealer was showing us the Montanas. We had two or three floor plans picked out. Such as the 2980RL,3650RK and 3400RL because Gail wanted lots of counter top for cooking. We then went to our original dealer who was Tiara RV on Cassoplis Street on the Northside of Elkhart and began looking at the Challengers. We bought the 35RLQ because it did one thing to Gail the minute she stepped in the door. The four slides, floor plan with island kitchen, counter top space and open floor plan almost knocked her to her knees. She immediately said that this was the one. Since we were having difficulty getting the salesman from the Montana dealer to return our calls and since Tiara only charged us 1200 bucks to use the Outback for a year, The deal for the Challenger was done 20 minutes later when we left Tiara RV.

I guess the point I'm making is that even though this time we still did not buy a Montana, we found many comparisons in quality in all three brands we looked at to be much the same. We ended up with what hit us between the eyes. It is still too early to tell whether or not we'll regret buying what we did. We have not even given it a shake-down yet.

So, for now the signature will stay the same because there still is a Montana In My Future.
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Old 05-30-2005, 12:06 PM   #6
Northstar
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Good luck on your purchase and keep in touch.
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Old 05-30-2005, 03:25 PM   #7
trukdoc
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As already stated the best is what suits you. We went for value for the dollar and functionality. For us it was the Mountaineer 328RLS. As for kitchen counter space I really do not understand the concept of going out camping to cook big or elaborate meals. When in my RV I like to use the basic rule of engineering, K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid...lol.
Good luck on your search.
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Old 05-31-2005, 04:21 PM   #8
sreigle
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Rick, I think you just very aptly described the difference in our attitude and how we used our "camper" when we were vacationing/weekending as compared to our fulltiming. When weekending/vacationing we lived outside and slept inside. The grill was in frequent use. But when fulltiming we are sometimes outside but sometimes inside and our Montana is used like we used our stick home. I've often mentioned this to Vicki how our needs and desires have changed when we went from weekends to fulltiming. So your point is well taken, unless fulltiming! (just another of my opinions).
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Old 06-08-2005, 04:19 PM   #9
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Got to see a Cambridge this past weekend. First impression is WOW. But then I started looking at the things I find important in a RV. And besides the WOW and the impressive graphics. I do not see the hype. The interior storage did not seem adequate. My wife loved the kitchen for the counter space and the full upright fridge. However completely useless on the go. The trailer is virtually unuseable without sliding out. I guess if I was fulltiming that would not be an issue, however I get short vacations when I can manage to get away, I must cover a lot of ground as fast as I can. To me it was too.... not able to describe how I feel. But my Mountaineer I felt very comfortable in it the first time I entered it as well as some of the Montana's I have been in. The Cambridge as plush and luxurious as it was....I did not get the comfortable feeling in it. Sorry Folks I dont like it.
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Old 06-08-2005, 04:56 PM   #10
Virgil
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I know what you mean Rick. For us still working, the needs are definitely different than the full timers. It is great to get away for two weeks at a time, but usually it is limited to 1 week or a few days. A great feature is to have access to the kitchen and bathroom on the road for a quick pull-over lunch without extending slides. I can relate to the feeling you describe. It is like being home after a hard day of goofing off. I had that feeling in ours too when we first looked at it at the RV show.
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Old 06-09-2005, 02:43 PM   #11
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Nice to know I am not alone in this.
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Old 06-09-2005, 05:43 PM   #12
sreigle
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I'm scratching my head a little bit, trying to figure out why you consider it useless. That's not to say it isn't, just that I don't understand why. We recently took the Cambridge factory tour and were told there are two models. One is the same floorplan as the Montana 3400RL and the other is the same as the Montana 3500RL. That's what we were told by the Cambridge guy who, as it turns out, used to do Montana factory tours. So, if the Cambridge models are useless on the road, so would be the Montana 3400 and 3500. And those just happen to be Montana's top sellers. So, am I missing the point?

This post sounds kind of like a challenge and I apologize for that. I mean it to try to understand the perceived problem. Thanks.
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Old 06-11-2005, 05:09 AM   #13
trukdoc
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I admit all slide RV's are limited with slides in. Some are more functional than others.
The 328RLS that we have, The kitchen is fully functional. Sink, fridge, stove, microwave and all cabinets in that area.
My bathroom is fully functional, shower, toilet and sink as well as their storage areas.
My living room is off limits with slides in and the bedroom is very limited to simply sleeping on the bed.
While on a trip I can stop anywhere ie: rest area, fire up the generator and we can make a lunch freshen up with a shower and take a nap without having to slide out. I realize slideing out is as simple as pushing a button, it simply is a case in some rest areas there is not enough room.
The Cambridge, as well as some Montana's the kitchen is virtually unacessable. In the Cambridge the freezer door will not open I guess is not an issue due to you cannot get to the stove or microwave with slides in. You can get into the fridge. Looks like the bathroom is pretty accessable as well as the bed. The living room is unacessable.
As I said on my last post if you are fultimers, these are probably not issues due to being retired making distance on the road is not an issue. The luxury of being in a RV park early every night would make my opinion null and void.
And I did not feel comfortable in it. It may have been the color scheme they showed it in. Do not get me wrong I said WOW as I walked in the door. The couch and recliners were plenty plush. It was so nice it was sterile...best word to put to my feeling of it. My income is above 6 figures, I could have one if I wanted it so price is not the issue. There were some things I did like about it, just not enough to want one.
And besides all that. Storage is at a premium in any RV. And the Cambridge opted to fewer but larger interior storage cabinets. Which means having to pile things in the cabinet. I prefer more smaller cabinets for the purpose of making items more accessable. And more smaller cabinets makes it easier to organize, 1 compartment for one particular item. For instance we have one cabinet over the dining table that is nothing but paper plates, napkins,cups and utensiles. DVD's in another and so on and so on.
Simply put if you like it and it suits your traveling style, the Cambridge certainly a nice unit. But for me...I do not like it.
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Old 06-11-2005, 07:33 AM   #14
sreigle
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Thanks, Rick. I appreciate your explaining your thoughts, which is exactly what I asked for. A couple of thoughts, if I may.. Even though we are fulltimers we are on the road many days per year. We do stop earlier than we did when vacationing but we still have to stop for lunch, which most of the time we fix in the Montana. We also have to do potty stops, just maybe not as many since we're not on the road as long each day. However, as we get older those stops are more frequent anyhow!

When we are on interstates we stop at rest areas. We have to park with the truckers and find those parking stalls are plenty wide for our slides. When on US highways, we find a big parking lot that is not too busy. However, we very rarely need to open the slides while traveling since we can get to the bathroom and the refrigerator with slides retracted, on ours. We can only get to one kitchen cabinet and drawer so Vicki just puts the things we'll need in that one before we hit the road. If we could not get to the fridge, then we'd have to open that slide enough to get it open. That would be a bit of a pain but, to tell the truth, we spend far more time with slides open than with slides in, even back when we were vacationing and weekending. So, I personally would not be overly concerned with that problem since it's such a small part of our Montana experience. But, I know to some folks this is very important and I respect their rights to have that opinion. That situation then becomes a bigger priority in the buy decision for those folks than it is for us.

It's true we like to do shorter travel days now that we are fulltiming. Unfortunately, there are times when making tracks is a necessity. The longest towing day I've done was a bit over 800 miles. We've done over 500 per day several times. But I still prefer 200-250 when we can.

Thanks for your explanation.
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Old 06-11-2005, 12:09 PM   #15
trukdoc
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That is what is soooo cool about the MOC!!! Ask a simple question and a whole debate comes out of it...lol
I still dont like it...lmao
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Old 06-11-2005, 04:08 PM   #16
sreigle
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Sorry, Rick, I didn't mean to turn it into a debate. I do appreciate hearing your thoughts. That adds lots of insights. If we all liked the same thing there would be only one model, right? How boring that would be!
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