QUESTION FOR 3400RL OWNERS - Montana Owners Club

jackel1959 · 01-07-2009, 05:13 PM

I have a question for all of the 3400RL owners out there. We are looking at the NEW 3455SA model but have not been able to see one in real life yet. We have seen the floor plan, several photos and really like the layout. It appears to be the same as the 3400RL from the door aft with the exception of the TV and desk area. In the 3455, we have a concern about being able to watch TV comfortably from the recliners in the rear because the TV doesn't swivel. So here is my question: In the 3400RL, could you move the recliners where the sofa is, still have enough room in between them for a table and use the dining table chairs without any problem? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Jack

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-07-2009, 06:55 PM

We have a late 2006 300RL. We have moved the sofa bed to the rear and the two recliners and small table to the slideout. The two recliners and the small table really don't take up any more room than the sofa bed. However, we rotated the dining table counter clockwise 90 degrees against the wall, still able to seat 4 but the extra length of it cause the slide out to get a little crowded. So we removed one recliner all together. My wife uses the recliner and I'm usually at the computer desk in the entertainment center. Works good for us . YMMV. I don't watch much TV. We also took out the old analog TV and replaced it with a 32" LCD HDTV. One of the reasons we selected the 3400 RL is that the TV was at an angle for good viewing at a wider angle for the Sofa Bed and the recliners simultaneously and that the TV wasn't on the other side of the kitchen.

ehmcfarl · 01-08-2009, 03:01 AM

I don't mean to hijack the forum here; but if I could ask a question; we have a 3400RL and have thought about swapping the locations of the recliners with the sofa bed also.

Dean, do you still tie the recliners down during traveling? If so, how do you do it?

Thanks

Parrothead · 01-08-2009, 04:15 AM

We have a 3400 and have made the switch. We do not tie down the recliners. We take the cushions from the sofa and put them between the recliners. We have traveled thousands of miles like this and have never had a problem.
Happy trails....................

exav8tr · 01-08-2009, 08:43 AM

We moved the couch to the rear and placed the recliners where the couch was. Plenty of room. After the first recliner broke we had more room, then the second recliner starting making funny noises and just didn't feel right. Out it went and in came the Lazy Boy, much lighter and way more comfortable, Plus it's a wall hugger so doesn't take up as much room as the OEM. (It doesn't rock, but I am not that old anyway, lol) As there is just the two of us we only have the one recliner and we put the small table next to it. BTW, did I say WE LOVE OUR MONTANA and the 3400 is the best floorplan for us.

I use the recliner and the DW has the entire couch, she sits on the curb side of the coach and we both have an excellent view of the TV. If you were to use the recliner on the driver side, I think you would have a very slanted view of the TV..

kegger5769 · 01-08-2009, 09:05 AM

We have a '06 3400RL and also switched the couch and recliner chairs and like the layout much better, we have replaced the recliners with 2 IKEA wood rocking type chairs and foot rests which we like a lot more then the old recliners. The couch is a very tight fit to be able to get the slides in but we are full timing it in one spot for a while so it's not an issue. We have a old CRT (tube) TV and can see it fine from any spot.

stiles watson · 01-08-2009, 09:42 AM

Sure you can move the recliners into the space for the sleeper couch. I am surprised that you say you can't swivel the TV. We pull ours out and swivel it all the time. It is limited, but it will swivel, that is unless the 3400 is substantially different than the 340 RLQ Big Sky which is the same basic floor plan.

indy roadrunner · 01-08-2009, 10:59 AM

Stiles, ours is an 06 3400rl and our main tv does not swivel. It is mounted above the fireplace next to the desk. We moved our sofa to the back an put one recliner in the main slide. We removed one recliner as with just the two of us it was not needed. Usually one of us is stretched out on the sofa.

TAKPAK · 01-08-2009, 12:39 PM

After reading a thread about this very item a while back, we did the same in our '07 3400. Moved the sofa to the rear, and the recliners to the side. Works great for us as well. As mentioned, the TV is at an angle over the fireplace. We can see it from the sofa or the recliners just fine. The wife usually lays down on the sofa with a blanket over her and I sit in one of the recliners. We DO tie ours down, but not to the floor, we swivel them back to back and run the strap around the backs to lash them together. They've never moved yet. I will say that we plan to replace the recliners someday with the LaZboy wall huggers. I like to lay back and the chair hits the wall if I don't pull it out a ways. The sofa works good at the back, EXCEPT that to use it we have to pull it out a bit, and then when the slideout comes in we have to be sure it is pushed most all of the way back. It is a tight clearance, but it DOES clear just fine, IF you remember to push it back beforehand. The other item we found was the sofa (on ours) covers up the furnace vent. Solution, one of those curved plastic diffusers that you use at the stick house. Just clears the bottom of the sofa, and works real well. I thought about cutting a new hole for the vent and plugging the other one, but just didn't want to do that. The deflector works fine.

stiles watson · 01-08-2009, 12:40 PM

Well, maybe there is a difference. Our TV is above the fireplace also, but it sits on a tray the full width of the recess. The tray can be pulled forward (knob in the middle) and then swiveled both to the right and to the left to some degree.

TAKPAK · 01-08-2009, 12:49 PM

Stiles, I know what you are talking about on the TV swivel. Did your Monty come that way? These sliders are made for cabinets, and are used only with the "lightweight" LCD/Plasma TV's. I have seen them in offices, stores, etc, but hadn't seen one in a trailer yet. Our '07 was in the RV show, so they upgraded the CRT with a new LCD TV. Our gain.....the new LCD is anchored down in the cabinet with a very simple bracket that could easily be changed out. With the CRT gone, there is a lot of "wasted" space back there. Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do with it.

Driftwoodgal · 01-08-2009, 02:27 PM

We moved our couch to the bay window too. It is so much easier handling the monster recliners in the super slide. The table rides on the bed and the recliners are back to back when we travel. We do not tie them down, and I use all the area between the chairs to store the ice machine, fan and other things that we are traveling with. Since we are working storm losses right now the printers went down there with the ice machine.

We met some people in Kerville that had Lazy Boy wall huggers. We are off in search of a Lazy Boy store as soon as we have the time. I won't be sad to see the blue monsters get tossed. My back groans every time I have to move them.

Colleen

PS. Stiles, our 06 doesn't have the slide on the TV. Not sure a slide would hold the monster TV. Wish we had a flat screen.....

bsmeaton · 01-08-2009, 03:38 PM

The swivel did not get incorporated into the 3400 TV until they went to the 32" flat (copy of the Big Sky). Our 3400 has the first flat TV that is 27" and it does not swivel.

Cant help on the swap, we never tried it.

jackel1959 · 01-08-2009, 04:06 PM

Once again, MOC comes through. Thanks for all of your inputs...you have certainly answered my question and I am sure we will be able to swap the recliners and the sofa in the 3455SA. This unit has a lift TV that will not swivel, but moving the recliners will allow a head on view and still provide comfortable viewing from the prone position on the sofa. I will have to wait and see how we deal with the heater vent with the new air-bed sofa.

stiles watson · 01-09-2009, 03:21 PM

Ok, here's how the 340 RLQ is arranged. The TV is above the fire place. It is a Flat screen and about 5-1/2" thick. It sets on a sliding, swivel bracket that can be pulled forward to swivel.

From the side of the entertainment center toward the desk, there is a 6" wide by 2' high slide out drawer with shelving designed to hold DVDs and CDs. The drawer pulls out over the desk top, clearing it by about 3". The decorative overlap makes the drawer to seem 8" wide. It runs back behind the TV set about 2-1/2' deep and the shelves open out toward the room.

ehmcfarl · 01-10-2009, 02:56 AM

My 2008 3400RL has the same layout as Stiles described in his 2008 340RLQ. They must have made the change in 2008 to the 3400RL.

bsmeaton · 01-10-2009, 04:44 AM

Here is our 2007 (manufactured 01/11/07). To our surprise, Montana incorporated the first LCD TV into the existing 2006 cabinet, which only allowed for a 27" TV but had the original wider desk. Note ours has the Visio TV, and no brackets between the fireplace and TV to release it for swiveling. Our TV is mounted to a solid bracket in the back.

At almost the same time, Keystone introduced the Big Sky 340RLQ which boasted a larger 32" LCD TV with swivel bracket, which meant a bigger cabinet but narrower desk. In 2008 when the 27" Visio was no longer made, Kestone incorporated the Big Sky 340RLQ design into the Montana 3400RL giving the Montana the larger TV as well, but with the smaller desk. Ours ends up a little unique and a problem if that TV ever goes out.

I can watch our TV from the dining table, couch, or either chair. I never missed the swivel, but it would be nice to have.

CasaDelSol · 01-10-2009, 04:51 PM

Just a note on the recliners. We replaced ours with the Euro style swivel recliners that come with stools. They are so much lighter than the recliners. I miss the rocking but they are so much easier to move.

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-12-2009, 02:55 PM

For those who are looking for what to do with the space behind the Flat LCD HD TV that replaced the old analog anchor. Think about a real "Sub Woofer".

av2pilot · 01-12-2009, 03:02 PM

Moving the recliners is no problem as previously written; however, we moved them back because there just wasn't enough room for the 2 dining room chairs next to the recliner. Maybe some replacement recliners in the future that have a smaller footprint.....

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