Mission Montana/Mountaineer - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2127 · 10-01-2004, 01:40 PM

Hello to all!!
We've enjoyed camping for approx. 25 years and have met great & interesting people on the way.
We settled at a trailer park from 1991 to 1998 and had some great times but wanted to adventure across the country. We ended up taking the next 5 years to fix up our home but longed for the experiences and people again. We thought we would go back in time and venture back to our pop-up days, that's when we bought our 2003 Coleman Sun Valley. We felt like we were home again. What a feeling!!!
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We have enjoyed 2 years with our Coleman, but we made the mistake of checking out the 5ers in our travels and now we have the bug. The Montana/Mountaineer seems to be our favourites in our search for the "Big One". We're so glad to have found the friendly people on this site and find it to be very informative. We're planning a long trip across Canada & the U.S. and are looking for advise on the do's and don'ts about what we will need for our home-away-from-home. Can anyone help with this? We would really like to stay within the 30' range and also like the ample storage. Are these trailers really easy to tow as everyone says? The salesman says so....yikes!

Thanks to all for the reply's on our queries.

I remain, jealous & dreaming....
Northernlights..

Chuck and Carol · 10-01-2004, 03:30 PM

This is our first experience with a 5th wheel after having several motor homes. Chuck says it tows like a dream.
I always need more storage no matter what we have. Have fun looking.

Carol

Northstar · 10-01-2004, 09:56 PM

Welcome back to the road. Montana starts out at 30'. I know you would be happy with a Montana. Keep us posted. Happyrving....

Bill and Ann · 10-02-2004, 02:10 AM

One tip of advice. Buy your 5th wheel first and then buy the vehicle to tow it. Happy Hunting. I know Ann and I looked at a lot of 5ths before we decided the Montana was the best deal around.

Montana_2127 · 10-02-2004, 03:14 AM

[quote]Originally posted by Bill and Ann

One tip of advice. Buy your 5th wheel first and then buy the vehicle to tow it. Happy Hunting. I know Ann and I looked at a lot of 5ths before we decided the Montana was the best deal around.

Thanks for the tip Bill & Ann. Ironically we are travelling to Sandbanks for a big family Thanksgiving camping dinner.We did this last year at Awenda and had a great family gathering. This may be our final crankup weekend! Well we are off to the RV Sales centre..Montanas or Mountaineers
Happy RVing hope to meet you some time in our travels.
Darrell & Cheryl
Toronto

DiananColin · 10-02-2004, 03:45 PM

Bill and Ann makes a good point - pick the rig then pick the towvehicle. We started out with a lighter Mountaineer and now pick up our new 3400RL this coming week. Bear in mind that there are more than one dealer and it is critical to find the one that will support you after the sale with good service.

Although we live in Whitby (which does have a Montana dealer) we drive to Burlington to buy and for the super service. Not all dealers look after you when they have your money!

Having just returned from the Montana rally and touring the factory we are even more convinced that the Montana range is possibly one of the best values around!

Send us a PM if you want to discuss this further

Good luck

DHenry · 10-02-2004, 06:46 PM

I always had a Travel Trailer and when I started looking at the 5th wheels I was wanting to stay around 30' also. I ended up buying a 36' and have no regrets. They pull great, have lots of room inside and also a lot of storage in the basement. I will never go back to pulling a TT again. Good luck to you with your choice and happy RVing.

melnjoy · 10-03-2004, 06:49 AM

I have towed both Travel Trailers and 5th Wheels and always stayed under 30 feet but we liked the 3575RL so much [36 ft.]We bought it. I was a little worried about backing the longer rig but it seems to back better than our 29 ft.

Mel
2002 GMC 2500 EXT Cab 4x4
Duramax/Allison
2004 3575RL

DiananColin · 10-03-2004, 03:06 PM

Having towed trailers (TT & Boats) ranging from 10 feet up to 35 feet I can confirm that the longer they are the easier they are to back.

azstar · 10-03-2004, 03:46 PM

You have reminded me of a fellow we met at Sturgis SD a couple of yrs. ago. They bought their new 5er then went looking for a new Truck. The Dealer in their Home Town said he didn't have a big selection of Trucks but he did have "just the right Truck for them". He sold them a 1/2 Ton to pull about a 35ft 5er with a Motorcycle trailer behind the 5th. The new Truck only lasted 300 mi. before it blew the Trans. As gentle as I could I told him that their Local Dealer realy took advantage of them and could have cost them their lives.

Moral to the story, Make sure you buy enough Truck.

I've often wondered how that fellow made out.

Happy Hunting,

stiles watson · 10-03-2004, 05:29 PM

Yes, they do tow well. I was well pleased with my first 350 mile run in the unit that I picked up just Saturday. I did the extreme freeway thing by driving straight through the middle of Houston, TX. The rig handled the traffic and lane changes, etc without a bobble. My only constrenation came when I backed this 36 footer into my driveway. Would have supplied ample belly laughs for oldtimers. I did a Crankshaft imitation and whacked the mail box. My head knows how to do this, but my body has a bit to learn.

sreigle · 10-05-2004, 06:20 PM

Stiles watson, let me tell you even old timers can royally screw up getting into a site. Vicki can tell you how worried I was about messing it up in front of a bunch of MOC members when we got to the rally. It was big relief time when they pulled us straight in, as in 'pull thru'.

Montana_2302 · 10-31-2004, 01:05 AM

My wife and I are new to R/Ving and really new to 5ver's.....we bought an Everest a month ago and an F350 diesel with dually's to pull it.....took it out yesterday for the first time....yehawwwwwwwwwwww.
I joined this club because of the amount of useful info and seemingly really nice folks who share their adventures in R/Ving....
We hope to be sharing ours with you all real soon!

[]

padredw · 10-31-2004, 04:39 AM

To Northern Lights:

There is plenty of room for differnt opinions, but I share your preference for an RV in the 30 foot range. We have had a Montana 2955 (which is actually 32 feet) for a year and a half. It is our third fifth-wheel. Quick summary of why we like this particular model:

1> We are travelers not full timers. We prefer an RV of this size. Yes, our 2500 Duramax would pull larger trailers, but with this model we have power to spare and tow more easily at highway speeds in overdrive.

2> All services are convenient even with the slides in: stove, refrigerator, bathroom. We could even stay overnight without putting the slide out if we ever needed to.

3> We have plenty of room and like the arrangement of the 'living room', recliners, and TV.

4> (applies to other Montana models) We like the ability to close sliding doors between the bathroom and bedroom. Even with just the two of us, that is our preference, but when we have overnight guests it really makes a difference to have a "pass through" bath.

5> Our storage at home 'fits' a 32' and we prefer to handle a trailer of this size.

None of this is to say anything negative about choices other have made. It is just to let you know why someone has made this particular choice.

BillyRay · 10-31-2004, 05:53 AM

I also bought the camper first, then found a truck to pull it with. My wife said she picked the camper out and couldn't careless about the truck....I had fun trying to hurry up and find one and take delivery before the camper.it was interesting!

it does tow like a dream though! do your research before buying as tow limits change from year to year.

contau lake · 11-01-2004, 05:31 PM

I agree with the preceeding folks! Buy the RV first! We bought our first RV after purchasing the truck and ended up with a tow vehicle that was not heavy enough to handle the RV....lots of power but felt the RV was steering us at times soooo new truck and a lot of grief from my wife. Now we have a 2850 Montana and an F250 super duty, 4X4....no problems. The montana tows extemely well.

trukdoc · 11-02-2004, 02:18 PM

We looked at a bunch of 5ers. Most makes and models and there were things I liked about most of them. Then there was the battle of, there were ones I liked and my wife hated it.
We looked at the Mountaineer 328RLS and we both loved it.
It is completely useable with slides in. Very roomy with slides out. The door is mid way and you walk in on linoleum not carpet. A consideration in bad weather. Another feature I like about it is that when seated in the Living area, someone opens the door. There is no seating near the door for anyone to get hit with hot or cold air coming in from the door.
At 34'11" it is a bit longer than I wanted but the roominess is worth it. I have talked to a bunch of RVers before we picked ours. Most have traded up several times until they got what they wanted. In RV's depreciation is bad, so every time you trade up there is a loss. Get what you want first go around.
We got our pick up date today. We bring our baby home from Nachodoches TX. Nov. 19.
Our first trip will be over Thanksgiving Weekend.
Good luck on your search.

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