Soon-to-be-owners of a High Country 353RL - Montana Owners Club

philiprmcgovern · 06-17-2015, 02:07 PM

Hello!

Margaret and I are very glad that we found this forum. We are getting very close to buying our first 5th wheel -- a 2016 High Country 353RL with lots of bells and whistles and it really sang to us. My question concerns the "theater seating" option: Do they recline or not?

Our salesman, who was busy with other customers at the time, at first told us "No" and said that the dealer or the factory might be able to swap them out for regular recliners. Later, he decided that "Yes" they DO recline after all. While we were in the unit (without our salesman), we tried diligently to find the magic handle that makes them recline. No joy. Any help with this issue will be most appreciated. Also, any other advice you might have for a couple of newbies will be welcome.

Many thanks!

Phil

1retired06 · 06-17-2015, 02:19 PM

Ours recline a bit when you pull the legs out. Handles located in the arms.

**DQDick** · 06-17-2015, 02:45 PM

Welcome to the forum! Don't have theater seating, dumped all our original stuff for home types, but would be happy to offer advise on other things.

DarMar · 06-17-2015, 02:53 PM

Our 3610 montana has reclining home theatre seating. Our latches to bring out the foot rests are located on each side panel of the centre console.

1retired06 · 06-17-2015, 03:29 PM

Correction, our handles to open up the seating are in the center console as indicated above, not the arms. They are a spring/cable design

tspoon · 06-17-2015, 03:55 PM

On ours there is a ring you pull. It's located between seat cushion and armrest. You have to feel for it you cannot see it.

tomd · 06-17-2015, 03:57 PM

Ours are between the seat cushion and the arm. Look for a ring on a strap and pull.

Sorry Tsspoon. I was typing when You were posting.

onekla · 06-17-2015, 04:58 PM

Greetings from central Arkansas and welcome to the MOC forum and family. If I may give my two cents on the theatre seating, I love it. I prepare the inside of our 3610RL for take off. In our previous RVs we had recliners and when I turned them around to strap them down, I set them on my toes one too many times (I'm a flip flops girl for the most part). I like that the theatre seating doesn't have to be moved or strapped down and they are soft and comfy. Our pull is a tab on the side of the console.

Two things we've done is upgraded our tires to G614s and purchased a surge protector. If you have a chance to go to rallies, I highly recommend it. We went to our first one this last fall and the sessions with the vendors were very informative for us as were the RVers that made us feel welcome. We were told that if we saw a group standing around talking, don't hesitate to step up and ask what they're talking about. These folks are great. If you have questions, ask away. You'll get lots of good answers.

We wish you many miles and smiles with your soon to be new RV. Enjoy!

Kathy

Dam Worker · 06-17-2015, 05:17 PM

I hope your purchase goes smoothly, I also would like to welcome you to a great bunch of people located at this forum.
Our theater seats recline and also have power hooked to them with built in heaters. Not as convenient as my Lazyboy recliner with a handle but I will get used to the loop between the arm and the seat cushion. Bigger inconvenience for me is trying to to get it back to the regular position. I have to sometimes kick the foot rest with my heal to actually get the mechanism to latch or the footrest wants to pop back up as I try to exit the seat.

Tom & Lynne Marty

philiprmcgovern · 06-18-2015, 12:05 AM

Wow! Thanks for all of the "welcomes" and the replies about the theater seats. I guess we just didn't look hard enough for the handles. We look forward to getting acquainted with this great group.

Phil
.Phil

rames14 · 06-18-2015, 03:13 AM

Phil, welcome from Colorado. We hope you enjoy your new unit. The forum is a great place to get answers to questions and share your experience. Here you will find other new owners to people with their third or fourth Montana. Welcome to the family, where we share success, failure, heartache and joy.

stengels · 06-18-2015, 10:34 AM

Welcome to the forum. Great to have you, and hope you enjoy the unit if you go that route.

HOOK · 06-18-2015, 11:32 AM

Welcome from NC

Sundogette · 06-18-2015, 01:02 PM

Welcome to the Forum. As you learn about your Montana, and have questions, you will be able to find the answers you need with this group. Highly suggest you read and learn about the standard factory tires, if you haven't already done so. The search engine on the forum is great. Happy Travels.

Virginia Young · 06-18-2015, 02:13 PM

Welcome to the forum.

Our Big Sky has the theater seating and we love it. I thought I would miss the rocking recliners, but I don't. The handles to recline ours are on the sides of the console.

philiprmcgovern · 06-22-2015, 10:19 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Sundogette

Welcome to the Forum. As you learn about your Montana, and have questions, you will be able to find the answers you need with this group. Highly suggest you read and learn about the standard factory tires, if you haven't already done so. The search engine on the forum is great. Happy Travels.

Many thanks, Sundogette. I took your advice and skimmed the tires thread on here. It seems there are lots of opinions and issues with tires, but I couldn't find a consensus on the "best" tire. Frankly, I don't know what brand will come on our new Montana anyway. Do you know if the factory or the dealers are typically willing to let the buyer upgrade to a different tire? I have the same question regarding other options on a new RV. Are they normally "take it or leave it" or does the buyer have something to say about the various options? Also, which tire would YOU recommend?
Thanks again. Phil

greenmachine · 06-23-2015, 11:23 AM

Welcome to the MOC, and OH yes, you will love the reclining theater seating.

philiprmcgovern · 06-24-2015, 12:48 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by greenmachine

Welcome to the MOC, and OH yes, you will love the reclining theater seating.

Thanks, Greenmachine. We also have an F250 and a B&H companion hitch (slider) and love both of them, BUT the upper part of the hitch totally refuses to come out of the under-the-bed part and the release handle can be pulled out, but won't turn to latch. I think the rod is bent and isn't coming quite all the way out. Any thoughts?

Yes, we are looking forward to those theatre seats.

Best wishes,

Phil

greenmachine · 06-25-2015, 09:30 AM

Remove the two saddle lock pins holding the RV coupler to the RV pivot arms. The coupler is now
sitting loosely on the pivot arms and can be lifted off and set aside using the handles located on either
side of the coupler. When the handles are lifted, they unlock the coupler from the pivot arms.
2 – Swivel the locking bracket on the draw-down bolt out of the way and loosen the bolt.
3 – Pull the latch pin handle, located in the driver’s side, rear fender and rotate it clockwise until it
latches out. The RV base, with the post attached, can now be lifted out of the hitch socket.

Sounds like the drawn down bolt is still tight.

philiprmcgovern · 06-25-2015, 11:41 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. I think we're on the right track, BUT that sucker is still well and truly stuck. I've completely removed the coupler part of the hitch and the draw down bolt, rotated the base as much as possible - maybe two degrees - and, then, pulled the release rod out as far as possible, but the latch handle totally refuses to rotate at all. I'm thinking that the business end of the rod is jammed where it passes through the bottom of the base unit. If I can get enough access down there to pound it through from the opposite (passenger) side with a punch of some sort, I might be able to knock it lose. Wish me luck! Another option would be to just resign myself to always having the hitch mounted in the truck. Thanks again for your insights.

Phil

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