We bought our first camper last night!

[Callypso]

Good morning! I've wanted a camper forever. I've known my husband 31 years and I've been telling him the entire time I've known him that I wanted to buy one. Kids, house, financial issues always got in the way. Last year I got a new job and started a camper fund. We bought a 2004 Montana 325 KBS. Extremely clean. Previous owners bought it and stuck it on a lot - only to be moved when they bought a new one. They gave me a file folder with tons of manuals, but the actual camper manual is missing. I looked online and can't seem to locate it. If anyone has one or a link to the pdf, I'd appreciate it.

We rented a camper in the past so we know a little about camping. I intend to redo the inside with some paint and LVP. We are going on our first trip in two weeks.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on getting your new Montana! I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Here's a link to the owner's manuals from Keystone you can down load. Unfortunately, they do not have the 2004 version, but they do have the 2005 version. FORTUNATELY!!! those manuals don't change (hardly any at all) from year to year. If you download the 2005 manual, you'll have everything you need for your 2004 model.

Click here for Keystone's manuals

A bit of advise about your camper. If the camper has been sitting all this time, the most important thing you can do is get new tires on it. Unless the tires have been replaced in the last year or so, they most likely will be dry-rotted, even though the tread may look ok. Dry rot is identified by cracks on the side-walls of the tires. If yours had cracks, even small ones, or even one, replace the tires and don't look back. The last thing you want is a blow-out on your first trip.

Next, if the camper has been sitting all this time, the wheel bearings really should be repacked.

Next, because it's been sitting for so long, you really need to check the brakes also (hitched up and actually moving). Your tow vehicle should be equipped with a brake controller and you need to test it out before hitting the road.

Your RV needs to be road worthy. That is more important than the aesthetics inside the camper. So, make sure it absolutely is functional for road travel. Leave nothing unchecked.... lights, running lights, turn signals, tires, hitch system, everything required for road travel.

Also, make sure your holding tanks are functioning properly also. The last thing you want or need is to discover your black (toilet) holding has a leak, or the slide dump valve is frozen shut from not being used.

One more item that needs to be checked and inspected closely, is the roof. If the calking on the roof has cracks in it, it needs new calking. Dicor calking for RV roofs is probably what you need if your roof is rubber. Also, check the actual rubber roof and make sure there are no tears, pin holes, or wear spots. Rubber roofs of that vintage were designed to last 10 years. Being 20 years old, you really need to inspect it carefully. Water intrusion from the roof will destroy a camper very quickly. Water will weaken the side walls and the floor, and it doesn't take much for damage to occur, especially if the flooring and such was installed with particle board (which was typical for that vintage also). Water is your enemy on any camper!

Here's another internet page I found that you might enjoy also:

Click here.

Again, welcome to the forums and I certainly hope you have a fantastic time with your first journey. And hopefully, all these things I mentioned check out just fine for you. But please, do check these items. Most folks with new campers don't consider these until damage occurs. So, be pro-active here and you'll have great success with your new camper!

Happy camping!

 

[Callypso]

Thank you! It's got brand new tires and roof. I will have my husband check the tanks, but I believe they are good. We took it home last night and the brakes were not working with the truck(2021 Ram 2500 with tow package). Lights were coming on, but the brakes weren't registering with the truck, so the hubs is going to look into it this week. Thanks for the link and all the good advice. I appreciate it. I'm glad I found this forum. It looks like there's lots of good info.

One more question....GPS for traveling with a camper - what's the best option? We are only going to be traveling a few times a year - most of the time it will be within an hour or two from home and maybe once a year, longer distances.

 

[bish]

Welcome, if you have the time, you might want to consider coming the the Fall Rally in Goshen, Indiana in September. It's a great place to meet other Montana Owners and learn about the RV life. Check out the Rally information here: 2025 Annual North American Fall Rally

 

[DutchmenSport]

GPS? You can go as sophisticated or as simple as you want. Garmin is probably the most popular and Garmin has several different flavors. If you go with a Garmin, get one that would be used by truckers (or specific RV's) because it will eliminate low bridge clearance routes. But none are perfect.

I've been using a Tom Tom for years and years now. We are on our 3rd one. It works very well for the last 10 miles of the trip. But sometimes when traveling long distance (like a thousand miles), it gets wonky, recommending routes that sometimes don't make a lot of sense. But, if roads are closed or bridges out, or heavy construction somewhere, that does account for some of it's wonkiness. And, it took years to figure this one out.... "fastest route" does not mean "fastest" from point A to point B. It means, the roads I can travel fastest on, which might not necessarily be the most direct route. I think when "fastest" is selected, its looking at the over-all time to travel from point A to point B, but mileage can be excessively more than a slower route. So, we always check routes against Google Maps or Bing Maps on the internet.

And there is another option. If you are just an occasional week-end warrior, using Google Maps may be the cheapest and easiest solution so you don't have to purchase any additional equipment. Often times, when traveling, we are double checking Google Maps against our Tom Tom. In a lot of ways, Google Maps on our phones works very well.

And then ... I always double check our route, especially if it's a trip of a thousand miles against paper maps. We have the Rand McNally Trucker's atlas and a couple other older versions of Rand McNally paper atlas's also.

No one system will do it all. Every one has short comings. That's why comparing 2 sources is always best. And then .... you may never know when an accident is up ahead blocking traffic. In such cases .... that's when Google Maps works great. Google Maps has the feature that folks can report accidents, spotted police traps, and other hazards and will signal a warning (if folks have done so).

So, in the end, it's your choice. Good luck.