Montana 5th wheel

[HBarlow]

Wertles, I hope you get to travel. I had the same plan in 2000 when I retired, a lot of family illness prevented it and now that we can fuel is way to high to allow it. When we went Alaska in "02 we had a "98 Prowler and lived in it 3. 5 months,it did a great job. Other than local campgrounds we go to Myrtle Beach in Sept for 20-30 days.

DCoffman,

The truth is my HitchHiker is parked in the barn and probably won't be pulled out of the barn again until the current destructive administration and the high and rising fuel prices are only a distant bad memory.

My wife and I usually take several RVing trips each year but are planning none this year.

I'm not even using my truck very much. I'm riding a motorcycle that delivers 40 mpg instead of a truck that gives maybe 15 or a truck and fiver combo that gives maybe 10 mpg.

 

[CUMMINZ]

I have just sat here reading all the posts in this thread and I have only one comment: You usually get what you pay for but I am sure that is not totally true with RVs and one thing is for sure: you can't change the mind of any 2500-3500 SRW owner till he or she has a near death experience.

 

[RustyJC]

I have just sat here reading all the posts in this thread and I have only one comment: You usually get what you pay for but I am sure that is not totally true with RVs and one thing is for sure: you can't change the mind of any 2500-3500 SRW owner till he or she has a near death experience.

I guess I'm just a pore ole West Texas country boy who was trained to be a mechanical engineer, but the old axiom that I was taught has a pretty good basis in fact.



Big trucks pull big trailers - little trucks pull little trailers.



Do with it what you will... . :-laf



Rusty

 

[Wertles]

That's too bad Harvey that you have a great set up with no plans to use it. I feel your pain though. My truck sits idle most days while the commuter car gets the job. Only one trip is planned for us at the moment.
You are correct that education is what this forum is about. I don't care if someone buys the worst rated rig out there, but they need to know what it's weaknesses are and what what the fair value of it is. It makes me very sad to see a young couple in the dealership and buy a unit that they think is the best on the market only to be disappointed shortly thereafter when they realize what they bought and what they paid for it. I have been very fortunate to be best friends with a service tech at the local Camping world and he tells me what to steer clear of. I have double fortune to be good friends with our former trailer saleswoman who let's me know what I should pay for a particular unit. She has even offered to pose as my wife when I go to make a deal.
In 2006 when I ordered my truck it was the biggest truck I could get. They hadn't announced the MC dually yet so it wasn't an option for me. Had I known, I would have waited another month or so but... I'm glad I listened to TDR guys instead of my salesman. He was VERY
confident that I had MORE than enough truck to pull my current trailer. Since a new truck is not in the cards this year, air bags and 19. 5's have been a great improvement in safety and ride quality. It is sooo tempting to believe you'd salesman. He is around these all day long. Of course he knows what works well together. Then you see him climb into his Miata and go home.

 

[HBarlow]

That's too bad Harvey that you have a great set up with no plans to use it. I feel your pain though. My truck sits idle most days while the commuter car gets the job. Only one trip is planned for us at the moment.
You are correct that education is what this forum is about. I don't care if someone buys the worst rated rig out there, but they need to know what it's weaknesses are and what what the fair value of it is. It makes me very sad to see a young couple in the dealership and buy a unit that they think is the best on the market only to be disappointed shortly thereafter when they realize what they bought and what they paid for it. I have been very fortunate to be best friends with a service tech at the local Camping world and he tells me what to steer clear of. I have double fortune to be good friends with our former trailer saleswoman who let's me know what I should pay for a particular unit. She has even offered to pose as my wife when I go to make a deal.
In 2006 when I ordered my truck it was the biggest truck I could get. They hadn't announced the MC dually yet so it wasn't an option for me. Had I known, I would have waited another month or so but... I'm glad I listened to TDR guys instead of my salesman. He was VERY
confident that I had MORE than enough truck to pull my current trailer. Since a new truck is not in the cards this year, air bags and 19. 5's have been a great improvement in safety and ride quality. It is sooo tempting to believe you'd salesman. He is around these all day long. Of course he knows what works well together. Then you see him climb into his Miata and go home.

Yep, or his girlfriend picks him up at the end of the day because he doesn't own a car or truck.

I have loved cars, I guess everything with wheels since I was a little boy and always read and followed cars, trucks, RVs, etc. After I retired from the Navy in San Diego I thought it would be fun to sell cars. I sold them for a few months and did very well but it was an enlightening experience. I was the top producing salesman in that dealership for five out of the six months I worked there including the very first although I didn't make a huge amount of money because I wasn't comfortable lying like a salesman. I viewed the task from the consumer's point of view and instead of trying to deceive as all the other salesmen did, I was honest and helpful with my prospects and was surprised how well it worked in a market with intelligent and informed customers.

The saddest thing I learned during the experience and what made me decide to move on was the typical car salesman was a loser who had failed at everything he had tried all of his life. Not all, of course. There are a few smart, honest, and professional ones. But most I worked with were too lazy to work, didn't know the first thing about the product and were too lazy to read and learn. Some had alcohol, drug, or gambling addictions and sad lives. 95% of them were only there for a short time. They couldn't make sales, couldn't earn any money, and the dealership told them to move on.

 

[JMetzger]

We are like Harvey, RV is parked as fuel prices are to high. Was going to take RV to granddaughter's graduation in CT but $1465 just for fuel makes the $765 round trip flying for both the wife & I look good but then again the roof of the plane might come off or the plane might run off the end of the runway. We are going Southwest.

 

[Grizzly]

Dcoffman, I believe you hit the nail on the head. For the average recreational camper, these units are a great value. My last 5er was a jayco eagle. According to the guide Grizzly has, it scored quite well. It obviously is not a Mobile Suites but did well. I never thought it was any better than any other unit out there that came out of the Indiana factories. The floor squeaked, the plastic piece holding the drawer slides broke often on just about every drawer, the carpet looked like it had been there 20 years after the first, water heater had issues starting on propane for the first 4 years, cheap plastic faucets and cheap st tires. None of these were major problems, just minor inconveniences. I got my monies worth out of that camper. When we started looking last year, one unit that fought my eye was a Cedar Creek made by Forest River. These have historically scored very low in Grizzly's book. However, this unit had many of the things that were described in another post as things to look for in a good unit. It had the right kind of sealant around the windows and such and came with real American LT tires and Dexter axles. It had nice ball bearing slides on each drawer and nice fixtures. I compared it to a similar Jayco and hands down it was a better built unit going by the guidelines given on this site but did not rate higher in the book. Just saying.

Not everyone needs a Mobile Suite quality unit. My house is the highest quality I can get along with the appliances within. These are used everyday and I need to rely on them. My camper is a toy. I do not live in it full time. I do not travel more than 2000 miles a year. I can fix just about everything that breaks down within reason.

Harvey and Grizzly give a great service to everyone on this site with their experience and wisdom. Everyone needs to be an educated consumer. You don't want to pay a premium price for an average unit. If you find an average unit, pay an average price. Everyone will go home happy. I paid an average price for mine and I am thrilled. Someday I will pay a premium price but that will be when I am spending 4 months a year living in it traveling all over the country.

Wertles, You don't have to get a Mobile Suite to get a top quality 4 star rated trailer. There are many very good quality 4 star rated trailers out there at a very affordable price. Just look in the RVCG. I don't need to tell you which they are. As far as the Cedar Creek I only said what the RVCG said. Here's what JD Gallant says about Cedar Creek;



"As a typical Indiana RV manufacturer, Forest River tries hard to keep "standard" construction techniques while competing on price with other entry-level towable manufacturers. But with profits critical to the new investment world that Forest River has become involved with, I expected a ho-hum product and that's exactly what we're getting. They have moved up to modern techniques such as lamination, aluminum framing, fiberglass skin, and a bit more gluing on some of their brands, but many are still in the world of short-lived, fast-put-together stick and tin with either one-piece aluminum or vinyl tops. Now, I have no complaint about wood framing and aluminum skinned walls as long as the workmanship is reasonable; but like other RV manufacturers' products that show more glitter than longevity, Forest River's trailers are barely acceptable -- and then only if you don't expect too much in the long run".



Having said that a Cedar Creek is still a 3 star rated trailer, which is better then any other Forest River trailer.



I also have four kids and we we went weekend camping almost every other weekend and took a three week vacation one a year in a F250 Ford long bed gasser and a 10. 5 truck camper. We always managed and spent most of our time outdoors fishing and hiking. In 1988 as the kids were getting bigger I purchased a 88 Holiday Rambler 5th wheel. I thought that a HR would be a good quality 5er. It wasn't. I had plenty of issues with it. That's before I knew about RVCG.



Also, you really don't need a 40' plus trailer just because you have four kids. The Corian counter tops do nothing for the quality of the trailer. They just raise the price tag and add more weight. When I was shopping for the 88 HR if my wife would have had her way, I would have bought a 40' Teton. It was nice, but I knew my F250 Furd couldn't handle it even though the salesman said that I had more than enough truck for it. I also knew I couldn't handle the payments. Next time leave your wife at home when you go go shopping for an RV and get the RVCG guide.



george

 

[RustyJC]

Next time leave your wife at home when you go shopping for an RV.....

THAT ain't gonna happen!! :-laf



Rusty

 

[Grizzly]

THAT ain't gonna happen!! :-laf



Rusty

Then the next best thing is to try to control them from getting too hung up on all the fancy foo foo and glitter stuff.



george

 

[CUMMINZ]

Then the next best thing is to try to control them from getting too hung up on all the fancy foo foo and glitter stuff.



george

Control them? Right!!#@$%!

 

[RustyJC]

Then the next best thing is to try to control them from getting too hung up on all the fancy foo foo and glitter stuff.



george

Ummm... . yep. She looks at the inside while I'm crawling around in the basement and under the thing. Remember, though, if Momma ain't happy, then nobody's happy.



Rusty

 

[Grizzly]

Control them? Right!!#@$%!

I did say try!

 

[Wertles]

I leave the wife home when I shop for my trucks, my tractors and my tools but everything else we are partners in. I respect my wife's opinion as to what she likes and needs in a camper since she spends more time in there than I do. Yes, she gets distracted by shiny things sometimes but I was the one who brought her to the dealer to see this unit. She now has a kitchen that she can cook in (she's an amazing cook) and not only a place to put our kids but their friends. I agree 43 feet is a little long for my taste but since I can't special order it anyway I want it, it's what I have in my driveway. Just as Cedar Creek is Forest River's top rated unit, I am going to put an educated guess that the Voltage is going to be one of the Dutchman's highest rated units. I knew that this model wasn't in your guide yet so there was no way to check the rating. What I did was do an internet search and learned all I could about it before going back to the dealer. I learned from people that actually owned the exact camper I wanted what they thought about it. It had very positive reviews with only the negatives that I had come up with being reported.

I appreciate your input and your opinions Grizzly, I really do. I have no issue with you or wish to have issue with anyone else on this forum. We all have different opinions and experiences and I have read them for more hours than I wish to count. You provide a great source of information for those looking for it. I have taken alot of the information in your posts and have become a much better educated consumer. If I hadn't, I would have ended up paying much more for my camper and never would have known what potential problems to look for. I didn't choose a camper that you approve of because it has some fancy shiny things covering some less than perfect parts and a truck that is missing it's training wheels. God bless America that I have that freedom to do so. How you and your family works is your business. As for me, I will continue with the way my family runs best.

 

[WalterRyan]

Then the next best thing is to try to control them from getting too hung up on all the fancy foo foo and glitter stuff.



george

Here are my favorite lines from the movie Species.



Xavier Fitch: We decided to make it female so it would be more docile

and controllable.

Preston Lennox: More docile and controllable, eh? You guys dont get

out much.



I think it may apply here.

 

[DACoffman]

Thanks for your service to our great country Harvey!

 

[HBarlow]

Thanks for your service to our great country Harvey!

Thank you for your kind words but it was my honor and pleasure to serve America then. I would not care to serve now.

 

[dcoffman]

I know what you mean Harvey. From a fellow Squid to a fellow Squid , I didn't like LBJ either,but this idiot is far more worst.

 

[HBarlow]

Thank you for your service also. I guess us old sailors have to thank each other.

 

[FPettijohn]

Here is a great article about rv weight

RV Weight Limitations , sorry you will have to copy and paste I can't get the hyperlink to work.

The Montana may not be the best RV out there but it is the BEST selling rv in the USA and our trip to sunny and warm FL over the winter proved it in every park we stayed in. I helped people work on Mobile Suites (brand new) to the tiny tear drop's! If you think that anything that is made doesn't need work from time to time including man himself, then you might need further education.

Fred

 

[CUMMINZ]

FP,



That was a well written article. I will have to say that I have felt for several years that my 06 dually and the truck I have now should have had a higher rating on the GCVW. I have towed in the range of 27k with both rigs and have voiced my opinion that both trucks were very capable of those loads safely. Now with the new HO on the scene with just a rear end, transmission & ECM changes DC is now rating them at 30k. This is my thought: The late model duallies should have been rated at that figure and just a little under that all along. Think about it, the changes DC has made on the HO will do absolutely nothing to the handling of the extra weight except for addition of heavier brakes that go back just a few years. The new HO will get you up the grade better and will give you less downtime in the future due to transmission and rear end failures but will do nothing for you to help in the handling of your rig when both rear passenger side tires blow out when you drop it off the pavement. Personally I don't want to tow a larger RV up some of the grades that we travel in the BlueRidge Mtns.