Ideas on new fifth wheel

[DABOO77]

Hello all. We currently have a 2011 Montana 295 RKD we bought new 2010. It's been a great unit and held up with many a road miles out west, down south and up north.

We are wanting to upgrade in the near future to a newer unit. My question is, what other brands have you all considered as comparable quality and features other than the Jayco products. I like the Montana products and hope our next unit holds up as well whatever brand we decide on. Give me it straight up - I can handle it. Lol I wanna hear the good, the bad and well you know.

Thanks in advance
Daboo

[Cat320]

No other brands why change!

[JNLVaughn]

Yes.
We researched and looked at numerous other brands...Jayco, Solitude, Paradigm by Alliance, Riverstone and we kept going back to Montana.
We've owned 2 Cougars and always said "some day we will have a Montana" that some day arrived and after hours and miles we bought our Montana and in our humble opinion the one with best floorplan and storage. 3791RD

Good luck and stay with what you know. ��

[fatcatzzz]

Riverstone Legacy 39RKFB is on our short list.

[DABOO77]

As far as potentially changing brands, our Montana is our 5th RV. Without change, we never would have found Montana. With that said, the kids have come, grown up and are now out of the house. So being close to retirement our wants and needs have changed again. Montana is at this time our preferred manufacturer, but ya never know what's around the corner if you don't look.

Respectfully and thanks for the question

[Foldbak]

I don't know first hand but Brinkly looks like they are listening to consumers.

https://www.brinkleyrv.com/rvs/fifth-wheels/model-z/

[DABOO77]

I agree, Brinkley seems to be listening to consumers. But being such a new manufacturer, I'm more than hesitant to look at until they have proven themselves. Thanks

[432bartman]

I love the Riverstones and the Vanleighs, but I heard the Vanleighs are not being made anymore. The new Brinkley units look promising, but they are very expensive. I think if you could find something 1-3 years old, you could save a ton of money and get more bang for your buck.

[rames14]

We are in our fourth Montana. Only Montana has the MOC. We are currently in Alaska and a member traveling with us had a serious medical issue. Another MOC member couple flew to Alaska and are driving their rig back to the lower 48. This is one of many stories about the MOC. Our 2021 has done great on our Alaska trip and if our health holds up, we may get a fifth Montana someday. Plus, with the solar system, we haven’t had shore power in two months. Hope you can find another Montana that fits your needs. Best of luck.

[bleedmichigan]

Originally Posted by 432bartman

I love the Riverstones and the Vanleighs, but I heard the Vanleighs are not being made anymore. The new Brinkley units look promising, but they are very expensive. I think if you could find something 1-3 years old, you could save a ton of money and get more bang for your buck.

Yes now that Thor owns Tiffin and Tiffin owns Vanleigh they are being discontinued likely because that will push more people towards thors other brands such as keystone.

[Bourbon County]

Grand Design started out as a customer centered manufacturer and from what I am hearing from owners, it lasted until Winnebago bought them out. Alliance is supposedly very tuned in to their customers, as mentioned Brinkley is a new company with the same promise, but they are very new and there just isn't enough feedback or warranty claims to make a objective judgment about them.

The Vanleigh Beacon was one of the most elegant interior with the best finishes
level fifth wheel; I think 2023 was their last model year. From what I've learned, the Riverstone and the DRV products are the only ones that actually beef up their frames. The DRV models come with independent suspension, disc brakes, and have a fiberglass roof; they're meant to last if you can afford them.

I would suggest to find the floorplan that best suits your lifestyle, after that the range of fit and finish varies greatly, just depends on what you are willing to spend. My Montana is a 2017 model with brown cherry cabinetry and I'm very pleased with the finishes. It seems that white cabinetry is very popular now and that's much cheaper and easier to make.

After picking a floorplan, probably the 2 items with most complaints are tires and air conditioners. Absolutely refuse to buy anything with the "China bomb" tires; look for Sailun, Carlisle, maybe Hankook, or Goodyear. If you're going to be camping anywhere south of the Canadian border, go ahead and get a third air conditioner. You'll have a lot more bargaining power to negotiate these things before you sign the papers. I think most of us have had issues with window blinds too, but choices are fairly limited there.

[dave22554]

If money were no object I would probably get a Brinkley. I have seen several tours of the factories. They didn't just take over an old factory another mfgs closed they built new ones for each model. The other thing that impressed me is that the owners are Rvers. They actually took the units camping to see how they would work in the real world. They also studied warranty claims from their previous brands to try and eliminate this issues they are expensive but they seem to be better than any out there.

[GreG L.]

If I were looking for another brand I would spend time on their forums. They all use mostly the same third party hardware and their will always be a percentage of failures they cant control, but build qualify and customer service they can control.

[Kfinnert]

I agree with all of the comments. From what I have heard, the older Montana's have fewer problems due to the materials used - heavier frames, etc.

I purposefully purchased an older Montana model (2008) because of the floor plan, real wood products used in the construction, heavy-duty framing and Mohr-ride suspension. We have put many miles on this unit, and we just love it. Quite honestly, one of my hobbies is working on the RV, and I have learned quite a bit while turning it into the last trailer I should own.

Updating your older Montana will be cheaper than buying new. Next, I do believe the quality of the products used and craftsmanship was better back then. Finally, and in my opinion, with attention and care it should last for years to come. Added plus, we have the MOC Team to support our efforts.

Best of luck

[GreG L.]

I agree with Kfinnert, this is the last one we will buy. It wont come anywhere close to the cost of a new one to keep this one moving even if I don't do the work. That said there is one caveat to consider and that's how you camp. If you tend to camp high end, more and more sites are implementing trailer age restrictions, not an issue for those us us that use Government parks, Thousand Trails, KOA, Good Sam and such, or boon docking, just something to keep in mind.

[LERD]

Originally Posted by Kfinnert

Updating your older Montana will be cheaper than buying new. Next, I do believe the quality of the products used and craftsmanship was better back then. Finally, and in my opinion, with attention and care it should last for years to come. Added plus, we have the MOC Team to support our efforts.

Best of luck

It's funny, because that's what I thought too! But we only wanted to go back a couple of model years. They cost more than new. Actually, they really shouldn't, but too many people were upside down. So we bought a leftover 2022. We spent 2 hours going over it when we bought it. Our PDI was another 3 hours. It's still far from perfect, but being a moble RV technician means I can work on it myself. And if I need help or warranty work, I have lots of RV technician friends I chat with weekly. We still think that Montanas are one of the better ones. We looked at Alliance, North Points, Pinnacles, Solitudes and Cedar Creeks. Flat out, the 3231CK was the floorplan and colors we liked the best We're not full-time, so a DRV or Riverstone is just not necessary.

[Pa_5er]

Originally Posted by Kfinnert

I agree with all of the comments. From what I have heard, the older Montana's have fewer problems due to the materials used - heavier frames, etc.

I purposefully purchased an older Montana model (2008) because of the floor plan, real wood products used in the construction, heavy-duty framing and Mohr-ride suspension. We have put many miles on this unit, and we just love it. Quite honestly, one of my hobbies is working on the RV, and I have learned quite a bit while turning it into the last trailer I should own.

Updating your older Montana will be cheaper than buying new. Next, I do believe the quality of the products used and craftsmanship was better back then. Finally, and in my opinion, with attention and care it should last for years to come. Added plus, we have the MOC Team to support our efforts.

Best of luck

We're with Kfinnert on this. We bought a used 2001 3255rl in 2017. Have taken quite a few trips with it. We still look at the new fifth wheels, but love the construction in our 2001. We have pretty much remodelled the inside and will hopefully be full timing next spring. Retirement...so close that I can taste it!

[Kfinnert]

I am back and I agree with GregL. We are planning our first Northern United Sates loop trip with our first event being the Montana National Rally in Indiana. A few locations want to inspect our 2008 Montana before they will admit us into the park.

Not a problem, we have gone through the inspections before. I have been told the park(s) experiences with older models are leaks, unsightly exterior upkeep, noisy gens and motors, etc.

Knowing this is a concern for parks, we have replaced the decals with new, new paint on the metal skirting, the RV was wet-sanded, and a marine grade ceramic coating applied to refresh the exterior. The added plus was the installation of the solar system. Then the inside was remodel.

I let the parks know this is an older RV that is being well maintained and used if I see the age restriction in their Policies; I do not volunteer any information though! Sidenote - I am waiting for the year 2033, when I will have it registered as an antique!

Nonetheless, if we are rejected from a park because of the age of our RV, then we can Boondock. I have yet to be rejected at any location because of the age of the RV! Nonetheless, we are aware of the policy at some parks and other owners of the older models should be aware of it too! It would be a real bummer, if you drove many miles to a park that would not accept your rig!

I plan to continue to maintain the rig, install upgrades at time and $$$ allow, and haul it until I am too old to do so, or the RV disintegrates behind the tow vehicle...

See you on the road!

[Thorsell]

Just like some others we came back to Keystone Montana after owning other brands. Though not perfect, as there is no perfect RV, Keystone, we found, has the best customer service and has stood behind their product much better than most. For us Forest River and Heartland were the very worst.

Keystone covered the dreaded "frame flex" quickly and with no issues. Keystone addressed a few other issues we had as well, much of it I think was a result of the horrible roads we traveled. We towed our 3790 over 60,000 miles and never regretted owning it.

We were full-timers for 5 years in our 3790 and it never failed us. We recently came off the road from full timing to only part timing and decided to replace our 41 ft 5th wheel with a smaller/shorter 5th wheel and to stay in more campgrounds that have length restrictions. Our new rig is the Montana High Country 311RD, 35 ft and we LOVE it.

We like to tour RV manufacturers each time we return to Goshen, and it has been a great education. We're good friends with the owner of Affinity RV Repair Group in Goshen and spent lots of conversations with him and his staff on different manufacturers which was another great education. Currently Affinity is doing repairs on Alliance, Grand Design, Beacon (made by Tiffin), along with most every other brand to include Keystone which is proof that there is no perfect RV as they are all rolling earthquakes. Each new RV Manufacturer likes to taught that their product is the best, but after a year or two they are no better than the others because the first year at a minimum is the "shakedown" cruise and things happen. One important key is how well will they stand behind their product 1, 2, 3 years or more down the road. Keystone has shown they are the one for us.

[Foldbak]

Personally I wouldn't buy SOB. My 2022 rig just turned 18 Months old with 25 camping trips and over 5000 miles on it. Possibly more, I reset the miles at some point. I still love it. Bugs are rung out and I've just learned to do and expect repairs.