the new montana 3750FL

[travelling g]

I justed wanted to say "Hello", thanks for all the interesting reading and wondered if anyone could help with my problem.
My husband and I are retired and in the process of selling or home and moving into a fifth wheel fulltime. We a have a Chevy Silverado 3500 dually deisel, with a 6 speed Allison tranmission. We have seen alot of fifth wheels and really like the Montana 3750FL with the living room above the truck cap. It's a very differnet layout then the others we have seen and someone told me the slides in the living room will suffer structural damage (due to weigh), that's why RV's always have the bedroom above the truck cap. I just wondered if anyone in this forum has the Montana 3750FL or anyone can verify this claim.
Thanks so much Norma Greaves
travelling g
dark knite (Chevy Silverado 3500)

[Flyguy]

I guess the real question should be "how well did Keystone engineer that upper level to handle the extra load of the slides?” one would think that this would have been a major consideration in the design process. This might be a good question to direct to Keystone and hopefully get an honest answer!

[Bigk]

As mentioned earlier, that's a good question for Keystone. Pretty heavy trailer - approx. 16,000lb GVWR with a pin wt around +3000lb.

[Festus2]

Just spent a few hours at an RV show and went through a large 5th wheel - Jayco I think- that had a single slide which was 27 feet long! It stretched from almost one end to the other. It slid over the stairs leading up to the bedroom area------ the bed was part of the slide out. Huge!
The slide on this unit is a foot short of being as long as our entire 5th wheel. Can you imagine cranking that slide out by hand???
Crazy.

[travelling g]

Thanks for you help, I'm going to contact Keystone and find out how they engineered the upper level to compensate for the extra weight. BigK mentioned that the trailer is heavy, but I'm pretty sure our 3500 Silverado can pull it and we are going to take it out for a test drive before we buy.
Thanks again,
Norma
travelling g in the
dark knite

[Bigk]

Excellent Norma. Try before you BUY. Oh and welcome to the forum.:)

[RoyalEF]

I've seen plenty of 5th wheels with two slides in the gooseneck/bedroom. So this isn't that odd a thing.

Also I'd wager the weight is equal or lower than the bedroom/bathroom floorplan. No washer/dryer at the front wall, no king-sized bed with storage underneath, no dressers & large clothes closet. No wall separating bdrm from bath and hall.

The 2750FL has two couches, the entertainment center (which didn't seem terribly deep) and open air. There are two couches but one folds out to a TWIN aerobed. The other L-shaped I wasn't able to figure out a way to open it. I couldn't find any storage options, no bed. I meant to check if there was an outer door that uses the underside of the couch as outer storage compartment.

I have to say I love this floorplan. Instead of a claustrophobic bedroom & bath--neither of which makes you want to spend much time in them--you have an open air LR room in what is normally the most cramped part of the design. The curved ceiling gives it a nice height. It's open to the center, which feels like a sunken dining/kitchen. The LR area is a sitting area. Most of your time will be spent sitting, so the 6'6" height feels good. The bedroom is huge, makes me think I need a foldout desk to take advantage of sitting in front of that wide window while I work. And the bathroom... I could shower and not smack my head on the room of the shower (I'm 6'3" and RV bathrooms just s**k if you are tall).

The big negative is the underside storage. The pass-thru was much smaller than normal and the door to the pass-thru was significantly narrower than the space inside. It seemed like an engineering error to me. Maybe they will fix as they go along. I do wonder about large items... BBq, A foldout table for outdoors, chairs. I was thinking of bringing a 6'x'3' table that folds to 3'x3', but I can't see that fitting underneath.

[Jim W]

Thanks for you help, I'm going to contact Keystone and find out how they engineered the upper level to compensate for the extra weight. BigK mentioned that the trailer is heavy, but I'm pretty sure our 3500 Silverado can pull it and we are going to take it out for a test drive before we buy.
Thanks again,
Norma
travelling g in the
dark knite

Hi,
First welcome to the forum and the world of owning a 5er.
My recommendation to you, since you are going for a test drive with the 5er attached. Is to find a certified weight scale and weight the truck/ camper combination. This will give you the front/rear axles and trailer axle along with the combine gross weight of the two vehicles. You will know for sure if you are over weight and if the truck can pull this size of trailer then.

Jim W.

[HigginsPod]

We have seen this one and love the layout. The people that owned it gave us a tour and they also loved it. It seems much more open. The only change I would make is putting in a pocket door to the bedroom. Can't get to the bed with the slide closed at all they said. But for now we will stay in our tt. Good luck on your purchase and happy camping!