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Old 07-02-2016, 03:44 AM   #1
TravelinAndersons
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Question ATTN: Montana 3820FK Owners

Hello. My wife and I are full timers and are thinking about getting a new Montana 3820FK so I thought I'd pick the brains of those who already own them.

I'd appreciate any opinions, experiences or advice concerning this model.

We love the front kitchen concept and roominess of the living room but I am concerned about the pin weight once we have the kitchen cabinets stocked. Keystones site claims the pin weight to be 2810 pounds but seems light.

We have family spread out across the country so we will be towing it a lot. What options would you recommend?

Any opinions on the CRE3000 suspension vs the LRE410o

Our first and current 5th wheel is a 2012 Redwood front living model. This will be our first experience with Keystone/Montana. How's their customer service?

Enough for this post... thanks for reading it and any input is appreciated.
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Old 07-02-2016, 07:34 AM   #2
Festus2
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In the Keystone lineup, the Montana is listed as a "premium" model and while I don't own one, any units that I have been in, would seem to back up that designation. I have also been in several Redwood models in recent years, and it is, IMO, quite a step up from the Montana.

I could tell as soon as I walked into a new Redwood that it just looks and "smells" like a top model 5th wheel. The construction details and specs were superior to the Montana and I believe the Redwood is classified as a residential type RV.

If we had the bucks, my wife and I would buy a Redwood over a Montana any day. Unless there are some other factors causing you to look at the Montana, I'd stick with the Redwood.

As far as Keystone customer service is concerned, you might get a variety of opinions about that. Like any "service", there are some who will say it is terrible, some who will say it is great and still others who haven't had any experience with Keystone's customer service department. I believe it all starts with the dealership - not with Keystone - so find yourself a good dealer first!

You didn't mention anything about your tow vehicle but with both of those units you'd be wanting a 1 ton (or 450) for sure.
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Old 07-02-2016, 01:56 PM   #3
CaptnJohn
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Montana ~~ We look at them at every 5er change. The 2016 RV of the year! Last week bought a TV with enough payload so our next RV may well be.

I spoke to an owner of a new rig at the Outer Banks this spring. He said he weighed his truck new and again with the Montana. He said the cat scales showed 3047 with hitch and loaded Montana. I can do that now!

Happy to say I cannot talk about Keystone CS as the 2 5ers from Keystone never needed warranty work except for a furnace Atwood took care of by a mobile tech. My only complaint is if you want anything they say go through your dealer even after the dealer said to contact them. Thankfully, CW at Myrtle Beach (a high volume Keystone dealer) has been very good. The service mgr said they have a good relationship with Keystone for warranty repairs before I purchased my 1st one.
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Old 07-03-2016, 06:56 AM   #4
CWSWine
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We have the 3711FL which is the front living room model with a factory dry pin weight of 2790 according to Keystone. We are lightly loaded for weekend trips and our Cat Scale weights are:

Truck w/out 5er
Front 4740
Rear 3400
Total 8220

Truck W/5er
Front 4880
REAR 6460
5er Axles 1098
Pin Weight 3120

As you can see the truck front and rear adds up to 11320 and the GVWR of my 1 ton F350 is 11500 which only leaves about 180lbs from being over loading GVWR of the truck. This is the front living room which will be lighter than the front Kitchen.

Hope that helps
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Old 07-03-2016, 11:27 AM   #5
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We have this 2016 RV of the year. Our dealership "Sunshine RV" in Lake Havasu City, AZ did a top notch PDI. I don't know what issues they found and I have not needed warranty work because everything is working like it should. Your going to love this rig. I have only found that the Satellite outside hook ups were revirsed bedrm was livingrm and vice verse.

We added more towel racks to our bathroom. You will find plenty of kitchen counter space. You will want to buy a Brother label maker from Costco and label everything so you know what it does.

The 18 CU FT Norcold RV refrig is working great. We are in a resort on Lake Havasu are are leaving this rig plugged in for 5 months. While we were gone we set a/c at 90 degs and kept refrig on. Rig went through a few days of 120 plus deg weather and ice bag in refrig was still frozen and never melted when we got back out. It's 107 for a high today. It's 103 outside now and we're holding at 85 inside. I have added 80% window screens to our windows. We have 4 people, 2 dogs and plenty of room inside.

Wife loves the electric outside awning as our trailer before was manual. She feels
Iike she can be here without me as she can do all the things needed to operate this rig.

Hope you get to enjoy yours soon. I will post up some pictures of ours when I get back home if you wish.
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Old 07-03-2016, 12:26 PM   #6
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Looks like a nice floor plan. I don't own the Montana, I have the sister to it, Alpine. I will say they both are nice units and it seems like Keystone is pretty good about getting their dry weights/measurements pretty close. I don't think the layout will change the amount of weight you add much from one floor plan to another, most of the weight you add will be in the basement. I'd guess you'll add around 400 lbs to the pin.

As for the difference between Montana/Redwood, I agree that the Redwood is a nicer unit, but I didn't see enough difference to make up the big price tag for my needs. I looked at everything I could find in this class when we shopped, Montana, Redwood, Cedar Creek, Cardinal, Alpine, Pinnacle, Big Country and a few others. The Montana and Alpine were the two I liked the most.
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Old 07-03-2016, 02:05 PM   #7
JRTJH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jgkopp View Post
We have this 2016 RV of the year. Our dealership "Sunshine RV" in Lake Havasu City, AZ did a top notch PDI. I don't know what issues they found and I have not needed warranty work because everything is working like it should. Your going to love this rig. I have only found that the Satellite outside hook ups were revirsed bedrm was livingrm and vice verse.

We added more towel racks to our bathroom. You will find plenty of kitchen counter space. You will want to buy a Brother label maker from Costco and label everything so you know what it does.

The 18 CU FT Norcold RV refrig is working great. We are in a resort on Lake Havasu are are leaving this rig plugged in for 5 months. While we were gone we set a/c at 90 degs and kept refrig on. Rig went through a few days of 120 plus deg weather and ice bag in refrig was still frozen and never melted when we got back out. It's 107 for a high today. It's 103 outside now and we're holding at 85 inside. I have added 80% window screens to our windows. We have 4 people, 2 dogs and plenty of room inside.

Wife loves the electric outside awning as our trailer before was manual. She feels
Iike she can be here without me as she can do all the things needed to operate this rig.

Hope you get to enjoy yours soon. I will post up some pictures of ours when I get back home if you wish.
Just a comment, not a criticism.... Your signature indicates you have a 2016 F250 Lariat and a Demco 18K Autoslide hitch. From what I can see, the empty Montana 3820FK pin weight is a touch over 2800 pounds, add 200 pounds for the Demco hitch, another hundred or so for propane and battery, and you're already well north of 3200 pounds of trailer weight on the truck, and that's before you put any passengers or other cargo into the mix. Every "current style F250 Lariat" that I've seen (2011-2016) has a "yellow sticker payload" of less than 2100 pounds with most being around 1900.

If you haven't yet, I'd urge you to find a truck scale and check to see how far over your payload you really are because there's no way you're under your GVW with that trailer and a F250 Lariat.
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Old 07-04-2016, 06:37 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Just a comment, not a criticism.... Your signature indicates you have a 2016 F250 Lariat and a Demco 18K Autoslide hitch. From what I can see, the empty Montana 3820FK pin weight is a touch over 2800 pounds, add 200 pounds for the Demco hitch, another hundred or so for propane and battery, and you're already well north of 3200 pounds of trailer weight on the truck, and that's before you put any passengers or other cargo into the mix. Every "current style F250 Lariat" that I've seen (2011-2016) has a "yellow sticker payload" of less than 2100 pounds with most being around 1900.

If you haven't yet, I'd urge you to find a truck scale and check to see how far over your payload you really are because there's no way you're under your GVW with that trailer and a F250 Lariat.
Just a slight difference~ my 2016 F250 has a payload of 2247. Not much more in my 2016 F350 at 3434. What is funny~~the F250 is rated to pull 100#more than the F350. Must be that extra leaf spring in the rear.
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:26 AM   #9
CWSWine
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Originally Posted by CaptnJohn View Post
Just a slight difference~ my 2016 F250 has a payload of 2247. Not much more in my 2016 F350 at 3434. What is funny~~the F250 is rated to pull 100#more than the F350. Must be that extra leaf spring in the rear.
We had a 2013 Chevy 2500HD Diesel had a yellow sticker on 2475 but loaded with 5er hitch with just me and my wife the scales left us with 1970 lbs over for pin weight.

Now we have a 2015 Ford F350 Diesel with a yellow sticker of 3744 and loaded with 5er hitch, me and my wife the Cat scales says we have 3280 left over for pin weight.
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:47 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CWSWine View Post
We had a 2013 Chevy 2500HD Diesel had a yellow sticker on 2475 but loaded with 5er hitch with just me and my wife the scales left us with 1970 lbs over for pin weight.

Now we have a 2015 Ford F350 Diesel with a yellow sticker of 3744 and loaded with 5er hitch, me and my wife the Cat scales says we have 3280 left over for pin weight.
Eliminating the factory tailgate with the camera and step and replacing with the Husky aluminum tailgate helped the payload on both Super Diesel payloads by about 150#. Me, wife, hitch, full fuel, and a Diet Coke leaves a possible pin of 3047. We are using 1810 snowbird loaded which leaves 1247. Don't tell my wife or that Montana may come sooner than I'd like.
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:51 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptnJohn View Post
Just a slight difference~ my 2016 F250 has a payload of 2247. Not much more in my 2016 F350 at 3434. What is funny~~the F250 is rated to pull 100#more than the F350. Must be that extra leaf spring in the rear.
My "GAS" F250 XLT had a payload of 2860 pounds, your "DIESEL" F250 is also an XLT model with a payload of 2247 pounds, the model I addressed is the Lariat model. There's about 300 pounds of "added optional equipment" on the Lariat, making your 2247 payload (in the XLT) closer to 1947 with "Lariat trim"....

You're correct in stating the "GAS" (6.2L) F250 is rated to tow 100 pounds more "5th wheel/gooseneck" (12,100/12,000), but the "DIESEL" (6.7L) the F250 is rated at 15,100 while the F350 is rated at 15,700 (600 pounds more towing capacity). I wouldn't speculate a reason why there is a difference, but if it was the weight of the overload spring on the F350, shouldn't there be the same "reduction" in both engine configurations?
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