Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone RV Customer Comments > Prospective Owners' Questions
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-03-2019, 05:52 AM   #1
IguanaDon
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Wadsworth
Posts: 2
TV purchased, now trying to narrow down 5th wheel

Hello! - We have decided to move up to a 5th wheel and went straight to a F350 crew cab, long bed, diesel, 2019 as our tow vehicle. This arrives in 4 to 6 weeks.

Next week is our camper show here in Cleveland and we will be looking at the following models.

Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
Keystone Montana High Country 330RL
Coachman Chaparral 336TSIK
Forest River Cardinal Luxury 3350RLX
Jayco Pinnacle 32RLTS

All of the floor plans are similar, so now it is a aesthetics and manufacturer decision.

Looking for any feedback on these 5th wheels regarding quality, warranty, issues, etc.

Thanks - Don

Wadsworth, OH
Currently have a Flagstaff HW27SC pop-up
IguanaDon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 06:09 AM   #2
Northofu1
Senior Member
 
Northofu1's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Markham, Ontario
Posts: 1,942
I am buying a grand design next. Jus sayin
__________________
Dan & Serena

2019 GMC SIERRA 2500 HD SLE
2015 Cougar X-Lite 29 RET
Northofu1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 06:34 AM   #3
Canonman
Senior Member
 
Canonman's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: South Jordan, Utah
Posts: 2,221
IMHO, once you know which floor plan is right for you, selecting the right dealer is the most important piece of the decision. For example, let's say you like the Grand Design and Montana equally. But, the GD dealer has a poor reputation based on user reviews compared to the Montana dealer. I'd recommend the dealer who has the best customer satisfaction reviews. Hands down your dealer can make or break your RV experience.
We got lucky and managed to pick the right dealer just by chance. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely spend as much time researching the dealer's service background as I did researching the RV model.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	untitled-7959.jpg
Views:	252
Size:	199.1 KB
ID:	19780  
__________________
2017 Cougar 279RKSWE
2007.5 Dodge Ram 2500 6.7 Cummins
Retirement Training Completed
I think the little voices in my head have started a chat group.
Canonman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 06:38 AM   #4
Snoking
Senior Member
 
Snoking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Lake Stevens
Posts: 764
We passed on the similar or same model Cardinal 5th wheel because of the kitchen peninsula verses and island, along with that models flimsy light weight construction. I see that this model is being discontinued, dealer stock only!

Go look at each with the slides in, and check for access to things you deem important.

Grand Design and High Country have 12 cu ft refers. 18 cu ft is better. Jayco shows a 21 cu ft residential or 18 cu ft RV refer, residential is good in my book, and RV ones in a slide are problematic as they do not vent well.

The low CCC 1480 lb. on the Coachman Chaparral 336TSIK is a problem.

You might what to add the Bighorn Bighorn 3370 EL and Big Country 3155 RLK to your list. Or the Laredo models in that size.
__________________
2019 Laredo 225MK for travel. Bighorn 3575el summer home in Washington, Park Model with Arizona Room for winters.
2015 RAM 3500 SRW CC SB Aisin Laramie
Snoking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 07:29 AM   #5
chuckster57
Site Team
 
chuckster57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,235
Grand designs is building quality units right now, big horn not so much. I only dealt with lower end Jayco and you couldn’t give me one.
__________________

2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.

Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
chuckster57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 09:52 AM   #6
Snoking
Senior Member
 
Snoking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Lake Stevens
Posts: 764
Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckster57 View Post
big horn not so much.
Would you mind sharing more info about this statement? Chris
__________________
2019 Laredo 225MK for travel. Bighorn 3575el summer home in Washington, Park Model with Arizona Room for winters.
2015 RAM 3500 SRW CC SB Aisin Laramie
Snoking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 11:20 AM   #7
zuley
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Guelph, On
Posts: 308
chuckster57, I'm curious. When you refer to lower end Jayco models please elaborate. Are you including the HT lineup of 5th wheels in your grouping? We are presently considering a 28.5RSTS. Also looking at the Grand Design models as well. I value your opinion. Cheers. Dave
zuley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 01:30 PM   #8
chuckster57
Site Team
 
chuckster57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,235
Last dealer was a Jayco dealer. I PDI’d many pull trailers and found them to be less than what I would consider acceptable, didn’t see many fivers. I used to own a Jayco Eagle 323RKS, had it for 13 years with very few issues.

Present dealership is a Grand Designs and Heartland dealer. Maybe it’s just the Heartland models we get, but for the same amount of money I would buy a GD unit instead.
__________________

2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.

Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
chuckster57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 03:01 PM   #9
sourdough
Site Team
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,600
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snoking View Post
Would you mind sharing more info about this statement? Chris

In the context of your original post Chuck might be referring to the quality of the Big Horn units. I don't know his experience, and I've never owned one, but our friends from the UP bought a brand new one last year to bring down here (we stay beside each other for the winter). As soon as he arrived he had multiple issues (black tank flush inoperable and ran water everywhere, TV connections non operable, power issues along with others I don't remember), he was under/inside the pass thru, along with mobile techs, for about 2 weeks after he arrived trying to get things sorted. He was NOT a Big Horn fan when he left last year.
__________________
Danny and Susan, wife of 56 years
2019 Ram 3500 Laramie CC SWB SB 6.4 4x4 4.10
2020 Montana High Country 331RL
sourdough is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 03:33 PM   #10
Snoking
Senior Member
 
Snoking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Lake Stevens
Posts: 764
Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough View Post
In the context of your original post Chuck might be referring to the quality of the Big Horn units. I don't know his experience, and I've never owned one, but our friends from the UP bought a brand new one last year to bring down here (we stay beside each other for the winter). As soon as he arrived he had multiple issues (black tank flush inoperable and ran water everywhere, TV connections non operable, power issues along with others I don't remember), he was under/inside the pass thru, along with mobile techs, for about 2 weeks after he arrived trying to get things sorted. He was NOT a Big Horn fan when he left last year.
That is not what we experienced with our 2017 BH3575el, other than tightening a lot of coax connections. Our 2019 Laredo was the same, all coax connection barely finger tight. Seems to be across the industry. Chris
__________________
2019 Laredo 225MK for travel. Bighorn 3575el summer home in Washington, Park Model with Arizona Room for winters.
2015 RAM 3500 SRW CC SB Aisin Laramie
Snoking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 06:19 PM   #11
Tbos
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Solomons
Posts: 3,874
I own an Alpine 5er. I consider it between the Montana and the High Country. Have fun looking.
__________________
Tom
2019 Alpine 3651RL
2016 F350 CC DRW
Tbos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:29 AM   #12
grampscamper
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 178
My vote is the Grand Design but you can see from my signature I may be a little bias. In my opinion they offer the best bang for the buck, have great customer support and have incredible resale value. My wife and I love the floor plan. You won’t be disappointed.
__________________


2017 Passport Elite 19RB
2019 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
2017 Ford F350 Lariat 4X4 CC 6.7
grampscamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:37 AM   #13
bsmith0404
Senior Member
 
bsmith0404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Las Cruces
Posts: 4,665
The Grand Design is a mid profile standard frame, the high country is a full profile drop frame. The high country will have more ceiling height, more storage, ceiling fan, two 15k ACs, whisper air and heat pump. They both use the dyna span 1 piece floor which is much better than 8 sheets of plywood. The high country has double welds on all joints, the Reflection does not. I love both units, but if it was my money, I’d go HC. The others, shouldn’t even be in the same conversation in my opinion.
bsmith0404 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:42 AM   #14
IguanaDon
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Wadsworth
Posts: 2
Update

We have made a decision but I want to walk through how we got there
The Chapparal was not the quality we wanted
The High Country was a good contender
We looked at the Grand Design Reflection 337rls and found the Solitude S Class at the cleveland rv show. We knew we did not want to pay solitude price, but the S class was between the reflection and solitude. We ended up selecting the 3350rl Solitude S class.
I know this is a keystone forum but wanted to relate our experience
IguanaDon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:47 AM   #15
chuckster57
Site Team
 
chuckster57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,235
Nice choice and a quality unit, We are a Grand Designs dealer. Your more than welcome to stay here and participate, and Grand Designs has their own forum too.
__________________

2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.

Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
chuckster57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:50 AM   #16
bsmith0404
Senior Member
 
bsmith0404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Las Cruces
Posts: 4,665
The S class is a great choice, I’ve been very impressed with them since they arrived on our lot as well. Very comparable to the HC. Enjoy it.
bsmith0404 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:50 AM   #17
Todd727
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 122
I'm sure others will argue, but I've owned a Cougar, Laredo and now a Montana. I would never pay the price premium for the Montana again. The Cougar was just as nice at half the price. They are all made in the same Keystone factory by the same unskilled workers. For the price difference, you can make a lot of upgrades and modifications.

Good luck
__________________
Todd727 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 08:51 AM   #18
CaptnJohn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Ocean Isle Beach
Posts: 1,431
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsmith0404 View Post
The Grand Design is a mid profile standard frame, the high country is a full profile drop frame. The high country will have more ceiling height, more storage, ceiling fan, two 15k ACs, whisper air and heat pump. They both use the dyna span 1 piece floor which is much better than 8 sheets of plywood. The high country has double welds on all joints, the Reflection does not. I love both units, but if it was my money, I’d go HC. The others, shouldn’t even be in the same conversation in my opinion.
We love our 2017 HC 370 BR. We found a very few cosmetic problems CW took care of under warranty. Added a few items, best of all for my wife is the separate washer/dryer units ~~ never again a combo. Found the HC to be better built than the rest we looked at and a higher CC as well. After over 14,000 miles pulling still no problems.
The one in the photo did not make it home from the dealer ~~
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	00FBEEBF-F9FD-4147-A3B5-243778ECB675_zpsqu9f9d4s[1].jpg
Views:	328
Size:	76.3 KB
ID:	19873  
__________________

2022.Montana 3855 BR
2019 F350 6.7 4X4 DRW
CaptnJohn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 09:10 AM   #19
bsmith0404
Senior Member
 
bsmith0404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Las Cruces
Posts: 4,665
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd727 View Post
I'm sure others will argue, but I've owned a Cougar, Laredo and now a Montana. I would never pay the price premium for the Montana again. The Cougar was just as nice at half the price. They are all made in the same Keystone factory by the same unskilled workers. For the price difference, you can make a lot of upgrades and modifications.

Good luck
There are several major differences between Cougar/Laredo and Montana. Yes they are made by the same company in similar facilities with similar processes, the differences cannot be upgraded, modified, or duplicated after the fact. The differences are important to some, not important to others, you fall into the others category. Additionally, Montana has the longest average tenure of employees on the Keystone lines. They have to work their way up to that facility.
bsmith0404 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2019, 09:20 AM   #20
Bbqguy
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Yuba City
Posts: 6
2018 Durimax 2500 with a Grand Design 373

Quote:
Originally Posted by IguanaDon View Post
Hello! - We have decided to move up to a 5th wheel and went straight to a F350 crew cab, long bed, diesel, 2019 as our tow vehicle. This arrives in 4 to 6 weeks.

Next week is our camper show here in Cleveland and we will be looking at the following models.

Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
Keystone Montana High Country 330RL
Coachman Chaparral 336TSIK
Forest River Cardinal Luxury 3350RLX
Jayco Pinnacle 32RLTS

All of the floor plans are similar, so now it is a aesthetics and manufacturer decision.

Looking for any feedback on these 5th wheels regarding quality, warranty, issues, etc.

Thanks - Don

Wadsworth, OH
Currently have a Flagstaff HW27SC pop-up
We have a 373FB Grand Design, Wich is our forever 5th Wheel.
We will be using it for out full time right and so far the company has back every item we have had issues with during the warranty time.
My suggestion is take a good look at Grand Design.
Tom
Bbqguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
5th wheel

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:56 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.