We've had two Montana's. Very nice, both of them. The first one 2003 had some growing pains for a new company, the 2007 was a well built unit. We also looked at Cardinal.
You are getting some input about Montana Mountaineer, and Montana High Country - all different animals from the regular Montana. Even though they share the same name, very little about them is similar. Just thought I would let you know so you can compare apples to apples.
The lower clearance you are seeing is the Z-frame design Montana incorporated around 2008 or 2009 that drops the frame in the front to give you a huge storage area compared to the older ones. My 2007 was big, but the new ones are ginormous.