One-of-a-Kind Fiver Trailer Life Mag Montana 3820FK Review

[Jgkopp]

We bought this rig a few months back and love it! Trailer Life Mag just published this review.

Copy and paste this link below:
http://www.trailerlife.com/reviews/one-of-a-kind-fiver/

[ACZL]

I will give Montana credit, they always seem to come up w/ new & interesting floorplans each year. Do think though that TL is in love w/ Montana as they do seem to feature them quite often. We've been RVing since 2003 and I don't once TL has ever done a story on Cedar Creek. Have a Heartland now and nothing comes to mind on a story with their Landmark, Big Horn or Big Country lines. Realize too that it's hard to cover all 5er makes, but funny how certain ones keep getting covered over and over.

Don't hear of any folks talking about owning the Montana w/ front bath and tub under the window.

[Civi]

UPDATE: Just put a deposit down on it so I will be the proud new owner of one now. I have seen the FL ones too, here and there for sale so will be looking for other owners.

[Civi]

Bumping an old post but looking at a 2016 3820FK today and wanted to know if there were any other issues besides the layout to look at? Things that have gone wrong or may at some point? Common to the Montana's or these layouts? My last was a 2002 295 Springdale so this is my first 5th.

Personally, we are not full timers and want to hit the beach or private campgrounds once or twice a month around here or along the Ca. or Oregon Coast.

It is not the Legacy package so no fiberglass rear cap and it does not have the Jensen or whatever that touch screen option has so it has toggles and switches etc.

Thank you!

Being towed by a 6 sp. manual 2006 Dodge 3500 Mega w/longbed conversion and B&W 20K RVK3500 hitch.

[topjimmy]

As a Montana owner but another floor plan and a Fulltimer Alot of us Monty Owners do not care for it that much,Very little Basement storage and we do not like the Booth dinette and for The Kitchen being the Focal point of the Rv there is not that much counter space or Island or big Pantry like other Montana Floor plans, On the Plus side it has a very nice Living room and Bedroom and the front Window is a Nice touch , if you are vacationers and Not fulltime users the floorplan will appeal to you more,that being said we applaud Montana for thinking out of the box just like they did with the Rear Den model and the Bonus room/Loft Model,that is one of the Reasons Montana stays on top in Sales for all these Years is not that they are built better than any other Brand but they have So many floor plans and Something for everybody and Knowing Montana if this floor plan does not sell well they will "tweek it" or drop it and move on pretty quick and come up with some other floor plan

[Dr_Holiday]

Devocamper wrote:
How is the storage area under the kitchen? I have looked at many Front living room models and they all have a very limited storage area due to the way they are engineering them so they can handle the extra weight above. I am guessing the front kitchen is much the same maybe even more weight than a front living room, The ones I looked at had very little room to store anything under the front where most fifth wheels have a lot of room. This is a nice looking floor plan but lack of storage and having the kitchen in the hottest part of the trailer seems like trouble too me, would not work for us we bring to much stuff with us on our trips.

This model doesn't have near the basement storage that a front bedroom 5th has, but it does have storage in the back on the outside so that helps a bit.

Inside the kitchen has a lot of storage.

Family room has limited overhead storage.

The bedroom has TONS of storage.

[minnow]

OP; congrats ! Good to see that manufacturers are thinking outside the box, so to speak. Also it would be a boring world if we all had the same floor plan.

[NC_Hauler]

timmac wrote:
I like motorhomes for the driving experience but the newer 5th wheels do have better floor plans, saw a couple at a show about 2 months ago and they look great but the towing of a large trailer and a large truck makes me stick with a motorhome, maybe in the future we can have upper decks in the motorhomes..

How do you figure a large truck to a MoHo? I have a 1 ton crew cab long bed dually. Nothing big about that compared to a MH. I tow a 37' 5er..My combo isn't much longer than a longer MH. MH isn't our bag either..Couldn't camp with it in a lot of places we camp..

[aviator41]

Neat floor plan. Not enough storage - at least not for my brood.

[WeBeFulltimers]

I don't care for the booth seating.

[azjeffh]

Nice rig, glad you're enjoying it.

We walked through a FK made by Spacecraft a few years ago. While we didn't care for it do to the reduced storage in the basement, we did like seeing a different floorplan.

[Devocamper]

How is the storage area under the kitchen? I have looked at many Front living room models and they all have a very limited storage area due to the way they are engineering them so they can handle the extra weight above. I am guessing the front kitchen is much the same maybe even more weight than a front living room, The ones I looked at had very little room to store anything under the front where most fifth wheels have a lot of room. This is a nice looking floor plan but lack of storage and having the kitchen in the hottest part of the trailer seems like trouble too me, would not work for us we bring to much stuff with us on our trips.

[Dr_Holiday]

Just walked through A Montana 3820FK Its much more attractive in person than in the photos.

The published pin weight is 2,810lbs

The window in the front cap is very interesting, its not glass but lexan (sp?) so it should not crack or chip. The windows on the side of the dinette open and provide good light so you dont feel like you are sitting in a cave.

The skylight is really big and lets in lots of light BUT does not open so when cooking you are fully reliant on the exhaust fan over the stove.. Def not a plus for MY cooking..

With the top slide closed you can, if small enough squeeze into the kitchen to get to the fridge, but its not going to be easy.

I'm 6'2" tall and even though the roof is low in the kitchen I never felt like i was going to hit my head.

I'd like to see an option to drop the family room passenger side slide and just put a set of floor to ceiling windows in place of the 2nd sofa, and drop the theater seats for a single or set of recliners.

[goducks10]

OP, can you get to the kitchen when the front slide is in?
I like most everything except for the lack of outside storage. I have more on my 28' 5er. As far as the tanks go, I doubt too many would dry camp with that behemoth. At almost 41' long and with a Res fridge you'd have to have a big site and a large battery bank, or solar and or generator.
We can easily go 4 nights with our 54-40-40 tanks. I could see going 5-6 with that FK unit.
Lots of pro's and cons. We're not the RV park types so we'd probably pass on it.
To the OP, Happy Camping.

[Veebyes]

Looked at it too. JMO but where does anyone think that they are going with only 60gal freshwater? That is only 2-3 days dry camping for 2.

The pin weight is way up there even before galley supplies & food get loaded into that area. Where is it after all the other stuff gets loaded into the basement below? Everything heavy is on the left side of the trailer. Something to think about when you are driving in strong winds coming at you from the right side.

Not sure what the point is of the big sink/little sink? Much prefer 2 decent same size sinks. There is no 'flow through' room on either side of the sink for dirty side/clean side when doing dishes.

Very often the best view is out the back of the trailer. You might spend most of your time in the bedroom but you are not awake to enjoy the view. It is not unusual for us to spin our chairs around to enjoy the view.

But hey, something for everyone I guess. It is unique. There will be those who will buy it, & sell it in a few years disappointed. Being very unusual in floorplan will make it a difficult resell. The monsterous size does not lend it to being used as a traveling trailer. Might be OK for the seasonal commuting each spring & fall. I am There will be others who will keep it.