Which is better the Montana or Cedar Creek 5th wheel

[ours]

Please let me know the details about the Montana and the Cedar Creek 5th wheels. We are looking to purchase a 5th wheel and have so many positives and negatives about each we really do not know which is built the best to last. This is our first one. We own a travel trailer presently and love the experience but are ready to move up.
Thanks

[C-Bears]

We looked at tons before deciding. We started with a gently used FW and last year purchased our first new one.

We looked at frame size/construction and fit/finish. So many of the other systems in different makes/models are generally the same. We also considered trade-in value. Of course the final deciding factor, being full time, was the actual floor plan had to fit our needs.

We are on our second Montana. Five years from now we could be in a totally different brand.

[rmalik1]

We looked at 5th wheels for yrs before retiring. We looked at low to high end trailers gathered information from many sources!
We ended up w/ the Cedar Creek.

The reasons behind our choice;
1)Could not afford - New Horizon, Continental Coach, Spacecraft...
2)Also could not afford the next tier down - DRV,Excel,Lifestyle Luxury....
3)Did not want to spend the amount on the supposed next tier down which is just a bit more "GLITZ" but w/ same build, Heartland Landmark, Redwood....

Which leaves you with trailers that are in the class like CC - Montana, Bighorn, Pinnacle....

4)We liked that it can not de-lam, screwed and silaprene.
5)Marine grade plywood - not OSB!!!
6)We like not have a window in the door (personal)
7)Wife (and I) liked how it looked (personal)

note: Lived in it last year's "POLAR VORTEX", negative 33 degrees and did fine!

[MPI_Mallard]

ChopperBill wrote:
Never owned either. I looked at more Montana's then any fifth wheel, ended up with two Bighorns. Looked a new CC this summer. It was beautiful, nice floor plan. Great outside color. One thing that turned me off. The cabinets looked cheaper than any entry level trac home I have ever seen. A BIG disappointment after the Bighorns and the current fifth wheel we owned.

Wow! As a retired master/finish carpenter Montana's fit and finish never impressed me at all however My CC'Daydreamer's hardwood cabinetry is done exceptionally well for a fifth wheel trailer built on a quasi-assembly line production method. I just had a interesting conversation with my neighbour who is taking his 2012 Gulfstream Kingsport trailer back to the dealer for major repairs due to flat out crummy manufacturing, his dealer in Tilbury wouldn't lift a finger to help him until he got a hold of the head of the Kingsport division who is now making the dealer do it's job! Good for Gulfstream for looking after their customer!!

As I said earlier,,after-the-sale customer service is really important.

[goducks10]

ChopperBill wrote:
Never owned either. I looked at more Montana's then any fifth wheel, ended up with two Bighorns. Looked a new CC this summer. It was beautiful, nice floor plan. Great outside color. One thing that turned me off. The cabinets looked cheaper than any entry level trac home I have ever seen. A BIG disappointment after the Bighorns and the current fifth wheel we owned.

I've never seen any cabinets in any 5'ers that looked all that great. 99% are stapled together. No dovetail joinery. Only units I see nice cabinetry in is $250,000 and up MH.

[FlatBroke]

Never owned either. I looked at more Montana's then any fifth wheel, ended up with two Bighorns. Looked a new CC this summer. It was beautiful, nice floor plan. Great outside color. One thing that turned me off. The cabinets looked cheaper than any entry level trac home I have ever seen. A BIG disappointment after the Bighorns and the current fifth wheel we owned.

[Mile_High]

It changes year to year. Our last Montana was a 2007 and it was absolutely trouble free, the 2003 one before that not so trouble free.

Class to class, they are equal. I agree with some of the others, go for the one the wife likes!

[chevyman2]

Once again, We have never had a Cedar Creek in for service. We currently have 5 Montanas in for repairs.

Basically, we dont have many service issues from Forest River, We always have lots of quality issues with anything from THOR. (BTW) Keystone is owned by THOR.

[CGXterra]

We have a CC 36ckts. We love it. It's a big sucker at 40' overall, but it rides like a dream behind the Ram. Minor electrical problem that was fixed via email by the folks at the warranty department. We looked at the silver backs but ended up going with the regular CC. This is our 2nd forest river camper and we love it.

[Allworth]

The one your wife likes best!

[Ronandpat]

I have had 2 Ceder Creek Silverbacks. The first was a 2005 in which we were in 48 states and 50000 miles. The only problem we really experienced other than normal maintenance was a bad gear in the right landing gear. The second is a 2011 Silverback 29rl. The only problem was a squeaky floor in the bedroom. Never found the problem but it has resolved itself. The only other problem was a blowout of a cheap China bomb that was on the unit from the factory.

I would buy another Silverback if I were in the market for one.

[ours]

Thanks to everyone for their information about the Cedar Creek or the Montana. Now, we are at the Cedar Creek however, what are the thoughts about the Silverback models. Should we seriously look at these or at the regular Cedar Creeks. We are retiring this Spring and plan to travel from AZ to the East coast and where-ever we want. What are your thoughts. Thanks.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

ours wrote:
Please let me know the details about the Montana and the Cedar Creek 5th wheels. We are looking to purchase a 5th wheel and have so many positives and negatives about each we really do not know which is built the best to last. This is our first one. We own a travel trailer presently and love the experience but are ready to move up.
Thanks

Unless an owner has had both - within a *current* time frame....

The Montana owners will say: MONTANA!..:C

The Cedar Creek owners will say - you guessed it: CEDAR CREEK!..:C

The rest of us (unless "we" have also owned each) are probably clueless as to which is best..:@

So - - suggest you visit owner's forums and/or yahoo groups for each and see what each has to say.

BTW - But, don't expect to see the comparisons (there) you are looking for!

That's up to....*YOU* !!..;)

~

[hone_eagle]

MC9 wrote:
Warren Buffett owns Forest River. That's good enough for me.

I hear he is dynamite with a staple gun:W

[jrs1871]

We are on our second Cedar Creek. The first was a 2004 that we traded in 2013 on our current Creek. The only problem we had with it was that the axles were misaligned. That was when Lippert had axle problems and many were being replaced. After determining that our axles were not bad, FR paid to have them aligned. End of problem. We also had them vent our microwave (at no cost). We went back to the factory with our durrent Creek for a few warranty matters. Awning fabric was crooked causing stress when retracting, microwave was not vented and it was shipped with a conventional oven instead of the under stove top storage that we had ordered. All items, and a couple of other minor things that we didn't consider to be a warranty issue, were taken care of promptly.

This August we went to the FROG (Forest River Owners Group) rally. There were over 500 various typed of FR rigs there. Before we went we sent in our service request. All of the things on our list were taken care of by factory techs at no cost. They even replaced our convection/microwave at no cost. I personally saw them working on rigs that were long past any warranty period. Most things were taken care of at no cost altho in a few instances there may have been a small charge for parts.
Three members of our CCRVOC had extensive repairs, caused by suspension problems, that would have ranged from $5,000 to $8,000 done at no cost to them. The scuttlebutt going around the fair grounds was that FR put out $100,000+, not counting factory tech time that was paid while they were at the rally, in repairs during the rally, or back at the factories if repairs couldn't be completed at the rally, at no cost to the owners.

If this doesn't make you lean strongly to a Creek, I don't know what else I can say. They are a well built, attractive unit with excellent factory support. And as SandsOrrell said, the CCRVOC is an added bennefit. A great club.