Grand Design (Solitude 310GK) vs Keystone (Montana 3121RL)

[DieselDevilDog]

And one Marine to another (70-73), Semper Fi!

Semper Fi (65' - 74') operation phoenix

[DieselDevilDog]

After owning a Challenger by Keystone, I will never, ever own a Keystone product again. Poor build, poor design, poor service.

Thanks for that .

[Markb777]

[QUOTE=DieselDevilDog;244385]
But now, we are looking at 5th Wheels and I have been checking out the Montana's also.
It appears that they have a few more items than the Solitude.
The Montana 3121RL vs Solitude 310GK are identical floorplans.

I compared the same models as you are with the addition of one more. The differences that made the decision easy for me were:

1. The Grand Design reputation
2. No floor heat registers in the Solitude. I cannot imagine the "stuff" that will eventually fall into them.
3. Larger fresh and waste tanks
4. Wider body and lots of windows

By calling many dealers I was finally able to locate one with both models on the lot. Walked into the Montana first then the Solitude.
Took all of 3 seconds to realize the Solitude was in a class by itself and I have been very happy with the decision.
Good luck and have fun.

Mark

[JCZhome]

I've posted on several fb groups that are looking at Montana 5th wheels and Grand Design 5th wheels that Montana isn't even in the same league as GD. Mark all four of the things you listed are all huge! Nothing minor about any of them!

[SF-SGM]

Now don't get all crazy....................I have been saving for quite some time.
We used to have an Imagine 2800BH and Grand Design took care of us really well.

But now, we are looking at 5th Wheels and I have been checking out the Montana's also.
It appears that they have a few more items than the Solitude.
The Montana 3121RL vs Solitude 310GK are identical floorplans.

We are going to spend a lot of money and I just want or try to do the right thing.
I realize that with all the rattling around, things become loose and items break.
That's ok, but which builder has the better product. I can't make a good decision.......................................... ................let the games begin.

If for no other reason at all (but there were several others), we didn't buy a Montana because my wife is too short to reach the cabinets.

[dave041]

I owned a 2016 Montana. Even before I took it home from Camping World the kitchen slide, broken gear teeth. They fixed it while we went to lunch. Took it home and the teeth chattered and they broke again. Took it back to CW, took almost 5 months to get it back. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong!! It finally got fixed. Six months of ownership with 5 months in the so called service facility. I did like the MORyde suspension and the pinbox. Really smoothed out the ride!
I sold the trailer because I was so angry with the service!!
I then bought a 2016 Solitude. On my first trip the seals on the axels failed and I nursed it back to the Dealer. They fixed the problem with the seals and had to replace the brakes as well. It was in the shop about 30 days. Next I had a broken leaf spring. The Solitude was a 384GK. 16,500 GVW. Funny thing is It has two 7,000 lb.. axels and pot-metal leaf springs. While Grand Design is good at fixing things, why don’t they put better quality parts on the units in the first place?
Both my Montana and Solitude failures were Lippert Parts!! My experience is that GD builds a slightly better coach than most 5th wheel makers but they hold the cost down by using cheaply made Chinese parts. If you don’t believe that, go to a rally and see how many people “upgrading” the suspension, brakes and tires. On one or 2 year old units.

[jyork08854]

GD won't sell you parts directly. You have to go to a dealer. But twice they shipped replacement parts directly to me for small warrany repairs.

[Tim340]

I owned a 2015 Keystone Cougar, which admittedly is not in the same class as Montana. But when shopping for the 5th wheel we eventually purchased, we looked closely at the Montana and were disappointed to see evidence of the same poor build quality and quality control that we experienced first hand with our Cougar. Loved the Keystone Montana floor plans, but the construction details make all the difference. It came down to Jayco Pinnacle or GD 310GK. Obviously we went with the 310GK, and we haven’t regretted it for a second.

[recono]

At this price point nothing compares to a Solitude. Add disc brakes & Morryde IS & nothing in this class of RV compares, unless you want to spend $50-$60 thousand more. Just an opinion!

[Tom&Trish]

I suggest going to Elkhart and taking a factory tour of both plants. We did and as a retired manufacturing Engineer we where very impressed with the Grand Design factory. There is a very nice KOA just down the street! Amish food is great!!

We toured the factory and bought a 2020 Reflection 303RL.

Thor products, Jayco, Montana and pretty much everyone else are built their.

Take the factory tour challenge and I bet you will buy a Grand Design Product!