16 foot vs 18 foot fifth wheel trailer?

jegarner wrote:
New RV'er in need of advice. I'm trying to decide between a 16 foot and an 18 foot fifth wheel trailer (technically it's actually a gooseneck).

I'm going to be RV'ing full time in it and would like it to be compact enough that I'll be able to stay at most campgrounds, not just RV parks.

My tow vehicle is a 22 foot long Ford F350 crew cab long bed truck.

I've read that some campgrounds have 40 foot limits for tow vehicle length + RV, so the 16 footer would be the safer bet there. With the 18 footer the RV would have to be basically hitting the truck to get it to fit under 40 feet.

On the other hand, I don't want to skimp on space since this is going to be my home full time.

Any thoughts and wisdom on this decision?

The Scamp FW is 19' and the Escape 5.0TA is 21'2". I wouldn't consider full-timing in either one, even alone. Frankly, for something that small, you'd be much better off with a bumper pull and using the back of your truck for storage of stuff that won't fit in the trailer. You're good to go in virtually any state or national park with anything < 25-27', IMO. FWIW, I wouldn't want to FT in my current FW, which is 29'3" OAL and about 26' interior length, even solo.

Lyle