40 ft. 5th wheel

We have a 37 Ft 5th wheel 40 Ft on order. You will find some older state and fed campgrounds may not have long enough sites. But there are many more that do. Never had an issue with length in private parks. Now the issues other then length is the road width. It may take a little more time and patience backing in. Our new rig is 101" wide with 4 slides so I will also check site width.

TXiceman - I agree that can be helpful to have. But planning routes also can help a lot. I try to stick to US or state routes as they have some requirements for notification of lower then 14'6" clearances, most county roads too. I also have no problem calling local campgrounds to check if there are any known low clearance areas to worry about since the 5th wheel is nearly 7" taller then my old bus was.

I have not had too many issues getting to campsites this way, but have been considering a trucker/RV gps in the future. So far the only issue I had was parking in my normal storage area. The tree was trimmed for the bus to get under it, but the 5er being taller actually snagged a branch and bent the antenna. Thankfully that has been my only clearance issue to date.

One other issue with a 40' RV is the height. I would advise that you get a GPS that is designed for RV or truck use. CW sells one or you can go to Garmin for one. On my Garmin, you put ins a length, a weight and type RV and it will route you so that you avoid low clearances and other RV headaches.

Ken

Yes, we have had problems when we first got our 40 footer. However, we have learned to plan ahead a bit better. To me a 35 footer is the same amount of pain with gas stations, parking lots, etc. A 40 footer is also entertainment for other campers as they will set out lawn chairs to watch you try to squeeze the behemoth into your camp site. I'm actually OK with having 10 or 15 neighbors help to guide me in.

We have had no issues with our 40 footer when it comes to finding a site BUT getting there is a hassle. We can only get fuel at truck stops or big fuel stations. We can't get into many restaurants to eat...... so on and so on. Every trip we do is planned pretty carefully and we know ahead of time all of our stops. We would like to downsize to a 30 foot or so fifth wheel in the future.

You may also find spots a little harder to find in more hilly/mountainous areas. We have been in some state parks where the campground road is the center of the "ridge" and back of the sites drop off dramatically. Google Earth can be helpful in checking out site accessibility.

If we are unsure when making a reservation we tell them we are 40 foot long and 13 feet 3 inches high with 4 slides. we have not had a problem.

We're 39'8", so I'm close. I have more problems with low branches than my length. We're in a Corps park right now. No problem finding a pad.

As you know, the reason many folks have MDTs and HDTs, is due to he trailers they tow - *long* & heavy.

Escapees forums have both an MDT and HDT forum.

One of the features of the HDT forum is the Resource Guide.

A section of the Guide is a campground directory with campgrounds the forum members have visited - and is continuously updated.

"Campgrounds for Heavy Trucks and 5th Wheels over 60 feet".

It can be found here - HHRV Campgrounds


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There will be some New York State Parks that you will not be able to get into. We are able to find some sites for our 35 footer and many parks will handle a 40 footer but they are limited. I told DW that if we get a longer 5er we may have to do more private CGs. The difficulty that we have here in New York is that Reserve America handles all of the reservations and there is no one to call to see if we can get into a site before we book it. Therefore, we keep a log of all the State Parks we go to so we can book specific sites.