Choosing 5th wheel for full-time, 4 season
My boyfriend and I are considering living in a 5th wheel full time in multiple climates. He is sick and sensitive to certain chemicals. We are hoping high quality will improve materials or we can swit...
Forum Discussion
As mentioned, .buying used ( several years old), should have allowed the chemicals of the adhesives “gas-off”.....which should help considerably! I’m not aware of any rv’s with copper piping for water lines. Hard piping (copper) is “very unforgiving” in cold weather use. If you experience a problem with heating the unit, the copper lines will quickly burst....whereas the “pex- type” plastic lines are much more forgiving!
4-season use! I guess it depends upon what temperature extremes you expect. There are a few brands/models designed for “true” 4-season full time use. But, most of these will be in excess of 10 years old and will be quite heavy....requiring a good tow vehicle. There several that offered -20 F guarantees....Teton Homes and Excel immediately come to mind. We’ve had Tetons since 1993, lived in one for two Wyoming winters seeing several -30 F mornings and many below zero mornings. We never froze a water or sewer line! We did minimal extra cold weather preventions.... primarily heat taping and insulating the water line from spigot to the camper. This would also require a spigot (heat traced and insulated down to the feed line) that is deep enough to prevent freezing (around here water lines are put in at 6 feet depth. And...this was a 1990 year model, windows ( the old louvered, crank-out design)and slide seals, etc. have improved since then. For extended use in cold weather you will need a large capacity propane tank, or you will be filling the RV bottles quite often.
For short term use in cold temps.....merely fill the water tanks from a local source, then drain and store your fill hose. We still winter camp (in our 2004 Teton) with water tanks filled.....the coldest being -20 F ( ice fishing trip) .
The big upside to buying one of these older units is that......they can be purchased for a fraction of the original price. This will leave you with lots of extra cash to do “specialized” modifications to fill your (boyfriends) needs. Obviously, when buying an older used unit, is to thoroughly inspect (perhaps by a professional) ......to make certain that there are no “hidden” major defects!
Another plus for the Teton Homes unit ( we are most familiar with) is the huge storage area....which is very beneficial for full timing use! Though, most of the larger, quality 5th wheels have pretty generous storage areas.
Good Luck in your quest! memtb
4-season use! I guess it depends upon what temperature extremes you expect. There are a few brands/models designed for “true” 4-season full time use. But, most of these will be in excess of 10 years old and will be quite heavy....requiring a good tow vehicle. There several that offered -20 F guarantees....Teton Homes and Excel immediately come to mind. We’ve had Tetons since 1993, lived in one for two Wyoming winters seeing several -30 F mornings and many below zero mornings. We never froze a water or sewer line! We did minimal extra cold weather preventions.... primarily heat taping and insulating the water line from spigot to the camper. This would also require a spigot (heat traced and insulated down to the feed line) that is deep enough to prevent freezing (around here water lines are put in at 6 feet depth. And...this was a 1990 year model, windows ( the old louvered, crank-out design)and slide seals, etc. have improved since then. For extended use in cold weather you will need a large capacity propane tank, or you will be filling the RV bottles quite often.
For short term use in cold temps.....merely fill the water tanks from a local source, then drain and store your fill hose. We still winter camp (in our 2004 Teton) with water tanks filled.....the coldest being -20 F ( ice fishing trip) .
The big upside to buying one of these older units is that......they can be purchased for a fraction of the original price. This will leave you with lots of extra cash to do “specialized” modifications to fill your (boyfriends) needs. Obviously, when buying an older used unit, is to thoroughly inspect (perhaps by a professional) ......to make certain that there are no “hidden” major defects!
Another plus for the Teton Homes unit ( we are most familiar with) is the huge storage area....which is very beneficial for full timing use! Though, most of the larger, quality 5th wheels have pretty generous storage areas.
Good Luck in your quest! memtb
