way2roll wrote:
All very helpful answers so far. I should mention that with a Class A we always tow a car. The difference to me is that my tow bars allow the toad to track exactly the same as the MH. If I understand the fiver tracks like any trailer - at a different radius in turns. So it seems more caution, thus my question about filling stations etc. I'm pretty adept at maneuvering my MH with a car, I am intimidated with a fiver but the point about the ability to back up is a valid one.
The other major concern is what others stated. In any MH we had there was always the luxury of passengers using the bathroom, making food, heck my son would lay in bed and watch TV, my wife took a shower going down the road on more than one occasion. All the comforts of a rolling apartment (with necessary precautions - not looking for a flaming). Setting up in the rain is super easy in a MH, pull in, level, slides out, and plug in when the rain stops.
The main reasons for looking at a fiver is living space and budget. While a Class A is about the same price as a truck and a fiver combo (in my budget anyway) it seems financially more responsible to buy a fiver and a truck that has much more usability in every day life than a derivable RV. That truck can be used every day and be far more valuable in 10 years than a motorized RV (depreciation respective). And current state of affairs, I can get a real good deal on a truck and spend less on the fiver. No one is really slashing prices on Class A's. I should also mention that my 07 F150 with 250k miles is getting long in the tooth. It won't be long until I need a new(er) truck anyway.
If the fiver sits for weeks at a time and I am still using the truck, seems less of a concern than a more expensive motorized RV sitting - engine and all.
But our nature of travel lends itself to a Class A. Long drive days and stays of only a few days or a week at a time. More nomadic than staying put for long periods.
Ok that was a lot, brain dump.
I had a RV salesman tell me once the for(you called it) nomadic use a MH did well, and if you are going to sit a lot then a 5th wheel is better.
We full timed almost for two years in our 39'4" 5th wheel making two round trips to Arizona from the NW with events taken in along the routes. Google Earth works well to plan a route in and out of a service station. I hate truck stops, fuel prices are higher, and they tend to be messy. Gas buddy works well, and our truck will find fuel prices on the 8.4" display.
We towed with our 2015 RAM 3500 4x4 CC SB SRW truck, and made our weights because the 5th wheel we choose had a lighter dry pin weight of 2435 lbs. Start with a dry pin of 3000+/- and you are in dually arena. Now the 5th wheel is our summer home and stays in our NW membership park and we had a metal roof installed on it. Not something that very many do with a MH.
Our first two years with both being retired we did extended fall trips in Western states. In 2008-2009 winter we did our first winter in a snowbird park in the East Phoenix valley area. And have returned each winter since then.
Three years ago we build a custom Park model with Arizona room. Two baths, bonus computer room with murphy bed for guest. 875 sq ft plus a 9x12 man cave, two decks and a back corner 5.5x6 storage room. Second bath has W/D. We now spend 7 months in Arizona and bought a little Laredo bumper pull to commute back and forth, and do sight seeing side trips. It is also our summer guest house, as we have two lots across the street for one another at our NW park.
Life is good. We enjoy are friends at each end and all the activities in the snowbird park. We have golf carts at each end. Life is what one makes it, last summer every Wednesday I did a Habitat for Humanity "Military Veterans Group" build on a home. Great bunch of guys and war stories.
I asked my parents years ago why they kept going back to Yuma each winter. Their answer was to see the friends they met the first winter!
