I need a large 5th wheel but am I looking too large?

redhooker wrote:
We full-timed for three years with two boys and a 50 pound dog. I will advise you on what we found worked for us, perhaps it can better prepare you for your journey.

I would only consider a toy hauler, a bunkhouse would be my second choice. Toy haulers are unbeatable when it came to packing up large items quickly such as bikes, outdoor furniture, and other things full timers with kids accumulate. I would want a trailer in the 40 to 43 foot range. Triple axle, with at least 3 to 4000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity.

A bath and a half would be fantastic, I don’t know that we would’ve needed 2 showers with only one hot water heater. Which brings up my next item, at least a 10 gallon water heater.

With two bathrooms I would also like to mention that I would definitely prefer a single sewer outlet.
I would want a East/West bed in a slide out, with the large front closet for full-time use.
I would opt for no dinette. Maximum seating with the TV in a great position to watch.
I would prefer the washer/dryer be somewhere other than the master bedroom. We were running clothes constantly at night and I preferred to not listen to the machine when I sleep.
We live in Florida, so for full-time a residential fridge would be ideal. In the summer there is no RV freezer that will keep ice cream cold enough for our taste. The ice maker is also a blessing.

You can modify the top bunk on a Happijac to (2) twin beds in a North/South configuration. Just build a new longer deck. Ependydad on the Forest River forum did the same thing. Alternatively, one can sleep in the loft. The important thing is to have designated sleeping spaces that do not need to be taken apart and put together on a daily basis. The toy hauler allowed us to put 2 dressers in the garage for the boys to keep their clothes in. This was actually a huge feature for us.

Good luck on your search and I hope one or two of our suggestions might be of help.

Hey, that's me. :) I largely agree with what redhooker said with a couple of caveats.

First, here's a tour of our garage. The kids share a sleeping space but I did do the north/south beds on the Happijac lift (write-up and video):
https://learntorv.com/toy-hauler-kids-room/


Second, I DO NOT recommend the use of lofts as sleeping areas unless they have 2 ways of getting in/out (such as: entry + emergency exit). Those with just 1 can be death sentences in the event of an emergency.

Third, I've had the washer/dryer in the master bedroom and now back in the garage. Honestly, I couldn't care less where it is. It never intruded on our sleep.

The absolute most important part of fulltiming is the cargo carrying capacity. A 50' rig with only a 21,000 lbs. GVWR is going to have very minimal ability to carry cargo. My 43' toy hauler has 5,100 lbs. and that was unusually high from what we found. Add another 7' of RV and likely furniture/whatnot, you're going to eat into that. Our 42' bunkhouse had 3,500 lbs and I was happy with that. Friends are in a 40' mid-bunk model and have under 2,000 lbs.

I've buckled the frame of a camper from being overloaded. I won't overload my rig again and strongly suggest no one else does.

My second biggest advice, really focus on your needs. I hear you say you want 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. There's a Voltage toy hauler that has something like that. But honestly, if someone needs some space- a Clam Screen Shelter setup outside is an easy way to get that. If you need 2 people showering at the same time, there are bath houses. (Though, ironically- a bath and a half are a requirement for us; I don't like my disgusting kids and guests using my bathroom regularly.)

khtims75 wrote:


So I am also looking at resell value. If this isn't made well then full time use will tear it up! I want something that will be more likely to be worth more later if that's possible.

This made me lol a bit. RV's don't appreciate.

redhooker wrote:
We full-timed for three years with two boys and a 50 pound dog. I will advise you on what we found worked for us, perhaps it can better prepare you for your journey.

I would only consider a toy hauler, a bunkhouse would be my second choice. Toy haulers are unbeatable when it came to packing up large items quickly such as bikes, outdoor furniture, and other things full timers with kids accumulate. I would want a trailer in the 40 to 43 foot range. Triple axle, with at least 3 to 4000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity.

A bath and a half would be fantastic, I don’t know that we would’ve needed 2 showers with only one hot water heater. Which brings up my next item, at least a 10 gallon water heater.

With two bathrooms I would also like to mention that I would definitely prefer a single sewer outlet.
I would want a East/West bed in a slide out, with the large front closet for full-time use.
I would opt for no dinette. Maximum seating with the TV in a great position to watch.
I would prefer the washer/dryer be somewhere other than the master bedroom. We were running clothes constantly at night and I preferred to not listen to the machine when I sleep.
We live in Florida, so for full-time a residential fridge would be ideal. In the summer there is no RV freezer that will keep ice cream cold enough for our taste. The ice maker is also a blessing.

You can modify the top bunk on a Happijac to (2) twin beds in a North/South configuration. Just build a new longer deck. Ependydad on the Forest River forum did the same thing. Alternatively, one can sleep in the loft. The important thing is to have designated sleeping spaces that do not need to be taken apart and put together on a daily basis. The toy hauler allowed us to put 2 dressers in the garage for the boys to keep their clothes in. This was actually a huge feature for us.

Good luck on your search and I hope one or two of our suggestions might be of help.

Another thing I thought of when looking at some THs, was that you could have desk space under the garage bunks for doing school work. Alternative would be to have a let-down bed to get the beds down out of the heat near the ceiling. Also, it wouldn't be hard to put together a wall to divide the garage into 2 separate rooms.

Lyle

We full-timed for three years with two boys and a 50 pound dog. I will advise you on what we found worked for us, perhaps it can better prepare you for your journey.

I would only consider a toy hauler, a bunkhouse would be my second choice. Toy haulers are unbeatable when it came to packing up large items quickly such as bikes, outdoor furniture, and other things full timers with kids accumulate. I would want a trailer in the 40 to 43 foot range. Triple axle, with at least 3 to 4000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity.

A bath and a half would be fantastic, I don’t know that we would’ve needed 2 showers with only one hot water heater. Which brings up my next item, at least a 10 gallon water heater.

With two bathrooms I would also like to mention that I would definitely prefer a single sewer outlet.
I would want a East/West bed in a slide out, with the large front closet for full-time use.
I would opt for no dinette. Maximum seating with the TV in a great position to watch.
I would prefer the washer/dryer be somewhere other than the master bedroom. We were running clothes constantly at night and I preferred to not listen to the machine when I sleep.
We live in Florida, so for full-time a residential fridge would be ideal. In the summer there is no RV freezer that will keep ice cream cold enough for our taste. The ice maker is also a blessing.

You can modify the top bunk on a Happijac to (2) twin beds in a North/South configuration. Just build a new longer deck. Ependydad on the Forest River forum did the same thing. Alternatively, one can sleep in the loft. The important thing is to have designated sleeping spaces that do not need to be taken apart and put together on a daily basis. The toy hauler allowed us to put 2 dressers in the garage for the boys to keep their clothes in. This was actually a huge feature for us.

Good luck on your search and I hope one or two of our suggestions might be of help.

One more thing to consider is where your " full time " domicile will be . You need to check on drivers license requirement for the state you will show as home. I say this as my state when you go over 26000 lbs combined gvwr you need to get the A non-CDL
.

Length in AZ is 65' from front bumper to center of rear axle. OAL length is 75' as you are allowed 10' of "overhang" from the rear axle.

IMO, the OP needs a medium duty truck, like an M2 Freightliner, or larger, if he wants to get into a FW that large. Frankly, I'd say he needs to get 2 rigs and let the 16 y.o. tow a small TT with a half-ton and a larger FW for he and the wife. :B

Lyle

schlep1967 wrote:
Do yourself a favor and find and visit an RV show. Look at many units and eventually you will find what you are looking for.

Exactly. I went to a show convinced I wanted a toy hauler travel trailer (bumper pull), and wound up buying a bunkhouse.

Do yourself a favor and find and visit an RV show. Look at many units and eventually you will find what you are looking for.

twodownzero wrote:
65' seems like a common total length limit. The 42' toy haulers I've seen are huge, I can only imagine the 47' ones are absolute monsters. With a few slides, a 42 footer is a lot of 5th wheel.

Yes, the general rule I figured from this thread I started is that for my needs anything over 44 feet is too large. There were a lot of excellent responses that I had never considered and now we're looking at a nice Grand Design Toy hauler and doing what many people suggested and make the space work for the boys. It looks like we are going in this direction now so I can stay with the F350 and have a reasonably sized fifth wheel instead of an enormous one that will be too difficult to work with. I'm glad I posted this.