is there any way to determine usage of a fifth wheel?
We are buying a 2006 fifth wheel and would like to know if theres any way to figure out how much it has been used. Anyone know?
Forum Discussion
Doesn't matter if anyone ever stepped foot inside the camper or not. A 2006 model will be 10 years old. That's 10 years exposure on the roof. 10 years of constant heat and cooling and cold and hot inside, causing the floor, carpets, walls, wood, plastics, to all expand and contract at different rates over a 10 year span, causing staples, nails, and screws to give and wiggle and even work their way out (if no one EVER set foot inside).
Linoleum floor may turn at the edges, glued trim may begin to come off. Lots can happen, even if never used. If never used, the tires will probably be dry rotted, who knows what else, rubber and plastic water lines, anything.
But a camper that's used is usually maintained as well. Parts are replaced, items are fixed when things happen, rubber is flexed. In other words, usage is a good thing.
An RV is NOT like an automobile when you think in terms of "how much was it used?" You can look at the odometer and get a good feel for how long the engine ran, and how many miles it has on it.
A camper can also be "used" in a number of ways. It an be towed a million miles and it can sit on the same spot for 10 years and never move.
The best you can do when it comes to a "used" 10 year camper is to assume EVERYTHING is broken, bad, kaput! And then item by item check it off when it's proven it works, its functional, it's good. Assume NOTHING is good and prove it is.
Usage? we keep our refrigerator on 24x7x365 (except on rare occasions and in the coldest months of the winter). It sits in our drive way and we "use" it much more at home (traveling nowhere) than on the road. So, in a sense, there are 2 types of "usages"... on the road and sitting? So it's almost impossible to tell how much a camper has been "used?" You can only determine what works.
Linoleum floor may turn at the edges, glued trim may begin to come off. Lots can happen, even if never used. If never used, the tires will probably be dry rotted, who knows what else, rubber and plastic water lines, anything.
But a camper that's used is usually maintained as well. Parts are replaced, items are fixed when things happen, rubber is flexed. In other words, usage is a good thing.
An RV is NOT like an automobile when you think in terms of "how much was it used?" You can look at the odometer and get a good feel for how long the engine ran, and how many miles it has on it.
A camper can also be "used" in a number of ways. It an be towed a million miles and it can sit on the same spot for 10 years and never move.
The best you can do when it comes to a "used" 10 year camper is to assume EVERYTHING is broken, bad, kaput! And then item by item check it off when it's proven it works, its functional, it's good. Assume NOTHING is good and prove it is.
Usage? we keep our refrigerator on 24x7x365 (except on rare occasions and in the coldest months of the winter). It sits in our drive way and we "use" it much more at home (traveling nowhere) than on the road. So, in a sense, there are 2 types of "usages"... on the road and sitting? So it's almost impossible to tell how much a camper has been "used?" You can only determine what works.
