Which 5th Wheel Camper? - Recommendations?
My wife and I are looking at getting a 5th wheel camper sometimes in the not too distant future. I am 69 years old and retired and she is 59 and will be retiring in January. Earlier in our lives whe...
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dslc6487 wrote:
My wife and I are looking at getting a 5th wheel camper sometimes in the not too distant future. I am 69 years old and retired and she is 59 and will be retiring in January. Earlier in our lives when our daughters were younger, we had a nice pop up by coleman and we really enjoyed camping a lot. The girls finally wanted to spend more time "primping and smelling good" than they did camping, so we sold the pop up. Got busy with our careers, but the thought of camping has always been with us. We have some friends that have motorhomes, but I don't think I really want to go that route. Don't want to have to keep up the engine, transmission and drive train of two vehicles, as I would have to tow a rider vehicle. So, we are looking at a 5th wheel. Just looking for some comments and advice. What brands to stay away from, which are a good deal? Any advice on floor plans and size? Also, I doubt we will be buying a new one. Will probably be looking at later model used ones. Will probably pull with Chevy Duramax or Ford F250. Any advice that you can share with me will be greatly appreciated.
Frank Gibbs
Gordon, Ga.
Retired Engineer
Highly decorated, disabled, combat veteran of Vietnam War
Frank, I won't coach you on your choice of FW, other than to find the floorplan that you like and watch your weights to be sure you have enough truck to CARRY (not TOW) that FW. As far as trucks go, the 2006/2007 Duramax's are very desirable. The engines are pretty much identical and have no pollution control b.s. on them. The '07 model has quite a bit more h.p. than the '06 (nearly 100 more than my '02 D'max) but you have to remember that that h.p. doesn't come free; you still have to "feed the beast". :-) A lot of guys like the '06 since the payload is nearly the same but it tends to be a bit more economical. You =can= run a programmer and make up the difference since the computers, engine and turbo are virtually identical (or so I've been told on a couple different diesel fora). If you want something newer, I'd encourage you to stay away from the trucks that use the particulate filter (DPF) system and either go with the older models that don't have anything, or go to one that has the DEF system. You will have more payload the newer you go, too.
Lyle
