Full timer Class A v. 5er thoughts

Over the last few years I've had the opportunity to see a lot of situations with motorhomes, fifth wheels and TT arriving and departing an RV park at near the same times.

To be brutally honest - I've never seen any 5er take less time to setup or unhook in a normal situation as fast as a MH.

It's really related to the exterior storage methods of the various designs. (Us TT folks are always at it the longest period of time).

MH folks are more likely to have reels for electricity, permanently connected fresh water hoses - either reel or curled hoses, and macerators with those small hoses.

Class C's won't have those in most cases.

Some 5ers do.

If you have to pull out the electric cord and connect it to the trailer, you are going to be slower than someone with a reel. If you have to get out the water hose and connect it to the trailer, you are going to be slower than someone with that hookup already done. The same with sewer. A macerator really speeds up the unhook process.

What the speed of hooking up/ unhooking means to the 'full timer' is zip point zero.

It would be very useful to be fast in a caravan situation - but setting up once every four to fourteen days and unhooking isn't about speed. It's about being complete - not missing anything.

There practice makes perfect. Folks who do it consistently know what to do, what order to do it in, where everything is located, where it goes before travel.

If someone gets in a race to be first - they are going to miss something.

valhalla360 wrote:


I must be doing it wrong because on the rare occasions when we are just doing a quick overnight on a pull thru, we have skipped unhooking and survived. But making no real effort to be fast about it, we are typically in a site and set up before the MH's with toads that are in line at the office checking in at the same time.

I sure can't see how your going to be quicker. On a pullthru site for overnighting without having to unhook the towed, I pull in deploy the slides and hit the air level and done. With the electrical chord and waterhose on reels, she's mighty quick and simple.

If we don't need electric and water we don't even have to get out of coach, plus we have the added benefit of being level.

nbargolf wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

JimM68 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Assuming you have a TOAD, it really is a myth that you can pack up and set up faster with a MH.

Making a sandwich without stopping is the biggest advantage to a MH but when full timing are you really in that much of a rush?

I hate it when I just feel the need to jump ahead while reading a thread, but...

It is a freaking myth. I do not have to disconnect my toad to setup my motorhome (in a pull thru site) (and yes, fivers always have to disconnect to level). In a backin site, yes we disconnect, but I dare anyone in a fiver to get setup faster.

We did a west coast vacation with a friend in a fiver. He is a class five trucker and drives a dumptruck for a living. EVERY stop, I'd not only be setup faster, I'd be under my awning, in my lawnchair, drinking my margarita WITH ONE MADE FOR HIM! before he had that fiver unhooked, plugged in and levelled.

There is a lot to be said about the nice-ness of a big modern fiver, but ease and speed of hookup is not on that list.

I must be doing it wrong because on the rare occasions when we are just doing a quick overnight on a pull thru, we have skipped unhooking and survived. But making no real effort to be fast about it, we are typically in a site and set up before the MH's with toads that are in line at the office checking in at the same time.

Comparing how a different person sets up thier rig is a false comparison. We often camp with my sister and while we are typically set up and relaxed in about 15 minutes, they take a couple hours. It's not because they have a travel trailer vs us with a 5th wheel. They just set up slower and are much more persnickity about it.Of course we set up far more frequently then they do and we don't set up an encampment either.

It's far more about the individual than the equipement. For a similarly equiped unit, there is little if any difference.

Can't say about a 5er so not disagreeing, I can disconnect the toad in 5 minutes or less, auto level, slides out, hookups, automatic awning in less than 5, then nothing left but to setup the chairs. When doing a one night pull through stop, auto level, slides out, hookup, done.

We don't have the auto everything (they do make them for 5th wheels but we are young and cheap). If it was just back in, disconnect and hit the button...maybe 6 minutes ;)

valhalla360 wrote:

JimM68 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Assuming you have a TOAD, it really is a myth that you can pack up and set up faster with a MH.

Making a sandwich without stopping is the biggest advantage to a MH but when full timing are you really in that much of a rush?

I hate it when I just feel the need to jump ahead while reading a thread, but...

It is a freaking myth. I do not have to disconnect my toad to setup my motorhome (in a pull thru site) (and yes, fivers always have to disconnect to level). In a backin site, yes we disconnect, but I dare anyone in a fiver to get setup faster.

We did a west coast vacation with a friend in a fiver. He is a class five trucker and drives a dumptruck for a living. EVERY stop, I'd not only be setup faster, I'd be under my awning, in my lawnchair, drinking my margarita WITH ONE MADE FOR HIM! before he had that fiver unhooked, plugged in and levelled.

There is a lot to be said about the nice-ness of a big modern fiver, but ease and speed of hookup is not on that list.

I must be doing it wrong because on the rare occasions when we are just doing a quick overnight on a pull thru, we have skipped unhooking and survived. But making no real effort to be fast about it, we are typically in a site and set up before the MH's with toads that are in line at the office checking in at the same time.

Comparing how a different person sets up thier rig is a false comparison. We often camp with my sister and while we are typically set up and relaxed in about 15 minutes, they take a couple hours. It's not because they have a travel trailer vs us with a 5th wheel. They just set up slower and are much more persnickity about it.Of course we set up far more frequently then they do and we don't set up an encampment either.

It's far more about the individual than the equipement. For a similarly equiped unit, there is little if any difference.

Can't say about a 5er so not disagreeing, I can disconnect the toad in 5 minutes or less, auto level, slides out, hookups, automatic awning in less than 5, then nothing left but to setup the chairs. When doing a one night pull through stop, auto level, slides out, hookup, done.

According to the specs I have read MH have much more storage than 5er's.
I know our MH is only about 60% full. We ever have a medium size freezer in one of the outside areas. We love being able to move around when on the road and having a economic car 28 mpg vs 8 to drive when we setup. but there are 5er people and MH people both love their rigs. SO it's a personal choice go with what suits your life style.

JimM68 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Assuming you have a TOAD, it really is a myth that you can pack up and set up faster with a MH.

Making a sandwich without stopping is the biggest advantage to a MH but when full timing are you really in that much of a rush?

I hate it when I just feel the need to jump ahead while reading a thread, but...

It is a freaking myth. I do not have to disconnect my toad to setup my motorhome (in a pull thru site) (and yes, fivers always have to disconnect to level). In a backin site, yes we disconnect, but I dare anyone in a fiver to get setup faster.

We did a west coast vacation with a friend in a fiver. He is a class five trucker and drives a dumptruck for a living. EVERY stop, I'd not only be setup faster, I'd be under my awning, in my lawnchair, drinking my margarita WITH ONE MADE FOR HIM! before he had that fiver unhooked, plugged in and levelled.

There is a lot to be said about the nice-ness of a big modern fiver, but ease and speed of hookup is not on that list.

I must be doing it wrong because on the rare occasions when we are just doing a quick overnight on a pull thru, we have skipped unhooking and survived. But making no real effort to be fast about it, we are typically in a site and set up before the MH's with toads that are in line at the office checking in at the same time.

Comparing how a different person sets up thier rig is a false comparison. We often camp with my sister and while we are typically set up and relaxed in about 15 minutes, they take a couple hours. It's not because they have a travel trailer vs us with a 5th wheel. They just set up slower and are much more persnickity about it.Of course we set up far more frequently then they do and we don't set up an encampment either.

It's far more about the individual than the equipement. For a similarly equiped unit, there is little if any difference.

They are both nice to have, it's more of a personal preference than one is better than the other. I still think it's quicker to set up a well equipped DP than a 5'er (we have had both). Chords and hoses on reels, are quicker. We can pull into campground and if we know it's a back in site, I'll unhook toad while DW checks in. Park the motorhome deploy slides hit the level button, reel out the chords and hose and your set. Pull thru's for overnighting are even easier.

That said, the fact that it's a little quicker is no big deal, don't need a cool one that badly or quickly. Get what works for you and what you like.

There is no wrong or right, nor is one substantially better than the other. They both provide the shelter and comfort your after.

There are pros and cons to both, for traveling we prefer the DP over a 5'er. Once set up it's personal choice. No right or wrong.

DianneOK wrote:
We fulltimed for nine years and had more than enough storage in our 39' fiver and FL60. We even had empty cabinets.

We are still 365 traveling fulltimers after 13 years. A couple of years ago we actually downsized from a 31' to a 29' 5'er. We still have empty space and we don't have anything in storage anywhere. I don't think anyone could argue that an equivalent length MH doesn't have more storage. I WOULD argue that there is less usable interior space in the MH. As someone else mentioned, getting rid of "stuff" was one of the many reasons we decided to go FT.

As to length of time to set up, I didn't realize there was a contest. We've been out here all this time to relax and enjoy life and we've been doing a bodacious job of doing just that!

We are getting ready to move from our MH to a DRV fifth wheel.

Reason?

Well we are tired of living in a rectangle that feels like a rectangle. The MH works nice and is all well and good but walk around a larger / New DRV unit and its like living in a house. Motor homes just can't compete on the layouts, ceiling heights and the feel / separation of rooms you rarely see in a MH.

Storage? My MH has more storage. More CCC. Hands down its a down grade. The Fiver has more internal storage though which off sets much of that and IF you make proper use of the underneath I think they are mostly a wash with much of the MH area being difficult to properly use without playing a serious game of tetris and or being a PIA to get stuff. Regardless most of our bottom storage is stuffed with junk or empty.

Getting stuff in motion? I don't since I'm the driver. So it affects me absolutely in zero fashion. Wife is ok with it since a small cooler fixes most of our needs and we stop fairly often anyway for wee breaks.

Towed vehicle vs large truck. Something you have to work through. We have other vehicles at our locations so not a big issue for us and if we are traveling outside of that we use the opportunity to park a little further out and walk off the extra 10 calories.

Hooking up? About the same******really these days. Anyone that says otherwise is doing it wrong.

Driving? If you never backed up a trailer / fifth then there is a learning curve. Not a big deal but if you can't learn new things or are adverse to that then it could be an issue. Something easily solved with a day in a empty parking lot.

Stigma? We've been asked why we are "downgrading" from a Class A to a Fifth wheel. Fortunately we couldn't care less about that "status" but I'm certain its real in the minds of people that care about that sort of thing.


All the downsides are pretty easy to over come and the benefit of having a much nicer living situation which is what you use 90% of the time is well worth what you give up.

Unless you are on the road every single week which very very very very few of us are I would argue that the fiver should be on the list as an option.

We love our MH but will be glad this April when we trade it for a fifth wheel.

Excuse me? We could and did set up juat as fast as a mh with our fiver. On a level site it took less than five minutes to block the wheels, release the hitch, push a button to level and then unlock the door