Class A vs 5th wheel

When I head down Fancy Gap, I am awfully glad to have a DP with air brakes and a transmission retarder. The tires, brakes, suspension, etc on a DP are far better than on my F-350 pulling the fiver. Plus, the DW can safely sleep enroute to our destination, something that was impossible before.

Depends on your needs but let me share my view point.

A 5th wheel requires a pick-up (sounds silly) but I have no use for such a vehicle. I live in a big city, use mass transit or my motorcycle and would not want to park a 4 door pick-up in my driveway (it's just too big). On a daily basis even empty these things are taking lots of gas.

The other think is the experience, we wanted with our 3 kids to travel accross north america and for this a class A has no subsitute, those huge big windows let you see the world.

Next is length and tow car. My maximum length was set at 32 feet because I camp in the national park (which usually do not allow more than 30 but will tolerate mine). Maneuverability is another thing, sound maybe weird but to me it's much easier driving a 32 feet rv in a cith than a huge 4 door pick-up with a 28 feet 5th wheel. As for atow vehicle I have no need for one, with the kind of trip I do the Hertz and Avis of this world will rent me a car for dirt cheap if I really need one.

If you enjoy the road the scenery and want it easy and simple the Class A is the way to go (at least for me)

I went from a TT to a small class C than a small class A and now a larger class A and do not miss the towing and hook up thing, We also enjoy being higher up and seeing things while driving that you can't see in a truck, also nights at Wal-Mart is so much better in a motorhome.

Each to there own, but driving in a motorhome is so cool.

We switched a year ago from a 30 ft 5er to a 33 ft gas MH. Can't get any easier than two buttons for setup. And with the larger FW tank, we don't even have to hook up the sewer or city water right away either (we always travel with full FW tank). And now we can tow our horse trailer too. No more borrowing the neighbors truck for horse camping.

We had a 33' 5th wheel for 8 years and we thought it was o.k. but we hated driving the diesel truck everywhere. We like driving backroads and mountains and couldn't even sneak up on animal critters. :)

Then someone introduced us to 4-wheeling and we fell in love with it. As full-timers, it was getting close to needing a new RV anyway so we switched to a Class A and got a Jeep. We have had more fun 4-wheeling over the past 9 years and have met up with fun groups doing it. We love driving the small vehicle everywhere rather than the truck and it takes us on those narrow roads where a wide truck can't go.

So I guess it all depends on your methods of RVing. Both are fine for us but the truck had to go! Good luck!!

My wife & I are right in the middle of this now. We've full-timed for the last 8 years in a 34' class A. However, my wife is a contract nurse & so we can be sitting in one spot for 3-9 months at a time. A 5th wheel would give us so much more living space than we have now, & they're more made for sitting vs. a class A which does better mechanically if it's not sitting for too long. The other thing we love about fifth wheels is that they look more like an apartment rather than a vehicle inside.The reason we're unsure as to what to do is simply the cost--we own the class A free-and-clear. A fifth wheel & truck would put us back in debt again, which is something that we swore we'd never do. If it were just a matter of buying a fifth wheel it wouldn't be so bad. But the added cost of having to buy a truck in decent condition adds a lot to the total cost. The mistake we made is the same one that so many others have made. The mistake was in having some time to kill one afternoon and deciding to kill the time by looking at some fifth wheels. Why is it that when you look at new stuff, it suddenly makes you less satisfied with the stuff you already have (lol)?!

My .02 cents.

My 2007 F350 Lariat CC PSD FX4 was over $50k (new purchase price), it's only purpose was to tow my toyhauler (another purchase). Obviously, both registered vehicles have to be insured. For me, it's more expensive to insure the F350 (excluding the toyhauler) than my Class A (see sig). Since my Jeep is not a DD, it doesn't cost that much to insure and I consider my Jeep a toy that just happens to be flat towable. The nod goes to Class A.

Registration \ DMV license - I believe my F350 was about $100\year more than my Class A to register. The nod goes to Class A.


Maintenance, my Class A uses the same motorcraft oil \ oil filter ($4 motorcraft) as my F150. The other maintenance items are equally as inexpensive. My F350 PSD takes about 15quarts of oil (Rotella) and a $20 oil filter (motorcraft) from Wally world. The nod goes to Class A.


My Class A and Toyhauler were\are tax deductions while the F350 was not. The nod goes to Class A.


Loading \ unloading Toyhauler takes hours and the living space has to be converted everytime. Class A, hitch up the night before (either toys on a trailer or the Jeep) and leave at first light if desired.
The nod goes to Class A.

Bottom line, a motorhome makes more sense for me than a trailer.

Dennis I've never owned a 5ver, I've driven one for a friend! I've owned a travel trailer 24' Roadranger in 1976. Owned a Class A (Winnebago) ever since! The wife and I looked at a Deluxe Estates top of the line, 5ver in Lake Havasu, City AZ. this past spring and we fell in love with it. IMHO a lot more roomier than our coach! The 5ver was $93,000.00 (same price we paid for our Winnebago when it was new), the only turn off for me was buying the diesel pick up truck! The one I liked was $75,000.00 and that was a deal breaker for me! If I owned a diesel pick up before hand, I would have done the deal and switched to a 5ver. I like 5vers!

I had a top of the line 5er an 03 Alpenlite 3 slide that we just sold on Friday. In the 9 years that we had it $$$$ spent on things we had to have (tires-batteries) maybe $1000 and another $1000 on TV and a few other things but when it comes to a MH a different story. So far the have to have (tires-batteries) about $5000 in 9mo with a total of almost $14k (switch the MotoStat to a Winegard Trav'ler 1000, getting the car ready to pull, switch the Not-So-Cold out for a Samsung 197 and the Magnum MS2812 inverter most say you don't need to but the way I look at it, do it right the first time.
Set up was easier in a MH compared to Fifth wheel, just push the control pad and let the air do the leveling then run the slides out.
Cost of maintenance for me just a little more, Cat C9 8.5 gallons of oil my truck 4 gallons. I do all my service work. Fuel mileage about the same 8 to 9mpg. My Country Coach has less storage room than my 5er.
When I had the truck and 5er hooked up it was 47' long and my CC is 40', the big difference is you can't back up if you have to need to get it right the first time or unhook.
Does it cost more to run a MH (yes) a lot more is it worth it (yes)
JR

Class A pluses are a nice warm bed after a day of driving in cold weather.

Parking at Walmart, etc. is much safer in a class A. All one has to do is get out of bed and drive away. No need to go out of the RV.

After parking and setting up, one has more economical transportation with a toad, as compared to driving a large pickup truck, for the winter.

-Tom