Motor home vs 5th wheel

Simply put if you are going to travel more than sit for the winter then a motorhome is the best. IF you just go and sit for months at a time or go and sit a month and move and sit a month a with wheel shows it value there. If you love to travel there is no better way to travel than a motorhome. THe singers use busses for that reason too but they put on up to 20K miles or more a month. I put on 30K plus miles a year and would not have anything but a motor home. In fact I am thinking of getting a Class B for short trips. I am getting spoiled and love the benefits of a motorhome. WIll have to sell the born free though.

These comparisons come up every so often and over here they are towards the class a. Go over to the 5th wheel forum and the comparison is towards the fiver. Here are other thoughts on why some people prefer fivers. Some on here say setup is so much more on a fiver. Maybe older ones but many of the new ones have all the auto stuff. Mine has self leveling, auto awning and even has a touch screen remote that controls all that. So setup time is about the same. On the nice interior comfort when getting to a campground well....we have a generator on our 5th wheel. If its really hot out I'll run it with the ac running and its nice and cold when we get there. Likewise if its cold out I can run the furnace if I want. On fuel capacity. I have a transfer tank in the bed of the truck with a total 70 gal fuel capacity. Not quite the 100+gal tanks of a mh but close. I can unhook and get fuel with just the truck vs trying to find a place that can handle a large mh. Tires....mine are much cheaper than that of mh. I know I have a semi with 22.5's and a truck with 19.5's. Both high $ Comfort...yeah a mh is very nice but many comparisons here have been about 5yr old and older trucks. Take a look at the new ones. They have come a long way in the last few yrs with Ram soon to offer air ride on their 1 tons. Weight ratings on the new ones are getting very high and now all but the largest of fifth wheels need a medium duty to pull them. Power wise, these new trucks are powerhouses and power/weight ratio are better than most mh. Safety, well just read the current topic about that. You can get 4x4 on a p/u. Makes for getting into that grass site not near as worrisome. If I want a new floorplan I'm only trading in one part not everything so not quite as big $'s at one time. Vise versa I want the latest/greatest engine just trade in the truck. Floorplans especially for kids really favors fivers. Many more options with bunk models,front living rooms,toyhaulers. The slides tend to be deeper on fivers so more room when setup. Not saying one is superior to the other just showing that there is no perfect setup and options for everyone.

Had a couple of MH's over the last 40 yrs of our married lives. Had TT'S also. Last MH was a 2003 Tiffin. Went to fiver's in 2006 and couldn't be happier! Our new one has one button leveling and all the bells and whistles are MH had. I've driven a pickup ever since I got my first drivers license, never owned a car, so I'm used to them.Money wasn't a consideration, have a nice business. More out of preference for us. We still drive the Rubicon and run around on side by sides, we just rent them. RV'ng is all about choice, they can all be fun! We're fulltimers for the last 3 yrs and love our fiver!

Even with some pros (mostly cons) that you might find in a fiver, you seldom see a post whereas someone has moved from a Coach to a Fifth Wheel trailer and liked it better. Do like that forward upper bedroom however. As for setting up, we pull in, setup and then watch out the window at the 5th wheel's setting up that have came in before us. Still, and a surprise to me, is how many there are on the road, in campgrounds and on sales lots. As one mentioned, living in them might be better over traveling and especially if you have other uses for the truck. Otherwise, this monster truck driving gets old after awhile, when used for just a toad.

As someone said the hook-ups are the same, water, sewer, and electric.. It's easier when overnighting to unhook the toad and go eat than unhooking the truck to go eat.. If you're going to move around a lot the motorhome is better, if you're going to go set somewhere long term, the 5th wheel is the best option.. It's also harder to get the motorhome chassis worked on that it is a truck.. We've had both, so this is some of our thoughts.. Mike Mathews..

Ok, one more convenience factor. Taking a shower while still traveling. I didn't, I was driving! We were headed across the salt flats of Utah. We were running a little late and wife said she needed to take a shower before our evening commitment. I told her to go ahead and take her shower now while still traveling as she wasn't doing anything else anyway. She said "NO WAY".

Now if you have traveled I-80 across the salt flats you know that it is dead level and dead straight for a good 60-70 miles. I promised that I would put the coach on cruise control slightly slower than traffic (which there is little out there), that I would not change lanes, that I would not put on the brakes, that I would not ...., well you get the picture! She took her shower and all was good.

But I havn't been able to convince her to do it again!

Seriously, I have a small TT as well as my coach. I will only travel with the coach. There is simply no comparison due the many convenience factors and the ease of setting up and leaving. I have an '06 pickup with 279,000 miles on it so I know what they are like. I have an older class A as I can afford it. Much, much better than a newer fiver or TT.

I do not know if I posted in this thread so I will say this.

I pull into a CG in the rain, push some buttons and wait for it to let up Do not need to plug in for several hours. Or hook to water, sewer, cable or the like.

I drive down the road 7-10 MPG towing a car... I run to the store 25-30 MPG driving the car.

I pull into a rest area cause... I need to "Walk the dog" (I have cats by the way, no dogs) and I need not set foot out in the rain...

I drive a class A

With a 5-er, Set up is much more involved and most of it outdoors
You got to set foot outside to "Walk said dog".
And, 16-20 MPG going to the store if you are lucky.

I will take the A train myself.

the guys above have covered it very very well, of course this is the class A forum.

Our first trip, we did the oregon coast, (including back and forth from chicago, in a 12 year old V10 fleetwood)

The friend we went with ran a powerstroke F250 and a 29 foot fiver.

Without exception, we would pull into our side by side sites together. I sit in the drivers seat, punch the level and slide buttons, make a couple margaritas, go outside, hookup, walk around, spread out my matts, get out the comfy chiars and side table, sit down, and wait.

After doing whatever it is fiver drivers do... he'd come for his glass of mostly melted ice.

Over the past 40+ years we have gone from a pickup slide on to two fivers and now on our third MH. Each had it's advantages, but there is no doubt that we prefer the MH. Hooking up the car and disconnecting it has become a breeze.

dubdub07 wrote:
Biggest issue is cost. The overall cost is huge, but compared to the monthly charge of a truck and fifth, it is actually cheaper!

Now, the skinny. Been fivering it for 6 years, loved my FW. NEVER thought I would go to a MH. Until....I drove one. Wow. What a lovely experience. I can drive, take my four kids.....everyone has a space and can watch TV or read or sleep.......and I am so isolated up front. With my huge picture window of America, I can enjoy the view and when I am thirsty or hungry, DW makes whatever I need. The experience is amazing. The toad is the only work, and it is very little work. As long as I can afford it, I will always be in a MH.

WW07

Well said! You also need to compare a diesel pickup with a diesel MH, otherwise gas and diesel don't mix. I went from a 5th wheel, towed by a Powerstoke, for 10 years to a diesel pusher. No comparison. The MH was far more comfortable and quiet. The kids can roam around, watch TV, use the restroom, get a drink, you name it. My wife can fix me lunch and get me a drink with no problems at all. The fuel mileage is about the same and we have more room in the MH. 4 slides. The MH can be very costly if and when repairs come into play. You are talking about a HD truck chassis like those on the road. All in all I would not go back to the 5th wheel.
Good luck!;)