New to Class A
Hi everyone: My wife and I are nearing retirement. We have tent,pop-up, and fifth wheel experience. We are considering snow bird camping and are settling on 38 foot class A or fifth wheel. Both wi...
Forum Discussion
Pdogii wrote:
How would you compare the costs of ownership between a motor home and a fifth wheel/pick up combo? I'm interested in maintenance. Barring the driveline differences are equally equipped coach and trailer costs the same?
Considering driveline maintenance, my perception (based on doing my own suspension lube, filter and fluid changes) is that a diesel pick up would cost less than a class A
To maintain. Is this accurate?
I think the difference will depend on how many miles you're going to put on your pickup; which I assume would be a dually. If you're towing a 5th wheel you'll be using your pickup for trips out of the campground. When you're home I suspect you'll be using your dually as a means of everyday transportation (grocery store etc). You won't be using your DP for those trips so the miles on the DP will be significantly less.
When we first looked at RVs about 10 years ago we looked into a 5th wheel. The cost of the dually ($50-60K) and the cost of the 5th wheel put us in the $100k+ range. We'd also have to buy a new dually every 4+ years or so. The gas mileage on a dually is terrible for everyday transportation.
Sooooooo
We couldn't afford a high-end DP and we didn't want all of the misc expenses associated with the dually. So we opted for a 2000 DP Bounder 36' for about $65K and we towed a VW station wagon (29mpg)for everyday transportation. Worked for us and we're on our 3rd DP.
Hope this helps!
