MH or 5th

To address the safety issue: IN a collision with a fully loaded Semi hauling steel, I do not care, Car, Light truck, Motor home, You are toast. Forget it.

In a collision with a car or light truck.. Odds are I'm going to be sitting ABOVE the roof, clearly above the engine, and that car is or pick up may well slide right under me causing little if any injury.. So I do not consider the safety to be an issue.

The decision: If you move the rig often (At least every other month) a Motor Home is easier to set up and take down, It is very handy when you are on the road and feel the need to .... shall we say.... Pull off for a few minutes and go sit on a different seat. 5ers not so much.. Also though the MH only gets about 8mpg with the towed hooked behind it.. Said towed, per the trip meter and the gallon meter, Hit 28 on my last fill up (I bought it used 28-30 is it's rated MPG and it's getting there).

That honking big pick up which is really too small to pull the 5er might get 8 towing (The dynamics are very close) but likely won't break out of the teens bobtail.

OH, and that is another issue: I see far too many 5ers beign towed by far too LITTLE pick up, not that... Is a safety issue.. Of course on occasion I find one being pulled by www.trail-hauler.com and those I do not worry about so much when they pass.. I know that tractor can pull that trailer (The proper name for a Tow Vehicle is Tractor).

Crash tests on MH would be terrible. I wouldn't stress much about that. If it was a huge issue there would be regulations and we would be paying out the ying yang for insurance. Fact is, RV'rs are a safe class to insure despite the obvious flaws.

MH vs 5vr is something that everyone will argue about. different strokes for different folks. You've read the pros and cons and they are mostly all minimal in the end run.

Ask yourself, how many days will you be on the road?

Do you want the livability that fivers give?

Can you deal with driving a truck around town?

Reality is most of us don't spend a ton of time driving even if we rack up miles. Some prefer toads, some realize trucks aren't a big deal. Some just want the super nice livability while other desire the set up of a MH.

Some even consider MH ownership some kind of elite class. Others don't care.

I think the bottom line is the difference between the two are fairly tiny. Truck vs toad and livability / Floor plan selection are the biggest items.

I would agree that a MH crash test (depending on the MH) would be worse than a truck in a lot of cases. A large DP might fare better than say an entry level. A class C might fare better than a class A. But even with a truck probably being on a safer side, you still have 7-15k# trailer pushing you from behind. It's also subjected to wind and wag which could flip you over in a swerve. So, it depends. I doubt there is a lot of research on the topic since crash tests aren't mandated on rv's. Most of us just don't crash. :)

You mean like rolling their rig and living to tell the tale? The safest thing to drive is a Sherman tank but they only get 5 gallons per mile!

I am asking about safety. Anybody has first hand experience?

Thanks.

Pick what you like best and fits your budget and lifestyle. Both have plus and minus gor them.

Going to the store can get you killed......What IFs just aren't in my 'worry book'.

Which RV.....that's a personal choice.
We looked at MHs and 5vrs for our FT rig.
We chose a 5vr for our needs/wants. MHs would have worked also.

Each have pros/cons.......for us 5vr had more in the pro column.
For others its the opposite.

First you have to figure out what it is you want in a FT rig
Make a list of what you want/need then go fill it.........you're the ones paying for it/using it-------get what works for you.