Now retired: Pulling a camper, or, driving a motorhome????

Well taken, Starcraft69. Definitely not going to be full-timers, but much more than a couple of times per year. At this point we own neither a pickupy nor a toad. If I purchase a motorhome (most likely a Class C) I will also purchase a good used toad. If I purchase 5er I will also purchase a pickup. One piece of info. of note is that we have 2 vehicles right now with a bunch of miles on them. So, we will need to purchase a daily use vehicle soon anyway. All responses are surely welcomed, but don't want to get too far away from my original intent of post - convenience/ability to camp with TT/5er, as opposed to a motorhome as a senior adult. (I turned 66 in Aug., DW turned 67 in Dec.)

If your motorhome is in the shop getting fixed, your RV is in the shop. If your pickup is in the shop, you still have your fifth or travel trailer to use.

I saw this with my dad. He had a truck and 5er. The truck was his daily driver as well as for towing the 5er. Whenever he got hurt or sick, he had to have me drive him around because he couldn't climb up into his truck.

If he had had a motorhome with a toad, he would still have been able to get around in the toad to do his daily stuff and wouldn't have needed to beg rides. He might not have been able to use his motorhome until his health improved, but he wouldn't have been homebound.

It would seem that it would depend on your personal health assessment.
I've seen folks in their 70's still pulling a TT or 5er just as they do a MH!
If full timing in retirement then I think a MH would be a good choice with a toad. It still comes down to a personal choice! I think all choices would be a challenge if into RV and out of RV is an issue because of health or aches and pains!
I have never owned a MH so I cant really compare. I have a compression fracture, L3 vertabre, I'm presently on oxygen 24/7 and cant tolerate much activity. I own a 5er and the only thing I would like to have is a hydraulic or electric leveling system. I cant imagine what the difference would be if I had a MH!

LewTeam wrote:
Well taken, Starcraft69. Definitely not going to be full-timers, but much more than a couple of times per year. At this point we own neither a pickup nor a toad. If I purchase a motorhome (most likely a Class C) I will also purchase a good used toad. If I purchase 5er I will also purchase a pickup. One piece of info. of note is that we have 2 vehicles right now with a bunch of miles on them. So, we will need to purchase a daily use vehicle soon anyway. All responses are surely welcomed, but don't want to get too far away from my original intent of post - convenience/ability to camp with TT/5er, as opposed to a motorhome as a senior adult. (I turned 66 in Aug., DW turned 67 in Dec.)

If you replace both current vehicles with one truck big enough to haul a 5er, then you could face the issues my dad faced - not being able to drive himself around whenever a health issue surfaced.

If you replace one current vehicle with the truck, then you'll have the 2nd current vehicle to drive when a health issue surfaces.

If you replace both current vehicles with one toad, then you should be OK.

For what it's worth, my dad had both knees replaced. Directly after each surgery, he found my 2002 Durango to be the most comfortable vehicle over all the vehicles in the extended family - he was able to easily sit on the seat sideways, then swing his legs inside. He found the Jeep Wrangler to be awkward due to the "lip" - the height of the seat was good, but he had to lift his feet up high to get them over the edge of the vehicle. The sedans and compacts were too low forcing him to have to bend more than he could balance. The trucks were too high forcing him to climb into them. I drive a lot of various vehicles for work and have really noticed those differences - makes me very hesitant to replace my Durango ever.

we would never buy a motorhome. don't like them.
we prefer pulling a TT or 5th wheel.
and i've had 7 knee surgeries, two foot surgeries and a shoulder surgery.

COST !!... is First..

for a truck.. you can get a Power steps. to aid in getting in. you just open the door and the steps automatically retract down... close door and they retract up.

you can get Power jacks for travel trailers.. to quicken setup and reduce the work.

the Main reason I do not have a 5th wheel.. wife has bad knees.. bedrooms with stairs are OUT... night time bathroom trips.

for my wife and the F 250.. I have a folding step stool.. with a rope...
I put out the stool.. wife get into truck and She pulls on rope to set stool in truck.. working on money for Power steps.

my opinion.. motor home and toad is way more money/cost/maintenance ..
and you still have stairs... but they do LOOK Great.

Perhaps consider a Class B? No need to haul a toad and no stress in trying to back up a TT.

Well, I just turned 66 and the DW and I still prefer our TT and a truck. The truck serves as our second vehicle, and this combination seems to be the most economical RV for us and our rig is for traveling/camping as we are not full timers. We have discussed at different times what we may or could do if we reach a point where we don't feel comfortable or can't handle a truck'trailer combination and we may consider a small class C, or a van conversion. But, we'll deal with that when and if we have to.

I tend to think that most that say they prefer a truck and towable have never owned a MH pulling a toad four down, especially a Jeep. When we get to our site, before we pull in, we disconnect the Jeep (takes about 90 seconds or less), then pull the MH into the site, push a button and the coach is level, push four more buttons and the slides are out, shut off the engine, turn on the satellite dish, then hook up utilities and that's it. By now the sat dish is locked on and we are ready to enjoy ourselves. It takes longer to decide exact positioning of the coach than everything else combined! The DW has had major back surgery (six disks fused) and both hips replaced in the last two years and we were able to travel two months after each surgery. The climb into the coach entails five steps and when she was able to handle that, we were on the road again.

We travel about 6-7 months of the year entailing 30-50 stops and, after watching people with towables setup when arriving and decamp when leaving, I cannot imagine doing that on a regular basis. We also have the four-wheel drive Libby that is small enough to park anywhere and will take us about anywhere we desire, even over some pretty iffy roads such as a mountain mining road in Idaho that was barely wide enough far a small car and had multiple washouts, one causing us to put the left wheels up the mountain a bit (about 15-20°) to get around it. Could have never done that in a truck of any size, much less a dually.

Lew,

You need to think about what you are going to do with it.....
Are you going to travel? A MH never needs to be unhooked.
Are going to snowbird? A truck can be your towner.

Think about what you have plans to do.

Matt