Hello! Hubby and I are planning on selling all we own and taking a year off to travel the US so we can live a little and spend time with our newborn. We both work 6-7 days a week, he's a chef and works alot of open to close on top of that and I work at a factory so I'm wore out and hate the thought of not seeing her grow up. We have never owned an RV and know nothing about them. We also will be taking 2 dogs, one of them large and 2 cats. I am trying to stick to a budget of $25k so we have money to live off since we will be unemployed. So advice on any way to make money on the road is also appreiciated but my main question is what's yalls opinion...5th wheel or class A? He really wanted a class A because he felt it would be more fun to drive a big rig and there's also the fact the dogs,cats, and baby are easy to get to and plenty of space for them instead of trying to squeeze them in a truck. But on the other hand a 5th wheel has more space when parked for them to play. It's hard for me to imagine trying to get around with a husky at my feet in a class A and wondering where we would put the baby's bed. If we get a 5th wheel we have to buy a truck and if we get a class A we may have to buy a tow vehicle. I own a Dodge Ram 1500 and he has a mustang. Is it possible to tow the Ram on a class A? And would most be able to pull it? We didn't want to tow it because it's so big but we can't take the mustang cause we wouldn't all fit. If we went 5th wheel would it be possible to leave the animals in there or is the ride to rough and can you even run the AC in it while driving? Sorry if that's a stupid question but like I said, we know nothing. Also what do y'all do about health insurance? Any advice or tips would be appreciated especially from those with experiance traveling with pets or infants! Thanks!

Sounds like a fun trip in the making. $25k will require some thrifty shopping. I'd concentrate on finding the best deal with enough room vs a particular type of RV. No experience rv mean not experienced towing? In that case I'd be thinking A or C. If you get a trailer, unless it's too hot, I personally wouldn't have issue with the pets riding in it. Some do, it certainly isn't too rough. No AC though unless you run onboard generator. AC runs on AC. If towing, make sure the vehicle you tow is towable without removing the driveshaft.

with a Class A you can tow a little vehicle of some kind for sightseeing, off roading,etc. with a 5er you are stuck with a huge dually pickup getting poor mileage for all of your non-towing mileage.bumpy

We have had both. For your situation I would go with a gently used Class A. For income on the road look at work camping or online opportunities.

With a $25k budget thats going to be pretty hard. Class A units in that range will be fairly old, and while there are some diamonds out there finding one used will likely mean 6 new tires and a couple of repairs immediately which make that budget line even tighter. 5er will need more truck than a 1500 Ram. Rams 1500's typically have low payload capacities which make almost all 5er's too heavy. With the kids and dogs issues though you may want to explore another option. A travel trailer based Toy haulers "garage" gives you a multi-purpose area. Most have some form of fold down bunks and/or bench seating, and an easy area to contain the dogs when needed. What you are trying to do sounds a little challenging, but it's another avenue to explore anyway. On your other qx'sFor health insurance, look to the states that have adopted the ACA, if you are going to be mobile you may fit the requirements for that, you would have to be willing to change your domicile. On work while travelling, With you husband being a chef, look into management companies like Sodexo. The National Parks hire those companies to staff facilities in the summers for guest services, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc have restaurant operations needing experienced chef' and kitchen managers and you may even be able to address the health insurance that way. www.escapees.com has some great info on fulltiming and work camping, they may have some stuff that can help.Good luck

When we gave up the RV life in 2014, we sold our '02 32' Class A (purchased in 2010). Because we didn't have the time to do the private sale hassle, we sold it to a dealership. It had less than 20,000 miles on the clock, and we'd bought it from the original owners with 12,000 miles showing, so we were fairly certain it was correct. We paid $37K when we bought it, and we thought we'd got a fairly good deal - it was the amount left on the original purchaser's loan!The best we could get from the dealer was $21,000, since it had a couple of problems (generator wouldn't start was the major gotcha). The dealer fixed it and a couple of other minor glitches and sold it 3 months later for $27,800.I would expect that $25K would get you something like the Bounder, but maybe a 2004 or 06 model. Check the on-line price guides. I wouldn't consider paying more than about $18K for an '02 at this time.

Trying to decide between 5th wheel and Class A | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

frankdamp
Explorer
Aug 27, 2017
When we gave up the RV life in 2014, we sold our '02 32' Class A (purchased in 2010). Because we didn't have the time to do the private sale hassle, we sold it to a dealership. It had less than 20,000 miles on the clock, and we'd bought it from the original owners with 12,000 miles showing, so we were fairly certain it was correct. We paid $37K when we bought it, and we thought we'd got a fairly good deal - it was the amount left on the original purchaser's loan!

The best we could get from the dealer was $21,000, since it had a couple of problems (generator wouldn't start was the major gotcha). The dealer fixed it and a couple of other minor glitches and sold it 3 months later for $27,800.

I would expect that $25K would get you something like the Bounder, but maybe a 2004 or 06 model. Check the on-line price guides. I wouldn't consider paying more than about $18K for an '02 at this time.
wanderingaimles
Explorer
Aug 27, 2017
With a $25k budget thats going to be pretty hard. Class A units in that range will be fairly old, and while there are some diamonds out there finding one used will likely mean 6 new tires and a couple of repairs immediately which make that budget line even tighter.
5er will need more truck than a 1500 Ram. Rams 1500's typically have low payload capacities which make almost all 5er's too heavy.
With the kids and dogs issues though you may want to explore another option. A travel trailer based Toy haulers "garage" gives you a multi-purpose area. Most have some form of fold down bunks and/or bench seating, and an easy area to contain the dogs when needed.
What you are trying to do sounds a little challenging, but it's another avenue to explore anyway.
On your other qx's
For health insurance, look to the states that have adopted the ACA, if you are going to be mobile you may fit the requirements for that, you would have to be willing to change your domicile.
On work while travelling, With you husband being a chef, look into management companies like Sodexo. The National Parks hire those companies to staff facilities in the summers for guest services, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc have restaurant operations needing experienced chef' and kitchen managers and you may even be able to address the health insurance that way.
www.escapees.com has some great info on fulltiming and work camping, they may have some stuff that can help.
Good luck
dfletch
Explorer
Aug 27, 2017
We have had both. For your situation I would go with a gently used Class A. For income on the road look at work camping or online opportunities.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Aug 27, 2017
with a Class A you can tow a little vehicle of some kind for sightseeing, off roading,etc. with a 5er you are stuck with a huge dually pickup getting poor mileage for all of your non-towing mileage.
bumpy
Grit_dog
Navigator II
Aug 27, 2017
Sounds like a fun trip in the making.
$25k will require some thrifty shopping. I'd concentrate on finding the best deal with enough room vs a particular type of RV.
No experience rv mean not experienced towing? In that case I'd be thinking A or C.
If you get a trailer, unless it's too hot, I personally wouldn't have issue with the pets riding in it. Some do, it certainly isn't too rough. No AC though unless you run onboard generator. AC runs on AC.
If towing, make sure the vehicle you tow is towable without removing the driveshaft.

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Trying to decide between 5th wheel and Class A

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