Hey all. I currently have a Tiger CX by Provan that serves me well. With the approach of retirement coming my mate says she will not join me without a larger RV. So the question is what are my options? I want to keep my footprint as small as possible yet have ample room to satisfy her. I'm thinking a Class C maybe 24 ft or a 5W, however it seems no one makes small 5'ers plus I'd have to upgrade from my 1500 which means $$$.Greg

Had a friend that wanted do some extended sailing when he retired. His wife Ruth told him she would leave him if he bought a sail boat. He named the boat Ruthless. Why not a lightweight 25-28 ' travel trailer with one slide?Lots of room, tow with half ton. Topper on your truck for extra storage. Keep your truck. Keep your wife.

So true about small 5ers. We tow a 1999 25 ft. Jayco with a 1500 Chevy but it has no slides and a dry wt of 5,300 lbs. There are 5th wheels that are half-ton towable but very few and dealers often don't stock the smallest models. For example, Jayco does make one now that is around 25 actual feet and has a dry wt around 6000 lbs. but very hard to find one in stock. They all want to stock next size up which is several ft. longer and much heavier. There are many choices in pull behind trailers in any size you might want.

I'd look at a used C. I've come across a used 2002 or so for $20k in very good condition. Replace the tires, spark plugs (make SURE to have someone who knows what they are doing with two piece Ford spark plugs do it, perhaps with a Lisle tool), and coils, change the fluids, rebuild/replace the generator's carb and it should be a workable unit.

Get a small 5th wheel if you can find a decent one. So much more storageand so easy to pull, never a stability issue when towing. Our 25 footer has all the space my wife and I need for our cross country trips. We don't live in the camper we just sleep and cook in it. Just have the right truck and hitch.....thereRon W.

For her comfort go big.... I always use this test:If I pull into an RV Park and get setup planning to spend a couple of days and the first night a freak snow storm comes through and we are stuck for two weeks would I rather be in a 24ft RV or a 40ft RV. I choose the 40ft.Cabin fever sets in quickly in a small RV. We have been stuck in bad weather (heavy rains for 7 days) and I was glad I could go up into the bedroom and watch the movies I wanted to watch while she watched her tear jerker movies. 7 days of tear jerker movies would cause me to go off the deep end.You're retired go for comfort.

Looking for ideas on next RV to purchase | Good Sam Community

silvercorvette
Explorer
May 12, 2013
About 30 years ago I sold my 17? 19? trailer and took a short break that turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. I got back in with a slide in truck camper which was what I thought would be enough room with just me and my two dogs and possibly female companion. About a year later I went to a 28 foot 5th wheel because I was going to be living in it for most of the summer. The 28 foot 5th wheel seemed huge compared to the T/C. Fast forward another year and I now have a 33 foot 5th wheel in my drive way because I did not need more room, I wanted more room. The larger camper with washer and dryer and a bunch of stuff the other one did not have will make things more pleasant.

One decision I am happy with was the fact I got a truck that can handle just about anything I will ever need, although this most recent purchase is about as big as I feel comfortable pulling with this truck (2010 Dodge 3500 dually long bed with 409 cubic inch diesel). People have done quite well living in a slide in camper but it all depends on how much comfort you are willing to give up. I have used the washer dryer once to test it out and I believe it will make things a lot more efficient by not needed to search for a laundry mat and wasting hours sitting in front of a washer while the clothes got cleaned.

Last summer I did not have to time to go to a laundry mat so I wound up searching the stuff I wore to find my cleanest dirty garments.
ncrowley
Explorer II
May 11, 2013
There are a number of choices. You need to spend a lot of time looking at trailers, fifth wheels, class Cs and classAs. I would only look at those with a deep slide. We had a trailer with a shallow slide and it got tight in there.
Jayco-noslide
Explorer
May 11, 2013
Whether one wants big or small is mostly a state of mind. There always comes a time during a long trip that I start wishing, briefly, that I was home but it's never because our 26 ft 5th wheel is too small.
noe-place
Explorer
May 10, 2013
If it's just the two of you; room is no problem. One of the smaller C's is a really good way to go. Ample room, good mileage, what more could you need? Research, test drive, read up; you know exactly what to do. Just have fun looking at all of them and reaching the decision. :B
John_S_
Explorer II
May 09, 2013
How about a nice big class A and pull the tiger behind you. Or you could o the super C route that way too. I off road and pull a wrangler behind my Foretravel. Best of both worlds.
trsky
Explorer
May 09, 2013
As someone mentioned earlier you need to just get out and see what's out there. Almost every mfg has a lite series with floor plans that weigh 4900 to 5500 empty and would easily tow with your 1500. I have a 27' with 2 slides that weighs 5100 empty and probably 6100 loaded and have no problems pulling it with my 1500 suburban.
Gjac
Explorer III
May 07, 2013
If you like to boondock and keep your wife I would be looking at a small Class A with 1 or 2 slides. The A's tend to have larger holding tanks than C's or B's. The suspension seems more robust for dirt and pot hole roads that you will likely go down. Most A's have basement storage and can carry more stuff like mtn bikes, fishing rods or what ever you like to do while you camp. Your wife will enjoy the room inside.
Waitin2Retire
Explorer
May 07, 2013
Ok, the thing to do now is get out there and look. I may go with a TT to start since I already have a Silverado 1500. At least I can pull a reasonable sized trailer with that. When I'm ready to move to a 5er I'll have to trade up on the truck.
Thanks all!
Greg

'03 Tiger CX
kennethwooster
Explorer
May 07, 2013
I'm pulling a 31 ft. 2011 Cameo. It has tons of room once the slides out yet shorter then most. Also has a lot of quality. If you are buying new look at Lifetime, as they are now building that uni.
hershey
Explorer
May 07, 2013
We were comfortable in a no slide '92 Fleetwood 34' Coronado MH. We now have a 36' two slide MH and for the last two days because of high winds had to live in it with the front slide pulled in. If it had lasted three days, there would only be one of us left in this MH. :)
Ya need elbow room.