Motorhome, 5th Wheel or Pull Trailer

Having had a small pull behind, then a small 5th wheel and now a 30 ft. Class C, I'm going to say the 5er wins this one. But, consider that you won't be traveling in high wind very much so its not a priority to me.

I've driven/pulled them all and the 5th wheel is the most stable.

The worse I experienced with windy weather was when we traveled with a Chevy Lumina Mini-Van towing a Starcraft Venture pop-up. That combination in wind and semi-trucks blew us all over the road.

The bigger we got, the less we were pushed around.

Next combination was an 24 foot travel trailer we pulled with a Chevy 1500 Suburban. Wind and semi's were not as problematic and the pop-up, but we still knew we were not the biggest rig on the road either.

Move forward to a 3500 dually (which we've had 3 now), towing that same 24 foot trailer and all of a sudden, wind and semi's were no longer such an issue.

Moved to a 31 foot, then a 35 foot TT, and now a 41.5 foot fifth wheel.

So, from my experiences, the bigger you get, the less you feel the wind.

However, I think the bigger factor is NOT how big or small the trailer is, the BIGGER factor is how sturdy is the tow vehicle. Dually's are very stable. It takes a lot to shake them around, even when pulling a large trailer.

Simple law of physics. It take more energy to move a 14,000 pound hunk of metal than it does a 4,000 pound chunk. The heavier the vehicle, the less the wind is felt. But there is also a point where too-much-is-still-too-much ... for even Semi-trucks can get flipped over in high wind.

Now, I have no experience with a Motor Home. But I would imagine, they handle pretty well against the opposing wind forces and semi-truck's suck and pull vacuum effects, simply because of their sheer weight.

I have towed my 34k combo in some BAD AZZ winds at 75mph and never felt unsafe. Towed behind friends on Hwy 10 to Phoenix. They had a 40' MH, we had 40mph winds hitting us at a 45 from the front. When we arrived he got out and looked VERY frazzled. He had a time keeping it in the lane. He asked how mine was, I said I did not notice the wind. Later that night over some adult beverages he started asking lot's of 5er/RAM DRW questions. At that time I was towing my previous DRV at 29k combined.

IB853347201 wrote:
IMHO...Good Quality Class A MH.

AS in 45' with tag axle!

Super C zero problems with wind or passing semi's

IMHO...Good Quality Class A MH.

We have had tt, dp motor home, lite fivers and now a heavy fiver. The set up we now have is by far the most stable we have had. I know a big part of it is the dually, but even though I feel confident in winds I still will hold back on travelling if there are high wind warnings for high profile vehicles.

Problem is you have to consider specifics...I would generally go with in order (you could argue flip flopping a couple of those):
- Top of the line Class A
- 5th Wheel not overloaded
- 5th Wheel overloaded/Average Class A
- Bumper Pull set up well.
- Junk Class A
- Bumper Pull not set up well.

Hi.. We have a 3/4 ton long bed and tow a ultra light 5th wheel . We tow in wind up to 30mph with no safety problem. However, fuel consumption goes up compared to nil wind. We watch the 18 wheel rigs and pull over if pull over. Jim2007