Who has downsized from a fiver

Kittykath wrote:
We decided to downsize from a 40' 5th wheel on a seasonal site all the way down to a 25' TT for ease of traveling. Sure, it's tight but not cramped with one large slide. I guess the Solaire 251RBSS is considered a couple's trailer with it's large bath and lack of sleeping space for guests. We were sold on the floor plan with it's unusual amount of storage for a trailer that small. I especially like the outdoor kitchen which allows us to move our activity outside easily. Now after 3 seasons, we're thinking about moving back to another 5th wheel to be able to pull an ATV trailer. We're in the market for something smaller this time, but with more of the bells and whistles we gave up with the TT. Looking for opposing slides if we can find it. As our lifestyle changes, so do our campers.

I know what you mean about bells and whistles that we might lose if we go to a TT. That's what makes our decision a difficult one. I've spent about 10 years making our fiver easy to use by adding this and that.

It's tough to weigh the advantages of a smaller camper vs the nice things that a larger one offers. I just have to think very hard about any difficulties we have with the fiver in regards to maneuvering, parking, and watching for low overhangs.

There have been situations in which the tall fiver has been a problem. A wrong turn comes to mind, where we went down a tight street with low tree limbs and close to the street sign posts that gave me an ulcer or two.

That Solaire looks very interesting.

We decided to downsize from a 40' 5th wheel on a seasonal site all the way down to a 25' TT for ease of traveling. Sure, it's tight but not cramped with one large slide. I guess the Solaire 251RBSS is considered a couple's trailer with it's large bath and lack of sleeping space for guests. We were sold on the floor plan with it's unusual amount of storage for a trailer that small. I especially like the outdoor kitchen which allows us to move our activity outside easily. Now after 3 seasons, we're thinking about moving back to another 5th wheel to be able to pull an ATV trailer. We're in the market for something smaller this time, but with more of the bells and whistles we gave up with the TT. Looking for opposing slides if we can find it. As our lifestyle changes, so do our campers.

garysol wrote:

goducks10 wrote:

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs :)

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

We are just starting to deal with this as well after 25 years of marriage.

Yep, we seem to get worse the older we get. My problem is that my wife can go to sleep 30 seconds after she lays her head down, but I sometimes can't dose off for 20 minutes or more, depending on how tired I am.

Ear plugs help, but it seems like the snoring sound is just the right frequency to travel through the mattress right into my skull, bypassing the eardrums completely. Lol. :(

goducks10 wrote:

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs :)

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

We are just starting to deal with this as well after 25 years of marriage.

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs :)

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs :)

I sorta went the other way. I went form a 31' TT to a 28' 5th wheel. Same size inside sqft wise but way more storage inside and out.
Heading into our 6th season of camping starting in less than two weeks. Not sure I could go much smaller. I think about it from a simplicity standpoint at times. But then when we look at smaller TT's, it's like where would I put all our stuff? I would have to buy a shell for my truck. So thats even more money spent. I'm sure I could give up some gear we take but then why?
To get much smaller with a TT I'd have to downsize to a 23' OAL TT. Thats only 20' inside. I'd give up 8'. My trucks 22' and with the 5er I'm at 45' now.
So I'd be towing the same length but have way less usable space.

Yes, we did the downsize.

We have have pulled TT from 17 thru 26 ft, then purchased a 32 ft 5er. the 5er towed the best and gave us plenty of space. After my daughter stopped camping with us my wife lost interest, I had an unforeseen job change with longer computer, etc. So, I sold 5er with with GMC Duramax. I purchased a GMC canyon as a daily driver, tow the boat, and for hauling lumber and stuff.

Last year my dear wife asked if we could get back into camping. The idea thrilled me. I did not want to purchase a truck and trailer, so we set our sights on smaller TTs, in which could be towed by our GMC Canyon with the 3.6L V6. We settled on the KZ Connect Lite C201QB. So far, we have been on 4 trips ranging from 2 to 5 nights from South Carolina beach to Tennessee mountains. We have found the layout very functional and comfortable. We share the space with 2 rat terriers. The truck could have handled a little larger/heavier trailer, but decide to be conservative. Other than wind gust and occasional tractor trailer, it handled very well. I use the Andersen WD/anti-sway hitch that works very well. As for space, we started with the must haves, then started adding the wanna haves. We still have some space for more things, but I thing we are well equipped now. This TT works well for two adults and two small fur kids. Also, since we were budget conscious, when I got the news 2 weeks after taking delivery on the trailer that I was being laid-off again, we were good.

jnjeter wrote:
We are on our fifth TT and have had four 5th wheels in between . Our last 5'er was a 39'
Landmark. Without a doubt, all our 5'ers pulled/handled better than the TT's. Our main reason to return to a TT is that we don't need a big dully and what that encompasses
when driving w/o the trailer. The newer F-150's and 2500's are just nicer to drive and can handle most TT's.......of course I'm old and if younger, would stick with the 5ths.
Currently ; 2015 F-150 3.5L Eco-Boost & 2014 31' Keystone Passport ?

Do you have to use boards or lynx type leveling things to level your TT?

My wife and I are also beginning to feel our age. Getting close to 70.
I think I would really miss the 'Ground Control' electric leveling jacks that our fiver has. So I would probably buy a set of those for whatever TT we might trade for. Can't see myself using boards to level the camper like we used to do.

So I need to weigh the advantages of pulling less weight vs losing some of the nice things about our fiver.

We are on our fifth TT and have had four 5th wheels in between . Our last 5'er was a 39'
Landmark. Without a doubt, all our 5'ers pulled/handled better than the TT's. Our main reason to return to a TT is that we don't need a big dully and what that encompasses
when driving w/o the trailer. The newer F-150's and 2500's are just nicer to drive and can handle most TT's.......of course I'm old and if younger, would stick with the 5ths.
Currently ; 2015 F-150 3.5L Eco-Boost & 2014 31' Keystone Passport ?