Who has downsized from a fiver
What did you downsize to, and any regrets? Especially when it comes to towing, sway problems,and reduced room for your stuff. We have a 2005 Keystone Cougar rear kitchen fiver that is 32' long and...
Forum Discussion
We "downsized" from a 34 ft. 5th wheel to a 35 ft. travel trailer. For us, it was a definite win-win-win!
No more hassles with climbing in/out of the truck bed to install/remove/store a heavy 5th wheel hitch. Now we only have to stand at the rear of the truck and move a 20 lb. hitch ball receiver to a workbench drawer. With the 5th wheel hitch gone, the entire bed of the truck opens up for storage.
Much easier and quicker to hitch and unhitch. Not to mention, if the landing gear motor/drive assembly goes out on a 5th wheel, you could be in very deep trouble. With a TT, a quick, 3-bolt swap of a 3500 lb. tongue jack and you're good to go.
As for towing stability, outside of a slight push and pull when a large 18-wheeler passes too close, our TT is stable as the 5th wheel---even in high cross-winds. Our tongue weight sits around 15-16%---that definitely helps.
With our TT there's no more hassle with height. Our 5th wheel was over 13' high. Always had to be on the outlook for anything low hanging. Its height limited our fueling opportunities---especially at smaller, Mom & Pop gas stations. On the freeway we were limited to primarily truck stops (diesel). Our fueling opportunities are much improved with our TT--it's only 11 ft. high.
No more going up and down steps to access the bedroom and bathroom.
Our two a/c units cool down the TT much faster than the 5th wheel. The 5th wheel was much taller---much more internal air space to cool vs. the TT which has much lower ceilings.
The only two downsides we've noticed with the TT is a more limited basement storage area and no improvement in fuel economy. Even though our TT weighs 2,000 lbs. less than the 5th wheel we get the same fuel economy---probably due to a TT's increased wind resistance. We do miss the larger, 5th wheel basement area. However, with some creative storage ideas, we've managed to get everything tucked away just fine inside the TT.
No more hassles with climbing in/out of the truck bed to install/remove/store a heavy 5th wheel hitch. Now we only have to stand at the rear of the truck and move a 20 lb. hitch ball receiver to a workbench drawer. With the 5th wheel hitch gone, the entire bed of the truck opens up for storage.
Much easier and quicker to hitch and unhitch. Not to mention, if the landing gear motor/drive assembly goes out on a 5th wheel, you could be in very deep trouble. With a TT, a quick, 3-bolt swap of a 3500 lb. tongue jack and you're good to go.
As for towing stability, outside of a slight push and pull when a large 18-wheeler passes too close, our TT is stable as the 5th wheel---even in high cross-winds. Our tongue weight sits around 15-16%---that definitely helps.
With our TT there's no more hassle with height. Our 5th wheel was over 13' high. Always had to be on the outlook for anything low hanging. Its height limited our fueling opportunities---especially at smaller, Mom & Pop gas stations. On the freeway we were limited to primarily truck stops (diesel). Our fueling opportunities are much improved with our TT--it's only 11 ft. high.
No more going up and down steps to access the bedroom and bathroom.
Our two a/c units cool down the TT much faster than the 5th wheel. The 5th wheel was much taller---much more internal air space to cool vs. the TT which has much lower ceilings.
The only two downsides we've noticed with the TT is a more limited basement storage area and no improvement in fuel economy. Even though our TT weighs 2,000 lbs. less than the 5th wheel we get the same fuel economy---probably due to a TT's increased wind resistance. We do miss the larger, 5th wheel basement area. However, with some creative storage ideas, we've managed to get everything tucked away just fine inside the TT.
