16 foot vs 18 foot fifth wheel trailer?

[jegarner]

New RV'er in need of advice. I'm trying to decide between a 16 foot and an 18 foot fifth wheel trailer (technically it's actually a gooseneck).

I'm going to be RV'ing full time in it and would like it to be compact enough that I'll be able to stay at most campgrounds, not just RV parks.

My tow vehicle is a 22 foot long Ford F350 crew cab long bed truck.

I've read that some campgrounds have 40 foot limits for tow vehicle length + RV, so the 16 footer would be the safer bet there. With the 18 footer the RV would have to be basically hitting the truck to get it to fit under 40 feet.

On the other hand, I don't want to skimp on space since this is going to be my home full time.

Any thoughts and wisdom on this decision?

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I was wondering about those 40 foot motorbikes :B

[jsum]

Sorry....
Meant to press spell check, not send
RV park......Motorhomes

[jsum]

jegarner wrote:
New RV'er in need of advice. I'm trying to decide between a 16 foot and an 18 foot fifth wheel trailer (technically it's actually a gooseneck).

I'm going to be RV'ing full time in it and would like it to be compact enough that I'll be able to stay at most campgrounds, not just RV parks.

My tow vehicle is a 22 foot long Ford F350 crew cab long bed truck.

I've read that some campgrounds have 40 foot limits for tow vehicle length + RV, so the 16 footer would be the safer bet there. With the 18 footer the RV would have to be basically hitting the truck to get it to fit under 40 feet.

On the other hand, I don't want to skimp on space since this is going to be my home full time.

Any thoughts and wisdom on this decision?

Even IF you would go with a 36' fifth wheel, there will be times you wish it was bigger and you had more room.
The 40' rule you are talking about is for motorbikes.....
When you are in a t.v. park, more than likely you won't be hooked up to your truck anyway......

[pinesman]

I am curious now. Most people measure fifth wheel campers from end to end. Most existing gooseneck trailers are measured just on floor space, with anything over the hitch not included in the measurement. If you are having some sort of existing gooseneck customized, are you getting 16' or 18' of floor space or total length? Either way, my opinion is that it would be too small but at least it would be better if they were measuring floor space.

[jerem0621]

Yea, the campground overall length is for the trailer not the entire rig.

If you want to go small then go small! But don't do it just to stay under 40 ft overall length.

Buy the biggest trailer you can afford (or build)...

Depending on your health issues you may want to look at a travel trailer style with a flat floor and no stairs.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Padlin]

Having a tiny trailer, and knowing many others that do, you can indeed full time in 16 or 18' bumper pull, I know of folks who do. If you do a search on the internet for full timing in a small trailer you'll find some.

As far as a 5th wheel, it'd depend on how you're measuring it. Mines 21' tip to tip, the living area is more like 19'6", I do believe it'd be fine for full timing for 1 person who's of a mind to do such. Make it 5' shorter and I'd change my tune, almost 6 1/2' of mine is bed.

This might not be the best place to look into full timing in a very small trailer, the majority here have much larger trailers as you can tell by the posts above. It is a great place to find info on the trailers, hitches, and so forth.

We were originally looking at truck campers, which a tiny fifth wheel is pretty close to. If you can, go look over some of those, it'll give you a good idea of the space involved. Might be worth asking folks in the truck camper forum if there are full timers in those and how they are making out.

Can't visualize what you're thinking of doing with the gooseneck trailer. Will it be more of a travel trailer with a gooseneck on the front, or will there be a loft over the gooseneck for the bedroom?

[JIMNLIN]

check out these folks 5th wheel and TT units up to 26'. They have been around for many years. http://www.allencampermfg.com/default.html
Bought my 1st slide in truck camper from them in the late '60s. They dropped their tc line (Idle Time) several years ago and have concentrated on TT and 5ers.
We have camped since the early '60s and every camp ground we've seen says max trailer length.
Unless your camping in unimproved areas/out in the bojacks you won't have any issues getting a mid 20 footer in and out of camp grounds just about every where.

[Ivylog]

First, Welcome and you've lucked into a good site for RV info.

Second, the 40' max is BS and you are making a BIG mistake (or is it a small mistake???) in letting that drive the size of your camper. I doubt you can find a fifth wheel that short so how are all those longer ones finding sites? My combined length is 62' and we mainly stay in public CG when traveling, not RV parks for the last 12 years. One of my favorite says 28' MAX but I'm able to get into three of the sites and there are only 10 total sites. I've stayed in Yellowstone where 40' is the MAX... somehow my 42' became a 40' and there was room for the car on the site too.
DO NOT LIMIT THE SIZE BECAUSE OF THE BS YOU'VE READ about 40' max. 16 years ago I make the MISTAKE of believing on here that 36' was the max for public CGs. Three MH's later I'm at 42' and if I had to replace I'd consider a 45'. PLEASE, do not make the same mistakes I did.

Third, building a camper out of only aluminum because of a mold issue may be getting the cart before the horse. What looks like wood in many campers is actually vinyl... usually not a plus. Even if you had to trade for a new camper every two years... still cheaper than trying to design/build something without enough storage and very hard to insulate. I realize I have no idea the severity of your mold issue but I'd try something else before trying to build, especially something that short that NO ONE else would want and with tanks that limit how long you can stay off the grid.

"Any thoughts and wisdom on this decision? " I think you need to start over as 3-4' of a 5er over the truck is not included in your 40' BS length restriction. Good Luck, it sounds like you'll need it.

[Bumpyroad]

laknox wrote:
Frankly, for something that small, you'd be much better off with a bumper pull and using the back of your truck for storage of stuff that won't fit in the trailer.
Lyle

good advice.
bumpy

[laknox]

jegarner wrote:
New RV'er in need of advice. I'm trying to decide between a 16 foot and an 18 foot fifth wheel trailer (technically it's actually a gooseneck).

I'm going to be RV'ing full time in it and would like it to be compact enough that I'll be able to stay at most campgrounds, not just RV parks.

My tow vehicle is a 22 foot long Ford F350 crew cab long bed truck.

I've read that some campgrounds have 40 foot limits for tow vehicle length + RV, so the 16 footer would be the safer bet there. With the 18 footer the RV would have to be basically hitting the truck to get it to fit under 40 feet.

On the other hand, I don't want to skimp on space since this is going to be my home full time.

Any thoughts and wisdom on this decision?

The Scamp FW is 19' and the Escape 5.0TA is 21'2". I wouldn't consider full-timing in either one, even alone. Frankly, for something that small, you'd be much better off with a bumper pull and using the back of your truck for storage of stuff that won't fit in the trailer. You're good to go in virtually any state or national park with anything < 25-27', IMO. FWIW, I wouldn't want to FT in my current FW, which is 29'3" OAL and about 26' interior length, even solo.

Lyle

[jjjandrbaker]

Okay... My awesome little trailer is 15.8' long. I love it. It is the perfect size for me to get away for a FEW DAYS! I spent 12 consecutive nights in it this summer while traveling to and from St. Louis. After a while, you just get tired of being in such a small space. You take off your shoes and they are in your way. Anything you don't put right back in its spot is in your way. I could never spend a long time in it, as much as I love it. You seriously need to think about the limitations for something so small.

[jake2250]

We are currently in the process of moving up from a 23 foot trailer to a fifth wheel, 26.5 is the smallest we have found in a three year old trailer. And it is only two of us and a 75lb dog.
I have found a few 24-25 footers but they are all over ten years old.. Found a 19 foot fifth wheel but it has allot less room than our 23 foot trailer and its a 1999.. Way to old for us!!
If you want that small look at a Cab Over!!
We have set our Max length at 29 feet,, but would like something more compact.. We are not full timing,, but we do camp allot,, We will stay up to ten days if we can,, but that is pushing the holding tanks.. Any thing less than 25 will have small holding tanks..

Good luck on your search and have fun!!

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I lived in my old 10.5' truck camper for about 6 months. It was fun at first, but I was happy to not be living in it at the end of the 6 months.

A 16' fifth wheel or gooseneck will have about 8 or 9 feet of floor length and about 7 or 8 feet of bedroom length over the hitch. That 8 or 9 feet of floor space is super tiny to live in.

That's less floor length than my 10.5' truck camper had. Although, a trailer will have full width floor space, whereas a truck camper only uses the middle 4' of floor, while the sides hang over the bed rails.

If your trailer is well built, it will be just fine towing by an F350. Much better to have too much truck than not enough!

[RVcrazy]

Too small! Have you been in either the 1) or 18? I would go for at least 25. Go to some RV lots and do some wal throughs. Most are longer than the designation. Take your tape measure.