HELP! First Time buyer getting cold feet.

[MidwestFarmer]

We are a couple in our early 50's, recently retired from full-time employment, with a daughter who is Junior in H.S. and a 22 yr old son living at home. We have limited camping experience amounting to a pop-up 15 years ago with our 3 small children and only went out a few times. Recently attended a local RV show and, just like you would expect, decided we might like to do some RV traveling with a 5th Wheel. Although we are not by-nature "campers", we would like to travel and my husand prefers driving to flying anywhere, any day.

Since we are not completely sold on the "idea", but are attracted to it, we located an older-model towing unit in excellent mechanical condition with plenty of power for a reasonable price and a 2009 5th wheel TT in very nice condition and at a reasonable price. We need to decide very soon (a day or two) whether to move ahead with the purchases, but my husband is now getting "cold feet" about the whole idea.

Have others gone through similar hesitations prior to making the first leap into the world of RVing, or is this a unique situation? Although he was excited about the prospect of traveling the U.S. byways to explore our country, he is now concerned about spending the money on something we might not end-up enjoying, as well as concerned about all of the unknown "work" that might be involved in setting-up, hooking-up, water, heat and electrical management, as well as being away from the homestead for extended periods of time.

Any advise, suggestions or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much. We look forward to any replies.

[SandSOrrell]

Midwest Farmer, I had similar concerns. But like ddschuman, we bit the bullet big. Bought a brand new 1 ton dually and a brand new Cedar Creek 37 foot fiver. I had zero experience pulling a trailer, so you are way ahead of me there. We have now had the rig almost exactly a year. Got about 15K miles on it. We've driven it all over the USA from south Florida to northern Idaho, through the Rockies and all, and pretty much all over the middle of the country. Like others I had a problem seeing "through it" at first. But now the only thing I use the center rear view mirror for is to look at it and tell the wife that something is following me really close. The side mirrors give all the visual info I need to safely operate. In fact, I use them as primary even with our SUV now. LOL

I'm getting really itchy to get back on the road again. Can hardly wait for the first Cedar Creek Owners Club rally of the year in May! Went to 2 last year and what a great time!

This forum and the Cedar Creek Owners Club forum, as well as the Forest
River forum have been invaluable as education tools for learning the "art" of RVing in a fiver. They are great for learning about your rig. People are always eager to help newbies. Here is one for Keystone: http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/index.php
And another general forum you might find informative: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f44/

[ddschuman]

Our best adds that we got after reading this forum was JT Strongarms and Rotchocks. DH installed the JT Strongarms himself. Not hard and come with easy to follow instructions. The two together take pretty much all the shimmy out of the FW. We purchased both around the same time and used for the first time together so I cannot not tell you which helps more but I can tell you before we had them, if DH was moving around in the living area and I was in the bed, it often felt like I was in the middle of the ocean in a small boat. I feel nothing now. I am sure there are other stabilization devices that work just as well but these are what we have experience with and couldn't be happier with them.

[avvidclif1]

I have a kingpin support. One of those "just had to haves" when I got the 5er. Any extra stability is marginal. I did finally figure out what it is good for though. It keeps people, especially grandkids, from bumping their head on the kingpin. Very seldom used.

[2-MTnesters]

MidwestFarmer, While the tripod Kingpin Stabilizer will most likely help to minimize the movement in the front area of the 5th wheel it will do nothing for movement in the rear. I did great research on this subject before purchasing my SteadyFast stabilizers. Pretty easy to install and great product support. I also highly recommend the X-chock wheel chocks for the wheels. These two items mentioned will eliminate most of the movement in your rig when set up. I have been using this same setup for the last 7 years and DW is happy so I am elated! If you have any questions on the installation of the SteadyFast please feel free to contact me. Hope this helps. Tim

[MNRon]

Regarding king-pin supports, I have no personal experience but from what I've read from others it seems more people don't use them than do - even if they have them. I'd recommend trying it for a while and searching a little on others feedback before spending money and space on one.

[ddschuman]

Glad I could be of help. I am certain my DH would love your MMs. He only has 2 currently. A 1949 GTB and 1959 GVI. His brother, on the other hand, has about 30 or more Molines. It's a money pit but they love restoring Molines.

Pulling the FW is much different than pulling a gooseneck because of the lack of view from rear view mirror...we have a brown blob back there. Lol. You have to learn to rely on side mirrors and the assistance of someone else when backing. That was the biggest learning curve for DH...learning my hand signals. We do great now.

[MidwestFarmer]

ddschuman wrote:
This will be our 3rd year of camping/RVing or in our case "vacationing". We are not yet retired as we own/operate an AC business in which our hope is to one day be able to pass it on to our sons who currently work for us. I am 44 and DH is 50. We lived in a FW with 3 teenage boys while we built our house almost 10 years ago. We learned about upkeep and maintenance from that experience. We sold the FW as soon as the house was built and never pulled it anywhere. Like OP, DH is used to pulling trailers of all kinds. He is an antique tractor enthusiast/puller and often pulls a gooseneck hauling 2 Minneapolis Moline tractors to various pulls around Texas and even into Mississippi. He had some of the same concerns with height of FW etc. as OP has. It was my idea to start camping. I found a small used TT in very good shape that we paid cash for and we hit the road to test it out. We loved the trip so much but felt so cramped in the limited space we had. It was much smaller than the FW we once lived in. The next year we went to a few dealers and looked at new fivers. Undecided if trading was something we really wanted to do. We spent a couple of months looking and just having fun dreaming and then decided to bite the bullet. I will admit that when we first got our FW, DH was uneasy for several trips while pulling, backing, setting up...everything. I thought for sure we had made a mistake even though we loved the unit once it was set up. I finally asked him about his uneasiness because I knew his experience with hauling heavy loads. His comment to me was "I can't see through it". We have taken several trips now and it doesn't seem to bother him at all anymore. He told me on the 1st trip out this year that he is glad we have it and it no longer bothers him.

Thanks very much for your reply! Had to chuckle when I read your post because, oddly enough, I too am an antique tractor enthusiast who actually collects and hauls Minneapolis Moline tractors on a gooseneck trailer. The only difference is that I take mine to shows and do not use them for pulling events. Also, your DH's comment about "I can't see through it!" is EXACTLY, verbatim, what I told my wife the first time I pulled the 5er home! So very ironic and humorous.

Thank you so much for your input. It DOES help me to know that I will most-likely get used to the difference between the RV and the MM tractors of which I can actually "see" in the rear-view mirror!

[ddschuman]

This will be our 3rd year of camping/RVing or in our case "vacationing". We are not yet retired as we own/operate an AC business in which our hope is to one day be able to pass it on to our sons who currently work for us. I am 44 and DH is 50. We lived in a FW with 3 teenage boys while we built our house almost 10 years ago. We learned about upkeep and maintenance from that experience. We sold the FW as soon as the house was built and never pulled it anywhere. Like OP, DH is used to pulling trailers of all kinds. He is an antique tractor enthusiast/puller and often pulls a gooseneck hauling 2 Minneapolis Moline tractors to various pulls around Texas and even into Mississippi. He had some of the same concerns with height of FW etc. as OP has. It was my idea to start camping. I found a small used TT in very good shape that we paid cash for and we hit the road to test it out. We loved the trip so much but felt so cramped in the limited space we had. It was much smaller than the FW we once lived in. The next year we went to a few dealers and looked at new fivers. Undecided if trading was something we really wanted to do. We spent a couple of months looking and just having fun dreaming and then decided to bite the bullet. I will admit that when we first got our FW, DH was uneasy for several trips while pulling, backing, setting up...everything. I thought for sure we had made a mistake even though we loved the unit once it was set up. I finally asked him about his uneasiness because I knew his experience with hauling heavy loads. His comment to me was "I can't see through it". We have taken several trips now and it doesn't seem to bother him at all anymore. He told me on the 1st trip out this year that he is glad we have it and it no longer bothers him.

I guess my reason for stating any of this is that from experience I know some of your fears can/will be overcome if you really want to do this. Camping with a TT or FW all comes with a learning curve. You already have the truck, go for it :). Worst case scenario, you hate it and sell the trailer but my bet is, you may just find out you LOVE it.

***sorry for not reading all comments before posting. I see you purchased the FW. I hope you enjoy.

[bpounds]

Extra supports, such as kingpin tripods, strongarms, slide supports, and even rear jacks, are never necessary. They are methods to reduce the slight jiggling of the coach. Some people are sensitive to that motion more than others. Personally I've never felt the need for anything more than the rear scissor jacks.

Leaving slides extended in winter weather is not recommended, especially in snow country. I suspect that what you have seen around town lately is people opening their slides AFTER the long winter, to clean, load, and prepare for their first spring camping.

[MidwestFarmer]

I should have been slightly more specific. I apologize for being unclear, although your responses were still more learning for me. I was referring specifically to these tripod-looking supports that go directly under the 5th wheel hitch connector box to stabilize the extreme front end of the unit where the bed room (in our case) is located. I didn't know if there was an issue with the actual extra weight of having two people moving around and sleeping up there when the truck wasn't attached. I an see where there would be less "rocking" or side-to-side movement (perhaps) if one was installed, but how do you feel about the actual "need" in the absence of having the truck hooked-up?

Thanks for the input on the slide-outs too! I would still love to hear additional comments about these two issues, just wanted to make my first post a little more clear. I look forward to anything additional.

Have a great day!

[gitane59]

Congratulation on the purchase of your first fifthwheel. I hope your experience is as good as our first used fifthwheel purchase was.

I do not leave my slides open unnecessarily as it simply increases the exposure and deterioration of the slide out seals due to the exposure to the elements faster than needed. I'm sure it's minimal but I just don't do it.

I also see no use to the slideout support's for the same reason northmeck0255 noted.

However some people sensitive to the slight movements of the fifthwheel when people or large pets move heavily inside the trailer use kingpin tripods to decrease the amount a fifthwheel moves when someone inside moves by putting pressure up front under the kingpin to the ground.
I never felt the need for one but to it his own.

[Paul_Clancy]

Not exactly sure if you are asking about jt strong arms but most likely. They firm up the trailer so there is not as much shaking inside when people walk. Try your unit as is and decide from there. As to leaving slides open through winter snow I wouldn't. There is no benifit from that. Why do others? Who knows.

[northmeck0255]

My personal opinion is that the slide supports are not a good idea. If the ground is soft and the unit settles just a little bit, the support (being rigid) can cause damage to the slide.

The RV is designed to support the weight of the slide in the Open position. No need for additional supports.

[MidwestFarmer]

I wanted to let you know that DW and I went ahead and took that step of purchasing our RV that we were asking advise about a couple of weeks ago. We purchased the 2009 Keystone Copper Caynon 252FWLS that we mentioned in the previous posts. My "cold feet" have warmed considerably and I am comfortable with our decision. As DW mentioned in her last post, we both very much appreciate all the advice you provided. I do have a couple of new questions:

1. As we have been driving around lately, be have noticed that most all of the RVs that we have seen sitting in yards and driveways here in the Midwest are left with the slide-outs in the extended (out) positions. Due to the long winter we have had here, I don't believe these people are actually camping in their yards (yet). The question is, is it recommended that the slide-out be left in the extended position when not in use if the unit is not inside a storage unit somewhere? If so, what is the purpose?

2. I see these additional 5th wheel supports advertised for sale, used in addition to the front end stabilizer jacks. Can some of you further educate me as to whether or not these are necessary or recommended for the additional support when the TV is not attached?

I look forward to any and all advice you might provide us with.

Thanks very much!