Looking at a new 5th wheel

[Nicholsfamily05]

Good evening.

My wife and I are looking at purchasing a new rig and wondering if anyone here has a set up with the front Livingroom and how they like it.

We are specificity looking at the 2016 Chaparral 370 FL and the 334FWFLS Keystone Sprinter.

We currently have a bunk house in the same length so no concerns there but mostly how do you feel it functions.
No one in our area has either and it's a 2 hr drive to one and longer to the other so we are just trying to get an idea before going to see them.

Thank you.

[Nicholsfamily05]

Thank you everyone for your feed back. Today we were able to go to our local dealer where we purchased our bunkhouse and the sales rep who we have been working with brought us outback to show us another customers FL that was just delivered.
It was a Sierra 377FLIK. 40 foot with the five slides. Have to say it was pretty impressive and all.
Walked around it for awhile and looked it over.
While we see the issue with having the two slides come out into the awning area most of the camp sites we have been to this wouldn't effect where we sit to much. Rainy days yeah I could see it being an issue.
As for the one front slide in the way yeah it is but we don't do outside tv. In fact we barely use the inside tv. Once in awhile we will have a movie night but not very often.
The couches were comfortable and we liked the way it kinda had that separation between the two rooms. Where as in a rear living room there really wasn't a separation.
The head room was nice as we aren't very tall, both 5'6" and the location of the AC unit was nice to. It was set back away from the living area but had a ceiling fan not to far away and a vent.
The pass thru storage is actually pretty big and I could still say we wouldn't even get close to filling it. Between some chairs and kids games, and our hook up stuff. More than enough room.

We checked out the open range one on line and we are looking for the three couches basically. Each kid can have their own and then ours would face the tv it's self for when we are inside. Figure we plan on keeping this one for awhile.

We are still looking and taking in all the comments left for us.
So we thank you for that.
Here is the floor plan we checked out.

[dogwood36322]

Take a look at this unit. It has the best of both worlds. Tons of storage under the rear bedroom. 2016 Open Range RV Roamer Fifth Wheel RF376FBH

[mowin]

Chad,

DW and I have a 2014 keystone Laredo 32rl. I also have a TV in the front storage area. We enjoy sitting outside with a cold beverage and watching tv. The RL definitely fit our needs better than a FL.

Congrats on the new 5er. Happy camping 🙂

[Chad_Brooks]

Mowin,

The unit we are about to order has opposing rear slides as well, but no slide toward the front of the coach, where most of the time you find your picnic table and room for chairs. We like to have a TV in our belly area and no slide gives plenty of room for the family to sit around under the full awning. I am not sure which one you have chosen, but we are getting the Landmark 365 Newport. We are just trying to decide on the exterior color.

[mowin]

Have to agree with Chad... wife's daughter went off to college, and our 38'tt bunkhouse had wasted space (bunkhouse). We loved the look of the FL. Almost bought one. Glad we hesitated. Started looking at the RL modles. But the DW and I kept thinking the FL was best for us. Until we had both a FL and a RL side by side and all opened up.

However, the 5er we chose has opposing slides in the RL area. So it did cut our outside covered space and awning size. But the upside was the larger bathroom, which the DW really wanted.

[Chad_Brooks]

Not to make you rethink getting a FL, but here is my take. I too have a bunk house and we are ready to move up to more living area as one of my two daughters is about to graduate and head to college. At first, I was all giddy at the look of the front living and was sure that was the way I wanted to go. After getting serious about it, we went and looked at several FL 5vers. The first thing that caused me to "rethink" my direction, was the fact that (depending on manf) you have one to two slides directly in your outside living area. We spend a lot of time outside under the awning and this alone was enough to change my mind. The other issue is the small bathroom. The bathroom is the only real room that is miniature in most of today's RV's, except for the FB models which we are on the verge of ordering. It has a great living area, great kitchen with plenty of kitchen space, large bedroom with king size bed, and a true full size bathroom to match. In addition, the outside area under the main awning does not have a slide and allows us room to stretch out and watch the game with a TV mounted in the much larger underbelly. It all depends on where you want your room! Happy Trails!

[Michelle_S]

Check the heigth of the opposing slides in the LR, some models have limited headroom and you have to be careful sitting down and getting up. For the most part, Front Living floor plans are either a "Love them" or "Hate them". We've looked, but in the end we prefer the Rear Living room.

[Nicholsfamily05]

We just read the discussion to and well we don't have a lot of stuff we take along. In fact we barely fill the pass thru storage compartment on the one we have now with just chairs, grill and a table.
So not to concerned about the storage. We have yet to actually see one and get our hands on it as no dealers around here have one. We are planning a road trip to go look at one and get a feel for it.

Thank you for posting the discussion it was helpful.

[phillyg]

I reread the "general discussion" noted above by BB_TX and have to agree about lack of front storage under the LR. We've only had our front LR two weeks now and have no opinion about excessive heat, yet. We consciously considered the lack of storage and decided since we're not full-time we could travel with less. In fact, the new one swallowed up everything from the Wildcat, with ease, so I'm happy as of now. Now, if you're a packrat, forgeddaboutit.

[BB_TX]

Here is a recent general discussion on front living plans. Not specifically the one you are looking at.