Looking at first Fifth Wheel

[Al_H]

Hi Everyone, not new to RV'ing but seriously looking at buying a fifth wheel for winter trips south and camping in summer months. I realize that bigger is better but have heard that if you get over a certain lenght it can be tough finding sites when traveling? Is it 33 feet or more? also what about generators, it looks like most fifth wheel trailers don't have them? Also any other tips for a newbie?
Thanks

[IBcarguy]

I have a 37'FW and have never had any problem finding a spot in most campgrounds. Here in CA you better have reservations first anyway and you can pick a site that your rig will fit in. FW are kind of high so I sometimes have issues with low hanging branches in some of the state parks.

[2012Coleman]

Our Grand Design 303RLS is 33 feet long. It's a rear living floor plan with an island in the kitchen and opposing slides. Lots of room for three people. Full size queen bed and a porcelain toilet to boot. Two recliners directly face the TV and come with heat and massage.

[Buck_and_Doe]

Our 5th wheel is 31' and 1 living area slide which has dinette and sofa bed. We have rear kitchen which I love.I prefer like a split bath but hard to find that with newer campers.Bedroom area does not have enough closet space and a slide would be nice in that area. Center entry. We have done many long and many short trips. Generator should be big enough to run AC. Have been thru storms in south where it is handy to have with power outages as long as 4 days. I would not want to be without one We love boon docking.

[4x4ord]

I am real happy with my 36.5 foot trailer. I think at 36 feet you can find floor plans that don't feel as though you are compromising a whole lot of interior room. The model number of the trailer doesn't mean much though.... some models with a 34 or 33 as a model number end up being 37 or 39 feet long.

[SugarHillCTD]

We don't tend to stay in one place more than 1-2 nights, so short is better for us.

We value mobility since we are coming from having owned several different truck campers.

So when we recently bought our first 5th, we went as short as possible with a 25RKS which is just under 28' actual length. Just a kitchen, dinette and a couch in the rear.

[ken_burke]

Al H wrote:
Hi Everyone, not new to RV'ing but seriously looking at buying a fifth wheel for winter trips south and camping in summer months. I realize that bigger is better but have heard that if you get over a certain lenght it can be tough finding sites when traveling? Is it 33 feet or more? also what about generators, it looks like most fifth wheel trailers don't have them? Also any other tips for a newbie?
Thanks

Our 37 foot cedar creek presents problems when making turns and when backing into a site. We would like to move into a 33 or 34 foot 5th wheel.
ken and sue

[ivbinconned]

We bought used a year ago and got a 34 foot Cedar. One priority for me that It seems To not be important to manufactures these days is to have the entrance fully covered by awning. My kids bought a new one and made this mistake. Their awning ends a foot past the door and when it rains....and it will...steps carpet are all wet.

[laknox]

Al H wrote:
Thanks for the input so far, I thought I would need a 1 ton diesel truck and may limit the length to 33' so maybe a 3/4 ton would be enough? also we had a 31' class A for 8 years and found ourselves using the generator quite a bit when traveling to make coffee and run the ac

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have wasted my time on a 2500 when I was shopping in '04, and gone for a SRW 3500. Even though my old Komfort had a GVW of 11,360 and I don't think I ever even got close to 11k, it loaded nose-heavy, and sat my D'max right down on the overloads, hard. Made for a rough ride, even if I din't really sag all that much. A 1t would have given me more leeway and, probably, a bit better ride.

Lyle

[Splashers3]

We just ordered a 2019 38' Cedar Creek, even though we liked the 41' version slightly more (layouts are nearly identical). We were concerned with that extra 3 feet when getting into and around places....including parking in our driveway. The 38' is almost 4' longer than our current 5ver....so we are going reasonably longer in the first place.

We've been to a few c/g spots that 38' would have been a problem, not to say the c/g didn't have a longer spot available.

[valhalla360]

Bigger is only better if you need bigger.

If you are comfortable in a 28' trailer and have everything you need, bigger is worse... (depending on how much to go bigger) it may require:
- A bigger truck.
- Burns more fuel
- Costs more to buy and keep up.
- May not fit in some campgrounds

Of course for some that's not big enough to be comfortable and have everything you need.

For some a popup is plenty and for others they will struggle with a 40' 5er.

What are you planning to use it for and what are your expectations?

[Lantley]

I have a 39' RV with a built in genset. Built in gensets are all about convenience. My rig is fully self contained at all times. I can have full electric with just the press of a button. Nothing to haul, nothing to set up, no gas can to deal with, no genset theft security issues.
In general I have no issues finding a site, however there will always be more sites available if you have a shorter unit. Nevertheless I prefer the space and amenities that my longer unit provides.

[stickdog]

We had a 35ft Hitchhiker fulltimed in it for 7 1/2 years only once were we unable to get a site at the park we wanted. They had one site left and it was only 30 ft. Drove on down the road a bit and found a nicer park with an available site. When looking for our present 5er our only concern was keeping it under 40ft found one we liked at 37ft.

[azdryheat]

Rarely do I have any issues with the length, mine is 41'.

[ScottG]

My experience has been that anything over about 24~26' means that sometimes a site will not be available.
I'm in that position now.