Motorhome to 5th wheel

[Rwake901]

We are considering trading our motorhome for a 5th wheel. We are planning to retire next year and are hoping to spend the winters someplace warm. I’m thinking that the 5th wheel will have a lot more room for us to spend 3 to 4 months in. I’m having a hard time letting go of my motorhome though. Anyone else do this and are you happy with the 5th wheel or do you wish you had your motorhome back? Thanks for your thoughts

[Texas_Roadrunn1]

There’s a great video on you tube, just look up motor home vs. fifth wheel. It lays out the differences fairly succinctly. I think so much of the decision depends on budget, your age, and personal preferance concerning floor plan and the way you plan to use your RV. Do you plan to stay put or will you move frequently? Good luck with your choice, it isn’t an easy one to make, but doing your homework really helps to make the correct one for you.

[Cummins12V98]

He sets among tall Fir and Cedar trees so wind is not an issue.

[larry_barnhart]

Our truck sits in our garage from April to the time we hit the road so 6 months on and off. MY wife would not want to ride in a little car in Arizona traffic. Happy wife well ya know the rest of the story.

chevman

[Me_Again]

Face boards go down over sides. Many those roofs in the membership park. Not a problem.

[ford_truck_guy]

Chris,

So you are saying that the roof is just sitting on top of the Big Horn, with NO tie downs? Are you worried about any large wind gusts?

Love the setup by the way
Joe

[Me_Again]

MFL wrote:
Nice setup Chris!

I'm curious about that roof covering the Bighorn. That looks like a nice protector for the regular roof, but how does that fasten to/set on the rubber roof?

You have to be quite the handy guy, if you did most of those builds yourself!!

Jerry

Roof on the Bighorn just rest of top of the trailer according to county zoning rules. A guy in the park a lot younger that me built it last summer. I designed the Arizona room/mancave build of the park model, however it was built by the parks parent construction division.

[MFL]

Nice setup Chris!

I'm curious about that roof covering the Bighorn. That looks like a nice protector for the regular roof, but how does that fasten to/set on the rubber roof?

You have to be quite the handy guy, if you did most of those builds yourself!!

Jerry

[Me_Again]

larry barnhart wrote:
After hearing the cost to maintain a large MH from many MH owners we know or have during happy hours I feel we are almost like traveling for free. Repairs, tires radiators many etc's. One was a banker but he didn't feel my thinking was correct.

chevman

To carry on with Larry comments.

Fact one! I cost considerably more to snowbird in a nice DP MH than a nice 5th wheel.

Fact two! If you have propane heat in the MH then you pay a higher cost for propane on site from the delivery truck.

Fact three! Some MH repairs require the rig to go to the shop! there goes your home!

I was once told by a salesman selling a friend an American Dream DP that if you want to travel a lot, then go MH, if you want to sit a lot go 5th wheel.

We spent you first two years retired with a 31' 5th wheel and travel Western states part time. We then for 8 years snowbirded with it. We then purchased a 39' 5th wheel and lived in it full time for over a year. We then built a nice park model with AZ room in the same park that we had be coming to for all those years. LOL we have two golf carts, a gas one at the Northern park that has 22 miles on roads inside the park on 360 acres and an electric one down South.

Many make similar transitions over the years. Even my parents did it. We now have the Bighorn as a summer home in Washington and the park model as a winter home in Arizona and the little Laredo as a side trip commuter rig.

Here is our route documented in pictures.

Cardinal 29WBLX


Bighorn 3575el


Park Model with Bighorn next door


Bighorn now our summer home


Our little guy commuter bumper pull.

[Hammerboy]

philh wrote:

Colo Native wrote:
I went from a Class A to a FW got rid of the FW in 1 1/2 years now have a TT and love it. If you go to a FW you need more truck than you think and new they are 60K up and most FW require a 1 ton min. We hated the stairs inside and I hated hooking and unhooking I have a short bed and had a slider hitch that was a PITA.JMHO

How in the world is a TT easier to hook and unhook compared to a 5th wheel?

X2
I've had both and a fifth wheel is a lot easier at least in my opinion. Our last fifth wheel and truck we had we had a Pullrite superglide and I'll admit if your hooking on an angle it could be a real pain.

Dan

[philh]

Colo Native wrote:
I went from a Class A to a FW got rid of the FW in 1 1/2 years now have a TT and love it. If you go to a FW you need more truck than you think and new they are 60K up and most FW require a 1 ton min. We hated the stairs inside and I hated hooking and unhooking I have a short bed and had a slider hitch that was a PITA.JMHO

How in the world is a TT easier to hook and unhook compared to a 5th wheel?

[Reflex439]

I personally don't miss our MH at all. I love the extra room and all the huge windows in the back three walls/slides in the 5W. Something not offered in MHs. The reason we changed to a 5W from a MH is our traveling style has changed. More time in each location, vs always on the go with the MH. They both have reasonable tradeoffs depending on the persons needs.

I find so many of the RV 'debates' are really personal preferences and suited to ones own personal travel style. An endless string of tradeoffs that need to be prioritized and selected for each person. Whats important to one is insignificant to another. Whats important to you is what matters most. Not an easy thing for other to advise you on. Make a list of priorities and see how they both stack up.

[mr__ed]

I went from a 29' motorhome w/o slides to a 29' fiver with 3 slides. Although I enjoyed my MH I decided to go fiver since I was full-timing and found he fiver to be more acceptable to my lifestyle, which generally meant staying for an extended amount of time in each location. The increase in room was quite dramatic, although I do get along fine in smaller RV's.

At this time, I'm not RVing. A stroke put me out of the picture. If I ever get to the point where I can RV again I may choose a small MH since that would be easier to handle than a truck/fiver combo. if I was back to my original self I'd probably return to a fiver or possibly a small trailer. I don't need a lot of room.

I see there at least two of you. I think you'd like going with a fiver. Be sure you have a truck robust enough to handle the weight.
I pulled with a 1 ton diesel. There will also be a learning curve on handling the combo, especially backing into a site. Shouldn't be too intimidating, though. Yes, I'll always be an RVer at heart! 😉

[laknox]

wilber1 wrote:


I don't know. There have been times when overnighting in torrential rain it would have been nice to just press one button, the coach levels, press another and the slides go out, press another and the geny starts. Can't do that with a 5th wheel.

I don't tow with the furnace running and you can't run AC so we also have to wait for the rig to warm up or cool down after we get where we are going. We really like our 5th wheel but motorhomes do have their good points.

Plenty of newer FWs have remotes to control leveling.

Plenty of newer FWs have a "house" remote to control slides, awnings and lights. Some "house" remotes also have the leveling function.

If you've got an on-board genny, most of them have remote start inside the coach as well as a fob for "outside" remote start. If you've left the AC on, it'll fire up as soon as the genny starts.

So, get situated on your site, use the remote(s) to get more-or-less level, put the slides out, put the awing out, start the genny, make a dash for the door.

Lyle

[bighog01]

Keep in mind, especially with the newer Keystone FW's with the N-Command system, most of the trailers functions can be set up using the app on your smartphone. No need to get out in the rain. And you can run the generator/fridge/AC while traveling