Moving to a fifth wheel thoughts and questions

[packpe89]

We recently sold our camper and have decided to move to a fifth wheel. Our current truck is a 2002 Chevy 2500HD, 4x4, with 6.0 gas and 4.10 gears. Bed is 6.5' and the previous owner had a hitch in the bed (4 holes).

Plan to travel mainly in the Carolinas, beach and a few trips to the mountains.
Then upgrade truck later before going west.

Plan to budget around $12K for the FW. I'm thinking around 30' bunkhouse (still have one teen at home) and 8500/9000 lbs. Looking online for this price range, will be around a 2006 model +/-. Also prefer a walk-in shower instead of a tub. (door instead of a curtain)

Does this sound reasonable?
Any suggestions on what to look for /shy away from? Brand? Type frame?
Hitch, I see several online, get one of these and take to get installed or best to get a new one? Regular or slide?
Hope to buy later this year for nest season, is there a good time of the year to get deals?

Thanks in advance.

[Roaming_the_ear]

After our kids had grew up and out of the camping scene, we figured we would change from our bunk room RV to one without or even a smaller RV. Well, we were wrong. The bunk room has become a pantry/storage room and it works out great. We removed the mattresses and now have 4 shelves. Plus, we still have the grandkid or stay over company option.

[danrclem]

Here is a thread discussing chucking.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22609074/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

You may or may not need a slider depending on the 5th wheel that you buy. I bought a used slider before I bought my truck or camper and so far I haven't needed it because the front corners of my camper are not square and I've made some pretty tight backups. I still don't mind having it just in case I get in a really tight space and need it. It also depends on where your pinbox is mounted.

Sounds like you'd be happier with a bunkhouse but keep in mind that you lose some open room. It's just a matter of if it's enough room for you. When looking just spend a little time in it with the people you'll be camping with and move around like you would when camping. When I was looking there seemed to be more bunkhouses in my price range so that may be a plus for you.

[maskins]

We sold or bunk house last year and got non bunk house model. The kids are 14 & 17 and started complaining about camping and how they are bored, blah, blah. So now when they go with us they sleep on air mattress in the living room.

I have a 2005 Silverado with the 6.5 bed. Make sure you get a slider and make sure you slide it back before backing up. Your truck's back window will thank you. I have a b&W patriot.

[packpe89]

Yes, thinking kids will be replaced by grandkids at some point. I may also be working from the FW in which case I would convert the bunk to an office.

So what is chucking?

[wing_zealot]

Don't forget to budget a few thousand $ to get rid of the chucking.

[danrclem]

lee worsdell wrote:
I would talk to the teen a year or 2 may decide doesn't want to come anymore then you have a bunk trailer you cant use. Been that route.

That's more or less what I was thinking. Depending on how much privacy your teen wants a bunkhouse might not be necessary. Then again if it's possible that you may have grandkids in a couple years the bunkhouse could come in handy again. My youngest son has a bunkhouse so when the whole family (6 adults and 6 grandkids) goes camping he gets most of the kids.

I would think that for 12K you should be able to get a very nice 2006 and really should be able to go newer than that unless you get a high end unit. It's all about shopping and willing to wait for the right deal.

[lee_worsdell]

I would talk to the teen a year or 2 may decide doesn't want to come anymore then you have a bunk trailer you cant use. Been that route.

[phillyg]

The four holes in the bed might have been from a Pullrite sliding hitch. If you can see the mounting plate ends thru the holes and look underneath for the frame mounts, I'd recommend getting a PR hitch. I've seen them used on Craigslist and Hitchtrader for reasonable prices.

[valhalla360]

Run the numbers specific to your truck to get the pin weight and towing capacity but otherwise, yes, what you describe is very doable.

You might even be able to move up into the 2007-2010 range if you shop around.

We just picked up a 34' in this age range fro $15k (including tax/title/etc..)

[laknox]

MPI_Mallard wrote:
(snipped)

Red Green: There's only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys.

And then there are things like RVs, boats, hot rods, trucks, planes, guns... :B

Lyle

[MPI_Mallard]

I would suggest you check a used Cedar Creek Cardinal, their after-the-sale customer service is the best in the industry also they make a great rig! I find that bunk-bed units give up too much interior space and our teenage grandkids enjoyed "roughing it" in the 10'x10' dome tent and air mattresses we keep in our fiver (very handy for unexpected guests as well) one thing though, with that 2500 truck watch your weight!

Red Green: There's only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys.

[Artum_Snowbird]

Here is a very similar post to yours with some good information about weights.

Normally, when talking about a bunkhouse, that can often mean packing some toys for the bunkhouse resident, so combined weight becomes the determining factor.
IRV2 question and answer.