Must Have, Don't Need

[jadee911]

We are looking to buy a fifth wheel and want to know what owners opinions are.

1. What do you love that you have in your trailer that you couldn't live without?
2. What do you wish that you had in your trailer?
3. What could you go without?
4. Have you found issues with the w/d and the d/w?
5. Do you really use the outdoor kitchen and fireplace a lot?

[Dutch___Di]

We agree with you We have Kodiak Disc on our 3 axle Carriage and they are wonderful. We also have the Big Foot Leveling System. Hugs, Di

redsb3 wrote:
Haven't seen anyone mention disc brakes yet. I won't ever have another 5th wheel or trailer without them. Autoleveling would also be nice. Generator is very handy also but suppose I could do without it.

[Mile_High]

Disk brakes are awesome as well - just forgot about them.

I was descending Monarch Pass last week in CO and I thought I would try just braking with the trailer using the lever - holy buckets! I practically came to a full stop and I bet the guy behind me almost ran into me because of no brake lights :E Those disk brakes really take hold in a hurry.

We've had an Onan generator in multiple rigs for years. If I had to make a list of 10 must haves, it would probably been down towards the 9 or 10.

[redsb3]

Haven't seen anyone mention disc brakes yet. I won't ever have another 5th wheel or trailer without them. Autoleveling would also be nice. Generator is very handy also but suppose I could do without it.

[davosfam]

We love our fireplace. Could we live without it? Yes but we wouldn't want to.

We have a huge shower and I don't think I could go back to a smaller one. Our bathroom has two doors, a regular door in the hallway and a slider into the bedroom. I wish we didn't have a slider door from our bathroom into our bedroom. When DH gets up in the middle of the night, the light from the bathroom leaks into the bedroom and right into my eyes.

We don't have an outdoor kitchen. Looked for one as we spend a lot of time outdoors and do most of our cooking outdoors. We had to give other things up in order to get the outdoor kitchen so decided against it.

We thought about getting a rig with a king bed but would have had to go without nightstands so we went with a queen with nightstands and love it. Don't really care for the dresser in our bedroom as the drawers are small and almost useless.

We would get a washer and dryer if we were full timers.

Our furniture is pretty comfortable but I would upgrade if I could.

[davidaf]

1. What do you love that you have in your trailer that you couldn't live without?
W/D we are full-time, not going to spend time in the laundry mat.
2. What do you wish that you had in your trailer?
D/W haven't had one in 3 other rigs but think it would be nice being full-time. True bathroom would be nice but not enough to trade her in.
3. What could you go without?
My desk that I absolutely had to have.
4. Have you found issues with the w/d and the d/w?
W/D not if I use the correct detergent. D/W just wish I had one.
5. Do you really use the outdoor kitchen and fireplace a lot?
Use the fireplace almost daily in winter. Portable BBQ is my outdoor kitchen.

[B_Sjulestad]

jadee911 wrote:
We are looking to buy a fifth wheel and want to know what owners opinions are.

1. What do you love that you have in your trailer that you couldn't live without? 6 pt level up, king size bed, fireplace, residential fridge, 2nd ducted ac.
2. What do you wish that you had in your trailer? Generator, disc brakes.
3. What could you go without?
4. Have you found issues with the w/d and the d/w? don't have don't need
5. Do you really use the outdoor kitchen and fireplace a lot? don't have outdoor kitchen, use fireplace on chilly mornings

[Yosemitebobr]

The only item I need to comment on is the Fireplace. YES, we do winter camping in the North, it was so nice to have it, used it everyday. More so than the Forced Air Unit.

[ReneeG]

Here are my replies:
1. What do you love that you have in your trailer that you couldn't live without? Can I pick more than one? King Bed - luv, luv, luv it! Fireplace - not only economical when we have hookups, but nice to look at. Desk - luv the desk area for my husband who uses it to work on when we are out.
2. What do you wish that you had in your trailer? Wish the hide-a-bed was positioned differently.
3. What could you go without? Ceiling fan. It's nice looking but doesn't seem to move a lot of air around.
4. Have you found issues with the w/d and the d/w? Don't have either. W/D - washer/dryer/ d/w - dishwasher? That would be me!
5. Do you really use the outdoor kitchen and fireplace a lot? We don't have an outdoor kitchen other than the grill we bring along and yes, I do use it. Fireplace? See my answer above. If we have hookups and it's fall or winter, that's our sole source of heat and we only us the propane on board heater at night.

[ddschuman]

What I like about the fireplace is that on a cold morning it takes the nip out of the air pretty quick without using your propane. It has a nice ambiance about it also. We camp every year for 1-2 weeks in Colorado. We usually sleep with the windows open as we love the air up there. When we wake up in the morning and step out of the covers, it is pretty nippy. Turn on the fireplace, get a cup of coffee and enjoy. Since our mountain trips are usually in either May or September, we rarely close he windows. The days are nice and moderate and trailer stays a decent temp.

Some have mentioned that the fireplace takes up too much storage space. I guess it depends on how much you use your trailer. If you full-time...maybe it does. If you are a vacationer and weekender like us...we have cabinets in our 5er that have never had anything put in them. Otherwise, we have lots and lots of extra storage space. Actually, I kind of wish that the overhead cabinets above the theater seating and above couch didn't exist and larger windows where in their place. The reason is we've had our 5er for over a year and have yet to find anything we needed to put there. We have two long cabinets on either side of TV and have only used one of them for extra pantry space on one trip. Otherwise they both stay empty as well because we have plenty of kitchen cabinets for just the two of us and don't take a lot of stuff with us on any trip. One of the deciding factors for us on our 5er was all the extra storage. Everyone always told me you can't get enough...well we have plenty and I am afraid if we filled it all up, we'd be WAY overweight. It would be nice to have though if we lived in it or traveled more often with guest staying with us.

[hatchhanlon]

My DW and I are forever tangling over some of my choices about our projected needs. She is great at nurturing, me, not so much. However, she can't forecast worth a hoot.

I'll leave the lengthy list of other matters that she has finally determined makes extremely good sense and stick to the FW. I'm not patting myself on the back or looking for strokes, only offering an opinion that has worked for me, and now my DW, too.

Haves differ for everybody, but for us this is our list in order of priority: fireplace, two air conditioners, fantastic fan in bath, 6 point leveling system, large fridge, roomy bath/shower, slide toppers, and king bed.

On this must have theme, many times one must come to grips with noise during the camping experience, from yapping dogs, to jet skis, chain saws, weed whackers, loopy neighbors, etc. The air conditioners, even when not cooling take care of most acoustic issues, but there are times when we need to add our fantastic fan and stove exhaust to survive the day, and especially the night. I also have a white noise machine 6 inches from my head on my side of the bed.

Factors that could be improved or eliminated: dark interiors, lack of windows, dual pane windows, outdoor kitchen; otherwise, we seem to have a pretty good setup. But we had 30 years experience and 10 years of research, prior to buying our FW. We also have a smaller TT that is used for extended trips and pretty much use our big rig as a seasonal. For those who travel, their lists may be quite a bit different.

Hope this information helps with your choices.

[Stefonius]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I have no use for a fireplace. I'd rather have the extra space it occupies.

My next fifth wheel will have automatic leveling, a king-sized bed that I can walk all the way around, a shower larger than the average phone booth, a kitchen with sufficient counter space for actual cooking, and a factory-installed generator (or generator prep).

My DW would love a dishwasher, but I consider it unnecessary. I don't need a W/D, but if I full-timed I'd probably want one.

[jadee911]

Thank you everyone for your responses. You have given my husband and I GREAT advise. We had talked about not caring about a fireplace but you all have said that you love your fireplaces. We will look for a trailer with a fireplace now. I love that some of you have told us what trailer you have so that we can look into that. As I said earlier we have never had a trailer but we are planning to have one very soon. Again thank you so so much. 😄

[Racine96]

1. What do you love that you have in your trailer that you couldn't live without?

Nice, home like shower.

2. What do you wish that you had in your trailer?

auto-level system

3. What could you go without?

Residencial fridge

4. Have you found issues with the w/d and the d/w?

Have hook ups, but don't want w/d, d/w

5. Do you really use the outdoor kitchen and fireplace a lot?

Don't have outdoor kitchen and do not want it. Love the fireplace.

[Napria]

We have a Montana Front Lounge 3850FL

1. Stackable Washer and Dryer, 6 point LevelUp, fireplace, 2nd entry door on opposite side of unit, 2 ACs.
2. Bigger shower, more room around the kitchen table.
3. King size bed. We like it ok, but wouldn't miss it if we had a Queen.
4. LOVE the washer and dryer! Absolutely no issues. No issues with the dishwasher as long as she's had a glass of wine at dinner, lol.
5. Don't have or want an outdoor kitchen. Use the fireplace literally every evening without the heat on (haven't camped in the cooler months yet.)