New to fiver's but have 25 yrs. with a Truck Camper

[WPRer]

Hello all! We have experience in truck campers but are now looking at a 'fiver to retire and travel in after my wife retires next May. I will have a lot of questions so please be kind with all my questions....
Thanks
Barn

[WPRer]

Thanks.... Ya washer combo is NOT in our minds... We figure we will just hit a campground and wash there when needed. We have looked at the fireplace's and not sure how well they work and we will have to be plugged in or run gen...

[Onespeed405]

We bought our 5'er with retirment in mind.

We are expert boondockers, but the older we get, the less boondocking we do. Now I have paid for boondocking gear (solar panels, inverters, batteries, Satellite, etc.), that we never use.

In retrospec, the decisions that we do not regret are, KEEPING our electric fireplace, and NOT buying the washer/dryer combo.

This is just our experience.

[WPRer]

Thanks.... I asked the wife about just getting a camper with slides last night again...but she wants a 5er.... I would rather have a camper for our 4x4 OBS Powerstroke with only 130K on it.... OH well we have not bought it yet..... 😉

[rskeans]

We had an Okanagan 117DBL. That was a double slide with a rear slide with a sofa. It had double pane windows and a 31000 BTU furnace. http://www.okanaganrv.com/117DBL/117DBL/ Big.htm Loved that unit. But DW got tired of making the bed. I lost. Can't go wrong if you can find a used one. Went from one extreme to the other with our Lifestyle 5ver.
EDIT: Noticed the link doesn't work. Go to www.okanaganrv.com

[Pete_k]

We did what your looking at doing a few years back. Went from Okanagan 811-SL to a 2012 Heartland LandMark Key Largo. Would I do it again? Not sure love all the room. Enjoy recliners and big flat screen TV's. Ours has 3 of them along with auto tracking Sat dish.
But if I could redo it again. Not sure I would not just looked at a bigger Truck camper. That we could get into the bed easy with. That was our only issue with the T/C we had. And if something was to happen to our 5th wheel. I think it would hard to not go back to a triple Slide T/C.
Good luck and hope you have lots of years of happy travels.. We have 2 more years. Then travel as much as we can.
Pete

[WPRer]

Hey guys can anyone tell me about dual pane windows.... I was told by 2 salesmen that they are not "gas" type windows because going up and down in elevation they would blow the gas out of the seals...???
I know when we take a bag of potato chips from our place in So Cal @ 1300' and go up to our property @ 6000' the bags sometimes burst from pressure so it sounds like that may be right and we went to Colorado and at 12000' our Tupperware pops the lids so... I have come to not trust most salesmen I have run into...

[gkainz]

We have a Keystone 245RL 5th wheel, advertised as "Four Season" ... in Colorado it's really a 3 season. I use it for hunting, but if I'm into the later seasons and up high (sub-zero nights and snow) I winterize and use jugs of water.
The underbelly heating (on mine at least) is 1 little heater duct that sort of points towards the waste tanks, and the insulation is a very thin sheet of batting (I intended to upgrade that the last time I dropped the belly but ran out of time - still on the to-do list.
I don't run the furnace while I'm out during the day, only during the evenings. I do augment with a generator (Honda 2000 portable) while I'm inside, to run an electric heater (which is counter productive for the belly heat, because when the electric space heater is running, the furnace is not putting as much heat into the belly) and to recharge the batteries - I have 3 12v batteries - solar also on my to-do list.
I'm honestly shopping for a smaller slide in camper for hunting (keeping the 5er for family outings), as I want to tow ATVs and/or snowmobiles with us and my wife is paranoid about double towing.

[WPRer]

Thanks hunter.... I like the Artic Fox because its gen ready but yes it is heavy. The Montana are nice but they do not have any as small as I want. We plan to run piggyback 2 Yamaha/ Smart Tools 2000w gens. Yes I do know they will only run 1 AC unit in summer though.

[hunter_rv]

I am very similar to you in your needs for a camper. I wanted Artic Fox but found it real difficult to get in Midwest. I went with a Montana instead and maybe wished I stayed with the original plan, but it was 10K cheaper, which was too big of a significance and the wife prefered the Montane more.

Be very careful on those weights, those Artic Foxes are very heavy. Also, need to figure out a good generator plan, and most definitely thermopane windows!

I say a generator "plan", because this could be 1 big generator or 1 big one and 1 small one or 2 small to medium ones running in parallel. I have found this generator plan a work in progress and tough to figure out.

I use an electric space heater to heat up the 5th wheel (takes 850 watts to operate) It works very nice and heats up the camper nicely. I use a inverter generator to power it and the rest of my power needs. I do not camp year round, only for hunting and a small weekend get-away during the cold season.

[WPRer]

Yes I do plan to have a 2 battery setup and solar to help when in the out country. We plan to live in it after travels while our home is built and at 6000' we will have to have heated tanks/ underbelly....

[A_hitch_and_hop]

I have a 25 foot Keystone Hornet that I have been dragging around for the last eight years. I have yet to find a site that I can not fit into. I use a small electric heater ( if hooked into power) to keep the cold off at night and the propane furnace in the mornings if it is still cold. The single battery that runs the fan will only last one night and it is not good practice to drain the battery. I have read and talked to people that have installed a Solar Panel and have had good luck in using it to keep batteries charged. I would be concerned about freezing the water tanks and lines if the storage area was not heated as I have no insolation in the storage area.

[WPRer]

aruba Yes I know many companies make a lot of claims about insulation values....I have been looking for a 5er that is known for its insulation such as Arctic Fox if we buy new and dual pane windows with CSA certs.... or at least something built with block foam insulation if we buy used.... Fiberglass insulation was never made to to be in a RV as it will compress and loose its R valve.

Thanks all.... Ya we want to stay with a smaller 5er (30-31' max). I want to be able to get into most older campgrounds (if we stop in our travels) and want a smaller one so off road it will be easy to get where we want as well. We have a friend that drags his 35'+ Montana out to our hunting camp and its HUGE.... to much trouble to get into our area. Also smaller will take less fuel and battery to heat it in cold weather or cool in hot weather. I do plan a solar setup to help with charging... -19 now that's cold Biscuit! Thanks for the info.

We plan to retire and travel...east coast for family and Alaska (in the camper) for us then come back to our mountain property in NV. to build our home and live in the 5er while that happens. Can't wait to get out of CA. Starcraft!

[aruba5er]

most rv's are not made for cold (or hot). They are not insulated worth a darn. Mine had haphazard placement of insulation in the ceiling (think none in some areas). Furnace takes a lot of power so I would think (know) that battery will be long dead by morning. Most factory convertors will not charge a battery quickly so I use a battery charger to pump them back up.Walls are thin and most have single pane glass so very little R factor there. Tank heaters will take plenty of power, Mostly 12 vdc so a battery bank of 4 or more may be necessary and solar if you don't want to hear a genny run all day. I know your neighbors don't want to. I'd head for temperate climes.

[starcraft69]

WPRer I just made the same switch 1 1/2 years ago. We went from TC to 5er. I also hunt and fish ECT not as cold as you but I have found that not much changes between the two. Yes you will use a little more of everything. How much will depend on how big of a 5er you get. The extra fuel or battery charging is well worth the comfort. As always Old-Biscuit is spot on with his advice. If you were a experienced camper with your TC you will have a very small learning curve. Welcome to the forum!!!