Smaller fifth wheels no longer made??

[Katdaddy]

Recently my wife has been wanting to down size our camper. We currently have a 28 foot fiver. We took a trip to our local dealer and all they had was travel trailers. Went online to look at a couple other dealers and all the fivers were 31 foot and up. Any shorter units were used. Are smaller fivers a thing of the past?

[RussOnTheRoad]

Right, of course. Thanks.

[ICamel]

Suspect he meant Jayco Eagle HT 26.5RLS

[RussOnTheRoad]

jalichty wrote:
Jaycee makes a number of FWs less than 30", total length. They are the half-ton towable line, HT. We have an HT 26.5 RLS that is a couple inches short of 30' in total overall length and has a living room slide that houses the couch and dining table with chairs. It also has a smaller bedroom slide that houses a closet with quite a bit of room. A little over 7,200 pounds dry weight with about 2,750 pounds of cargo capacity. Jaycee also has a shorter one that is labeled 23.5. You might get on their site and take a look. Almost all the manufacturers have what they call half-ton towable that are less than 30', you just have to look for them on the sites rather than at the dealers. Although the three dealers I visited around my place all had the shorter ones in stock as well as the bigger ones.

Who makes the Jaycee line?I I could find no such maker. Thanks.

[n7bsn]

jimmyfred wrote:


..............Artic fox makes a 23 foot 5'ver , check them out !

Well... they used to make a 19, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 26 "ft" (at various times), but haven't for several years

[mileshuff]

Winnebago's Voyage 25RKS is 28'9". I have their prior model Lite Five 26RKS and love it!

http://winnebagoind.com/products/fifth-wheel/2016/voyage/floorplans

[YZ]

With the power of diesels today...a 28 5th...which was the first 5th we looks at..pulls no different from the 31.5 than we bought. As for the manufacturer the cost of building those 2 is essentially identical and it is easier selling the 31 at that price point..

Companies know how they can make profit to survive...those that don't, die... if there was a demand, they would build..

The sweet spot for 5th is like the OP said..31 to 34 foot..

Those that want a small 5th, have to search in the nitch market and pay more that the bigger rigs.. or have a small one custom built and pay the piper..

It really dempends on how much the OP wants a small 5th..

[minnow]

colliehauler wrote:

Katdaddy wrote:

minnow wrote:
The reason in my opinion that there are so few to choose from is that the selling dealers refuse to stock a smaller unit and would rather sell the 42' models. Since the dealers don't stock the smaller units, the buying public is not generally aware of smaller units so the manufacturers aren't catering to that crowd and don't build them. Even if a manufacturer does build a smaller fiver, just try finding it on your local dealers lot.

After seeing the other responses, I believe this to be true. Apparently the dealers prefer to sell the longer, more expensive models.
Thanks for your help guys!!

I would think it would have more to do with demand. Dealers won't stock something there is not much demand for.

Catch 22: there can be no demand if the deaker isn't offering it for sale. If a buyer doesn't see a smaller fifth wheel then they don't buy a smaller fifth wheel and then the dealer claims there's no market for smaller fivers.

[RobertRyan]

YZ wrote:
...with 5th wheels getting to be 45+ foot, the lack of small 5th wheels does not surprise me ...I think the mind set is that if you want small, go to a tt..

..it is a demand - supply issue..

If you don't mind used, I see a lot of smaller ones on the road...

I know some people have tried to bring in very large 5vers into Australia, but if not modified cannot resell them and you need more than a 1 ton to make them legal here.

[Curly2001]

Try Heartland XLT series fivers

[laknox]

YZ wrote:
It is funny....my closest RV dealer says that they cannot sell 5th wheel trailers (new/used) period. No market.

He's not trying hard enough. 🙂

Lyle

[YZ]

It is funny....my closest RV dealer says that they cannot sell 5th wheel trailers (new/used) period. No market.

[laknox]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
It's interesting that dealers will say that there is low demand for the small ones; yet, also say that they sell used ones quickly.

Yet dealers at the Denver Adventure Travel Show are saying that they can't keep smaller RVs in stock. :h

http://rvdailyreport.com/owner/smaller-rvs-reign-at-adventure-travel-show-in-denver/

I know that my top 2 picks for my next FW are longer than what I really want, but there are a few things that SHE wants that necessitate the size. :B

Lyle

[Jayco-noslide]

It's interesting that dealers will say that there is low demand for the small ones; yet, also say that they sell used ones quickly.

[YZ]

...with 5th wheels getting to be 45+ foot, the lack of small 5th wheels does not surprise me ...I think the mind set is that if you want small, go to a tt..

..it is a demand - supply issue..

If you don't mind used, I see a lot of smaller ones on the road...