switching from tent camping to 5th wheel

[Tibbs54]

We are in the market for a small-ish 5th wheel and the truck to tow it...We are looking at the Northwood Fox Mountain 235RLS and a 2015 F350 Diesel. We have only tent camped to date - but I just turned 60 and feel it's time to go for more comfort. 🙂 Plus we will be retiring soon and want to spend a lot of time traveling and camping around the country.

My question is more of a "how does it feel" to camp in a 5th wheel. Ours would be about 28feet long. Can I plan to wake up in the morning and open the door to the smell of pine trees and fresh air or, because we aren't in a tent, will I just be looking at my neighbors 5th wheel, travel trailer or motorhome? I'm hoping a 28 foot FW won't have many restrictions and we can stay out of crowded RV parks and 'get away from it all'. We considered a truck camper for this reason, but feel we want the room for when the grandkids camp with us. Any thoughts on this? Any resources I can check? I don't want to hit the road only to find that I won't be able to get that 'in the woods' feeling when stopping for the day. Can't wait to get started --- what's it like?

[Itching2go]

Tibbs54 wrote:
Just curious about the previous comment..what didn't you like about a rear entrance?

Our last fiver had the entrance at the rear, and our current fiver has it in the middle. Much prefer the middle for two reasons...

First, there are times when we need to lower the nose on a site that slopes. This would raise the rear of the trailer up, making it necessary to use an extra step to get in, which can be annoying.

Second, we frequently extend the rear of the rig over the end of the pad to give us more room for the truck in front. When we did that with the rear entrance, the door entrance would no longer be off of the pad. And if the slope after the end of the pad were severe enough, we couldn't extend out at all.

...our experience...

[newk]

They all have their advantages. For decades I had a pickup camper (TC) and tents. A few times we used both -- the TC for my wife and I, and we'd set up a tent for the grandkids. For me it was near perfect. I also had a backpack tent for longer hikes when we'd want to walk in one day and out the next. Then my wife started complaining about getting into and out of the over-the-cab bed, so we traded up for a very small (23') 5er. It was the low-profile style, so while she liked it better, we were still crawling into bed (ceiling not high enough to stand up). So we traded again, this time for a 30'. It was a little bigger than we needed, so after a few years we traded for a 27-foot. We'll trade again one of these years for a bigger one, but this is the cat's meow for weekends and short vacations.

I still miss the TC, as we could take it about anywhere we could take the truck (minding overhead trees), but I'll have to admit that the extra room is nice at times, especially when we have guests, either overnight to sleep (very seldom) or just a bunch of friends or relatives who want to step in for drinks and story-telling when it's getting too cold (or loud) around the campfire. Our camper has become the center of activity when camping with others. The extra room around the bed and not having to crawl around on hands and knees to make the bed or just to get into and out of it is pretty nice.

We usually camp now in USFS campgrounds -- no hookups but spacious camping sites. With the grandpa National Park Pass, USFS campgrounds are $6-$7 per night (half price), and that gets us a decently level campsite, nice fire ring, picnic table and unlimited drinking water for longer stays. That's not a bad trade-off vs. free boon docking.

[Tibbs54]

Just curious about the previous comment..what didn't you like about a rear entrance?

[bpounds]

kohai wrote:

I'm new to RVs and have a 5th wheel. So far, our 3 trips have been to RV parks, but I believe we'll enjoy boondocking even more.

However, after just 3 trips I'm concerned about the off-road ability of a 5th wheel versus a travel trailer. It doesn't take much variation in ground level between my truck and the 5th wheel to make me nervous about hitting my bed rails with the RV.

How do you all deal with that?

Generous bed clearance.

[kohai]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
you are definitely on the right track to stay fairly small so you can still stay in national, state parks, etc. We went from a pop-up to a hybrid trailer to a 5th wheel. The only thing we missed was having such large, screen windows on the pop-up making one feel really outdoors. Our 5th wheel didn't have very large windows and we always ran a fantastic fan so we felt pretty closed in at night. However, we would never go back to a tent or pop-up. The 5th wheel feels more secure and sheltered in rain/rain. It's worth what you loose.

I'm new to RVs and have a 5th wheel. So far, our 3 trips have been to RV parks, but I believe we'll enjoy boondocking even more.

However, after just 3 trips I'm concerned about the off-road ability of a 5th wheel versus a travel trailer. It doesn't take much variation in ground level between my truck and the 5th wheel to make me nervous about hitting my bed rails with the RV.

How do you all deal with that?

[john_bet]

We did the tent to TT to bigger TT then current 5th. It has a rear entrance and I do not like it. Next one will be a mid entrance. Ours is a 32' model and have only been in a few National Parks with no problems.

[Tibbs54]

goducks10 --- great information and suggestions! Thanks!

[Tibbs54]

Love the picture, bobx! Thanks for sharing. THAT's what I'm talking about! 🙂

[Ohiojude]

We started in a tent, moved to a slide in then 34' 5th wheel. We had the 5th wheel about a year and half and finally ended up with our 40' Heartland Big Country. Its all about comfort. We stay at mostly state camps, C of E etc as we don't like the crowded RV parks. There are lots of options for camping and you choose what works for you. That is what we love about it. Good Luck on your decision.

BTW we loved the slide in-the biggest one Lance made. We traded it in as our grandchildren are getting too big.

[goducks10]

We have the 5'er you're looking at. Ours is a 2013. We tow with a 12 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 CC LB. We've had the Fox for 15 months, spent 60-70 nights (haven't added up this summers yet) and have put over 6000 miles on it. So far after a couple small issues, one from Northwood and the others from suppliers everything has been uneventful as far as issues go. We haven't had any issue for the last year. so most of them were in the 1st month. One was a slight water leak at a fitting near the city water hookup. Fixed in the 1st week. Then the kitchen faucet handle broke. Maybe I pushed too hard. The bathroom sink faucet is the cheap plastic kind and lasted about a month. I replaced both myself with better ones from Home Depot. The one in the shower has held up fine. I figure those aren't really big issues. Would of been nice of the faucets would lasted longer but on the plus side we have better ones now. Can't complain about spending an extra $120 for two faucets. Could be way worse.

JMO but if I were to order one or were looking again I would opt for the recliners and the free standing dinette. The rear sofa is worthless for anymore than an hr worth of sitting. Same goes for the booth dinette. The cushions on the booth could be upgraded but since we prefer the free standing table and chairs that's just what we would do. Also with the booth and when the slide is in it's really tough to walk past the table and counter to use the restroom. Those are the only things I would change or order as the rest is great.

We have since removed the booth and replaced it with a table and chairs I got at a local furniture store. We bought an oval drop leaf table. When the leaf is down and the slide is in it gives us plenty of room to walk by the kitchen counter. Also replaced the rear sofa with a nice recliner theater love seat.

The tv and stereo setup are pretty decent as far as RV's go. There are IIRC 6 LED lights in the living area. Which helps cut down on battery drain. Also a remote control Fantastic fan in the bedroom and a reg Fantastic fan in the bathroom. All nice touches for a 28' 5'er IMO. The fridge is 8 cuft which is larger than what you would expect.

We would also order one or look for one with dual pane windows. We don't have them and from what I've read cut down on outside noise, heat/cold and keep the windows from sweating.

We have no problem pulling with the 2500 CTD and average 11.5 mpg towing around Oregon. Our Fox when loaded weighs 9000lbs and the pin is 1800lbs. I carry quite a bit with me.

Overall we are quite happy. It's just the two of us and the size is great as we can fit into just about anywhere we want to go.

We bought ours from Thunder RV in La Grande Or. Great dealer. We drove 300 miles to get it. There were a couple dealers within 50-60 miles but we had heard good things about Thunder RV so we went there.

Northwood will allow you to have any warranty work done by any authorized RV repair facility. Worked out great for us with our one warranty repair.

[Jayco-noslide]

you are definitely on the right track to stay fairly small so you can still stay in national, state parks, etc. We went from a pop-up to a hybrid trailer to a 5th wheel. The only thing we missed was having such large, screen windows on the pop-up making one feel really outdoors. Our 5th wheel didn't have very large windows and we always ran a fantastic fan so we felt pretty closed in at night. However, we would never go back to a tent or pop-up. The 5th wheel feels more secure and sheltered in rain/rain. It's worth what you loose.

[bobx2]

We hate camp grounds, and only stay in one if we have no other choice. That was one of the reasons we stayed on the small side (26.5') when we bought our 5th wheel. This is how we prefer to camp.

[Tin_Pusher]

Well, you're going to have to get used to stairs 🙂

[GON2SKI]

You should be able to fit in the woods fine with that set up. We share some of the same thoughts of not always having close neighbors and seeking solitude with nature in some of the more remote sites. We added many options on our new rig just for that independence yet still go in comfort. Northwoods make a solid rig that should handle road and weather conditions to suit your needs…..enjoy!

[KSadler1]

Tibbs54 wrote:
Thanks for your thoughts! I have no concerns about giving up tent camping as far as overall comfort goes. I just am not sure what kind of campsites I can get in to with a 28' FW. We are keeping it smallish, (but big enough for nice amenities) so that we will have a larger selection of campsites to choose from. Just hoping that we can still find some sites that give us some distance from our neighbors and some natural surroundings to enjoy. I still remember visiting my in-laws who were camping in their FW in Estes Park - but they were in an RV park and it felt so.....well....not like camping at all. I think they had a little bit of grass and a tree. I really appreciate the feedback I'm getting from you all who are living it. I'm still just trying to imagine it. Thanks!!:)

We use to camp in a large meadow near Cuba, NM. It was actually in the Jemez Mountains but you went through Cuba to get there. We would go with 2 or 3 other couples and their kids or grandkids.

We would park in a huge circle and make a big fire pit in the middle. We called it "circling the wagons". There was no other campers near us, as we preferred to dry camp most of the time.

We would run our generators on and off during the day to keep the batteries charged until morning. We are not a rowdy group, just didn't care for crowded camp grounds. The experience was something I'll never forget.

I'd still have my 5er but the wife just didn't enjoy camping and the daughter got older and didn't want to go anymore. Looking back, I should have kept it for me and my grandson. But then again, I'm still relatively young at 51 and he's only 12 so we still have a lot more time and I still have the truck. There were other factors though, including off site storage expense. We'll see.....