What is the dumbest things about your fifth wheel?

[Fisher_Bill]

We're looking to upgrade from the camper to a 5er and I saw this post on another group and found it very informative.

We are looking for a rear kitchen model because if we're watching a movie we don't want to look through the kitchen or the dinette not to mention you get twice as much counter space and seemingly more kitchen cabinet space.

We are contemplating a mid kitchen on units with rear living but what is the goofy things you've seen or experienced on your rig?

Bill

[philh]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:

With slides in, access to pantry is blocked and so is the bedroom clothes closet. Wife did a most awesome job turning the clothes closet into cubes and shelves.

On this one, what else could they do other than not have a slide.

Nothing, just pointing out what I can't get to.

We're very happy with this 5th wheel. Been in it for a few months, actually working from home.

When se get home, I'll be looking at the pass through. I may regret the slide we put in, because it was reduced in size due to the space limitations.

Also trying to find a place to put a cord reel. I need to measure the economy one, it might fit on the slide, but it only holds 30' of cord. The bigger one is too tall. Considering the possibility of making a bracket to attach to the drawer slide, but hang down for the taller cord reel.

[dieseltruckdriv]

Njmurvin wrote:
I only have a couple.

Snip

2) Why no water pump switch in the bathroom (my brother's Alpenlite has one)? I need to add it.

Ours has a water pump switch in the bathroom. It is AWESOME!

[dieseltruckdriv]

philh wrote:
NW 27-5L.

Wasteful very shallow cabinet under entertainment unit. I had the dealer pull the door off and put in a fireplace.

Area above water pump is completely closed off and wasted space. I've turned it into a 2 shelf cabinet for shoes.

We use that area as my wifes drink storage. Seltzer waters etc. The shoes go under the stairs.

Biggest issue, the whole pass through has not been well thought out as they carried sewer pipes through what could be a much larger area, but no, they completely blocked that area off.

I opened up a lot of that area by removing the "wall" on the street side and cutting it to fit front to back as opposed to side to side. It looks factory.

With slides in, access to pantry is blocked and so is the bedroom clothes closet. Wife did a most awesome job turning the clothes closet into cubes and shelves.

On this one, what else could they do other than not have a slide.

[Njmurvin]

I only have a couple.

1) Weak-assed single motor landing gear ... I've since upgraded.

2) Why no water pump switch in the bathroom (my brother's Alpenlite has one)? I need to add it.

[Lightning55]

I would have to agree with others that the location of light switches and electrical outlets in my FW are pretty dumb.

[BurbMan]

dedmiston wrote:
Stereo speakers wired with two right speakers indoors and two left outdoors so you can't ever hear both channels unless you stand in the open doorway (not how I prefer to listen).

I wouldn't call that a design flaw since that's not how it was designed...that was the Amish Craftsman connecting the wires wrong. The wires are color-coded, so obviously the assembler misunderstood the wires colors, I wonder how many units went out the door that way? LOL

[BurbMan]

Veebyes wrote:
Never understood the obsession with accessibility with the slides in.

You didn't read the post that was literally the one before yours:

"We keep our trailer at a storage facility as we cannot park at home for more than a night or two. Night before a trip we bring the trailer home and park on the street. We cannot open slides as they would stick out onto the street or sidewalk. So its nice to be able to get to everything for packing clothes, fridge etc. without slides open.

[momentum_rv]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

momentum rv wrote:
Bathroom doors that open out into the hallway. Always in the way, and when closed you never know if someone is in there or not, always have to knock before opening. Pocket door is the ticket!

And then you will be starting a thread about how the pocket door fell of it's tracks.

Yup, I've seen plenty of those threads but 7+ years and no issues with mine! (and if I did, I'd just fix it!)

[Cummins12V98]

We were at a friends Hitch Hiker and wife asked to use the restroom. She goes inside and hits the first switch she sees and the big living-room slide starts to come in and the big black cat literally flew across the RV.
Scared the SHITE out of all of us.

[Cummins12V98]

momentum rv wrote:
Bathroom doors that open out into the hallway. Always in the way, and when closed you never know if someone is in there or not, always have to knock before opening. Pocket door is the ticket!

And then you will be starting a thread about how the pocket door fell of it's tracks.

[laknox]

Lights with no wall switches. How is a vertically challenged person, like a 4 y.o., supposed to be able to turn on a light if she needs to go potty in the middle of the night?

Lyle

[momentum_rv]

Bathroom doors that open out into the hallway. Always in the way, and when closed you never know if someone is in there or not, always have to knock before opening. Pocket door is the ticket!

[valhalla360]

dedmiston wrote:
1) No fresh water drain valve.

Actually on our current unit, it has a 1.5" drain valve (looks like a gray tank valve...but food safe, I assume)

OK option, but since it's usually a once a year thing to winterize, not a huge burden to unscrew the plugs we had on our prior units.

[valhalla360]

Veebyes wrote:
Never understood the obsession with accessibility with the slides in. I can get to the potty. I can get to one side of my 4 door fridge. When I stop for the night, no matter where, the slides are coming out. Never been a problem.

While we don't usually do long days, it's nice to be able to just pop into the fridge...grab and go.

But more an issue if you have something like the slide motor fail. Now getting access to the kitchen/bathroom/bed is really handy.

Also, one time we got caught in a helacious wind storm. We pulled the slide in and the rocking dropped dramatically. Because we had access, it wasn't a big issue.

On other notes:
- I agree, had dump handles under the slide and it was a pain to crawl under to use them.
- Rear kitchen doesn't mean you can't have access. We've had two rear kitchen rigs with good access while closed.

Another issue: Remote waste tank valves. Had one start leaking and the only way to get at it was major surgery to remove the underbelly covering. At least if you are going to do it, include an access panel...but much simpler to just put it right at the end of the pipe.