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]

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.

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.

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.

[Veebyes]

Switch placement & which lights are on which circuits.

Also, why do RVs use fuses instead of 12V circuit breaker panels like boats do? Guess I know that answer. Breakers cost more.

[Goostoff]

dedmiston wrote:
.

2) Fresh water drain lines hang below the bottom of the tanks, so if you overfill by even just a dribble, 30+ gallons will siphon off and spill down the street.

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I came across this and had to share my DIY remedy. I got tired of pumping in 66 gallons of water only to have 30 of them siphon out on the pad and soak everything with water for half the weekend.

I went to Menards and grabbed some quick connect PEX fittings. I got a 90 degree elbow, a valve, and a 4 foot section of PEX. I trimmed the vent a little shorter, put the elbow on, added the tube to get it over to the side of the trailer and installed the valve. Now as soon as it is full and the water starts to run out I turn off the water and go close the vent valve. After the water has been ran a couple times or flushing the toilet a couple times I will just go back out and open the valve so it can vent

[ramyankee]

In our LR, the entertainment center left hand side is against the outside wall at the edge of the slide. With the slide out the left hand upper door will not completely open as it hits the trim. I would have designed it with the entertainment center centered on the wall.

[Cummins12V98]

bpounds wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
OK, The top pic shows the TV tipping down at a ridiculously low angle. The second pic shows how I made the TV face parallel to the openings angled sides.

BTW TV is at the foot of the bed.

It was hard to pickup on from those photos. But it appears you changed the angle in the second pic. Looks like a decent angle now.

YES, Good eye!

We added a 32" to our last MS but mounted the face vertical. It worked great, in fact viewing was just as good as this one at the angle.

[Stefonius]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
OK, The top pic shows the TV tipping down at a ridiculously low angle. The second pic shows how I made the TV face parallel to the openings angled sides.

BTW TV is at the foot of the bed.

That makes more sense. Thank you for the explanation. As installed, the TV was angled so that it could only be watched by the dog sleeping at the foot of your bed and not by the humans who had their heads on pillows. Dumb design.

[dedmiston]

1) No fresh water drain valve.

2) Fresh water drain lines hang below the bottom of the tanks, so if you overfill by even just a dribble, 30+ gallons will siphon off and spill down the street.

3) 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).

[bpounds]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
OK, The top pic shows the TV tipping down at a ridiculously low angle. The second pic shows how I made the TV face parallel to the openings angled sides.

BTW TV is at the foot of the bed.

It was hard to pickup on from those photos. But it appears you changed the angle in the second pic. Looks like a decent angle now.

[Flintstones]

We really like the Grand Design Solitude 375RES fiver.

Three things that are a little bit "dumb":

1. Some of the interior lighting controls mounted to the underside of the pantry wall cabinet.

2. The entry door and the basement storage door are too close, they collide when both are opened.

3. The roof ladder on this "wide body" coach is mounted on the street side making it really difficult to navigate thru toll booths.

[northmeck0255]

Our Jayco has no manual retrieval for the slides. You have to pull the belly pay, jump the terminals on the motor to release the brake, and then turn the shaft by hand with a pair of vice grips.

Great design!!

[gar_fanatic]

There were two things we hated in the design on our 09 Puma.

First was awning placement. The door wouldn't open all the way when the awning is open due to the support. Also, When the awning was open the corner of the door would cut into the awning fabric. We kept the awning in most of the time to protect it from damage.

Second was a lack of a ladder into one of the bunks. I fab'ed on a boat ladder for my son to get into his bed.

Finally, this isn't a placement irritation, but our Puma was terribly built in general. The roof leaked from day 1 under the antenna. Twice it went to the dealer under warranty for that before they finally fixed it. The wallpaper seams continuously popped loose every time we moved the rig. Finally, the AC unit wasn't big enough for the square footage. We loved the layout overall, but those nuisances drove us to sell it.

[Cummins12V98]

OK, The top pic shows the TV tipping down at a ridiculously low angle. The second pic shows how I made the TV face parallel to the openings angled sides.

BTW TV is at the foot of the bed.

[Rangerman40]

When we went shopping for our fifth wheel I knew I wouldn't be able to access the kitchen living room and fridge because I wanted dual opposing slides for maximum space. What I would not accept is not having access to any sleeping quarters or the bathroom since we frequently stop on the road for a quick overnight or a bathroom break. The dumbest thing on my fifth wheel is there are two buttons for the slides. One only brings out the bedroom slide and the other button brings out three more on both sides of the fifth wheel. I'd love for each slide to have its own switch or at least split up the ones on opposite sides of the fifth wheel.

[Hammerboy]

Stefonius wrote:

korbe wrote:

Fisher Bill wrote:
(I think he's messin wit ya);)

Cummins12V98 wrote:

avvidclif1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
This was pretty darn dumb! I guess they thought I was going to watch the TV from the foot of the bed near the TV.

Nope you are supposed to watch it laying in bed. If you want to sit up go to the living room.....

Don't think you understand or you are messing with me!

Or he doesn't understand that you took the pic from the head of the bed.

If that picture was taken from the head of the bed, then you definitely win the prize for "dumb 5th wheel feature".

I may be slow but I don't see what's wrong with this picture either.

Dan

[Stefonius]

korbe wrote:

Fisher Bill wrote:
(I think he's messin wit ya);)

Cummins12V98 wrote:

avvidclif1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
This was pretty darn dumb! I guess they thought I was going to watch the TV from the foot of the bed near the TV.

Nope you are supposed to watch it laying in bed. If you want to sit up go to the living room.....

Don't think you understand or you are messing with me!

Or he doesn't understand that you took the pic from the head of the bed.

If that picture was taken from the head of the bed, then you definitely win the prize for "dumb 5th wheel feature".