Why did you choose a 5th wheel

[allornothing]

I've spent some time reading thru the pages, and like many here the DW and I plan to retire by the end of next year and are planning to travel three to four months at a time. We're looking at Class A's but also 5th wheels. DW likes the space better in 5'rs. I'm trying to put the plusses and minus's of both. Lot's to love about both.
I'm looking at the maintenance of one over the other, gas mileage while traveling, quality of an A versus 5'r etc.

I guess what made you choose a 5th wheel over an A or C, and would you make the same decision again.

Thanks for the assistance.

Happy camping.

[laknox]

allornothing wrote:
I've spent some time reading thru the pages, and like many here the DW and I plan to retire by the end of next year and are planning to travel three to four months at a time. We're looking at Class A's but also 5th wheels. DW likes the space better in 5'rs. I'm trying to put the plusses and minus's of both. Lot's to love about both.
I'm looking at the maintenance of one over the other, gas mileage while traveling, quality of an A versus 5'r etc.

I guess what made you choose a 5th wheel over an A or C, and would you make the same decision again.

Thanks for the assistance.

Happy camping.

Posting without reading ahead...

1. I didn't want another vehicle that would get very little use and have to be maintained, then have to tow my daily.
2. I was without a pickup and having withdrawals, so it was an excuse to get another truck.
3. I'd towed enough BP trailers as well as a utility GN and I knew I didn't want to mess with a BP trailer.
4. Storage is almost always greater on a FW.

My top 4...

Lyle

[Rancher_Will]

55 years ago we bought our first 5th Wheel RV for the reason that I owned Gooseneck and bumper pull ranch trailers. The gooseneck trailers were always the safest and easiest to handle and pull with a load.

We did check out Class A RVs each time we upgraded but both my wife and I always agreed to buy another 5th Wheel for various reasons. We have our 5th RV now, a Montana.

We have used our RVs every month of the years, usually at least two trips per month. The total cost of a 5th Wheel, initial and regular maintenance, license and insurance, etc., is much less than the Motor Coach. We also like the floor plans of the 5th Wheels that we have had and have better than any motor coach we have seen.

I own both SRW and DRW trucks on our ranches and over the years have learned to use DRW trucks to pull all of our trailers, RVs and Ranch Trailers. We live in the Colorado Mountains and travel in all Western States so we have learned that 350's, 3500's dualies have much better traction, more stability, and better braking than lighter SRW trucks, even 250's or 2500's when pulling any trailer. 2500's have the same power as 3500's but we long ago learned to prefer dualies under most conditions.

Although everyone has their opinion, I have never had any problem driving a dually, with or without any trailer, in or out of towns. Of course, with a 5th Wheel RV there is no need for having to pull and mess with a toad since we always have the RAM PU use anytime the RV is parked. Plus the hitching and unhitching of a 5th wheeler is a snap compared to hitching and unhitching a Toad.

[Gearitis]

Well my 2 cents, I had a Class A Bounder, gas, for 8 years and 140,000 miles later. Pulled a Jeep Cherokee. Loved that thing, jeep and Bounder. It was great for the DW to fix a sandwich going down the hiway. Pull over at night, most anywhere, and never get out. Problem was you could not back up easily if the Jeep was in tow. But still we traveled all over. Got my money out of it. We decided to go 5er after that. Love having the truck, love having the room of a 5er and it feels more like home and not a bus. We do not travel down the road as much now, so the 5er is pulled to a location, setup and we may be there a while. Where the MH we were hopping around all the time and enjoyed that too. I think it just depends on how you want to see the world. Are you going to jump up every few days and go? Or are you going to pull into an area and stay for a while? Either way, you are outside, enjoying the scenery, the area and seeing things that you may have never seen before and meeting new people and enjoying life. Thats what its all about anyway.

[Nevadastars]

We just got our first 5th wheel and it is so easy to hook up it's ridiculous with an Andersen Ultimate hitch and remote for the landing gear on our Wildcat. It is easy to line it up from inside the truck, and I just push the button up or down to connect or disconnect it.

I picked up the trailer a couple of weeks ago with a Husky slider hitch, and while it worked, I kept having to get in and out of the truck to line it up. I cannot stress enough how easy it is with the Andersen. The ball on the Andersen is high enough you can see exactly what you are doing from inside the truck. Just lower it down, get out and push in the pin and you're done.

The only reason to reach in the bed is to hook up the safety brake cable and hook up your lights. As far as the trailer itself, it is a lot taller than the Class C it replaced, so climbing an extra step up into it, plus 3 steps into the bedroom is something to consider if you are elderly or have a hard time going up steps.

[gar_fanatic]

allornothing wrote:

gar_fanatic wrote:
Cost and another engine to maintain kept us away from A's and C's. We always have a pickup, so having a trailer was our main option. Our biggest dilemma was deciding between a TT or 5er. That decision came down to making it easy for me to grab the camper and go. I'm not a very strong woman, so the ease of hookup and hauling was my primary interest. The 5er is so easy to hookup, haul and park into most campgrounds. Hope this helps!

Thank you, it does help immensely. All the advice is greatly appreciated. As I get older, I'm looking for less set up, I thought the class A was the only answer. Seeing the automatic levelers on fivers certainly changed my mind. DW and I just want to be able to travel and be able to spend a week, two weeks a month whatever in one place pick up and go to the next. Chase the warm weather in the winter, stick it in a campground during the summer for use by the family and repeat the next year. All the advice has me looking at Fifth wheels with more conviction, and I'm very impressed with a lot of what I've seen. Hard to tell if one's better than the other, as soon as you think you've narrowed one make down, look up complaints and owners comments and you begin to wonder if there truly is a maker or two that go above the norm.

Thanks again and happy camping.

Now to think about what truck to buy?????

It sounds like you are off to a great start! There's another thread in this forum that talks trucks. There is a lot of good info there. 🙂

When we bought our last 5er our budget wasn't able to go far. I wanted new so we got an entry grade. Huge mistake. Spending some time in it made us realize that manufacturer cut corners everywhere in the quality. Now I'm back to looking at higher quality used units.

My advice, don't be stuck on a "need new" mentality for your new trailer. Many units are not used very often. Best wishes!

[allornothing]

gar_fanatic wrote:
Cost and another engine to maintain kept us away from A's and C's. We always have a pickup, so having a trailer was our main option. Our biggest dilemma was deciding between a TT or 5er. That decision came down to making it easy for me to grab the camper and go. I'm not a very strong woman, so the ease of hookup and hauling was my primary interest. The 5er is so easy to hookup, haul and park into most campgrounds. Hope this helps!

Thank you, it does help immensely. All the advice is greatly appreciated. As I get older, I'm looking for less set up, I thought the class A was the only answer. Seeing the automatic levelers on fivers certainly changed my mind. DW and I just want to be able to travel and be able to spend a week, two weeks a month whatever in one place pick up and go to the next. Chase the warm weather in the winter, stick it in a campground during the summer for use by the family and repeat the next year. All the advice has me looking at Fifth wheels with more conviction, and I'm very impressed with a lot of what I've seen. Hard to tell if one's better than the other, as soon as you think you've narrowed one make down, look up complaints and owners comments and you begin to wonder if there truly is a maker or two that go above the norm.

Thanks again and happy camping.

Now to think about what truck to buy?????

[gar_fanatic]

Cost and another engine to maintain kept us away from A's and C's. We always have a pickup, so having a trailer was our main option. Our biggest dilemma was deciding between a TT or 5er. That decision came down to making it easy for me to grab the camper and go. I'm not a very strong woman, so the ease of hookup and hauling was my primary interest. The 5er is so easy to hookup, haul and park into most campgrounds. Hope this helps!

[elkhorn98]

We got a FW to get more room with a shorter overall length than a trailer. We mostly dry camp at state and FS campgrounds. And love the stability towing.

[Carlos___Ranae]

We chose a fifthwheeler, toyhauler, for many reasons.

1- Space. We can bring a golf cart, or our two motorcycles, bicycles. Once in a site, it becomes the furry family space or when not travelling with them, we can accommodate friends.

2- Handling, it handles much better than a bumper pull.

3- Cost. We would love to be able to afford a Entegra Cornerstone or a Newell, but the initial cost and maintenance is out of our reach.

Downside will be not to be able to fit in county or state parks and a lot of smaller, older campgrounds.

[Don___Barb_Bogu]

We had a class C then moved up to a A. Nothing but troubles, rebuilt the engine once, the Trans twice (never go to amco ) . Wore out A Ford 150 pulling a 24 foot boat ( should have used a trailer ?) Got a F-250 HD diesel. The good one 1999 7.3 L . Went fishing at June lake in the class A the sister in law had her car and we were money tight for the week no car rental. Stuck going when and where the SIL wanted never agin 5er and the truck...

[shadows4]

waltbennett wrote:
Not to mention my wife wanting to use the whole living room for sewing machines & stuff, while I get to watch something in the bedroom.

Good to hear I am not the only one with this problem. LOL

[djousma]

allornothing wrote:
JC, thanks for the detailed list I appreciate it greatly.

djousma, I have to look at PA, I don't think it's the same as Michigan, but we have 7% sales tax on everything. Very nice rig in your signature. If you don't mind me asking what kind of mileage do you get towing out of your set up?

Thanks for the compliment! Towing on flat ground, no strong headwinds, if I can manage to keep it around 65, I'll get between 10-11mpg. If I get impatient and push it up to 70, or a lot of wind, it drops to 9. In the mountains of VA/WV, I was getting 8.5.

The rig weighs in around 15.5K.

Dave

[waltbennett]

While I've not owned an A, I've owned a C,a van conversion, bumper pulls (x2)and we were seriously considering an A when we realized how a 5er has much more separated bedroom and living spaces. That's what sold us - someone could take a nap while the other one was watching TV - or both could be watching different channels. Not to mention my wife wanting to use the whole living room for sewing machines & stuff, while I get to watch something in the bedroom.

[allornothing]

JC, thanks for the detailed list I appreciate it greatly.

djousma, I have to look at PA, I don't think it's the same as Michigan, but we have 7% sales tax on everything. Very nice rig in your signature. If you don't mind me asking what kind of mileage do you get towing out of your set up?