full timing for first timers

[family-of-four]

Hello All, this is my first time on this site so please let me know if I am posting to the wrong area, or if there are already answers to my questions that I was unable to find.
Our situation is that we are presently living in a rental apartment and are considering that living in a fifth wheel full time might be preferable to us as we would own it and feel more secure about our living arrangements. We are in the Fort Myers Fl area and I think I have found a nice campground to stay at. We would mostly be staying put, just going away for occasional week-ends.
So now I am looking at fifth wheels. We have a 14 year old son that lives with us full time and a 22 year old daughter that is finishing college and so we don't actually know if she will be staying with us. If she does stay with us it will not be long term, but she might come and go.
I have been looking at fifth wheels for many,many,(many!) hours online and am hoping some of you experienced folks could give us some guidance.
What have been your experiences with the different manufacturers? We do definitely need a bunk house, and would like 1 and 1/2 bathrooms. Everything else is quite flexible, queen or king size bed etc. I will be cooking all of our meals so a functional kitchen would be a real plus, particularly the refrigerator being of residential size.
I understand that some fifth wheels may come at a good price, but are not really made for full timing and will not be a good choice. We are very open to purchasing used (all of our cars have always been), but not too used as we want it to last for at least several years.
Any and all guidance would be so appreciated, and of course if you have any recommendations for a good truck that would be great too.
Thank you so much, and I am sorry for all the newbie questions!

[LifeInsideJack]

For as many that go full-time there are as many reasons why they made this choice.

For us it was the fact that Cat's work is "iffy" at best and knowing this and looking for the Escape Hatch her future work prospects are not in this area. We live mobile so we can be mobile and the people looking to hire her praise her ability to move to "their area" without fuss. We will move again in three years for her school options and after that we'll just move for the fun of it.

Renting, a house or apartment, nowadays makes good sense. Home ownership (or at the illusion thereof) is at times more of a liability than a asset and for me renting was my only option after my stroke. I too have a daughter in college but that kid, like her brother, will not come back soon, she's on her way and doing terrific.

I get the "owning" something concept. We are replacing the lights inside our coach with LED and making other changes. These improvement are not gifts to a landlord, or to be lost when we sell the place because we don't really plan to sell the coach.

Here's the thing: You know your family. You know yourself. You know if this style of living is right for you cats already. You don't need my permission or my acceptance. I'll agree to the money savings, We save over $12,000 a year sitting here in this box. We have heaps more "Free-time" which we use for homework, we have options ... not many people can say that.

But, we want to live small. We want to pull-n-go when the time comes. We want to unplug and go to the beach for the weekend or to go up to the desert or Burning Man or Coachella and have our home with us when we do these things.

It's more than saving money. It's a lifestyle choice. It's a dream to do more and require less.

If this sort of thing rings with you, then jump in. But, what you described was a very expensive trailer that would require a big truck to move it, or a service, and nothing in that is inexpensive, shouts Freedom or describes a desire of the heart to be "on the road".

My $0.02

[fulltimedaniel]

family-of-four wrote:
Hello All, this is my first time on this site so please let me know if I am posting to the wrong area, or if there are already answers to my questions that I was unable to find.
Our situation is that we are presently living in a rental apartment and are considering that living in a fifth wheel full time might be preferable to us as we would own it and feel more secure about our living arrangements. We are in the Fort Myers Fl area and I think I have found a nice campground to stay at. We would mostly be staying put, just going away for occasional week-ends.
So now I am looking at fifth wheels. We have a 14 year old son that lives with us full time and a 22 year old daughter that is finishing college and so we don't actually know if she will be staying with us. If she does stay with us it will not be long term, but she might come and go.
I have been looking at fifth wheels for many,many,(many!) hours online and am hoping some of you experienced folks could give us some guidance.
What have been your experiences with the different manufacturers? We do definitely need a bunk house, and would like 1 and 1/2 bathrooms. Everything else is quite flexible, queen or king size bed etc. I will be cooking all of our meals so a functional kitchen would be a real plus, particularly the refrigerator being of residential size.
I understand that some fifth wheels may come at a good price, but are not really made for full timing and will not be a good choice. We are very open to purchasing used (all of our cars have always been), but not too used as we want it to last for at least several years.
Any and all guidance would be so appreciated, and of course if you have any recommendations for a good truck that would be great too.
Thank you so much, and I am sorry for all the newbie questions!

Don't be sorry for your questions. The search engine on this site is worthless.And the information you might glean may be dated.

Good Luck with your search.

When I did what you are doing I found it helpful to think about HOW we wanted to use the trailer. Full timing is a broad term that can encompass many different lifestyles within it. In my case I wanted to spend alot of time in National Parks so that limited the length of the trailer I could get. This is just an example.

I tow mine with a 2016 Dodge 4X4 HD 2500 Cummins diesel which I have put almost 30,000 miles on in one year, over 21k of towing. I have not had a single problem with it.

I looked for a trailer for about a year before I bought one. You will find what you want I am sure but it may take quite a while.

[fulltimedaniel]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Moving from rental to living FT in an RV does NOT necessarily mean 'saving' on living costs.

14 yr old son.......just where is he going to get 'privacy' in that 240 sq ft living space???

14 yr old son......just where is he going to have/keep 'HIS' stuff???

Bunk beds?

We FTd for 7 yrs....2 adults in 34' 5th wheel
WE really really LIKE each other and it got 'tight' on a few occasions......not too many places to go to get away from each other.
And we weren't a 14 yr old going thru the normal teenage 'trama'


Then add in a 22 yr daughter going to college....

Personally you can see by my concerns I don't think NOW is the time to move into an RV in a CG.

Buy the 5th wheel, use it for weekend/vacation trips....keep it in storage
But make sure you can REALLY function LONG TERM in it PRIOR to going FT in it.

And make sure you have adequate truck to 'carry' the load of a 5th wheel

Just my opinion.....

This, while all good questions, is not "our" business. I assume the OP has the intelligence and forethought to deal with these issues on their own. This is just a bit condescending in my view, although undoubtedly well meant.

[Aridon]

Toy haulers have decent sized bedrooms for kids or bonus space later. Not all RV's have crappy bunk rooms. If you shop smartly you can find something that will work well for your family. Do the math, budget well and go for it.

[NYCgrrl]

Were it me..with 3 to 4 people to house intermittently I'd drop the want of a half bthrm and use the campgrounds' facilities in that manner since yeah you are already paying for it in weekly or monthly fees.

As far as offspring, neither who are probably long for the nest, I'd look for secondary sleeping space that was easy to reconfigure at a later date. Maybe a toy hauler? The idea of a park model may make sense for your needs as well.

[family-of-four]

Thank you all for your advice .

[Captain_Happy]

I think you need to do some long week-end trips, or maybe a week with all of you in this 5th wheel together. Then you might figure it out, it's not going to work.

[beemerphile1]

I would think a mobile home/manufactured home would be the best option. Florida is full of manufactured home parks and there are usually many used units for sale relatively cheap

[DallasSteve]

I noticed the 14 year old boy right away, too. Unless he's seen a bunk bedroom on a fifth wheeler and is really gung-ho about that lifestyle I'd think you've got better alternatives. Either a nice apartment or, for a little more than a fifth wheel, manufactured housing:

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[donn0128]

If you really want to tiny house live, consider a park model. Yea, you will not be able to tow it, but living space would be a definite plus. Not to mention far superior insulation.

[K_Charles]

Can't say it any better then Old Biscuit

[Second_Chance]

From the brief description of the kind of fifth wheel you would like to find, you would probably need a 1-ton truck - preferably a diesel. They aren't cheap. It's not about towing capacity with a fifth wheel; it's about payload capacity and the ability of the truck to carry the pin weight of the trailer on the rear axle. You would also need a crew cab for the three of you to be comfortable when traveling.

Now... our small RV payment and monthly camping/parking fees add up to about the same as our mortgage payment did. Utilities are $300 - $400/month less in the RV than they were in the house, but are offset by fuel costs pulling the fifth wheel with the truck.

Our fifth wheel is 36' long and about 340 square feet with the three slides out. We removed the sleeper sofa and put in my recliner so we'd have an excuse for not having the grandkids stay with us (the recliner is also much better for my back). I wouldn't want a third - much less a fourth - person staying in the rig with us. A rainy stretch could make things even tighter than they are.

I guess I agree with everything Old Biscuit said... but then, I'm old, too.

Rob

[firemedic08]

I second Old Biscuit's concerns.