5th wheel or MH ? help

If convenience on the genny is the issue, yes there are some that are set up for generators. Or you can get to your site, and run a portable (some have remote start) in the truck bed to avoid going outside in the morning to start it.
It's all about setting it up to accomidate you.

I know how you feel. We started with tents to pop ups, tag behinds and then a fiver we really loved for 13 yrs. Then I got the urge to go Class A. Now after looking around at all the new fivers and comparing them to what size dp we would have to purchase to have close to the same space, we are seriously considering going back to a high end fiver. The high end fives have auto levelers, residential fridges, and basically the same stuff a mh does. You can get a lp genny or gas if you like.

Think about what you might actually need a generator on the road for. Since most everything runs on 12VDC or propane, the only things a generator might be useful for is AC and microwave. Do you honestly need this if only stopping for lunch? Now, as to what to get? Your decision, but MHs will be more expensive to own and maintain. Two drive trains can get costly. Fivers mean you are going to have to go outside from the truck. Setup is a wash. A decent 1 ton truck and a reasonable fiver can cost you 50 to 60K used. A comparable sized MH could cost you 70-80K plus a toad.

:D Always listen to the wife. If you don't, you may find yourself sleeping in a tent outside the camper! :E

As others have said, yes, FW's do have generators, but you do have to account for their weight and the fuel to keep them running. We thought of adding a generator to our front bay, but decided not to for the extra weight to consider (which in turn you lose in other cargo) and fuel. While on one of our first trips out, we talked to full timers in a FW with a generator that ran on propane. They had to carry extra, tall, canisters in the bed of their truck to fuel up their generator. Forget that we said! We decided to stick with our Honda 2000 genny which has served us well with the exception of AC. Since then we've added solar panels, extra batteries and can run everything in our FW except for the fireplace, AC, and built in vacuum. The time of year we travel and where we travel, works well, which is usually in the fall and in the Rockies. Last year we took a trip over the Labor Day weekend near Jackson, Wyoming, and it was hot. No AC, since then we've talked of a larger portable generator or an extra one and pigtail it to the other, to support the AC.

Before getting our FW in 2010, we were on the verge of signing the line on a Class A. We had a Jeep to tow behind and thought it was our dream. I was the one undecided, going back and forth to the dealer three times looking at the motorhome and not really ready to commit. Then, on one of those trips, while sitting in the motorhome, my husband asked where I was going to put the garbage can. The garbage can? I'm the type of person that I like everything neatly put away. The garbage can? I began to look. Not one place could fit a decent sized kitchen garbage can. Well, he said, you can always put it out on the floor. No way. Then I began looking at the storage and where were we going to put the dog food? The cleaning supplies . . . on and on. We realized that there was not that much in storage inside. We left. The salesperson was not too happy, but hey, we're the one's footing the bill. The next day we went to a FW dealership, found what we wanted and went back and forth to be sure, even having the salesperson bring in the slides so we could see if we could move around in it with the slides in (we stop en route at rest stops to eat and sleep. So we wanted a unit we could be in with the slides in and we could!). We have never looked back. We LOVE our FW and have added many after market upgrades since. The unit we have is quality built and well worth our keeping till we can't travel and hook it up any more. We went through the learning curves, but never regretted our decision. What we did learn is to be sure you have enough truck to tow what you purchase. We initially had an F250 V10 which towed it ok on flat land but only got 7mpg and had little power up and down mountains. We installed air bags on the truck but blew those several times. We traded in for a F350 diesel dually and what a HUGE difference. It has the power we needed along with fuel efficiency.

Lessons learned - take the time to get the right floor plan and a quality unit for what you can afford, even if it's used. There are a lot of quality used units out there. Get an inspection done. Get the right sized truck too. That part you'll never ever regret especially when you hit the Rockies or have to accelerate suddenly while towing.

Yea wife is just throwing out ideas, she will be fine with what we end up with..The generator is important for boondocking for heater or ac right ??
Do they come with propane gennys ??

Yes, you would need a genny for boondocking to recharge your batteries for the heater or run an AC. We don't usually camp where we need an AC, except that once. Even with our solar system, we heat with a large Heater Buddy to preserve the battery power for other things. Depends on how late in the fall and how cold it gets and what you prefer. Even with camping in the Rockies in the late fall, we still run our propane Heater Buddy when we're up and when we go to bed, we turn it off, set the thermostat to 40 and double up on bedding. First one up in the morning turns on the Heater Buddy and turns off the onboard heater because it sucks up battery power. The solar panels charge the batteries back up.

My understanding is that FW's don't automatically come with generators, but are an add on. At least when we purchased ours that's how it worked. Could be today's new ones come with them, I don't know.

Most toy hauler fivers will have a generator factory installed. When we had our bumper pull bunkhouse,it was prepped for a generator but I couldn’t justify the expense when I could carry a Champion for the few times we would be boondocking. I think the installed generator is a nice to have but not a requirement.

We are on our 2nd 5'vr and am biased and feel a bit spoiled. We can travel, park the 5'vr and go exploring, with the T.V. The big deal for us is getting off the beaten track. If the 5'vr can't make it-we find a safe, secure place to park it and take off in the truck. Even though a M.H might be more luxurious, etc. our idea of camping is to get out and explore where ever the road leads us-not necessarily at a campground. Lars

Exactly, Lars! That's our idea of a vacation. Finding a beautiful FS CG or boondocking site and taking exploration trips in our truck.