Travel Trailer vs. Motorhome (my situation)

[DallasSteve]

I did a search in the Search box here for "travel trailer vs. motorhome" and it gets zero results. You can try it for yourself. I even tried "travel trailer motorhome". Nada. (that's Spanish for nothing) I added a space in "motor home". Same thing. I even tried to Google "rv.net travel trailer vs. motorhome". Not much there, either. So that's why I'm posting a new thread about this often discussed subject.

I'm leaning towards a big truck + big trailer, but I wish I could find what I want in an economical Class A + Jeep Wrangler. (I was going to retire a year ago, but decided to wait another 18 months) I will only buy new, but money is still an object for me in retirement. I might go fifth wheel, but they cost more and I don't want to give up so much truck bed storage. I'll explain how I plan to use it and what I've seen so far (I started looking about 3 years ago). My planned purchase date is March, 2020. Maybe someone will see a solution that will change my mind.

I'm early 60s and retired. I plan to sell my furniture when my apartment lease is up and live in the RV. I will put some small, important personal possessions in a small storage space. I plan to travel South to North in the Spring, then North to South in the Fall. I want to see some smaller cities and maybe get back to (cheaper) apartment life in a few years in a smaller city that I like. Dallas is a great place to work, but I wouldn't want to live here. 🙂

I plan to travel about 1 to 2 hours every few days and then explore the area a little. No 4 to 8 hour trips. I'm interested in the small/medium cities as much as the state/national parks. I think I should be able to find places to check out in a 1 to 2 hour transit and then spend 1 or 2 days exploring the area. Then in the Winter and Summer we will either set up camp in an RV park, or visit Latin America using AirBnB for medium term rentals. Yo hablo español muy bien.

Pros and Cons of big truck + big trailer:

Pros

1 - Cheaper any way you cut it (I used to be a CPA, so I'm confident about the numbers comparing travel trailer apples to motorhome with a toad apples).

2 - I love the Grand Design Reflection 312BHTS; it checks all my boxes, except that it's very big. I wish it could be smaller, but I have a lot of boxes to check. I don't see any motorhome with a similar layout because they have the seats up front.

3 - Only 1 motor to maintain.

4 - Slide outs are a little deeper.

5 - If the motor breaks we still have our home (yes, I've heard that with a motorhome you can arrange to live in the shop parking lot sometimes).

Cons

1 - I would rather drive a Jeep Wrangler than a big a$$ truck.

2 - The motorhome would probably have a generator which I would want to purchase extra for the trailer (still cheaper).

3 - Set up would probably be a little easier with a motorhome + Jeep.

4 - The ability to walk back to the kitchen or bath is nice in a motorhome, but for us it won't matter as much because we won't be making long trips between camps.

I've seen some motorhomes that wow me inside, but they have been in the $200,000+ range. Too rich for my pockets. Otherwise, the GD 312BHTS wows me more. I still love doing its online walk-through tour.

Any alternate suggestions before I make my big plunge?

Thanks, Steve

[DallasSteve]

I had a slide leak once on our new Winnebago. But you can blame me because after the storm passed I looked outside and one of the rubber flaps was not extended as it should be. Usually they slid into place, but that one time it did not and the rain got in. After that it didn't leak, but with years of use it may happen to any slideout.

As for snow and a super hot trailer, those kinds of problems were outside of my planned use. I went North in the summer and South in the winter, so I didn't see extreme weather except when we had that crazy winter storm in South Texas in February. We ran out of propane that night and we woke up at 3 AM to an almost freezing RV. Fortunately our park did not lose electricity and we had 2 electric heaters that got us through the night.

[wa8yxm]

OK you covered most of the advantages of a Trailer.. I will add one more
Trailers do not mind sitting for years in the same place. You may need to re-pack a few bearings and replace a few tires but nothing really goes wrong sitting.
Motor homes... Well the engine can have "issues" some serious.

Advantage motor home:
Be it a 35' motor home with a towed car or 35' trailer you are getting about 8 MPG going down the road But with the big Honking Pickup to tow the trailer when you hop to the store for a loaf of bread, or church, or "Attraction" perhaps 16 MPG... With that car.. Well 20-40 is not uncommon. That additional MPG adds up over time.

Two motors. Heaven forbid one goes BOOM in a "Ain't no cell service here" zone the other can get you to help.

Parking... backing a SINGLE unit into a campground way easier than an articulated unit (Trailer)

Traveling in rain/Snow. and you feel the need to visit the upcomming rest stop. Pulling that trailer you are gonna get wet/snowed. cold miserable.. Class A you step to the rear. and stay dry (BIG PLUS)!!!!!

Now.. another issue. Slides or not? They leak. I don't care how good they are they leak. But they are also nice with the added inside space.

And finally.. FLoor plans.. As you travel slight differences in the water. even Bottled water (Which is usually just well or river water locally drawn) may cause what I call "After effects"...

And the length of "Just a minute" Depends entirely on which side of the door you are on. Bath and a half models have "2 Holes, No waiting"

[DallasSteve]

dodge guy wrote:

Rick Jay wrote:
He chose a motorhome...then sold it. Here's an update from DallasSteve.

~Rick

To add to this. They sold it because they didn’t like being in a confined area 24/7 365! Now they are in an apartment. This may have been different if they went with a 40ft DP with 4 slide outs.

We sat in a couple of those at a RV show and wow, they are nice. But they are not in my budget. Still, I had a brand new 31 foot Winnebago that I thought was pretty nice. If you want to support me financially to get a shiny new 40ft DP, please send me a message. 🙂

[DallasSteve]

dodge guy wrote:
Having gone for a TT to a class A I would go class A no question! A TT for your intended use will be a lot of setup and tear down.
As far as the 2 motors to maintain that’s an excuse.

I disagree that it is an "excuse". It's the reality. If you want more, you have to pay more.

Still, I decided to go with the motorhome and a Jeep. I lived in it for 11 months, traveled around some, and then sold it. I posted a recap of my experience (link below). I may do it again someday, and I might do a truck and trailer next time, or I might do the motorhome again, or I might never do it again. Still, I'm glad I had the experience.

Full Time Living Recap

[dodge_guy]

Rick Jay wrote:
He chose a motorhome...then sold it. Here's an update from DallasSteve.

~Rick

To add to this. They sold it because they didn’t like being in a confined area 24/7 365! Now they are in an apartment. This may have been different if they went with a 40ft DP with 4 slide outs.

[Rick_Jay]

He chose a motorhome...then sold it. Here's an update from DallasSteve.

~Rick

[Skibane]

^And having gone from a Class A to a TT, I would never go back.

[dodge_guy]

Having gone for a TT to a class A I would go class A no question! A TT for your intended use will be a lot of setup and tear down.
As far as the 2 motors to maintain that’s an excuse. It’s no different to add in a couple of oil changes a year for a toad. And if you get a gas MH it’s only going to need oil changes. I’ve yet to have an issue with the toad and disconnecting. Get a pull through and you have no worries. With a back in it’s still fairly easy. With a good tow bar it takes less than a minute to disconnect and you can do it one handed while holding an umbrella. On hot days when on the road it will take hours to cool down the inside of a trailer. With a MH with the generator running the interior will always be cool.
I would never go back to a TT.

[FloraVod]

I don't know why you couldn't find a good site where you can rent a motorhome. You can find excellent companies and ***Link Removed***. It's best, of course, to rent such motorhomes to enjoy the beauty of the United States because I'm sure that few of you have been to all the states. I have long wanted to visit Texas, so the first thing when I found a great company where I could rent a six-seat van for our whole family, I immediately went there. I didn't expect to see so much beautiful scenery and views. I took a significant number of good pictures for my work projects while we were on this trip.

[Lexx]

I think the OP should also consider what kind of roads he will be traveling. If he’s pulling big hills, I’m not so sure a gas class A will climb all that well. Will it get up the hill? Yes but it will be frustratingly slow. A diesel pusher will have a lot more torque.

Also consider stability is bad weather conditions. How stable is the rig when there’s a crosswind?

I do like the higher quality fit and finish of some of the older diesel pusher class A’s. Set up and break down does seem easier. And being able to tow a Jeep that can go off-road is a definite plus.

I’ve not personally towed a travel trailer. But in my travels I have seen quite a few going down the road that did not seem very stable. These were towed most often by lighter duty trucks or even suvs.

The worst is when there’s a crosswind. That’s when I see travel trailers being blown about. Even some of the class A’s have that issue. The tag axle class A’s however seem much more stable.

We regularly encounter 8 - 8.5% grades that last for several miles. On this last trip we went over the top of a national park at 9910 feet, on narrow, twisty and bumpy roads. Through it all, I never felt unsafe and the rig pulled beautifully. Going up the hills we pass all the motorhomes and semis.

And while my dually will never make it off-road, at least we’ve got air bags all around. Take a look at the IIHS safety ratings on jeeps. They’re not good in accidents especially if you’re hit sideways.

The big MH’s are really nice. And there are few reported fatalities from accidents. Nevertheless it is a giant fiberglass box. Passengers in the back are held in place by a lap belt on a sofa that’s bolted down to the box. If you have an accident what happens when all your stuff comes flying forward?

At the end of the day, one has to make your own assessment of your risk tolerance, the kind of roads you travel, and of course your budget.

[AJR]

OP. You are young enough to do what you want and have fun.

Another ten or fifteen years and a MH will look allot more attractive.

[2012Coleman]

Don't fall into Analysis Paralysis! Someone mentioned renting. Check out RVShare.com. You can rent they types that interest you and do some camping at a local state park. Lots of renters will tow the RV to your camping spot and show you how to set up - so you can camp in a fifth wheel, travel trailer, and most likely drive a Class A or C to your spot.

[valhalla360]

DallasSteve wrote:
I also remember reading a post here a few years ago that fifth wheels are much harder to resell than bumper pulls because they are more expensive and require the special hitch. Maybe that's not true either, but it sounds reasonable. And I've seen posts here talking about a problem with fiver handling; I think they called it "chucking". And some posters here say they have driven both and they think bumper pulls ride smoother. (That's sure to raise another reply from jshupe telling everybody again that I've already made up my mind) I think a lot of the great hype about fifth wheels may be that's what the salesman told them, they bought it, now they need to believe they made a good decision. Of course the salesman is going to say it's better because it has a higher price tag.

A properly set up TT will tow just fine...but there is a little more to getting it set up properly.

But even with a proper setup, a 5er still tows much nicer.

PS: no issues selling a 5th wheel. 30-40yrs ago, they made up a tiny portion of the market. Now they are probably around to 50% of the towable RV market (over 28'). There is no issue selling them when the time comes.

[DallasSteve]

2manytoyz

Thanks for response. I'll reply to the 3 responses.

1 - You're comparing apples and oranges again (diesel vs. gas). For a big truck I'm thinking F250 gas; maybe F350 gas. As I remember they actually can tow a little more because the motor weighs less. New big gas truck + new travel trailer I estimate to be about 20% to 30% less cost than new gas motorhome + new Jeep Wrangler.

2 - I hadn't thought of unhooking the toad at a gas station with a high cover (may be hard to find?) but that's a good idea (if I had two drivers). I know this sounds crazy but for reasons I won't go into here my wife doesn't have her license.

3 - OK, it looks like the engine is significantly in front of you so I would say it's about equal to a big truck in crash safety, but not much safer as you were first saying.

Still, a big motorhome + a Jeep Wrangler is a possible solution for me. My plan is to walk around some $90K to $100K new class A gassers before I make a decision. I will probably also walk around a few fivers before I make a decision. At this time I'm still leaning in favor of the bumper pull, but I've spent more time inside those than the others. Before I pull the trigger I need to browse the other RV types some more. I saw a few at an RV show, but I need to see more again.

Thanks, Steve