Trying to decide between 5th wheel and Class A

[Headlesschicken]

Hello! Hubby and I are planning on selling all we own and taking a year off to travel the US so we can live a little and spend time with our newborn. We both work 6-7 days a week, he's a chef and works alot of open to close on top of that and I work at a factory so I'm wore out and hate the thought of not seeing her grow up. We have never owned an RV and know nothing about them. We also will be taking 2 dogs, one of them large and 2 cats. I am trying to stick to a budget of $25k so we have money to live off since we will be unemployed. So advice on any way to make money on the road is also appreiciated but my main question is what's yalls opinion...5th wheel or class A? He really wanted a class A because he felt it would be more fun to drive a big rig and there's also the fact the dogs,cats, and baby are easy to get to and plenty of space for them instead of trying to squeeze them in a truck. But on the other hand a 5th wheel has more space when parked for them to play. It's hard for me to imagine trying to get around with a husky at my feet in a class A and wondering where we would put the baby's bed. If we get a 5th wheel we have to buy a truck and if we get a class A we may have to buy a tow vehicle. I own a Dodge Ram 1500 and he has a mustang. Is it possible to tow the Ram on a class A? And would most be able to pull it? We didn't want to tow it because it's so big but we can't take the mustang cause we wouldn't all fit. If we went 5th wheel would it be possible to leave the animals in there or is the ride to rough and can you even run the AC in it while driving? Sorry if that's a stupid question but like I said, we know nothing. Also what do y'all do about health insurance? Any advice or tips would be appreciated especially from those with experiance traveling with pets or infants! Thanks!

[ncrowley]

You will not have any issue with the trailer swaying if you get the right hitch. You want to get one with load leveling and sway control. With the correct hitch and a truck that can easily pull the weight, you will be fine. Do not get a trailer that is close to the maximum the truck can pull. You also do not want to use the empty weight of the trailer - use the weight of the trailer plus the weight of all your gear and water in the fresh tank. Use the GVWR of the trailer as the weight you will be pulling.

[bikendan]

Headlesschickens wrote:
I read somewhere not to travel cross country with just a travel trailer as they are harder to tow because of sway. What is yalls take on that? That would be the cheapest option I think if I found one I could tow. But I don't want it to be unsafe. I don't know exactly what my truck can do. It's an 06 Ram 1500 Hemi crew cab w tow package. My husband suggested yesterday that perhaps we should sell the house first so we know what funds we will have. I've debated this before but never said anything because we would have to stay with my mother until we left and I didn't think he would want to.

well, hundreds of thousands of people are pulling travel trailers with no problems.
sway happens when the owner doesn't have a WDH with anti-sway or when improperly loaded.

with a properly equipped tow vehicle and a properly loaded trailer, sway shouldn't be an issue.

i've been pulling travel trailers for 12 years now and never had any sway issues.
but i have had tow vehicles easily capable of towing my trailers, along with an Equal-i-zer WDH with integrated sway control. i also have proper amount of tongue weight.

if you want to consider a trailer, post your truck's specs, especially the payload capacity from the driver's door yellow/white sticker.
it says "Occupants and cargo should not exceed xxxxlbs."

[Headlesschicken]

We will be traveling alot yes. We are trying to hit all the states we can before running out of funds. The reason I say $25k is because we don't know how much money we will have when we go as it will be whatever we make on the house and we have no clue what that will be. It could be anywhere between 50k and 100k depends on the market. And about a class C...we don't care for them as much and it seems they run the same as an A but we will still look as an option. I'm assuming they would be cheaper to maintain? I read somewhere not to travel cross country with just a travel trailer as they are harder to tow because of sway. What is yalls take on that? That would be the cheapest option I think if I found one I could tow. But I don't want it to be unsafe. I don't know exactly what my truck can do. It's an 06 Ram 1500 Hemi crew cab w tow package. My husband suggested yesterday that perhaps we should sell the house first so we know what funds we will have. I've debated this before but never said anything because we would have to stay with my mother until we left and I didn't think he would want to.

[drsteve]

barcar1 wrote:
We have just started looking to plan our hopeful retirement. We had a popup years ago, although never used it as much as we wanted to. We are thinking of traveling 3-4 months each year once we can and are debating the same issue. 5th wheel may be good at the beginning, but CLass A may be better when older. Any thoughts on that perspective?

You will get more responses by starting your own thread.

[barcar1]

We have just started looking to plan our hopeful retirement. We had a popup years ago, although never used it as much as we wanted to. We are thinking of traveling 3-4 months each year once we can and are debating the same issue. 5th wheel may be good at the beginning, but CLass A may be better when older. Any thoughts on that perspective?

[ncrowley]

With the budget you have, you are looking at a much older class A, or a used Class C or a smaller fifth wheel because a large fifth wheel would require a much more expensive truck. You do not want to put your animals in the fifth wheel while you are traveling. They need to be with you in the Class A/C or in the truck. With anything used or older, you will need to set aside money for maintenance. The maintenance costs can be high on an older motorized RV.

Please tell us if you plan to travel a lot or stay in one place for months at a time. Motorized RVs should be exercised.

[wanderingaimles]

wa8yxm wrote:
Ok, some talking points.
With either a Class A towing a car. or a decent size 5ER and the tow vehicle

But that big honking pickup you likely won't get but around half that bobtail



I pulled into a campground north of Kalamazoo MI on one of my first trips.. ON the way there I decided I needed a table for my Navi-Computer... and I had the lumber to make it with. So I got out the lumber, Got out the tools, Looked skyward, Put tools away (Don't recall if I left the lumber out) and headed in .. As the door clicked shut the first drops of rain hit.. And then the DELUGE, I mean it came down so heavy you'd a thunk we were UNDER water... But I was dry. With any kind of a trailer I would still have been setting up.

But with the Class A I can do the BASIC (Boondog style) setup from INSIDE the RV Only need to go out to plug in and hook up water and sewer and stuff.

True story: Parked next to first timer She's talking to her hubby when I returned from shopping (no car then just the Class A) I pulled off onto the paved "Wash" on the other side of the road put 'er in Reverse and Hammer Down backed into the site (Straight back).. She's talking to her hubby. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS GUY NEXT DOOR BACK IN... (what can I say. A class A, not a trailer, Straight back, not around a corner.. Of course she was impressed But a child could have done it, in fact I did much worse when I was not yet old enough to drive a car (Backing a trailer on the farm).

I can understand your feelings, but within a $25,000 budget, fulltiming with a family, I think something else needs to be considered.
With a 15-20 yr old Class A, when it breaks down, they stand to lose BOTH, their transportation and their residence. for the duration of the repairs, IF they can afford them.
With a TT, or a 5er, At least if the truck breaks down, you still have a home. The heavy vehicle, (truck or Class A) is the thing most likely to become long term shop bound. So why would someone on a limited budget want to put literally "all their eggs in one basket"?

[rctour]

$25k, you can't afford a decent class A for 4 animals and 3 humans and actually those numbers don't sound fun either way you're considering.

If you have a good truck to pull the 5th, get as large as you can find. You should be able to find a fairly good one for $25k.

Last year we traveled the U.S. in our A for 8 months, boy I was glad to get back to the brick and mortar. My wife said more than once if she was a full timer it would be with a 5th, not the A.

[Dick_B]

Just slightly off topic but would you consider a Class C small enough to avoid having to tow a car?
If you search this Forum only in Class C for `no car' it might give you some reassurance that it can be done.

[wa8yxm]

Ok, some talking points.
With either a Class A towing a car. or a decent size 5ER and the tow vehicle, the MPG camp\ to Camp or Home to camp is going to be.. Darn close if not identical.

BUT with the class A your towed care may well hit 30 MPG or more if you need to run to the store, an attraction or church (Just got back my car is 25mpg roughly)

OR MORE

But that big honking pickup you likely won't get but around half that bobtail.

Another consideration: Some folks only travel a few weekends a year. A MOTOR vehicle.. Does not like to sit and sit, it likes to RUN AND RUN.. Trailers do not mind sitting so much (Just repack the bearings and replace tires a bit more often).

A Class A, after the first couple tries.. Is easier to back up into the site (DO NOT BACK UP WHILE TOWING less you trailer your car)

Two stories, both true.

I pulled into a campground north of Kalamazoo MI on one of my first trips.. ON the way there I decided I needed a table for my Navi-Computer... and I had the lumber to make it with. So I got out the lumber, Got out the tools, Looked skyward, Put tools away (Don't recall if I left the lumber out) and headed in .. As the door clicked shut the first drops of rain hit.. And then the DELUGE, I mean it came down so heavy you'd a thunk we were UNDER water... But I was dry. With any kind of a trailer I would still have been setting up.

But with the Class A I can do the BASIC (Boondog style) setup from INSIDE the RV Only need to go out to plug in and hook up water and sewer and stuff.

Other trips I'm going down the freeway and feel the need for a rest area.. If it's clear and sunny. I hike to the building.. If it's raining felines and canines (Cats and Dogs) I . Use the in-house plumbing. Very nice

True story: Parked next to first timer She's talking to her hubby when I returned from shopping (no car then just the Class A) I pulled off onto the paved "Wash" on the other side of the road put 'er in Reverse and Hammer Down backed into the site (Straight back).. She's talking to her hubby. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS GUY NEXT DOOR BACK IN... (what can I say. A class A, not a trailer, Straight back, not around a corner.. Of course she was impressed But a child could have done it, in fact I did much worse when I was not yet old enough to drive a car (Backing a trailer on the farm).

[frankdamp]

When we gave up the RV life in 2014, we sold our '02 32' Class A (purchased in 2010). Because we didn't have the time to do the private sale hassle, we sold it to a dealership. It had less than 20,000 miles on the clock, and we'd bought it from the original owners with 12,000 miles showing, so we were fairly certain it was correct. We paid $37K when we bought it, and we thought we'd got a fairly good deal - it was the amount left on the original purchaser's loan!

The best we could get from the dealer was $21,000, since it had a couple of problems (generator wouldn't start was the major gotcha). The dealer fixed it and a couple of other minor glitches and sold it 3 months later for $27,800.

I would expect that $25K would get you something like the Bounder, but maybe a 2004 or 06 model. Check the on-line price guides. I wouldn't consider paying more than about $18K for an '02 at this time.

[wanderingaimles]

With a $25k budget thats going to be pretty hard. Class A units in that range will be fairly old, and while there are some diamonds out there finding one used will likely mean 6 new tires and a couple of repairs immediately which make that budget line even tighter.
5er will need more truck than a 1500 Ram. Rams 1500's typically have low payload capacities which make almost all 5er's too heavy.
With the kids and dogs issues though you may want to explore another option. A travel trailer based Toy haulers "garage" gives you a multi-purpose area. Most have some form of fold down bunks and/or bench seating, and an easy area to contain the dogs when needed.
What you are trying to do sounds a little challenging, but it's another avenue to explore anyway.
On your other qx's
For health insurance, look to the states that have adopted the ACA, if you are going to be mobile you may fit the requirements for that, you would have to be willing to change your domicile.
On work while travelling, With you husband being a chef, look into management companies like Sodexo. The National Parks hire those companies to staff facilities in the summers for guest services, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc have restaurant operations needing experienced chef' and kitchen managers and you may even be able to address the health insurance that way.
www.escapees.com has some great info on fulltiming and work camping, they may have some stuff that can help.
Good luck

[dfletch]

We have had both. For your situation I would go with a gently used Class A. For income on the road look at work camping or online opportunities.

[Bumpyroad]

with a Class A you can tow a little vehicle of some kind for sightseeing, off roading,etc. with a 5er you are stuck with a huge dually pickup getting poor mileage for all of your non-towing mileage.
bumpy