boobdocking - M'home or 5er?

[jhamlin]

My wife & I are planning to be fulltimers soon, and will be doing alot of dispersed & BLM camping out West. I plan to install a sizable solar setup so we can operate pretty much independently for several weeks at a time. My question has to do with maintenance costs. Would a 5er, say 32ft, along with tow truck, be less expensive to maintain than lets say a 37ft class-A motor home & toad? As for the initial purchasing costs, it looks like we could get into a used MH for the same price as a used 5er & tow vehicle (say 50 grand for example). A consideration for us is mobility - the wife has good old "arthur" and one bad knee that will need to be replaced down the road, so that's a plus for the MH option, but I'm wary of a resultant increase in maintenance costs.

Jim

[jhamlin]

Many thanx to all of you who responded to my questions. Some of the answers were along with my line of thinking - and helped to confirm - but others were very enlightening. Again, many thanx. Now to sell the house . . . that's another (major!) challenge.

Jim

[wbwood]

You know e funniest thing we've noticed with the class c is that it has half the size gray water tank than what our TT had, but it seems to last as long if not longer. Makes no sense to me. Perhaps we have gotten better at water consumption.

[John_S_]

I have 110 gallons of water and grey and black tanks that equal more than that. I have 200 gallons of diesel so I can last a long time. Maybe 2 weeks on one tank of water. I do not know of a 5r that has that much water or capabilities. IT is easy to drive and dump and fill up and start over again. Sure it costs a bit to run but I think it boondocks much better.

[Bobbo]

wintersun wrote:

portscanner wrote:
Well, for Boobdocking you would be better off with a truck camper. Then you can get on the beach - the best place for boobdocking.

Sry - couldnt pass up on it.

Did you miss the OP's comment about the bad knee? Or the one about spending weeks at a time at a spot? Campers do not begin to have enough fresh water storage capacity for long term boondocking unless you camp by a stream and bring water treatment equipment and don't mind an outdoor latrine (which is often illegal in these areas where the RV needs to be "self-contained).

He was making a funny about "boobdocking."

[wintersun]

portscanner wrote:
Well, for Boobdocking you would be better off with a truck camper. Then you can get on the beach - the best place for boobdocking.

Sry - couldnt pass up on it.

Did you miss the OP's comment about the bad knee? Or the one about spending weeks at a time at a spot? Campers do not begin to have enough fresh water storage capacity for long term boondocking unless you camp by a stream and bring water treatment equipment and don't mind an outdoor latrine (which is often illegal in these areas where the RV needs to be "self-contained).

[mythree]

Your going to need a boat for boobdocking. Seriously I would prefer the motorhome.

[mowermech]

wintersun wrote:
It is much easier to back a 30' motorhome into the average western states campsite than a 30' trailer. I have been impressed in particular by the Class B+ Phoenix MH (built on the Ford E-450 chassis) with the double slide-outs.

The 5th wheel trailers will require a heavy duty vehicle and involve a lot more steps everytime your wife goes in and out as well as getting up to the sleeping area. The 5th wheels work well when you are planning to stay in one place for weeks at a time and can unhitch the tow vehicle and use it for personal transportation around the area.

I must agree, backing a 32 foot fiver into a site at a Forest Service campground can be challenging! I never tried it, the only trailer I took to one of those campgrounds was a 19 foot "bumper pull", and it was bad enough. With my motorhomes, a Class C and now a Class A, no problem. I have never seen a pull-through site at a Forest Service campground.
Over the years, I have had every type of RV there is except a Class B. They all had good points and bad points. I intend to keep this Class A until I can't drive anymore. No more trailers or truck campers!
As for going to the sand or back roads, that is what the Jeep is for. I will park the A at an easily accessible site, and take the Jeep exploring. Then again, many of those back roads have been closed, and the ones that are left are useable by most 2 wheel drive vehicles.

EDIT:
"RE: having to disconnect the car to back into a spot. It's not the least bit difficult at all. Actually, we prefer backin spots as they're usually more private."
Actually, since nearly all back country campgrounds around here are first come, first served, we make it a habit to disconnect the toad before entering the gate, then take the toad in to see if there is a space we like that is available. If so, we register, then take the motorhome in and park it.
No problem.

[2gypsies1]

One thing..they both need oil changes and yes, a diesel takes more oil but the change lasts for 15,000 miles whereas a truck is more often.

RE: having to disconnect the car to back into a spot. It's not the least bit difficult at all. Actually, we prefer backin spots as they're usually more private.

RE: a truck doing off-roading as easily as a Jeep. Depends. We've witnessed trucks being too wide for the trails. There are some trails in Silverton, CO that a truck couldn't go because of the width and the turns needed.

Naturally, we don't do 4-wheeling with our motorhome. We park it off one of the gravel roads and use the Jeep. However, our motorhome has gone on long drives of gravel roads but it's not a rock climber. 🙂

Bottom Line: There's no perfect answer. You'll just have to pick and choose what's more important to you.

[time2roll]

boobdocking... I want to party with you sometime :B

For me boondocking also involves some off road driving that my 4wd truck does just nicely. MH you may need to pull a Jeep etc.

Not sure what would get stuck first in marginal conditions. But my truck has limited slip front and rear 🙂

If you are just pulling off on hard surface I am not sure it matters.

[wbwood]

pablo77 wrote:
The maintenance costs of a MH will be greater than a 5er, on average. How much greater depends on age and condition of MH, toad, 5er and truck

Not necessarily true. I would think that for the most part that they will be close to the same comparing diesel to diesel and gasser to gasser. As if you are talking about a fiver, you gotta include the truck. Maintenance will be about the same intervals Main issue in higher costs for mh would be having to get it done at an rv shop. Class c, with an e450 v10 can be done by any mechanic basically. Or at least a dealership.

I would put a higher priority on the mobility factor. Think about how many times you would go to the bedroom/bathroom each day. In a 5er that's 6 steps each trip. In a MH, none. Having two bad knees, I can relate to this all too well.

That's another good point.

[pablo77]

The maintenance costs of a MH will be greater than a 5er, on average. How much greater depends on age and condition of MH, toad, 5er and truck.

I would put a higher priority on the mobility factor. Think about how many times you would go to the bedroom/bathroom each day. In a 5er that's 6 steps each trip. In a MH, none. Having two bad knees, I can relate to this all too well.

[goducks10]

Never done the MH/toad thing but one thing to think about is every time you go to a CG and have to back in you'll have to unhook the toad before you set up. Pull thru not so, so that may limit your choices a little. Not every boon docking spot will be a pull thru. Also I don't get the 'no place to sleep' if the MH is in for repairs. Has no one heard of a motel? Not the best scenario but if it's not possible to sleep in the MH just grab a motel for a night or two. The extra stairs in the 5'er could be an issue until your wife gets her knee fixed. I'm in pretty good shape but walking down the steps 1st thing in the morning is not a skip in the park.

[wbwood]

I always had the same idea about a 5th wheel as others mentioned on here.....if you break down, at least you will have a place to sleep. The costs of insurance and upkeep of two engines.

But, as others have said, if you are in a motorhome and break down, that most repair places will let you stay in the mh. As far as costs for two motorized vehicles, I think it really depends. How much you drive a mh and toad is not going to be any more Thant you would drive a truck (w/5er). If you drive a my 10,000 miles a year and a toad 5000 miles a year, that is no difference that driving a truck 15,000 miles year, because its the motor for your trailer and the toad all in one. Upkeep is going to be the same or actually could be less depending on the motors of all said units. Insurance, well that's another story. The insurance on our class c which is valued at 3 times more than our tt was and has a motor is only about $100-125 more a year than the TT was. The truck (f250) that we had to pull the TT was more in insurance. Partially because the fact that the motorhome will be driven less, but the motorhomes value is still more than twice the value of the truck. So I don't really see the cost difference there.

You will or can get more room out of a 5th wheel. But let's face it, when you are electing to live in something that small, is it going to make a huge difference in a few feet? Better designed and use of space is more valuable than actual floor space. You also need to decide how much time you will be spending in it. Are you gonna look at the outdoors from a window or be out in it. A 5er may be rough for your wife with the steps and her knees. Depending on the mh, you might be able to get something with not as many steps. Our TT sat up high like a 5er and that is one thing I don't miss is the many flimsy steps. Our class c is nice about that part. Just a couple low solid steps. Ha e you considered a class c or b? Ours is 32' long in total length but is a 30' model. The front seats are good for storage when camping. Plus a B or C can be worked on by many more mechanics than a motorhome. The downside is they are low to the ground and if you plan on being far off the beaten path, that could be an issue.

[2gypsies1]

We've full-timed for 16 years (from Michigan, by the way - but nothing there now - sold it all). We love boondocking and national forest campgrounds along with national parks, state parks, county parks. That way of RVing is always our first choice. We fell in love with the West.

We started out with a 33' 5th wheel - Travel Supreme - two slides - pulled by a Dodge diesel. It worked well for 8 yr. although we both hated driving the big noisy truck around.

Then friends got us hooked on 4-wheeling and it was time to change RVs so we ended up with a 40' motorhome towing a Jeep Liberty and we've had that combo for 8+ years. We love the MH and Jeep - much better than the 5th wheel combo.

Someone mentioned if you break down you have no place to sleep. Not true. Whenever we've gone in for routine repairs and had to spend a night we were always able to spend it inside our motorhome on their lot - with electric. Friends do this also. We're never without our home.

If you break down on the road and are towing a car, you will have a way to drive to at least get a phone signal if in the boonies. If your truck breaks down you'll wait until someone comes to help. We find a car much more pleasant for siteseeing than a truck.

Motorhomes have a lot more bay storage than 5th wheels. They're a pleasure to drive because you're sitting up high with a big window expanse. We both drive it. We've recouped very nicely from many surgeries in our motorhome including knee replacement.

If you get a gas motorhome servicing will be a lot cheaper than a diesel. We had many positive recommendations about Newmar diesels and we wanted the 40' and travel mountains and the diesel works for us. We do move around constantly but stay put in the winter. We definitely didn't want more than 2 slides and both had to be on the same side. When utilizing public parks we encounter a lot of heavily treed areas and it's much easier if you don't have to deal with positioning a lot of slides inbetween trees. Of course, our favorite is desert boondocking so not many trees there!

Guess you just have to make comparison columns for comparisons and make your choices. Everyone RVs differently and have different needs. Ultimately, it's what YOU want. Good luck choosing and good luck in your new lifestyle. It's an awesome way to go!!