Why so many 5'ers? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

MelanieMC · RV-Dreams Community Member

Why so many 5'ers?

Roz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome, Melanie! You have begun with a good question, and you will find many different answers for an equal number of different reasons.

As has been proven, people are different, life in different ways and like different things. Taking some time to look at the various types of RVs will definitely help you make your best decision.

Many who fulltime on RVs prefer fivers for a bit more room, while others, inluding us, prefer a motorhome for our own reasons. It truly depends upon your preferences after looking and listening.

Welcome to a friendly group with a vast amount of knowledge to share. However, in the end, your decision should be what suits your lifestyle the best. Get ready for many answers.

Charles

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

First of all, welcome to the forum. smile

Now remember, this is just my opinion.

I think that if you are going to be traveling a lot, (not staying long in one place), a MH is best. To me, they are easier to set up and get ready for travel. Most also have more storage space than a 5th wheel.

If you are going to be staying someplace for longer periods of time, a 5th wheel is probably better, as you do have more room in them and they have some very attractive floor plans.

I'm sure that others on this forum will respond to your post also, as everyone has their own opinion. What it all boils down to, is that you need to get an RV that is right for you and the way you travel. For a single person, there is not a thing wrong with a Class C MH. You do need to look at storage in them though because in most, it's very limited.

Jim

Delaine and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We researched and looked at many Motor Homes and we always go back to the 5th wheel. The largest impact to us is the cost to buy and how much money you lose the first year. We have a 2009 Mobile Suites and a 2010 on order. As for set up our MS can be set up in less than 10 minutes. Due to the Hydraulic level up system. The 5th wheels we had in the past with the electric jack system did take longer to set up. As for storage when we were full timing we had a Cambridge 358 with lots of storage, yes we had everything full we wasted hundreds of gallons of fuel, we were hauling things around we just didn't use. We have a lot more storage in the MS than any 5th wheel we have owned. We have excess space and it will stay that way. We now only carry things we use. When we travel we only take enough food to get to our destionation and then we do our shopping for the stay there. The good thing about a MH is you don't have to unhook and you can legally tow a Toad. However if you Truck is set up with Air Suspension with a dump valve you don't have to unhook, with our Freightliner we don't have to unhook. And we do plan on double towing. And just take the Toad to locations which it is legal to double tow. But again its choice, and the decision is up to you. I do think 5th wheels seem more like a home than a house on wheels vs a MH, which has a steering wheel in the living room. Life is good. GBY...

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think it may also have something to do with the fact that there is approximately $100,000 difference between a good quality fiver and truck and a good quality diesel pusher and toad.

Mallo · RV-Dreams Family Member

MelanieMC wrote:

Hi! I am new to this forum and I'm planning on beginning full-timing in the next 3 years. I have noticed on this site - and many others - that many full-timers have 5th wheels. Is there any reason for this? I have always wanted to go with a small Class C - I will be solo-ing and I am a true minimalist - so I don't want a large RV. Is there something I'm missing?

MelanieMC,

The Conventional Wisdom on this forum is a MH if your traveling a Fifth Wheel if your sitting. We stay at most a week at a time and have no issues with setting up and tearing down our fifth wheel maybe for the geezer set this isn't true but I see a lot of 70 year olds full timing in fifth wheels so maybe not.

That said what really made the choice for fifth wheel for us was sitting in the units. You say your a minimalist. OK what is more minimal then a small fifth wheel with one or two slides and a truck so you only have one engine to maintain but don't have to take your house shopping or sight seeing.

What I have always suggested is go to the RV dealers doesn't matter what brands they sell just go and sit in everything. Sit in them and see if you feel you can live in it.

After you've looked at a stack of RV's of various configurations and thought through how you would use the space in them you'll know what is home for you.

For us it worked out that what was home was a fifth wheel we were never comfortable in the motor homes not the A's or the C's.

But that's just us.

Mallo

Tom Donaldson · RV-Dreams Community Member

Jim01 wrote:

If you are going to be staying someplace for longer periods of time, a 5th wheel is probably better, as you do have more room in them and they have some very attractive floor plans.

Plus, floor plans are much more flexible since they are not limited by a driver's area.

We could not find a way to layout a living space in a motorhome to our liking. We ended up with a highly customized RV from New Horizons RV. I don't think we could have gotten this level of customization from ANY motorhome manufacturer. We definitely could not have gotten this office layout.

Luvglass wrote:

I think it may also have something to do with the fact that there is approximately $100,000 difference between a good quality fiver and truck and a good quality diesel pusher and toad.

I'll second that! We got a brand new highly customized rig, truck and fiver. It cost us about half what we would have spent on a USED diesel pusher plus a small toad.

thebearII · RV-Dreams Family Member

Like others have said, it's personal preference.

We chose a 5th wheel because we felt we got a lot more for our money. We already had a pickup to tow it with so we were able to save about $30,000 by going with a 5th wheel instead of a motorhome.

If we had to buy a pickup truck then the cost of the motorhome or 5th wheel / truck combination would have been similar.

Reason 2- always having the tow vehicle to drive around once we get setup. It allows for sight seeing and trips into town for groceries or.... With a motorhome, there would be the need to tow a car, that means two drivetrains to maintain and the chance for failure in the motorhome or the towed car. Added cost we didn't want.

Our 5th wheel is 37 feet long with two slideouts so we have about 360 square feet of living space. It truly feels like a small apartment. For some reason motorhomes always feel like motorhomes, I think it's due to the dash and steering wheel in your sight line.

Another reason we chose the 5th wheel, we knew we would have it for a long time. With a 5th wheel, the tow vehicle can be replaced as needed if there's a major problem with the engine or drive train. Or if you get tired of it. For a motorhome the only choice is to replace the bad parts, my dad had replaced two engines and a transmission in his motorhome and then suffered an engine fire later on that totaled it. He averaged about 7000 miles of travel each year.

If you choose a 5th wheel, be sure to get one equipped with as much automatic equipment as possible. For example electric leveling jacks all around, auto satellite dish, electric awning...etc. That way you'll only have to hook up the sewer, water and electric when you arrive at a park. Just like the Motorhome folks.

It took us a year of going to RV dealers and RV shows to decide what we wanted. Take your time, make sure you're happy with what you choose. Most dealers will let you spend some time in the RV while it's on their lot. Spend a half a day in it, try out everything, bring in lunch, watch TV make sure it fits you....

My Dad's Motorhome had the worst toilet arrangement. I'm 6 foot 3 inches tall and truly fit the profile of a bear. The wall across from the toilet was so close, that I stood up once, my head hit the wall and pushed me back down. I couldn't use the shower in his, because there was no physical way I could get inside of it. My dad and mom are much smaller so it wasn't a problem for them. We always try out the toilet (sit on it) and stand in the shower to make sure they fit us when looking at RVs.

MelanieMC · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks everyone for the responses! I grew up always traveling in Class A or Class C MH's, so I guess that's all I've ever really considered. After reading these responses I'm now wanting to look into a 5th wheel. I currently have a small sedan, so if going with the 5th wheel I'd have to get another vehicle (which by the time I can FT I would need anyway). Is there any particular truck that is better/best for hitching the 5'er? Also, I have driven a Class A many times and found it to be manageable for me - although I wouldn't want to FT in one, so would it be any easier/harder driving a truck with a 5th wheel?

Thanks again!

Sandra · RV-Dreams Family Member

You might want to read

http://gypsy97.blogspot.com/

Gypsy is a single lady who purchased a truck and fifth wheel and is finding it a bit of a chore for one person.

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

I went back and read about 2 months worth and most of the problems she's had seem to me to be peripheral to a fiver and truck and more to do with the mechanics relating to either a fiver or MH, generator, toilet, batteries etc.

There is definitely a learning curve and it's probably steeper for most women. Physically though I think they're similar. It's no harder to attach the fiver to the truck than it is to attach the toad to the MH. Sewer, water and electric are the same for either.

We just had a visit from a 60 year old woman and her 80 year old mother and they travel all over the country in a MH and toad and neither of them are particularly fit.

In all honesty, I think success has more to do with desire and attitude than anything. Some people when faced with a problem, say how will I solve this and others say Oh my, whatever will become of me.

Mallo · RV-Dreams Family Member

The theme I saw repeated in Gypsy's blog was that she wished for something "smaller" but didn't think a class C was the right answer.

I didn't get an anti fifth wheel feeling from her blog.

Mallo

pierreandcolleen · RV-Dreams Family Member

We bought a fifth wheel for a couple of reasons:
1. Price
2. We have the truck to tour around with (without the RV)
3. Storage is ok (but I wish there was more)
4. It is easy to tow - I hardly notice the RV except when we're going around sharp corners (they cut corners).
5. Only one engine to worry about - if truck breaks down, we still have a place to sleep at night.
6. You can back up if you hit a dead end. If you are towing a vehicle behind your motorhome, I don't think you can back yo with it.

If you go with a 5ver then I would get a long bed truck, that way you don't need an expensive hitch. We bought a short bed truck and needed the gliding hitch ($$$$). Anyway the gliding hitch needs to be greased, which creates quite a mess - especially when we want to throw our bikes in the bed of the truck.

If I were traveling by myself, I would probably choose a smaller motorhome. I think it would be nice when traveling as we wouldn't have to worry about a place to park if we see something interesting. Also, hitching on and backing the rig into sites is a bit of a hassle - my husband does most of it with my assistance. I would probably get sick of it pretty quickly if I were doing it myself.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

Melanie;

As you can see this is a very personal decision and everyone who makes it has very good reasons for their choice. I wouldn't argue with any of them. They are doing what is right for them.

Having been the owner and user of 2 trailers, 2 fifth wheels and now 4 motor homes, I have formed some strong opinions too.

We now are full timing in a motor home.

1st reason. and this is a primary one for me. When I tow a car behind the coach I have a means to get help if the coach drive train fails. I am not stranded on the side of the road trying to rely on cell phone service (not available everywhere though getting better all the time) or a CB radio to call for help. The wife and I can get into the car and drive away for help.

2nd reason. You might check some of the issues with hitching up a fifth wheel. One of the posts here in the forum describes a fellow who had the fiver come off of the hitch an drop onto the pickup bed. I personally had that happen to me with one of my fifth wheels and lots of folks with fifth wheels have or are going to. It just happens sometimes.

3rd. reason. With our trailers and our fifth wheels, I could never get them stable enough to stop rocking back and forth when we walked through them. Yeah, I used many different chalks and front stabilizers but none of them stopped the rocking. The motor home has 4 stabilizer jacks and the brake is always applied when we park so it does not rock around when we move inside it. Maybe that isn't important to other folks but it was a biggy for me.

4th reason. When we were towing our fifth wheels we always had to drive that tow truck every where we went. It was hard to park in merchant parking lots and didn't get very good fuel economy. I was always concerned that anything I left in the bed would be stolen. Some folks with fifth wheels have their spouse drive a second vehicle for this use but doing that negates some of the advantage of having the fifth wheel. At least that meant a lot to me.

5th reason. When we towed a trailer, either a regular trailer or a fifth wheel, I had to carry a lot of lumber. To level either one you need to have blocks to put under the wheels to level them from side to side. I seldom use any lumber with the motor coach but some folks do.

6th reason. Parking a fifth wheel or trailer many time requires backing into a site. Yeah I know you have to back a motor home too but most motor homes have back up cameras which will give you a view of what is behind you and trailers don't. Also backing the motor home is more nearly like backing a car or truck. It doesn't bend in the middle.

Now motor homes have disadvantages too and I do not mean to disregard those, but for me the reasons stated above make the motor home a better way to go for me.

JMO