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Post Info TOPIC: Fifth wheel w/1 child, not 4


RV-Dreams Community Member

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Fifth wheel w/1 child, not 4


We went to an RV show this weekend in Maryland and loved it! Loved the Montana's, Heartland Trademarks, and Cedar Creeks. We walked away from it both encouraged about prices and a little let down about floor plans. You see, we have 1 child age 3 when we hit the road. All the units we saw either catered to 3-4 kids (4 bunks) or no kids. We would love to find one with one bunk bed which is not a fold out couch and is separate from the living room. We want our daughter to have a sense of her own space as she groups up in this.

We considered the loft, but ruled it out for several reasons.

Any suggestions?

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RV-Dreams Family Member

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Look at Kingstons by Crossroads they have a floorplan with a seperate room in the back of the fifth wheel that would make a good kids room.

Mallo


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RV-Dreams Family Member

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You may want to consider one of the toyhauler models and just create a bedroom in the garage area. Put up a couple of walls, add a bunk bed and chest of drawers. I've seen folks use the ramp as a patio with a screened awning during the day and close it up for the night.

One couple had built a wall across the back so the ramp could stay down and be used as a patio. The wall was inset a few feet to allow them to carry bicycles, they added a door to the wall to provide access into the RV from the ramp.



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Larry
"Small House, Big Yard "
7 years to go to FT
Alfa See-Ya 5'er and 2007 Kodiak C4500 Monroe Pickup


RV-Dreams Family Member

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If you saw some floor plans you liked, but they had multiple bunks...in many cases, the manufacturer can leave out the additional bunk beds and perhaps add in some more cabinets. Manufacturers are often more flexible than you might think and many of them are willing to work with you (through the dealer) to get you what you want.

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Cindy and Jeff Harvey
2007 International 4400 Hauler (The Big Boss)
2010 Carriage Carri-Lite MAX1

"There are seven days in the week...and none of them are called someday".



RV-Dreams Family Member

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We have a bunkhouse that has an option of a sofa or a larger bunk on the bottom in a separate room at the rear of the trailer...also a 1/2 bath. We have 2 kids and it works great for them to have their own space. We also liked the storage for their clothes and toys (not many, but a few!) All the options with foldout sofas for the kids in the living area had absolutely no storage for their things.There may be others out there, but this floor plan was unique at the time we purchased about a year ago. We, like you, didn't want more bunks than we would be using!  Our model is a 362BH Cardinal by Forest River.  I don't know if the company is still producing this plan.

 Best wishes in your shopping! Linda

-- Edited by retread on Monday 22nd of February 2010 06:46:12 PM

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Craig & Linda
'09 FR Cardinal BH 5th Wheel (Traded in for vacation trailer)
'05 Chevy 3500 Silverado
http://narrowroad2peace.blogspot.com/


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Retread...do you find that the living room area is awkward with that model? That design is very common, with the entertainment center facing perpendicular to the sofa. That makes for uncomfortable viewing doesn't it?

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RV-Dreams Family Member

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Actually, it's very difficult for more than one person to view the tv from the sofa. B/c the sofa is in the slideout, 1/3 of the screen is not visible from the half sofa closest to the entertainment center. During news, etc. it's not a problem b/c we watch from working in the kitchen or the dining table. When we want to all view something (a movie), the kids bring in blankets and pillows for the floor and my dh and I sit...very smushed together...on the sofa. Sometimes, we all pile into the king sized bed in our bedroom and watch the small tv.

If we were more avid TV watchers, we'd likely trade out the sofa for some type of recliners that we could situate in a better viewing position. I would guess you could find a way of securing them in the slide for travel and then move them when stationary? Because we don't watch tv much, it's not worth the trouble or expense for now.

HTH, Linda

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Craig & Linda
'09 FR Cardinal BH 5th Wheel (Traded in for vacation trailer)
'05 Chevy 3500 Silverado
http://narrowroad2peace.blogspot.com/
WRS


RV-Dreams Family Member

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Ok I don't have the name of a specific fithwheel because I have looked at so many of them they tend to run together.  After saying that I believe I have seen a Fithwheel with a room that had a set of bunks on one side and another set on the other side.  I know many TT are that way but I think they make fithwheels too.  I would look for something like that in the brand I wanted and buy it with the bunks, if already there, or order the room empty.  Any handyman who has built furniture could turn that into a really nice little room for a 3 year old child.  They could build what you wanted in the room that would fit a child for several years such as closet, desk, bed, lights, toybox........... as you can see I could just get carried away with a little space....... especially for a little one. no  It can also be built reatively light as to not add much weight.  All you need to do is suppy the room...... there is someone out there that can fix you up and if you keep looking I believe you will find the right 5ver!!! smile 

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RV-Dreams Community Member

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A few weeks ago I attended an RV show and saw a model that might be worth looking at: Heartland North Country, XLT Extended Stay Models. Not sure what they mean by that...BUT, they do have some interesting floor plans.

I only picked up 2 brochures, Heartland and Montana. Of everything there, those were the ones with the best quality, in my opinion. Still didn't care for some of the features of specific models but that's what the RV show is about - right?

Rancher

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RV-Dreams Family Member

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I appreciate all the suggestions. However, we are still not finding what we want. Our options seem to be a separate bunkhouse, which takes away from the living space, or sleeping our daughter in the living area. We have seen what we like in a class A where there are 2 bunks in the "hallway". That is what we are looking for. The Damon Astoria 3776 and Winnebago Adventurer 35Z model are very nice and exactly the floor plan we want...but we want it in a fiver.

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Kyle Henson
Class of 2011 with wife and 3 yr old daughter




RV-Dreams Family Member

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Check out the NuWa Discover America series 5th wheels.    They have a hallway slider that is either a wardrobe cabinet or configured as 2 bunkbeds.    When you look up the DA floorplans, type "bunks" in the search window.   They have several models with the wardrobe slider, but only a couple identified as possible bunks---but I wonder how hard would it be to convert any of them to bunks?   Hope this is helpful.  :)



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John & Ginny

2008 Nu-Wa 37CKRD

2011  GMC 3500HD Denali; AirSafe Hitch

Homebase: Millersville MD



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Yes, that's exactly what we are looking for John! Thanks! We will check these out more closely but at first glance they look like solid units. I see one model "339" that can be made into a bunk...I wasn't able to find a second one. But I like the 339 model.


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Kyle Henson
Class of 2011 with wife and 3 yr old daughter




RV-Dreams Family Member

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When I first looked at the NuWa DA models,  I checked out the video walk thru presentation for the DA349 and was led to believe it was the same as the 339 with an additional 1+ ft added to accomodate a king size bed.   I guess I made the leap of faith that the wardrobe slider could also be made into a bunk configuration.   Perhaps if this floorplan is what you are interested in you could check it out with NUWA and see if they could make bunks work in any of their side wardrobe slider configurations.   (If not, perhaps there is a piece of RV furniture /daybed when placed in this slider  that would work for you.)  Happy hunting! :)

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John & Ginny

2008 Nu-Wa 37CKRD

2011  GMC 3500HD Denali; AirSafe Hitch

Homebase: Millersville MD



RV-Dreams Family Member

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I'll take a closer look at that model too...thanks again.

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Kyle Henson
Class of 2011 with wife and 3 yr old daughter




RV-Dreams Family Member

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The Heartland Big Horn has a model that has 2 Bedrooms (BH 3800DB).

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Dreaming and doing the homework necessary.

Looking at:
F-350/Ram 3500 type truck, possibly an Airstream or a smaller 5th Wheel.

However, there is still time to change the configuration, just a plan.

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