5th wheel vs class A - RV-Dreams Community Forum

saucebag · RV-Dreams Community Member

5th wheel vs class A

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Saucebag,

Let me welcome you to the RV Dreams forums. You will find a lot of folks with the knowledge and willingness to help. Some are even with their families as well, so I'm sure you will probably get some good answers to your questions. So, feel free to ask and make comments.

As for us, we considered both motorhomes and fifth wheels as our RV and ended up with a fifth wheel. A good part of that is because with what we were looking at, the truck and fifth wheel was cheaper than the motorhome we liked. We also prefer the layout of a fifth wheel as opposed to a Class A, but I can't help much with helping you decide since we don't deal with the perspective as one who had children along.

Good luck with the research, planning, and enjoying the life.

Terry

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sauce, welcome to RV Dreams......there is no correct choice, it really comes down to personal preference. We opted for a Motorhome, we love the flexibility we have while driving down the road. My wife can cook, shower, watch tv, or nap.....now that I write it it sounds like its HER FLEXIBILTY, I am always driving....LOL

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I made the choice of a class A......I wanted to be able to have all the comforts wether I was moving or holding........I wanted the choice of my personal travel vehicle durring down times

I added a 22ft. Enclosed trailer(garage , workshop ).....to the end of mygiant train so I have a place to generate income durring shows and other areas without having to store it on the Coach.....my vehicle can also tow the trailer itself so it gives me options on points to stay and work.

I guess it all will boil down to personal choices and finances as you get ready to start........please all of you should be together when shopping for your choice. all of you should go inside each unit and sit down , move around and get a feeling if this is going to work for you and can you acomplish personal space in doing this......unless you are planning on doing weekends or short exscursions all this will come into play fast.

Welcome to fulltiming and may you journey progress to a world like you have never seen before!!!!!!!

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

As others have said, it is a personal preference as much as anything, in the end. A modern upper end 5er has more livable interior space than a comparable motorhome, and most would say it is more "homey". But not everyone....

There are pros and cons to both choices. For every pro that motorhome owners will point out, I can show you how a 5er can easily accommodate that. However, one thing a 5er can not do is to prevent you from leaving the tow vehicle when accessing the 5er....you HAVE to walk outside. If that is a big deal to you - and surprisingly it IS to a lot of motorhome owners - then a 5er is definitely out.

One thing I will strongly caution you about - that is with a motorhome it is tempting to get up and "do things" while in motion. This is VERY dangerous. It is really easy to lose balance and fall if any evasive maneuvers must be taken. It happens all the time....I would be very reticent to allow mobility while in motion. Been there, done that, and it is not a good idea.

ken and cindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

When we still had our sticks and bricks we started out with a travel trailer kept it six months, then moved up to a Class A gasser, kept it for 10 years,then when we sold our Home and went full-time, we traded our gasser in on a 41' Newmar Torrey Pine 5'ver, bought a medium duty truck to pull it safely, and lived in it for about 4 yrs and sold it . Now for the last year we have been living in our Monaco Camelot 43' Diesel Pusher.

For us it is about the ease of being able to just go and on the way stop and nap/sleep without having to get out and cool/heat the 5'ver, not having to drive a beast around town (the Med Duty Truck) . We pull a 4x4 jeep. It take all of 5 minutes to hookup and unhook.
Also seems to me that the the drive in the coach is less stressful and our trips are somewhat longer and more relaxed between stops.
Besides the view out of that huge front window makes you feel like your sitting at a National Geographic IMAX movie going across this beautiful country of ours.

-- Edited by ken and cindy on Thursday 30th of August 2012 03:01:52 PM

Pinky-AzNative · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have had a class A and a 5th wheel. I personally like the 5th wheel. In the motor home it was hard to keep the children seated when moving. They always had a reason to get up, (go to the bathroom, need a drink, want something to play with,, etc). In the 5th wheel we have a 4 door pickup and they sit in their seat belts with no issue and watch movies. No more issues. In the motor home my husband was more easily distracted by the kids, especially if they got up or would walk up to him with questions, etc. We are now looking at a 5th wheel with bunkbeds.. (We currently have a 40 ft 5th wheel without the bunkbed option) I like the bunkbeds as the kids will have their own space. Beds I don't have to pull out or put up each day and night. Also their own "room" with a play space. This will keep their things (toys, clothes, ect) out of the main area and underfoot. It is nice in the class A to have easy access to the bathroom, but that was not an issue to give up for up due to the added advantages we have in the 5th wheel. We home school. I also like the idea that they can have a desk area in their "room" and we won't have to get out and put up school stuff all the time to fix meals, etc. My husband is also considering a toy hauler so the kids have their own space... for schooling and such. It is really a personal preference.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another factor that has been brought up is cost. One of the decision points we considered is the cost to replace the MH vs. the cost to replace the truck and/or the 5th wheel.

With the 5th wheel we are on our 2nd truck. The 5th wheel is coming up on 17 years old and still going strong. The 1st truck was beginning to become un-reliable and I was afraid to take it on long trips. So we decided to get a new truck. So for less than the price of one mid-range MH we have purchased our 5th wheel and two trucks.

We are still very happy with our 5th wheel, we don't plan on replacing it anytime soon.

Another point to consider.....Today's 5th wheels are just as easy to setup once you arrive as a MH. They come with auto levelers, auto awnings, auto sat dishes as well as other conveniences.

It still boils down to personal choice.....

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yep, it is a personal choice thing – and in some cases, “depending,” a cost issue and in your case with two kids maybe the MH is a good choice remembering Jack’s comments about not being seated with belts on during travel. This is a safety issue for sure and you really need to consider that.

One reason we went with a fiver was because of where we like to sometimes travel. This is a general statement but certainly true north of the border (and south for that matter.)

You almost always can find a Chevy, Ford or Dodge dealer or a mechanic in some small town with some parts to get a “pickup truck” going and a Fed Ex overnight if they don't have the parts. A big 400HP Cummins or the like - not so much.

We had friends on our Alaska trip that had a nightmare with their motor home due to engine issues. We had a fully certified Cummins mechanic with us. But there were no parts including in Anchorage. They had to wait two weeks total to get the rig going because the parts were not even available in the lower 48. Things happen and you don’t want to try and ship parts from the US to Canada. It’s the time lag in customs that’s the problem – not shipping time.

Sort of in this same department, if you require service on the engine then you lose “your home” with a motor home while it is in the shop. With a fiver you still get to keep the trailer while service is being performed on the truck. And you can rent, if you so desire, a car to sight see.

Finally, from a "systems" perspective motor homes, due to the integration between the house and the vehicle electrical systems, are much more complicated and harder to trouble shoot. Not bad, just are.

There is zero wrong with a motor home as such and we may own one someday. We just found the fiver to better fit our traveling lifestyle. It’s a personal and style choice.

Bill

Mallo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fifth wheel all the way.

The floor plan fit our life better. Which frankly should be one of the major criteria. Can you see your self and your kids stuck in it if the weather turns on you for two or three days without needing to strangle someone?

Can your hobbies travel with you with the floor plan you like?

Floor plans that would allow the brideandjoy her quilting space in a class A cost a lot more then the same useable space in a fifth wheel.

Just one mans opinion.

Mallo

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

Seems like the 5th wheels are out numbering the class A's on this post! Let me help out the class A's. It took us almost a year to decide between the two but ultimately went with the class A. Like everyone said its what works for you.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Escapees surveys seem to find about the same number of 5th wheels as Class A's for their membership, with other RVs making up the rest. From what I have seen of full-timers, this seems about right.

For us it was never a question. We didn't want a truck and we were comfortable with a Class A so that is what we bought. No regrets.

Others make different decisions based on their wants and desires. We have met people in standard trailers, truck campers, Class C (cab over motorhome) and Class B (camper vans) and even tent trailers (extended time but not full-time) enjoying the RV lifestyle. Find what works for you and come join us. Just be smart about it, including the money.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

The run-around vehicle is another factor in the decision. Lots of people do not like, or do not want, to drive a truck on a daily basis.

We have a 42' 5er towed with an HDT. It has all the comfort and power of a diesel pusher. We tow a Jeep behind, or (shortly) we will have a smart car on the deck of the HDT. Many people that are fulltiming drive a vehicle behind the truck/5er. All of these options work. Just depends on what you like.

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our Toy Hauling Motorhome carries our Smart Car. When we hit camp the car comes out of the garage and the garage becomes the cat feeding/litter box area. Works perfect for us.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gene.....the Cat seems to be living well with its own room and all in the coach.

kinda wondering? does the cat have a TV and a possible area for Entertaining back there!!............................LOL

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike wrote:
Gene.....the Cat seems to be living well with its own room and all in the coach.
kinda wondering? does the cat have a TV and a possible area for Entertaining back there!!............................LOL

Funny you should pick up on that Mike, many of my friends have showed a serious interest in coming back as one of our cats in another life....

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

As many others have said…it's what works for you. You can get a generally 'better' 5ver and tow vehicle than a Class A for a given amount of money. Floorplan as many have stated is important; for Connie and I the Class A feels like a bus no matter what and has too much wasted space vs the 5ver. Internal layouts you can also get more choices (generally) than a Class A. Then there's that whole 'steering wheel in the living room' thing.

Take a look at both and get what works for you.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Saucebag, I'd suggest that you start by playing out your "mission profile." Where are you going, how long are you going to stay, how many miles of driving on driving days, etc. Then start making a list of must-haves. After you've spent some time on those two projects, start going to shows and dealers. Get into as many different coaches as you can. It won't take you long to figure out what will and what won't work for your family.

As others have said, safety is paramount. If your children aren't already used to being buckled into their seats, you are going to have problems in the motor home. If you are looking at 5'ers, at this point you should look only at two numbers: gross weight and pin weight. Use those two to figure out whether your truck can handle the load. If it doubt look at a bigger truck.

Do you need such a big truck for other purposes, or is it going to be pretty much dedicated to towing the trailer? If so, that could get pretty expensive. On the other hand, if you already have a suitable truck, buying the 5'er is going to be pretty easy. Just figure out what the truck can handle and don't look at anything heavier.

BTW, don't believe dealers (either RV or truck) who tell you that any 3/4 ton truck can haul any 5'er on the road. Get the actual numbers.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

“BTW, don't believe dealers (either RV or truck) who tell you that any 3/4 ton truck can haul any 5'er on the road. Get the actual numbers."

X2 on that comment. The quote of the day at many RV Dealers is, “Sure, we pull those16, 000lb trailers all the time with a ¾ ton truck.” Or even worse “. . . with a ½ ton. Not a problem!” Most diesel trucks can pull anything. It is control and stopping that is the issue not to mention overloading the tires on the truck, trailer or motorhome for that matter. Seen overloads many, many times

You can overload a motorhome just as easily. So, as suggested, give these items careful consideration.

If you are full timing you will be very surprised at how much stuff (i.e. weight) you will put on a trailer or in a motorhome. 1,500lbs of gross cargo weight won’t touch what you will carry beyond the delivered factory weight. Especially with two children who need additional items for their precious lives. So be careful about many of the new “light weight” trailers or motorhomes. Do your research independent of the dealer and confirm the numbers.

Bill

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill is right on cargo carrying capacity for motorhomes. When we finally did set our sites on a motorhome one of the first things we looked at was the ccc. We found MH's with a ccc from 1400lbs, (yikes) up 6000lbs. So before you absolutley fall in love with a unit be it a MH or 5er check the ccc especially for full time use.

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

When we started out we was heavy into going to the dunes,, sandrails, quads ect. so we went the 5th wheel toy hauler route. We liked it and it served our purpose. And I loved the King Ranch I used to pull it. The problem for us was the lack of creature comforts in our unit. The sandrail was to long for a unit with a seperate garage. So we got rid of the 5th wheel and went to a class A and a trailer for the toys. We knew back then that we wanted to fulltime in the future and liked the idea of a class A to do it in.

We are just now fulltimers and will be hitting the road in Nov. or Dec. to travel the US. We have talked about when the time comes to get off the road that we will probably get rid of the class A and go back to a 5th wheel toy hauler with a garage so we can take our trke. At that point we won't be moving around as much and camping less so leaving a 5th wheel sit for longer periods sounds like a better and cheaper way to go to us. And I'm pretty sure that time will come.

With all of that said and sticking with the fact that I love the class A I will admit I am one that feel SOME 5th wheel's do seem more homier.

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

OK, there’s been some great advice and comments on this thread already, but I’m going to put my 3 cents worth in here. (Can’t get anything for 2 cents anymore). biggrin

As many of you know, we have a large Motor Home.

We had travel trailers before we purchased our first MH in 1999. We used them for vacations and trips across the country. They were a pain to level, un-hook and hook back up to leave the next day. We have never owned a 5^th wheel trailer, but unless you have a high end model, you still have to level it with boards or blocks.

We also found out that with a trailer, it got pretty warm inside as we were traveling down the road on a hot day, and in fact at times we had to sit outside to wait for the AC to cool it down before we could go inside.

Another disadvantage that we found was that when we wanted to make a “pit stop”, we had to get out of the truck and walk back to the trailer, no matter what the weather was like. Also, many times it was hot inside of the trailer, so we could not rest or sit comfortably at the table and have lunch.

As you get older, steps become a problem for some people. Linda has trouble with steps at times so the less she has to go in or out of an RV or up some steps to get to a bedroom, the better. No steps also makes it easier to stop for “pit stops” , lunch or to rest. Plus, when we stop for any reason, it is already comfortable inside of the RV. If it is raining, we can pull into a campsite and level the coach from inside and wait for it to stop raining before going out to hook up any of the utilities.

With a large 5^th wheel, you have to have a large truck to tow it. Again, steps may be involved with getting into the truck, which must be used for everyday trips to the store as well as traveling. We flat tow a small pick-up that is easy to get in and out of and rides fairly smooth, which can’t be said for some large pick-ups or HD trucks.

In 11+ years of full-timing, we have never had to stay in a motel because our MH was in the shop. We have always been able to stay in it at night. Maybe we’ve just been lucky.

We like the floor plan in our MH, but can understand why people like the floor plans in 5^th wheels better. Yes, there are drawbacks to Motor Homes, but for us, at this stage in our lives, they are what we want/need.

Another thing to remember. the parks you stay at now, may not be the parks that you want to stay at in 4 or 5 years, or your travel styles may change. Also that perfect RV that you just bought may not suit your needs at a later date. Don’t get too hung up on a certain type of RV. Take if from someone who’s been around the country a time or two, things change.

Just my 3 cents worth, biggrin Jim.

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good write up Jim......I'm right there with you!

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jim, I agree with you. However, when you mentioned steps, you hit on one area that we have talked about. Both Jo Ann and I have some aches and pains, and climbing stairs is painful sometimes. For that reason, we seriously considered an Airstream. From the ground to in the trailer is only two steps. I have yet to see a motor home that could match that. At this point we think that we can manage a motor home for several years, so that's the route we're planning on.

Saucebag, one point that hasn't been touched on much is how much sitting are you going to be doing. Motor homes, particularly diesel pushers, like to be used. One rule of thumb is that you need to make at least a 30 minute trip every 30 days. That doesn't mean sitting in the campground with the engine idling. That means out on the highway, at highway speeds, for 30 minutes. I would imagine that the same would hold true for a gasser.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Actually gas engines need to be used more than diesels since gas can varnish. The 30 day rule is normally for gas engines including generators. There are many who have no problems letting their diesel engines sit unused for 3 to 6 months, especially if they add anti-algae. I have no idea where you heard 30 days for diesel. I do agree about a 30 minute trip, or 30 minutes at 50% load on a generator, when you do run it, no matter if it is gas, diesel or LP. You need to get that engine warm and working and lots of idling is actually bad for it.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce wrote:
Actually gas engines need to be used more than diesels since gas can varnish. The 30 day rule is normally for gas engines including generators. There are many who have no problems letting their diesel engines sit unused for 3 to 6 months, especially if they add anti-algae. I have no idea where you heard 30 days for diesel. I do agree about a 30 minute trip, or 30 minutes at 50% load on a generator, when you do run it, no matter if it is gas, diesel or LP. You need to get that engine warm and working and lots of idling is actually bad for it.

Bill J:

You raise an excellent point about running and loading a generator or vehicle engine. I don’t want to start an “old wives’ tale” discussion about engine care. But from my education over the past 35 odd years concerning diesel and gas engine care, if you can’t get the engine up to normal operating temperature with a nominal load on it, then you are better advised to just leave it sit (and do the fuel additive thing as required.) Don’t start them and just let them idle for a few minutes. This has to do with lubrication and moisture accumulation in the engine, gas or diesel.

We were taught to either use it, or let it sit; but they were far better off the more they were used. Our large and small diesel generators, for example, were always put under nominal load for 1 to 2 hours once a week.

Bill

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I guess there is "what is best" and "what is adequate". The only place I had a job where I "knew" the diesel generator test schedule we ran them for about 8 hours every three months to make sure the emergency power system was functional. The people who cared were debating cutting the number of generators to two since one provided enough power and all three always started and ran smoothly. (8 hours was so the shift before could help with the start of the test run and the shift after could help with the end since the shifts had 15 minute overlaps over 8-1/2 hours.)

Many systems on on RVs work best if used. A RV techs worst nightmare is if a good friend or relative finds an RV that has been sitting for years and buys it cheap, knowing the RV tech will help fix all the problems. The debate is how often does it reasonably need to be used, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or other?

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

The problem with most travel trailers is that they don't have as much storage space or Cargo Carrying Capacity that most full-timers need.

We have 2 RVing friends that have installed a chair lift on their Motor Homes. One full-times and the other doesn't. They work quite well and if the steps coming into our coach get to be too much of a problem, that's probably the way we'll go.

Bill J.

I used to work for a construction company and it wasn't unusual to let the diesel powered equipment sit for 4 or even 5 months during the winter. In the spring they were fired up and the oil changed. Didn't seem to have any ill effects.

Jim