Soon to be full time - Have a question about RV length and difficulty finding a spot. - RV-Dreams Community Forum

BMiller · RV-Dreams Community Member

Soon to be full time - Have a question about RV length and difficulty finding a spot.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

suggestion would be to google different campgrounds and parks in the areas you feel you would travel.......parks are growing to accept larger rigs every year.....but rule of thumb for a fulltimer that is going to be moving around alot .....32-34 is the limit after you add the length of the truck.....it makes it tough in National parks and state parks

chip · RV-Dreams Community Member

National Parks and State Parks are where you will encounter most problems. Older private campgrounds maybe. What are your interests? Most camping books will address max size they will take.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Rebecca,

Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. You will find it full of knowledgeable folks and a few smart-alecks. May your research and planning be as pleasant as possible.

As for your truck, you might want to hold off just a bit. The normal rule of thumb is for one to first choose their trailer and then buy a truck that is of suitable weight capacity to handle the trailer of choice, based on its weight. While the GM 3500 series is a good truck for about all but the heaviest of trailers, it may be a problem because the newer GM's have higher beds. In other words, the distance from the bottom of the truck bed to the top of the bed sides is more than on the older models. Some folks are finding that if they go with the GM, they need to raise the frame or suspension of their trailer to allow clearance between the bed rails and the bottom of the overhang of their fifth wheel.

Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 26th of January 2013 09:20:10 AM

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

A one ton dually will be more stable; if you get a Chevy or GMC get it with a service body; like the wrecker body without the boom; it has lower sides. Have the 5er hitch mounted in the normal way.Hope you can picture this. Maybe someone will have a picture; I will try and locate one.

-- Edited by PIEERE on Saturday 26th of January 2013 09:59:39 AM

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're in a motorhome so not comparing apples to apples but we stuck with 34' and we're glad we did. We've been in several campgrounds that advertised site length that was really exaggerated (angled sites where they measure from longest point to longest point). We've also seen heavily wooded parks where even though the site was advertised as a 40' there was no way to back in with the trees. Our shorter length just gives us more options.

Cindy T · RV-Dreams Family Member

Since the RV is our only home, I wanted something larger. A 30' RV is just too small for us to live in fulltime. We wanted storage space, I wanted kitchen counter space, etc. The longer length may keep me out of some parks, but I don't have a concern about finding a spot near the sights we want to see. The living space needs to be workable, & a longer RV fit the bill for us.

Team Murc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Janni,

To piggy back on what Pieere had to say and I hope I will not be a violation here disbelief . Go to http://www.classychassistrucks.com/ ( sorry still do not know how to make an active link) and see what types of tow vehicles he is talking about.

Hope this is helpful.

Mike

-- Edited by Team Murc on Saturday 26th of January 2013 04:03:10 PM

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 26th of January 2013 11:05:47 PM

dewwood · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree with Cindy, if it is your full time home it should be one you are comfortable in. Would you rather be inconvenienced on occasion because you cannot fit into a site or would you rather be inconvenienced on a daily basis because you are a bit too cramped? We do not full time but live in our unit for long term travelling and it works for that but if we were full time then we would need something a little larger even though some of the places we like to visit would not be an option because of size limitations.

BMiller · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you for all your responses. We are going to be full time and we have 3 small dogs (8 to 12 pounders) we will have a portable fence for them. I feel that the larger home would be best for us too... We are downsizing from a 3000 sq foot home.... of course neither of us has any problem with getting rid of everything but our cloths and laptops, in fact we are looking forward to breaking the shackles of our rather material lives and enjoying the next 20 years or so on the road. The time is coming soon! In fact, we may purchase the truck today.... Anybody have an opinion on the Sierra 3500 Denali GMC duelly???? That is the one my husband has set his sights on...

dianneandsteve · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think you will be fine with that length. We have had very few problems in 32 months of travel getting into most State and Regional Parks on the east coast and out west. Our total length hooked up is 66'. That's not to say some haven't been a challenge. The further north you go you have the trees to deal with. Some of the State and Provincial Parks we have visited haven't properly pruned their trees for the larger rigs. I say go for the larger rig...you'll need the room.

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

It's really going to depend on your preferred style of park and how willing you are to either make advanced reservations, or chance it that a spot is available.

We stuck with a 35' motorhome with no slides, not wanting to go any larger - and there have been many times that this had given us more opportunities, options, cheaper sites and sites with better views. And yes, there have been some campgrounds that are just not accessible to us any longer since we moved up from a 17' trailer. And times we wished we were smaller - such as now, if we were 5' smaller we could have scored a monthly on a sweet waterfront spot with its own dock and kayak launch, with no neighbors to one side. But no worries, they were still able to accommodate us in the park.

The larger you go, there is a slightly increased depletion of available options.. but not so much that you have no options. Find the right compromise that works for you to make sure that when you are parked, you are going to be comfortable.

- Cherie

BMiller · RV-Dreams Community Member

Wow, thank you Terry for the information i will pass it along to my husband. His other choice is the Chevy dulley and he is only considering a 1 ton, so hopefully weight won't be an issue....

janni · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am with several of the others in voting to go big. You had a large home and it still won't be the same but having space can be priceless at times. You can park your rig at a park and drive to places you want to see. I also like your truck of choice. GM makes a great product in my book.

Good Luck and Welcome to our group!

Raytronx · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sometimes you may encounter problems if your traveling like we do with out reservations for the most part winging it. By having only 30 ft fifth wheel we get in many times because the selection of spots we can fit in is greater. Many State parks will have only a few 45 foot spots but dozens of 30 foot for example. Also some parks are a challenge to navigate through for longer rigs. You have to balance it out with the space you think you need. Our previous RV was a small "B" camper van, the fifth wheel feels huge!

Rob_Fla · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a 2012 GMC 3500HD DRW and pull a Jayco Pinnacle with it.
No problem with the height of the truck bed and our 5th Wheel, our Pinnacle is level with plenty of bed clearance on our GMC.
Our GMC does a great job with our 5th Wheel, pulls great, very stable, stops great, love the engine brake.

Our 5er is a little over 40' long and we have not had any problems getting into parks.
We do have to check and make sure the sites will fit our rig, but for us it has not been a problem.

I did have one CG that said when I told them the 5er was 41 Ft long, they thought the length was for the Truck and Trailer !!!
I had never run into that before, but they moved us to a different site and we were good to go.

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had a 34' Carrilite and just moved up to a 38'. We haven't had any problem in North Carolina, Virigina, South Carolina or Florida in State, federal, or regular campgrounds.
Only at 1 state part where the back wheels against the designated timbers outlining the parking area.

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bekki,

I am with the others who are on the big side. You need to be comfortable and if you are squeezed for room you will regret it. We are 63 feet overall hooked up and plan ahead looking for pull-thrus but have not had any issues with parks where we have to back in. Google maps helps a lot when we plan so we can see the overall view of what a park or campgound look like.

Good luck.

BTW, Steve and Dianne, nice set-up!

Jeffmarl · RV-Dreams Community Member

Well I can only speak from my own experience. We have a 39 Ft Carriage Cameo pulled by a 2011 Chevy 3500 Crew Cab/ Long bed that pulls and stops the trailer great. The newer Chevys come with an exaust brake also. We had the axles flipped (raised) on our Cameo and also have an Airsafe hitch that is adjustable. We have been fulltime for 4 months and have camped in around 25 campgrounds and have always found a spot to fit us. We camp mostly in State, County and COE parks. I do my home work and try to make sure we don't book any sites that won't work. We like having the extra room that a large 5th wheel gives us even though I know there will be certain parks that just won't have big enough sites. Hope this helps.

Jeff

BMiller · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you everybody for your help. Interesting turn of events... we looked at a 2007 40 foot Holiday Rambler Endevour yesterday with only 16,000 miles, we are going to test drive it today. So who knows, may come home with one today!