5th wheeler vs travel trailer - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Claudia · RV-Dreams Community Member

5th wheeler vs travel trailer

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fifths traditionally tow better and have more space and storage in general. The down side is the step up bedroom which can be a negative for the elderly. There seems to be a larger selection of lightweight TT for you to choose from which in turn could give you a smaller tow vehicle. Thats about it for me, there are other obvious differences but either choice you make should provide you many years of good times...

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Claudia,

From our experience, including both a travel trailer and a fifth wheel with lengths of 26 feet, the fifth wheel had more storage space, both inside and outside. Stability with pulling is definitely better with a fith wheel without having to have equalizing hitches and anti-sway bars. As for stairs, since one has to climb stairs to get into either kind, the two or three steps to get into the upper area is minimal.

With the fith wheel, most have one entrance that is near the axles. Our 26' travel trailer had two entrances, but the rear steps got bent when I didn't think about a "dip" or sudden change in road configuration. Those steps were just far enough back to hit the shoulder of the road as I pulled off in a "tricky" place.

Because a fifth wheel hitches within the bed of the truck, the overall length of the truck/trailer rig is less than a similar lenght travel trailer hooked to a pickup's rear receiver hitch. While it is only a few feet of distance, It can make a difference when backing into campsites.

I'm sure there are more, but right at the moment, I can't think of any other differences. Maybe later.

Terry

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most TT's have less storage and less cargo capacity. We had a 29 ft TT with only 1 slide, good for long trips but for FT we wanted a little more floor space, storage compartments and needed greater weight capacity. I also wanted a larger Fridge than more TT's come with, the freezer capacity of our TT was miniscule. When travelling down the road our Toyota Tundra / TT combined length was about as long as our F450 and 5v'er, but we have much more living space with the 5v'er.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ditto to everything everyone else said.

Exception...I didn't find the towing difference between the 5th wheel and TT to be a deal breaker. To me each have pros and cons but nothing that makes one better than the other.

Our decision was based on space. At the time only one TT had a slide out available so we went with a two slideout 5th wheel. Now there are a lot more slideout choices so TTs have become much more comfortable.

cejones4210 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have an Aistream. We have had both 30' and a 25'. We have refurbished our 1974 25' and I know it has more storage now than our 30'. It is so easy to tow and due to its shape handles the wind nicely. Easy to back in. AS have imaginative places for storage, but in the long run, it's still not enough for fulltiming. We will be living in our 25' AS this summer, but next year after we get back from Alaska (in the plans, Lord willing), we would like to buy a 5er for more space, storage and livability. Plus a 5er was what I always wanted even before we purchased the AS.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had this discussion as part of our research phase, and most of the points we discussed have already been mentioned. Since you are going to be weekenders, storage space and capacity (two entirely different things) are not going to be as much of an issue. The biggest issues that we considered were the physical size of a 5'er vs an Airstream and the gross weight of a 5'er vs an Airstream. The Airstream was the only TT we considered, and we were looking at larger, upper-end 5'ers. ALL trailers would have been used, as would be the truck. The 5'ers, being heavier, would have required a bigger truck, F450 or so. The Airstream would have only needed an F250. With a 5'er you are required to have a pickup with no cap on it. With an Airstream you could have a pickup with a cap or maybe an SUV, depending on the gross weight of the Airstream.

You don't say what your budget is, an that may well be a major factor. Will you need to replace your current vehicle, are you buying an additional one, or do you have one that will work? Do you like driving a truck while sightseeing, shopping, etc.?

I mentioned storage space and capacity above. Airstreams are great for using every available cubic inch for storage, but just because you can find a place for it in the trailer doesn't mean that you can actually take it with you. Check the empty weight and the gross weight. The difference is what you can carry in the form of clothes, food, water, propane, fishing poles, etc. Some 5'ers also have lots of storage space and little weight capacity. Start checking the data plates on the coaches.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

With respect to the issue of truck size, we pulled both the 26' travel trailer and 26' fifth wheel (that we previously owned) with a Ford F250, which is a 3/4 ton truck. So, when looking, consider weight as well as length and other features. The heavier the trailer, the heavier a truck one may need.

While our coach could possibly be towed with a 1-ton (F350/3500 series) truck, we chose to go with the Ford F450 because our trailer weighs 18,500 lbs and we wanted something that was more capable than the smaller series trucks.

A truck's capability needs to be considered based on the GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) rather than "towing weight," which is what dealers like to use when trying to sell their trucks.

Terry

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

So true, Terry. Most dealers don't have any idea what their trucks weigh or what they can SAFELY handle. "A one-ton dually can handle anything you want!" Yeah, right!

Our U300 can theoretically handle a 6000 pound toad. I intend to keep the toad to under 4000 just to make sure that I have a safety margin. Of course, part of the reason we went with a DP was to have an economical toad to run around in, and that will require a light-weight vehicle anyway.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

One thing to keep in mind if you buy a TT and decide to store items in the truck with a cap on it, the cap adds a lot of weight and you still really have to pay attention to the GCVW. In our case, with all the "stuff" we need to set up for the art shows we do, we carried 1K of "stuff" in the truck including weights, canopy, glass display cases, etc. Found out at the Harrisburg OR rally that we were overweight with the TT, pulled by our Tundra with v8 engine. Don't believe the commercials, the Tundra might be able to pull the space shuttle, but at only 2 MPH, don't try crossing the Sierras with the load we had. Smoking brakes, not something we want to experience ever again!!

tibbar · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a TT and that is all I have ever wanted due to height measurements. Hubby didn't want a 5TH because of the stairs and many trips to the bathroom and bedroom with his bad knees. We have more storage space in our TT than we can fill. The space under the sofa, bed, fridge and dinette seats is completely empty. There is a big pantry the TV sets on and numerous cabinets, one at the end of the sofa holds our computers in their rather large cases with the whole bottom left empty. Only problem is if we used all this space we would be very overweight. The bath is a joke but we manage.

Roads Less Traveled · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have lived full-time in both, a 27' TT for a year and a 36' fiver for four years.

Interestingly, our overall length (with the same truck) was the same for both rigs: 52'

The fifth wheel is easier to tow and park and maneuver in tight spaces than the travel trailer was. It is also much more comfortable. It is much heavier (15,000 lbs versus 7,000 lbs). It was also twice as much money to buy... We got better mileage towing the TT too (14-15 versus 10-11).

If you are using a trailer for occasional weekends and vacations, a TT is a great way to go (and is less expensive). After you've had one for a while you'll be much more knowledgeable about the features you want, and you can upgrade to a fifth wheel at that point.

I'm glad we owned a TT first...

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Great comments on here. One thing didn't see mentioned is when we went from a 28 ft. Travel trailer to a 36 ft. fifth wheel and transferring our stuff, the inside storage space was almost identical. The living space, especially with fur kids underfoot, and bath area was much more generous in the 5er.
It seems many of us trade up so keep that in mind as well.

It's what YOU like, what YOU want, what YOU choose. It's a really fun and exciting process.

Enjoy,
Sherry

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

We found both the inside storage and the underneath storage in the 5th wheel (38 ft) to be much greater than the TT (29 ft). As we're packing the 5th wheel I'm especially grateful for the extra closet space.