MH or Fiver: Decisions, decisions... Has anyone owned both? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

CWinLV · RV-Dreams Community Member

MH or Fiver: Decisions, decisions... Has anyone owned both?

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: MH & Fiver: Who's owned both?

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: MH or Fiver: Decisions, decisions... Has anyone owned both?

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl: Tiffin has the Allegro, Phaeton and Zephyr with the Allegro the most likely to be seen available. This older thread might help with the See Ya: http://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t47823848/2004-alfa-see-ya/

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Tuesday 31st of December 2013 06:01:53 PM

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

CWinLV · RV-Dreams Community Member

Cheryl -

We ruled out the Alpha brands due to their electrical problems. We felt they would not hold up to the heavy demands of full time use. On the other hand, if you are planning recreational use only, they may be an affordable option. You might want to start anew thread to discuss your wishes and concerns.

CWinLV · RV-Dreams Community Member

Need advice: MH or 5th Wheel

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bottom line above personal preference...

Space.....5ver has a more open living space

MH..you give up space , get more storage and have on the fly convenience.

as far as costs on maintenance.... they are about even.

as far as resale....depends on the market

My choice at this time.....MH with a toad....live life on the fly and boondock when the sun goes down!!

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Christy,

Your choice but I have to disagree, lots of us are safely (operative word!) QUALITY rigs with a 350 Dually. If you're looking at a New Horizons or heavier a 450 might be better advised. That said, I understand you can never have too much truck.

There are advantages to both MH's and 5ers. Your choice.

Sherry

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: MH or Fiver: Decisions, decisions... Has anyone owned both?

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: Need advice: MH or 5th Wheel

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: MH or Fiver: Decisions, decisions... Has anyone owned both?

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

we have had both. Started out in a Montana 5er pulled with an HDT that also hauled our Harley on it's deck. Currently in a 36' Class A.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both and the following are my observations after traveling and living full time in both.

The Motor home is better for us when we are "on the road". It is easier for me to drive and park.
The 5th wheel was better when sitting for longer periods, had more interior living space (4 slide outs) and just seemed "homey-ier".

Cargo space goes to the motor home, but interior cabinet space goes to the 5er. This is very dependent on the rig that you choose but is what we have experienced.

Our motor home seems to be better insulated then the 5er as well as being a lot more stable on windy days when we are parked. The stability thing is due in a large part to the hydraulic levelers on the MH that our 5er did not have, many of the 5th wheels come standard with them now so this may be a non-issue.

Set up and tear down is a lot easier with the motor home then it was with our 5er. Boondocking seems easier too since we can leave the slides on the motor home in and still be comfortable, we could not get to the living room, dining area or kitchen of our 5th wheel w/o opening three out of the four slides.

I know there are others on the forum who have done the opposite of us (went from MH to 5er) and hopefully they will chime in soon with their experiences and observations.

Phil

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Christy,

We've had motor homes and recently traded it for a 5th wheel (1st one). Since I had retired before my wife my job has been reducing the waste in our budget (my wife refers to these as toys).

Anyway, I started adding up the costs associated with owning a MH vs a 5th wheel and the trailer won. We never got excited about the 5th wheel until they had the auto leveling jacks on them though.

Here's what I came up with.

MH (2004) DP 5th wheel (2014)
insurance $1800 repalcement $450 replacement
Tires $800 ea (6) $400 ea (4)
Mileage avg. 7.5 Hope for 8.5 to 9 avg.

So we decided to make the change to a 5th wheel.

Here's the differences we've found.

MH has more underneath storage

5th W has more inside storage.

5th W has more livable room

MH drives and parks easier.

Problem with 5th W...with 30 usable gallons of diesel (F-350) we had approx a 200 mile range until we needed fuel, harder to find accessible fuel pumps. Fix: just added aux tank.

As I am newer to towing a 5th wheel (6/2013) it takes longer to back into sites. I've towed trailers all my life, but 5th wheels are different.

Over all we are happy with our decision to change to a 5th Wheel. Pam really loves the space in kitchen, bedroom, and living area.

Hope this helps.

Red

CWinLV · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks everyone for your input. We are leaning pretty heavily toward a MH at this point, but since retirement is still a year out, things may change. I'm finding that the research is getting overwhelming! There are so many things to consider, and so many units to choose from. We want to be sure we select a quality rig that will hold up to full time use. Thanks again for your help!

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

It's a question that has been asked hundreds of times. And some of those by many of us here, ourselves included.
We did have a 40' 5th wheel but it was a toy hauler so not really a fair comparison except to the driving and setup/takedown side of it. So as far as that goes I didn't have any problems with the 5th wheel but after switching to a MH I can say I like driving it much better. We have a much better view of the road and surroundings. And we feel a little less vulnerable I guess to the elements.
As far as living in them goes I won't use our toy hauler in this but we have looked at the option of a (regular) 5th wheel. We had always said a 5th wheel just felt more like a house but in current years MH's have certainly come a long ways in that area with corner TV's, fireplaces, dishwashers, L-shaped couches, heated floors, residential refers, even bath and a half floor plans. And we have found it is more common to find 3 air conditioners on MH's than 5th wheels which can be nice at times. And most diesel pushers anyway have good sized generators that do not take up cargo space like in a 5th wheel, if a generator is important to you.
As far as setup and take down goes I think MH's have always had the edge but 5th wheels have come a long ways with auto leveling and such. And it's true with a motorhome you don't even HAVE to go outside for that BUT many times you may still need to use blocks depending on your camping area likes. And you still need to deal with water, electric and sewer hookups on both that you need to do. But I would still give a edge to the MH just because of the 5th wheel hookup part.
Outside storage hand down goes to the MH and inside used to always go in favor of 5th wheels but not nearly as much recently it seems. Just depends on the unit itself. Some of the storage I have seen in some 5th wheels would be for things that I would never want to get to except for once a year or so LOL!!.
For us, because we tend to move every week normally the motor home is great. But maybe in future years when we may not move as often we would have no problem going back to a 5th wheel.
It's a tough choice, have fun researching it. The research IS part of the journey.

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think they are equal now in that hooking up if you have a larger coach you probably have a toad. If it takes 3-4 minutes to hook that up then thats the same 3-4 minutes it takes me to back in, hitch, and raise my front landing gear.
With all the auto level, electric steps, etc, it comes down to a personal choice. Having to hook up water, electric, and the great equalizer - Sewer- on both means you still get out in the rain on occasion.

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jim I'm with you on your comments.

I guess it boils down to.... the 5th wheel is more house like but is a little harder to park and has less visibility going down the road.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Outside storage on a higher end 5th wheel is comparable to the same sized motorhome. There is little if any difference. There may be a difference in where the storage is and how accessible it is, though. And I challenge any MH owner to show me how there is as much storage inside their coach as in my 42' 5er.

dream reachers · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jack has a nice 5th wheel and he is right about the inside storage space so I will not take him up on his challenge. We started fulltiming in a fifth wheel . It was a 35 ' Excell, well insulated but too heavy for a 350 back in '07 when we bought it. We were looking for a used 450 but happened onto a used Freightliner medium duty truck set up for pullling a 5th wheel. Generally speaking we liked the setup and drove all over the USA in the nearly 4 years we lived and traveled in it. It had 4 slides which gave us ample space inside. We were well pleased with everything exept for the water leaks we had on the slides. My wife had knee and back issues and was not comfortable riding in the truck . We traded for a used Tiffon Phaeton 40' DP with 4 slides. We had really done a lot of looking to find the right model but finally located the right one. This one has the amount of storage space inside that my wife needed. It took a 40' to cover the 35' 5th wheel interior storage. We have more exterior storage than we had previously in the trailer but I also had storageon the truck. We are both much happier with the MH and our cat likes it better too. The 4 slides gives us plenty of living room and we can access much more with the slides in which is important if traveling and setting up in heavy rain or wind. We pull a Jeep Liberty which also gives us some storage while traveling. We still do a lot of traveling in a year and this combination works well with us as we put on many more miles in the Jeep while the MH is parked. We would probably opt for a fifth wheel if we were staying at one location in the summer and one location in the winter but we do much more traveling. When we bought both the MH and the 5th wheel we paid about half of what a new one cost by getting one about 4 years old. Both were in very good condition. I would say that generally what I observed that th MH is probably a little more expensive for maintenance and repair than the 5th wheel . This is hard to compare accurately because every RV is different and they each have different issues. We budget for mainenance, repair and [replacement of the towed vehicle], and replacement of tires for both. Last year the tires on the MH were 7 years old. They all looked good but as recommended we replaced them. Our fifth wheel tires only lasted 3 1/2 years when we had 2 blow outs so replaced the other 2 also. You are looking at some good brands of rvs and you will probably like whatever you choose. We have as many friends that love their 5th wheels as we do friends that love their MHs. Everyone is different in their wants and needs and lifestyles. Wish you the best with your decision.