Bunkhouse 5th Wheel for Fulltime - RV-Dreams Community Forum

FamilyOf5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Bunkhouse 5th Wheel for Fulltime

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Robert,

First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. I think you will find this site to be a good one for research as the folks here have a lot of knowledge and are willing to share their advice and experience. Feel free to ask anything about RV's and the RV lifestyle. The only topics not allowed are religion and politics, but common courtesy is always advised as well.

While I think the only DRV Suites models with bunk beds may be 43-foot models, I've not checked their website for floorplans in some time. You might be surprised as to how much DRV would do to customize your unit. For instance, they might remove a desk in a "second bedroom" and put in a third bed, perhaps a better option for the 3-year-old daughter.

A good place to check on what can be done is with Alicia at Rolling Retreats. She has designed a kitchen that is different from the "standard" models, and at one time, had a custom design for the bedroom walk-in closet. While Rolling Retreats is located in Oklahoma, there have been a number of folks that have dealt with her from as far away from Oklahoma as New York and California. When you look at her website, you'll notice that most of the RV's that are new don't have prices listed. That is because she can't advertise a price that is lower than what DRV Suites is their "minimum advertised price (MAP)." I'd venture to guess her prices are lower than that MAP.

As for "appropriate storage" for three girls, that will be subjective to the girls. How much "stuff" will they be wanting to take along will determine how much space you need. The DRV's are definitely 4-season units. We've been living in ours now for almost 4 years in temperatures ranging from -6 degrees all the way up to 115 degrees and have been very comfortable inside. We are currently wintering in Colorado, which is where we experienced the -6 degree temperature.

At any rate, I wish you luck on your search for an RV.

Terry

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

My drv lexington was under 120k.. with all the options.. including generator, washer/dryer, SATV, Outside entertainment, fiberglass roof, sleep number,Moryd , one touch leveling, extra Bedroom slide and much more.. for 18k more , you can get a elite.. but much heavier, for no added value... that I seen.
Check out RVSFORLESS. No one beats these guys..I bet prices will be dropping as well, since they just got bought.

While I have had some problems with mine.. they tend to be minor.. but aggravating.. I'd see if LUXE is making a bunkhouse.. I like thier designs better than DRV.. Not sure who's built better though.. both about the same money.

The 45ft , 5 slide fifth wheel is about as big as they get without going full custom. 2 bunks and fold out bed is standard.

FamilyOf5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you both for your replys.

I have contacted Alicia at Rolling Retreats and started a discussion with her regarding our needs. I will be contacting RVSFORLESS this week and talking with them as well.

Steve, I had not heard of Luxe before and looked them up. They look like a fantastic 5th Wheel option for full-timers, especially if their pricing is similar to DRV's, but they do not have a bunkhouse floorplan and I assume that much customization would increase the price more than comfortable.

Terry, we are in the midst of considerably downsizing our life. As for the amount of "stuff" we want to fit into our girls bedroom, our biggest concern when looking at bunkhouse floorplans is the total lack of space for clothes storage (often four bunk beds and one skinny wardrobe with two drawers). My girls have selected one set of toys to bring along and we would also like them to have access to a few books (we plan to keep a couple of bins full of their books in the basement storage and rotate them through). We also plan to bring their school computer (a 20 inch, all-in-one, touchscreen) that we figure can sit in the place meant for a TV.

My wife likes the look of the DRVs but has asked me to see if we can find a good under $100K option for comparison purposes. I do not know if its possible to get a DRV at that price, but I will definitely do my best. What would be the next step lower in price point from a DRV for a four-season full-time 5th wheel manufacturer?

NurseJudy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Heartland offers a bunkhouse in their Gateway line that has a considerable amount of storage. I have seen these at the "shows" and they are very nice. True, they do not offer bunkhouses in their luxury lines, but they do offer them in several of their full profile lines that might fit your needs. I would suggest you try to go to a larger show and look a many different options. Good luck!

Judy

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Robert,

I've not really looked too much at the other brands, so I don't know their quality and build features, so I'll let others give you some ideas. I've not looked at RV's since we got ours in 2010, other than a quick look when at an RV show.

Ordinarily if one is looking to save some money, I would recommend looking at used ones. However, with your need for one with a second bedroom, I don't suppose there are many of those that are purchased in the first place, thus not many available as used. The only other option to consider would be a toy-hauler and customize the "garage" into a bedroom for the girls.

Terry

DenJen12 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Try Open Range, their 3X line. We don't have the bunkhouse, but we love our 3X. Very nice units. As for storage and living in one with children, I can give you a little insight as I did it for a year and a half with my boys (they were 9 and 6 at the time). We had a 2013 Bighorn Silverado 37QB Marquis Edition when we started. I can't say nice things about the model, so I will skip over that portion, but I will try to help along the lines of overall living and storage.
The model we chose, gave the children a larger room than we even had. It had 3 bunkbeds (2 lifted up out of the way) and a couch that pulled out into a queen size bed (with blow up mattress). They had a half bath off of their bedroom, that also had a door to the outside as our unit had the outside kitchen (we kept the door locked at all times). The entire back wall was comprised of 2 wardrobes, a tv opening in the middle (32" tv), deep cabinets above tv, deep cabinets below tv, and 3 drawers under each wardrobe. Two of the bunks were up high and the other was down below. We kept that one up all the time and used the ledge under it as a shelf for kids stuff. The couch had a storage drawer that pulled out under it, great for storage. We had contemplated at one time removing the couch and using that large area in the slide out for more storage, but we axed the idea. We kept about a weeks to week and half worth of clothing for each child. We let them pick their favorite smaller items to bring with us and just bought lots of those collapsible bins to store things. We started off letting them bring tons of books because they are huge on reading, and then we gave up on that and just bought them each Kindles, and put the Kindle Free time app on them (great for regulating childrens activities on the tablet, plus gives them options based on age and interest). For everything that they brought in, we usually got rid of something. I utilized the shoe storage hangers on the doors for all sorts of things, from crayons to markers to legos, etc. Gave them a ton of room in the middle to play. Not necessarily a high end unit but it was the first one we saw that gave so much room for my kids. Now, if I was still fulltiming with my kids, I would totally look at the Open Range 3X line of trailers. They have bunkhouses now! Beautiful units!! IMHO!
Good luck on the search!

http://highlandridgerv.com/open-range-3x/floorplans.php

-- Edited by DenJen12 on Wednesday 4th of March 2015 02:43:43 PM

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Look at a year or 2 old drv.. and you can say a bundle..

Ton of people thought they wanted a fifth wheel.. and was wrong, and are moving to class A.. They have the the cash to do it, and don't mind the loss on the drv. Just seen a 2015 Lexington sell at 89k... keep a look out over on suiteowners fourm. www.suitesowners.com/

Good luck

gcook · RV-Dreams Community Member

Look at Grand Design 357BHS, has nice bunk house and a 1/2 bath. Grand Design is a new company with seasoned owners that are being praised for a quality product and great service. I have compared Grand Design and with all those listed and all things considered they stack up very well.