Hello from Maryland - RV-Dreams Community Forum

gdsmit1 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hello from Maryland

jayc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forum, a great place for advice on going full time. I applaud you for taking a long time to make up your mind about a truck and trailer. Of course, in 20 years we'll probably have a Toyota Prius size vehicle that will pull a 40' trailer-safely-and drive and back itself into a site. LOL

I lusted over an HDT for a long time to pull a large trailer until I finally thought it all out and decided that it was overkill for many of the trailers that I can afford. Granted, there are trailers out there that DEMAND a big 'ol truck, but I am satisfied towing my 39' Landmark with a Ram 3500 dually. The big truck can also haul a small (think Smart Car) on the bed to run around in, but then you buying, maintaining and insuring 2 motor vehicles, so you're in the same boat as a motorhome.

Good luck in your choices.

gdsmit1 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Yeah, I know it's a long time into the future, but it could be less. I'm just basing that strictly on the official retirement age.
All our camping has been on the east coast. We want to do some west traveling and the Rockies are a big driving force for the thoughts on the HDT. I certainly want plenty of stopping power. And based on our past RV purchases, we tend to go for the heavier models in the class of RV we are looking at. The tent camper was 2600 pounds dry, typical for that size camper is in the 1500-2000 pound range. The current camper is about 4400 pounds dry. When we walk into any prospective RV the first thing I notice is how solid it feels. Heavier RVs usually feel more solid. Often with the weight comes a little better quality of craftsmanship.
So based on past purchases, I would thing we'd probably end up with a fairly heavy 5th wheel.
Of course our views on if a 5th wheel or a class A is better for us has changed multiple times in the past couple of years. My wife's grand parents went full time for a year or 2 after her grandfather retired and they did it in a 32' class C. I don't think that's for us, but they put a lot of stuff in storage and planned on full timing for just a couple of years, so had a different mindset than many.