John,

With the fifth wheel we had to be more careful to allow for tight turns and there was much less room for error on narrow roads with no shoulders. On some of these roads we've been on, there would have been no way to make it around blind left curves without the fifth wheel crossing the centerline. And for all tight turns, we had to be more conscious of the tail of the fifth wheel swinging into roadside obstacles. Also, because the truck and fifth wheel were somewhat independent, uneven roads cause more twisting and stress on the frame of the fifth wheel. There are just certain roads that a long fifth wheel shouldn't be on if you value the long-term condition.

Now, would there be a difference with a 30-foot fifth wheel? Of course. That's nine feet shorter than we were, and that certainly would make a big difference. However, you still have that independent motion because the combination of the truck and trailer bends at the hitch. With the motorhome and towing the Jeep, the Jeep almost isn't a factor at all, so the extra length doesn't matter. The way the tow bar functions, the Jeep doesn't go outside the footprint of the motorhome, so we don't have to worry about the "trailer", the Jeep, clearing. If the motorhome clears a corner, the Jeep also clears - the Jeep won't run over a curb as long as the motorhome clears it. As you know, that's not the case with a truck and fifth wheel - not by a long shot.

What I'm trying to say is our 45-foot motorhome/toad combination isn't much different than just having the 30-foot motorhome by itself when it comes to driving, while a 45-foot truck/fifth wheel combination requires more care and attention to keep from running off the road or running into things when the roads are twisty and narrow. So, while a truck/30-foot fifth wheel combination may have the exact same overall length as our Class C motorhome/Jeep combination, our effective length that we have to worry about is just the motorhome and, therefore, much shorter. I hope that makes sense.

Now, with that said, could we have done all the roads we've done recently with the 39-foot fifth wheel? Yes, but it would have been extremely nerve-wracking and taking more risk than we were willing to take with our home. We would routinely go 50 miles out of our way to avoid any potential stress or risk we really didn't need to take.

For every person that says "I wouldn't take my rig over that road" there will be someone else that says "It's not a problem, I've done it many times". So the only thing that really matters is your personal comfort level.

Maybe I've been asleep. I know Howard sold his truck and 5er in favor of a MH. But I hadn't heard about the specific unit they ended up getting. Does anyone have the info?