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They all look about the same to me. Kitchen is always in the middle. Sometimes the lounge area is on one side of the kitchen sometimes the bedroom is on that side. That is about the only difference I have found, although we admittedly just started looking at them. Layout seems typically the same a lounge area with sleeper sofa of some kind. A kitchen and a bedroom and bathroom. Main difference seems to be the size of each and whether the bedroom is in the front or back. Some of them have more makeshift sleeping areas and a couple had a second bedroom of sorts.
I guess we will have to go look at more of them. We had not seen some of those layouts. Many we have seen. They all seemed more or less the same to us. Just different locations for the same rooms and items.
I am not sure whether I like the ones with a separated living room or whether that is a waste of space to have the divider walls.
Good thing we have 15 years to decide whether this is for us. There is a lot to look at.
The reason I didn't go with a 5th wheel was that 1) I spent a few years with a 1T dually and parking that thing at the store or restaurant when we went out from the campground was a PITA compared to a SRW truck, and I wasn't going to use a SRW truck for a 5th wheel. 2) once that hitch is in the bed, it's a PITA to take out to use the truck as a pickup either when traveling or when you were just using it around the house in-between trips. So I went with a 2500HD Suburban and then upgraded to a 32 ft travel trailer (9500 lbs worth loaded). The Suburban is easy to drive and park when not towing, tows the trailer like it's not there (12k tow rating with the 8.1 liter)
Had this combo now for a couple years and it seems to be the perfect solution for us. It's well built and solid.
Love the bedroom slide vs our last camper as it gives room to walk around the bed and get dressed.
I guess we will have to go look at more of them. We had not seen some of those layouts. Many we have seen. They all seemed more or less the same to us. Just different locations for the same rooms and items.
I am not sure whether I like the ones with a separated living room or whether that is a waste of space to have the divider walls.
Good thing we have 15 years to decide whether this is for us. There is a lot to look at.
Do they change a lot from year to year?
I think the layouts stay relatively the same in most cases with the upgrades coming from tech and/or color schemes. There's only so much one can do with a certain sized space.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiffer E38
The reason I didn't go with a 5th wheel was that 1) I spent a few years with a 1T dually and parking that thing at the store or restaurant when we went out from the campground was a PITA compared to a SRW truck, and I wasn't going to use a SRW truck for a 5th wheel. 2) once that hitch is in the bed, it's a PITA to take out to use the truck as a pickup either when traveling or when you were just using it around the house in-between trips.
I tow my 5er with a Ram 2500 and haven't had any issues at all. My 35' 5er is well within the capacity of the truck. I can't tell the trailer is behind me most of the time. Also, I run a B&W Companion hitch which attaches to the gooseneck installed under the bed. It takes about 5 minutes to pull it out when I need the bed by simply pulling the lever in the fender well and releasing the gooseneck pin. 5th wheel pops right out.
A lot of manufacturers have "east coast" and "west coast" models as well - from where you are, it's probably not difficult to get either one. West coast models tend to have a bit more insulation and larger tanks, but not always.
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I think the layouts stay relatively the same in most cases with the upgrades coming from tech and/or color schemes. There's only so much one can do with a certain sized space.
I tow my 5er with a Ram 2500 and haven't had any issues at all. My 35' 5er is well within the capacity of the truck. I can't tell the trailer is behind me most of the time. Also, I run a B&W Companion hitch which attaches to the gooseneck installed under the bed. It takes about 5 minutes to pull it out when I need the bed by simply pulling the lever in the fender well and releasing the gooseneck pin. 5th wheel pops right out.
Everything I have read or been told is that a 2500 is sufficient for pretty much any 5th wheel. However a 1T ensures you have the extra load capacity if you have a lot of passengers or stuff int he bed, or a lot of stuff int he 5th wheel.
Reportedly Dually makes the towing more stable but is not really necessary. There are very few situations where it makes a difference.
I think we will likely look for a 1 ton. I do not see any advantage of a 3/4 ton over 1t and since we buy used hte price difference is pretty minuscule (unless you go to diesel).
The information about the easily removable hitch is helpful thank you. I expected there would be one someplace. That is a reaonably big deal to me.
Actually there are many 5ers that are overweight for 2500/250 pickups. Especially toy haulers. Certainly, any 5er with three axles will be overweight for a 3/4 ton. I would suspect that most under 35' could be towed with a 3/4 ton. The concern is for the payload capacity of the 3/4 ton versus a 1 ton, usually the 1 ton will have about 1000 lbs more payload, especially with the dual wheel rear axle.
Personally, if I was going to get a 5er, I'd definitely get a toy hauler, not because I have any atvs or motorcycles, but because I could customize the room into a great workroom.
Everything I have read or been told is that a 2500 is sufficient for pretty much any 5th wheel. However a 1T ensures you have the extra load capacity if you have a lot of passengers or stuff int he bed, or a lot of stuff int he 5th wheel.
You can overload a 2500 very quickly. Probably over 50% of 5ers are too heavy for a 3/4 ton truck unfortunately. You have to do some homework.
Back when I was "young and dumb" I let a salesman talk me into buying a 41 ft Coachmen Adrenaline tri-axle toyhauler. 16k lbs loaded weight. "It'll pull it just fine!", he said. And he was right. Towing it down I-65 wasn't bad at all. Stopping it was a whole other story. I'd venture to say that folks probably thought they heard a sonic boom on the interstate that day, but what they heard was the sound of my butt cheeks slamming shut. I called the rv company and had them come pick it up as soon as we made it in the driveway. Lesson learned.
Can they do it? Sure. Should they? Not necessarily.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens
Reportedly Dually makes the towing more stable but is not really necessary. There are very few situations where it makes a difference.
I think we will likely look for a 1 ton. I do not see any advantage of a 3/4 ton over 1t and since we buy used hte price difference is pretty minuscule (unless you go to diesel).
The information about the easily removable hitch is helpful thank you. I expected there would be one someplace. That is a reaonably big deal to me.
Duallies do make the load a bit more stable, but honestly if you size the 5er right, it won't matter. Mine is as stable as it can get. I drive the truck with 3 fingers.
I WILL say though..... that if you intend to work the truck a diesel is not going to work nearly as hard to pull the load and will make towing much less stressful when getting up to speed and slowing down (I have a factory exhaust brake). Torque is a huge thing when towing heavy. You'll also get better mpg. Just understand the limits and tradeoff between a gasser and diesel.
Gassers will do the job though, so if you go that route and size appropriately you'll probably be fine. A gasser will not tow the same load that a diesel will so keep that in mind.... may not be an issue but just throwing that out there.
One word of caution on the hitch. While it is fantastic and I love it..... there are some caveats to it.
1.) You have to have the gooseneck hitch first. It's about $500. (Mine was already installed when I got it)
2.) The fifth wheel hitch is expensive. Mine was $1,400 installed.
3.) The hitch is heavy. You can separate the top plate to lighten the load before lifting it out but it's generally a 2 person job to remove it. Total weight is about 275 lbs. I have the slider hitch though so a non-sliding hitch is lighter. But you have to subtract the hitch weight from the payload capacity of the truck BEFORE determining if the pin weight will overload the truck.
There is an aluminum hitch on the market that is super light and reportedly strong. It uses the same gooseneck adapter in the bed but requires adding a gooseneck to 5th wheel coupler to your pin box. While it has some good reviews, it also changes the lateral load and also adds a potential failure point with the coupler so time will tell if it will hold up. There have been some instances of the supports crumpling under the right circumstances.
Been absent for a bit, sorry. Lots of good info since I last looked! We looked at an RV show near here a few weeks ago, were shocked at the cheap materials used in some. Most amazing to me was the "enclosed underbelly". Looks like coroplast, the corrugated plastic they make yard signs out of! Interesting info on the 5ers, though. They did seem to be built a bit better. And much more roomy. Looked at the storage, some of the basements were nearly the size of a pickup bed, anyway. Looking more in that direction now.
Been absent for a bit, sorry. Lots of good info since I last looked! We looked at an RV show near here a few weeks ago, were shocked at the cheap materials used in some. Most amazing to me was the "enclosed underbelly". Looks like coroplast, the corrugated plastic they make yard signs out of! Interesting info on the 5ers, though. They did seem to be built a bit better. And much more roomy. Looked at the storage, some of the basements were nearly the size of a pickup bed, anyway. Looking more in that direction now.
Coroplast is exactly what they use which is comical. It's nothing more than a sales gimic (oh its a 4 season rig...lol) but people believe it so they will continue to push it. Kind of like taking off a thin short sleeve t shirt and putting on a thin long sleeve t shirt when it 25 below zero....yeah technically it helps but your still cold and are going to freeze.
Only one massed produced 5th wheel I would own today and that is DRV Mobile Suites. They have been and still are the best massed produced 5th wheel built. Costly when new but like any 5th wheel (which looses it's value faster than any other type camper/rv) very good deals can be found on used models. But they are going go be heavy....I would not use anything less than a class 8 truck if you are going to full time in it....you could get away with a one ton dually if you are just staying local depending on the size and model. You can also find some great deals on some used custom models out there if you look around. Luxe, Spacecraft etc just to name a few....but again if you want a well built 5th wheel you have to put the money into a the proper size truck to pull it and it's going to take a MDT to pull most really well built 5th wheels
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I called the rv company and had them come pick it up as soon as we made it in the driveway. Lesson learned.
