What swayed your decision to get a Class A vs a 5th wheel?

[aknavy]

Floorplan, room, and overall weight is lower. To come close to matching the room in a fiver and tow the requisite car along, you're into a DP that has some pretty high weights on the axle. Some bridges and cattle crossings can't handle them.


Otherwise, the possible repair bill on a DP scares me. There's a thread on here about a coach that is looking at his second engine rebuild, and the cost.....I couldn't take it!

[MTK46]

Originally Posted by Tenacvols

Hi all. Starting our initial research on RVs. Our son is a junior in high school. When he graduates, we plan on getting an RV and living in it 7-8 months a year. We will keep our house in FL and stay in it Nov-Apr. The other months will be spent exploring the state parks and the left coast. We plan on keeping our rig on the west coast while not using it and just flying back and forth at least once a month to check on it.

So when you were starting out, what were the keys factors you considered when choosing between Class A and 5th wheel?

Thanks in advance!!!

So if you decide on a 5th wheel the tow vehicle will be kept where?
Flying back & forth to check on the RV sounds quite $$$ to me.
Now to your question. I've had four 5th wheels & one toy hauler 5th wheel.
Bought a used DP MH had it for two years. Sold it and buying a used Mobile Suites 5th wheel.
Big difference is tow vehicle breaks down can be towed to any Ford dealer.
MH breaks down not that many places around. ( Have done both )
You can back a 5th wheel, MH & toad no!

[pasdad1]

When you drive a class A the vacation starts when you leave the driveway......with a 5th wheel or trailer, it doesn’t start until you reach your destination. Much more comfortable in the coach while driving....especially for the passengers.

[mobilemike]

Needed a truck to tow boats and haul other things anyway.

[RiverBurt]

My wife is significantly disabled. A trailer of any style just wouldn’t make any sense.

Regards using the MH facilities while on the road, of course no one gets out of their belted seat while we’re moving! That’d be just plain stupid.

Pull over to a safe spot, cool down, shut down. Fix lunch, use the head, take a shower... we can get her wheelchair from stem to stern with the slides in.

If we didn’t have a MH, we wouldn’t have an RV.

And no, you don’t HAVE to tow a “toad” to enjoy the heck out of traveling in a luxurious bus with a windshield the size of a drive-in theater screen. You just need a high degree of situational awareness and acknowledgment of your limitations. Just like if you’re severely disabled.

[THenman]

1. Wife gets restless so class A as she can move around a bit traveling.
2. Smaller vehicle for daily driving.
3. Carrying capacity
4. Seemed more complete and better finished at price point we went to.
5. TV while moving (see #1)
6. More comfortable for me on long drives.


Now there were con's to a class A also but that is not what you asked for.


Tom
Edit:

6. Cool when we stop with gen and AC running.

[Loren Rice]

I believe There's no perfect answer to which rv is best. when I first started a 24ft class c was good ; I could tow my boat to lake Shasta--- far as I was concerned there wasn't a better rig.
Now I'm older, no boat so a class A that I don't have to get out of when I make a stop, just send the jacks down have something to eat maybe a little nap. for me that works better than a fiver. But if things were a little different I could like a fiver a lot. So depending where we are in life, shapes our thoughts a lot as to what is best. But best is relative to our needs and budget, and perhaps health. someone a bit gimpy maybe only wants to go in a out as few times as possible, So maybe a class A with slides might be their best. But I have friends who live in a fiver and drive their tow rig to work-- they think its pretty good for them. I don't disagree!
I have another friend that lives in a 36 foot class A winni not sure if that's what they'd like to be in permanently but it's what they can afford. So seems like sometimes we don't always have what we think might be best so I really enjoy reading all the different perspectives and learn why one rv might be more desirable to them. Well done everyone for sharing!

[bluepill]

If you already have or expect to have a Heavy Duty pickup truck, the fiver makes a lot of sense. We already had two SUVs and no room to park a truck at home (HOA Regulations), so a Class A made the most sense for us.

Setting up a trailer at a site - either 5th wheel wheel or bumper tow - and then disconnecting the tow vehicle to travel locally is much more work that just unhooking a towed vehicle from a motorhome. Reconnecting is also longer. The amount of time you are planning to spend in the RV means that you will be getting your money's worth with either choice. My idea of minimum usage per year to get decent value is 40 days for a 5th wheel and 90 days for a class A.

[Spdracr39]

We went with a fifth wheel because we are not full timing and drive a company provided truck already and need it for work. We could not find a floor plan that had all our wants in a class A. We didn't want to pay a second vehicle insurance policy. We didn't own a vehicle that could be towed without using a trailer (hard to tow bar 3/4 ton 4x4 with anything we could afford). We are planning on full timing in a few years and will reconsider the options at out next upgrade. At that time I will be retired and will have to buy a truck if we keep the 5'er. There is no right or wrong answer and either can be made to work. One way will fit your lifestyle better than the other but the only way to really know is to do it for a while.

[Soppy]

Did the same as many have. Went from a tent to pull behind then class C and now a class A. We do a lot of fishing, so the boat is our toad. With the A or C , you don't have to get outside for a rest break/lunch. Real nice in bad weather. The A/C can be turned on from the drivers seat so its always nice and cool in the coach. I still stop the coach before anyone gets up from their seat.

[Fiesta48]

Motorhomes are all about amenities, convenience, luxury and setup.
Not about cost.

[Isaac-1]

Our reasons for buying were a bit different from yours, but the big advantage I see is accessibility to the living area while traveling. Something that was reinforced on the drive home from buying my current coach while stuck in standstill traffic for 4 hours on I-10 in Florida. While other people were sitting behind the steering wheel in their cars, walking around on the the roadway, and taking excursions to the treeline. I cranked up the generator, cooked a pizza in the convection oven, turned on the tv to see if I could find any news about the traffic jam, all while being able to be back behind the steering wheel and ready to move in under 15 seconds. Sure such situations are rare, but the same applies to pulling into a rest area for lunch, or just to run to the bathroom, then of course there is pulling into a campground in the rain, simply pull in, park, and when the rain slacks off go plug into electricity.

[ijon]

2007 dully is not a waste for me. I live on a farm and use it for things other than pulling my trailer. Been paid for years ago. Plus when we get to our destination we can unhook and use the truck to travel around.

[UTTransplant]

We had a 3/4 ton diesel pickup for the trailer we had previously. It was just a lot more pain to drive around in than a smaller vehicle would be. Triple that pain for a dually 1 ton. The final thing was that I did not want to walk up steps multiple times a day to get to the bedroom in a 5er.

Now that we are in a motorhome, I will say they are soooo much easier to get in and out of a campsite than any tow behind. I pull or back in, hit the auto level button, put the slides out, and plug in the electric. We have big tanks, so we don’t need to do water or dump but every 5-7 days. And towing a car 4 down is easy and quick to hook up - 5 minutes for us. And my Jeep Grand Cherokee is much more comfortable than my top of the line pickup was.