New Member Looking for Advice on a New Horizon or other 5th Wheel

[Karen333]

My husband and I have been looking at 5th Wheels for the last year. We currently own an older Class C MH but will either give that to our children to continue to use or just sell it. We are planning to retire in the next 2 years (he wants sooner but i want to work a few more years). We hope to spend at least 6 months of the year in the 5er--hopefully in Florida as a camp host. We have not decided on whether to sell our home or to rent it out, but we decided to wait until we actually retire and have at least 6 months of our travel plans in before we decide. On our very short list was a New Horizon or a LifeStyle by Evergreen. We may remove the LifeStyle after talking to mfg. reps at the Hershey RV show and learned that they are IMO removing some of the quality of the RV by changing the frame and wall construction. My one major concern about either of these 5ers is their weight and length. We will buy a new truck based on towing capacity once we decide on a unit. How well does the heavy New Horizon tow. My husband is not worried about the weight at all, he tows our boat or construction equipment--but I am concerned. Also do you have any problems finding sites that will take these 40+ 5ers? I have read about State and/or National Parks not being able to handle the larger 5th Wheels. Thanks for any advice.

[StmbtRubi]

Karen,

NH trailers are heavy but built to last. We've owned two of them, a 38' Summit, and we now travel around in a 41' Majestic (4-5 months/year). Loaded for travel, our Majestic weighs 24,000 lbs (26,250 GVWR). We purchased an International MDT in 2006 from 2L Custom Trucks in Poolville, TX when we purchased the Summit and still use it to tow the Majestic. It does a great job (315 hp/1000 lb-ft/air brakes), and I'm glad we invested in it years ago. We have 125,000 miles on it, and it's just now getting broken in. It'll easily last another decade or more.

Plenty of NH owners, however, seem to do fine using F-450's and F-550's or their Dodge Ram counterparts (a lot depends upon the length/weight). Several others use MDT's like ours while some have gone to the dark side with Class 7 tractors. Trailers this long take some advance planning when camping, but we've utilized Colorado State Parks numerous times with great success. Most commercial parks, at least out west, seem to have little difficulty handling big rigs like these.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[meterguru]

We are looking at the NH for our next trailer since we are easing into Fulltime. The new Ram 3500 with the 8 speed auto trans will pull them without issue. That what they use to pull the demos to the shows. As for the length there is an issue with older parks and many national parks are limited to 30 to 35'. Our current FW is 42' and manuevering in some parks and getting backed in is tough. But to fit our needs for Fulltiming it is difficult to find one under 40' that will work. I would perfer something closer to 36' since I do most of the driving and all of the backing. But the DW need s the room and we do bring a crowd with us some times and after a week or 2 of rain with a large group in a small rig you begin to appreaciate that extra 4 to 8'.

[easdsa]

Welcome, Karen. A used NH is one of the brands we're looking at. If you are looking at both truck and coach new (factory new) then you can easily match the two, and you should have a combination that will tow very well. Learning to drive your new rig just takes practice. Make sure that your truck has more towing capability than you need. You don't want to be right at the limits of your truck - leave a safety margin.

As for size, everything is a compromise. We had a couple in a neighboring campsite who travel on a motorcycle with a very small trailer. We're in a 40' motor home. Our first MH was a 23' Class C and we had three teenage kids then. Now it is just the two of us. There are some campgrounds that won't be able to take a longer coach, but there is usually another one around that can. The smaller the coach the more sites that are available to you and the less room inside you have.