Inexperienced Looking to full time. Need Advice

[KyleManning]

Me and my wife will be buying a Fifth Wheel and a truck within the next 2 months. Looking for recommendations for both a Fifth wheel and a truck. Will be Full time living. Traveling and living in different places as we travel for work. Plan on spending a few years traveling in search of a place to actually buy a home. Looking for a Fifth Wheel in the 40k range. Something in between Base Model and Luxury. Also let me know any brands I should steer clear of. Thanks in advance.

[Mr_D]

from WA State!

A 5th wheel is about the only RV type I haven't owned but there sure are some nice floorplans out there.

[mrgrayaz]

We're in our 20's doing the exact same as you....we've been out East for the last 6 months, and I don't think we'll be settling out here .

Now to start - if I did this again - I wouldn't have gone 5th wheel - and gone Class A. While you do get a lot of space for the money - I cannot tell you how convenient it would be to sit at my desk and work while the lady drives the MH...or man...have someone make lunch on a long trip...naps in BED while driving? same thing. Class A all the way next time we do this for sure.

If you do go 5th, I'll let someone else mention recommended brands - our Manufacturer is a ghost . I would HIGHLY recommend getting one with a built in generator. I ended up getting a portable and its just a pain compared to the built in ones. Press a button, have air-conditioning. Done. Much easier.

I do have some recommendations on the truck - 1 ton diesel.

Skip the 3/4 tons, the rear suspension is not setup for a 5th wheel and skip the gassers. I prefer SRW - but the DRW crew will by shortly I'm sure to fill you in on those . If you do go SRW - go long bed if at all possible - little more of a pain to park, but bigger fuel tanks and you don't have to buy a slider hitch.
We went short bed - mistake I think:
We ended up paying extra for the Short bed truck (nicer trucks usually)
then had to pay extra for the new fuel extended fuel tank (30 gallons @ 8mpg sucked - you stopped every 3 hours for fuel out west)
then had to pay extra for the slider hitch to clear the cab (expensive and a pain to use)...etc etc. You get the idea.

You don't mention your truck budget, but don't skimp there. We bought a higher mileage older vehicle (150k miles) and have already put 30k miles on it in a year. I wish I had started with something under 100,000 miles, just from a lifecycle point of view. Its very likely this truck will hit its design life (250k miles) while we are fulltiming, at which point its not going to be worth much, and I'll be expecting a transmission or engine failure...

Good luck. We've learned a ton in a year, would do many things differently then we did, and I'm happy to share!

[mrgrayaz]

Another thing to think about is your mix of how much you want to go "Sit in the desert" vs explore places to live.

What we've found is while sitting in the desert or national forest is certainly cheap.....it requires a very different setup then just going from RV park to RV Park. Its also very hard to go see all these cities etc when doing that - you end up spending more time in the truck and in fuel then money saved.

Especially out east, we boondock far less then we thought and get into a RV park near the city/destination...so we can enjoy our destination. Anyway just another thought.

[jonnyaiks]

My personal advice is:
(1) only buy from a dealer that you like AND has a great reputation even if you have to drive a piece to get to it, and
(2) pick the trailer you like, but don't sign anything until you
(3) make sure you have budget for the truck you'll need to haul that trailer.

We had to walk away from a trailer we liked because we already had a recently bought truck that wasn't quite up to hauling that weight. The 2nd choice ended up being great, but I still think about that toyhauler some days...

[1bigmess]

Where are you? Location can make a big difference in what RVs are available to you where you are.

[Barbaraok]

Why 5er and truck? Why not motorhome? Don't limit yourself.

[1bigmess]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

Why 5er and truck? Why not motorhome? Don't limit yourself.

If I could do it all over again, I would get some kind of powered RV and tow a car behind it. I love my truck, but I can see the advantages of doing this for most folks that full time.

[8824rv]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

Why 5er and truck? Why not motorhome? Don't limit yourself.

I think your choice of RV type should partially be based on the amount of time you are actually traveling or sitting.
We have moved to a 5th wheel because we don't travel as much as we used to. (They are much more roomier and "open" in my opinion with their 10-12 ft ceilings.) We pretty much split our time now between winter in Florida and "somewhere in the Northeast" for the summer, with short 2-4 week stops in the Carolinas or Virginia in spring and fall. I pull the 5th, she follows with a small SUV. The truck pretty much is a second vehicle for us once we are set up.
If you are moving around often and searching for your future home without wheels then the MH with a toad is a good choice.
[One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from an RV salesman, of all people, at the Tampa RV show. "Sit down in a chair or at the table in the RV you are looking at." "Now ask yourself, will I be comfortable in here during a 2-3 day rain event?"]

My choice on a 5th wheel? We are in our 3rd trailer now. By far the best we have had to date. We settled on a Cedar Creek 36CKTS great floor plan with window behind the TV that retracts into the cabinet. Pulls great, good features many of them standard items. 16400 lbs GVWR. My F250 diesel pulls it just fine. Be sure to size your truck/trailer combination based on the GVWR of the trailer NOT the unloaded weight as most sales people will use.

Either way, be sure to consider some goodie options, dual AC units (ducted is best), Residential style fridge, so much more room, ice maker, 1/2 the operating cost of the absorption fridge. Auto level system (Fairly standard equipment on MHs, extra on lower to middle profile 5ths.). Generator big enough to operate at least one AC unit.

Good luck, safe travels, enjoy life!

[KenD]

Speaking from personal experience.... I have hauled 5th wheels all over the country commercially and now own one. I have a 2005. F350 DRW crew cab long bed with a 6.0 Powerstroke. I have 4:10 rears air bags and a auxiliary 80 gallon fuel tank. It's a sweet set up but... When you load out a 39 foot FW and start tugging the FW up and down mountains your at the top end of what the truck is capable of. In short my next truck will be a carbon copy of this one in a F450 and 4:30 rears

[8824rv]

Originally Posted by 1bigmess

If I could do it all over again, I would get some kind of powered RV and tow a car behind it. I love my truck, but I can see the advantages of doing this for most folks that full time.

Sitting here in a Northern NY RV park looking at 2 very nice motorhomes across the road. Both with 1/2 ton 4X4 pickup truck toads! Probably former trailer owners?
You CAN have it both ways!!

[monkey]

All it takes is $$$$$$

[nclauser]

Have u even looked at fiver's yet?, If not I believe you're putting yourself in a bad place. There r literally hundreds of floor plans, sizes, price ranges. Before u buy it's crucial u get out there to RV shows and dealers.

[bddadles]

We have been full timing for 8 years now so I'll just pass along my opinions.
1. We went with a 5th wheel because we likes the floor plans better. I don't think that working while driving or having someone go make a sandwich while driving are determining factors in the choice. You need to stop and get out every so often and move around and the dogs get a little demanding about that also.

2. Find what you want before you buy the truck. The truck choice can vary by where you intend to go.

3. BUY USED. Some people will say completely the opposite and we thank those people for taking the big money hit and providing us with used units. Consignment lots are a good source. Used will really stretch your money

4. If you are going full timing you are going to want more luxury than if you are 2 weeking.

5. Determine what kind of rving you are going to be doing. We thought that we would be doing some boon docking and added solar to the rig. Don't really like boon docking for very long and the solar turned into the MOST EXPENSIVE battery charger I ever saw.

6. Built in generators are nice IF you are going to use them enough to justify the expense. You will also get opinions about this. Unless you buy at least a 3000 or a couple of 2000's and couple them you will not run an AC. Personally I carry a 2000 and it has worked pretty well for the amount we are not hooked to shore power.

7. Trucks. Above all else is YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TO MUCH TRUCK. As you can see from my picture I can pull anything. Much more important than pulling things is STOPPING them. This also will be somewhat dependent on what part of the country you are traveling / living in. You can get away with things in the flat lands that you can't out West. All it takes is one white knuckle, tire sliding with the smoking and squealing, butt gripping the seat stop and you will rethink lots of things.

This is enough for now. Have fun looking and learning.

Brad