DP vs 5er for full time

[RS ODonnell]

Originally Posted by pasdad1

However, the upside is with a motorhome towing a toad, you will always have a vehicle to drive. When the pickup truck breaks down or goes into service, you are left without a vehicle to drive.

There are quite a few freightliner “oasis” shops which provide power/water for you to stay in your motorhome while some service is performed. Obviously there are some
major repairs which would be an exception.

Another consideration is that is always in the back of my mind is that I'll need two tow trucks to get our entire rig off the road.

Having the tow car on the trailer was very comforting. Especially in.....

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by RS ODonnell

Another consideration is that is always in the back of my mind is that I'll need two tow trucks to get our entire rig off the road.

Having the tow car on the trailer was very comforting. Especially in.....

I'd never have a tow car on a trailer driving the backroads. Car dollies are bad enough to deal with in a RV park.

[FLJOE]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

I'd never have a tow car on a trailer driving the backroads. Car dollies are bad enough to deal with in a RV park.

Everyone views these liabilities differently. When we had the 43' DP towing a long enclosed trailer I never had issues in campgrounds. Of course I always plan ahead and never simply stumble into an unknown place either. The upside for me was that I could always back up if I got into a situation where I needed to.

When we switched to an extended tow dolly I constantly worried I would get into a spot where I needed to back up and couldn't. Personally I would never go back to an RV combination set up where I could not back up.

[RS ODonnell]

Originally Posted by FLJOE

Everyone views these liabilities differently. When we had the 43' DP towing a long enclosed trailer I never had issues in campgrounds. Of course I always plan ahead and never simply stumble into an unknown place either. The upside for me was that I could always back up if I got into a situation where I needed to.

When we switched to an extended tow dolly I constantly worried I would get into a spot where I needed to back up and couldn't. Personally I would never go back to an RV combination set up where I could not back up.

Same here.

It's also nice not to have to worry about brakes, lights and wear and tear on the car. Tires on the trailer aged out before they wore out. Tightest place we ever camped was Gros Ventre in the Tetons. Not an issue at all.

[SJ-Chris]

My BIL and SIL had an old Class A for a couple of years to see if they liked RVing. They retired and sold their home and went full time. The first thing they did was sell their old "trial" Class A and they bought a very nice 2-3 year old 5er. After about 9 months they decided they didn't like the 5er, mostly because of the backing up into campsites and disconnecting and then re-hooking up. So they sold the 5er and bought a nice 2-3 year old Tiffin. I couldn't help but think that was an expensive lesson.


Suggestion: If you haven't tried both you might want to rent one to see how you like it.


Good luck!
Chris

[GeezerViz]

I don't think there is a "right" answer for everyone. We started camping with tents, then tent trailer, then towable trailer, then 35' class A. We skipped the 5'er stage because I hated towing the trailer. Now retired and in a 45' DP towing a jeep 4 down, which is perfect for us. We're still on the road seeing the Country. If we ever get tired of traveling and just want to winter in the same location in the south, we might look at a large 5'er and keep it parked. Then we'd drive a car from the 5'er to our home in the PNW in the summer. Our DP easily has double the storage space of any 5'er we've seen but I like the high ceilings and openess of the 5'er when parked.
Like others have said, a big rig does require planning. Both route planning and overnight planning. Using a combination of RV Parky, Gas Buddy, and satellite view of Google Maps does the trick.