Marnie & Stephen's Fulltime RV Page

Article: 5th Wheel or Motorhome?

Last updated 2008 April 8

Marnie and I went fulltime in September 2006. We started out in a 5th Wheel and changed to a Motorhome after a year or two. Whether you agree with our reasons or not, we are positioned well to judge the two rigs for the purpose of our fulltime lifestyle.

#1 Storage

Early in 2007 we decided that a motorhome (MH) might meet our needs better. Our primary reason for the switch was living space versus storage space. We found that we were using living space to store stuff and that we would be willing to sacrifice some living space for more storage space. For evidence, shown is the side by side comparison of our flooplans. With model numbers of "35" and "36" it is safe to say that these are similar sized rigs. You can see an obvious difference in living space. This is due to the decrease in the number of slide outs but the main difference between the 5th wheel and motorhome is that the cockpit occupies significant living space.

5th Wheel Floorplan

Motorhome Floorplan

Most 5th Wheels have one big basement under the stairs, some of them are quite huge but ours wasn't. Even the biggest basement we saw did not compare to the room under most motorhomes.

The defining moment hit us one day when we were packing up our 5th wheel to move it to our next destination. Steve has a bad back and we were lifting two huge plastic storage bins into the rig that we were using for outside storage plus a generator (ours was not built-in) and all the other normal stuff like chairs, grill & etc. Enough was enough and we decided we were going to look at motorhomes and set a goal to obtain one.

Stuff!

#2 Toad (Towed Vehicle)

The next reason on our list is that, based on our typical destinations, like the Colorado area, we wanted to take our Jeep with us. The trailer was just too long to hook the jeep to it when we travel and not all states allow "triples."

We don't have any pictures "hooked-up" but you can get the idea from these:


Northshore 35FLBS	Monaco Kight 36Z

Of course, the truck, or tow vehicle becomes the main transportation with the 5th wheel. It seems like most people don't have any complaints with this but both of us agreed that we did not like visiting small towns like Flagstaff and Durango in a big truck. Driving, let alone parking was uncomfortable. There are a couple of very good reasons to not take your tow vehicle on a jeep trail. One is that some of the trails are very small and intended for Jeep-type vehicles or smaller and to take a full size truck on them is taking a big risk. The other reason I often thought about is that the risk for a break-down is intolerable and without a tow vehicle you are not only stranded where it breaks down but stranded as well wherever your rig is parked while the vehicle is repaired.

Other Peoples Reasons

Security

One good point I read is one that doesn't really apply to us but I thought it made sense. If you roll into a Walmart parking lot late at night and you don't like the look of the neighborhood; you don't have to get out of the rig to set it up or take it down.

Setup

Playing off the Security thought; we have found it much easier to set up the MH. In a pull-through spot you don't have to unhook your toad. The press of a few buttons levels the unit and we have found that even the hookups are easier to manage with the MH water bay.

The Downsides to MH vs. 5th Wheel

Maneuverability

The 5th wheel can be gotten into tighter spaces, however, with the backup camera on the MH it is not "worse." With either rig you need a spotter - no excuses!

Maintenance

If the tow vehicle is also the main transportation you only have one drive train to maintain. Maintenance on on MH is not cheap so this is a valid consideration.

Driving

Both of us were much more comfortable driving the 5th wheel because we were both used to the truck. We are both nervous driving the MH and Marnie simply won't until she has driving lessons.

Please see our Weblog for more information.

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