Howard, I’m following your Washington trip and was wondering about your statement that you would not have taken your 5th wheel in some of these places. Is it the overall length of the 5th Wheel that is the limiting factor or something else? If you had a 5th wheel that was 30’ have made a difference?
John
Howard said
06:13 PM Jul 21, 2018
John,
With the fifth wheel we had to be more careful to allow for tight turns and there was much less room for error on narrow roads with no shoulders. On some of these roads we've been on, there would have been no way to make it around blind left curves without the fifth wheel crossing the centerline. And for all tight turns, we had to be more conscious of the tail of the fifth wheel swinging into roadside obstacles. Also, because the truck and fifth wheel were somewhat independent, uneven roads cause more twisting and stress on the frame of the fifth wheel. There are just certain roads that a long fifth wheel shouldn't be on if you value the long-term condition.
Now, would there be a difference with a 30-foot fifth wheel? Of course. That's nine feet shorter than we were, and that certainly would make a big difference. However, you still have that independent motion because the combination of the truck and trailer bends at the hitch. With the motorhome and towing the Jeep, the Jeep almost isn't a factor at all, so the extra length doesn't matter. The way the tow bar functions, the Jeep doesn't go outside the footprint of the motorhome, so we don't have to worry about the "trailer", the Jeep, clearing. If the motorhome clears a corner, the Jeep also clears - the Jeep won't run over a curb as long as the motorhome clears it. As you know, that's not the case with a truck and fifth wheel - not by a long shot.
What I'm trying to say is our 45-foot motorhome/toad combination isn't much different than just having the 30-foot motorhome by itself when it comes to driving, while a 45-foot truck/fifth wheel combination requires more care and attention to keep from running off the road or running into things when the roads are twisty and narrow. So, while a truck/30-foot fifth wheel combination may have the exact same overall length as our Class C motorhome/Jeep combination, our effective length that we have to worry about is just the motorhome and, therefore, much shorter. I hope that makes sense.
Now, with that said, could we have done all the roads we've done recently with the 39-foot fifth wheel? Yes, but it would have been extremely nerve-wracking and taking more risk than we were willing to take with our home. We would routinely go 50 miles out of our way to avoid any potential stress or risk we really didn't need to take.
For every person that says "I wouldn't take my rig over that road" there will be someone else that says "It's not a problem, I've done it many times". So the only thing that really matters is your personal comfort level.
DoubleG said
07:26 PM Jul 21, 2018
Yep, makes sense. I’m constantly questioning if I have the right rig for us. I often think I would prefer a setup like yours.
Thanks for the response.
John
PrairieRV said
06:30 AM Jul 23, 2018
Maybe I've been asleep. I know Howard sold his truck and 5er in favor of a MH. But I hadn't heard about the specific unit they ended up getting. Does anyone have the info?
Howard said
08:17 AM Jul 23, 2018
2015 Winnebago Aspect 27K
Click on this link for a Photo Tour of the unit. We have since added 510 watts of solar panels and 440 amp hours of Lifeline AGM batteries.
Howard, I’m following your Washington trip and was wondering about your statement that you would not have taken your 5th wheel in some of these places. Is it the overall length of the 5th Wheel that is the limiting factor or something else? If you had a 5th wheel that was 30’ have made a difference?
John
John,
With the fifth wheel we had to be more careful to allow for tight turns and there was much less room for error on narrow roads with no shoulders. On some of these roads we've been on, there would have been no way to make it around blind left curves without the fifth wheel crossing the centerline. And for all tight turns, we had to be more conscious of the tail of the fifth wheel swinging into roadside obstacles. Also, because the truck and fifth wheel were somewhat independent, uneven roads cause more twisting and stress on the frame of the fifth wheel. There are just certain roads that a long fifth wheel shouldn't be on if you value the long-term condition.
Now, would there be a difference with a 30-foot fifth wheel? Of course. That's nine feet shorter than we were, and that certainly would make a big difference. However, you still have that independent motion because the combination of the truck and trailer bends at the hitch. With the motorhome and towing the Jeep, the Jeep almost isn't a factor at all, so the extra length doesn't matter. The way the tow bar functions, the Jeep doesn't go outside the footprint of the motorhome, so we don't have to worry about the "trailer", the Jeep, clearing. If the motorhome clears a corner, the Jeep also clears - the Jeep won't run over a curb as long as the motorhome clears it. As you know, that's not the case with a truck and fifth wheel - not by a long shot.
What I'm trying to say is our 45-foot motorhome/toad combination isn't much different than just having the 30-foot motorhome by itself when it comes to driving, while a 45-foot truck/fifth wheel combination requires more care and attention to keep from running off the road or running into things when the roads are twisty and narrow. So, while a truck/30-foot fifth wheel combination may have the exact same overall length as our Class C motorhome/Jeep combination, our effective length that we have to worry about is just the motorhome and, therefore, much shorter. I hope that makes sense.
Now, with that said, could we have done all the roads we've done recently with the 39-foot fifth wheel? Yes, but it would have been extremely nerve-wracking and taking more risk than we were willing to take with our home. We would routinely go 50 miles out of our way to avoid any potential stress or risk we really didn't need to take.
For every person that says "I wouldn't take my rig over that road" there will be someone else that says "It's not a problem, I've done it many times". So the only thing that really matters is your personal comfort level.
Thanks for the response.
John
2015 Winnebago Aspect 27K
Click on this link for a Photo Tour of the unit. We have since added 510 watts of solar panels and 440 amp hours of Lifeline AGM batteries.
And click on this link for Statistics including length, height, tank capacity, etc.