5th Wheel vs Travel Trailer

Alice · September 29, 2018

6 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

Diesels do have better pulling power, particularly on steep grades and they have a longer life but they also weigh more and cost a lot more. You can buy a lot of gasoline for the difference in price if you are buying new.

We're not dead-set on new, so long as the mileage is low enough. Our Colorado was used, but not very. We got it with only 5k on it. But, we were looking for used when we got it. So long as they'd finance it.

Kirk W · September 29, 2018

4 minutes ago, Alice said:

But, we were looking for used when we got it.

Our diesel was used too but we knew the owner who did buy it new. It had 98k miles which isn't high for a Cummins diesel and it was 13 years old and had a well-documented service record.

SWharton · September 29, 2018

1 hour ago, Kirk Wood said:

Diesels do have better pulling power, particularly on steep grades and they have a longer life but they also weigh more and cost a lot more. You can buy a lot of gasoline for the difference in price if you are buying new.

Plus they cost more to maintain and finding a good diesel mechanic can be a challenge.

We have had both diesel and gas and our preference overall is the gas. Anyone can repair it, lots less $ to buy, and how many big hills do I really go up?????????

RV_ · September 29, 2018

I have owned four Cummins diesels. I avoid eight cylinder diesels with something like twice the moving parts as in-line six diesel engines.

I bought the 1992 1Ton Ram/Cummins in 1997 with 100k miles on it. We full timed for seven years with it, pulling a 36 foot HitchHiker, and then a 1998 Challenger 36 foot, both fifth wheels from 1997-2003. We traveled full time too not snow-birding. We did everything West of the Mississippi, and from Mexico up to and including Alaska from May to September 8. We both were military brats and we moved into our HitchHiker when I retired after 27 years USAF active duty in 1997. I'd lived everywhere from Miami beach to Connecticut And Bogota Colombia, South America for two years going to K and first grade in Spanish, which I'd never spoke or learned until then. So had my wife, her brother born in France, and stationed in N. Carolina, Florida, and so we skipped the East coast. But we had over 700k miles on it, and only had to rebuild the injector pump when the California Diesel additive ate the rubber seals, O-Rings, and gaskets. My mechanic bought it in 2007 and still drives it today. Then a 2002 2500 long bed quad cab, I used traveling the Arklatex daily to sell and site steel buildings with slabs. It had 425k miles and looked and drove like new when I sold it. Then a 2006 short bed Ram diesel 2500 raised loud short bed that was just too rough riding and rather than strip it back to stock, since it was in "style"I sold it for top dollar as it was a custom wheeled hot rod truck. I much prefer stock, quiet, and smoother ride, and no ladder needed to get in. The quiet direct rail injection diesel 5.9 was made 2004.5, 2005, 2006, 2007. In 2007 they debuted the 6.7 Cummins and also had the 5.9 that year too.

Any 5.9 liter Cummins Dodge Ram from those years are the sweet spot with top mileage, power, acceleration and comfort, and no Exhaust Fluid needed. For a short time I tried a gas Ford Ranger four cylinder that got only 19 mpg with only me in it. I started looking for a long bed above years diesel Ram. It took a year but I ran into a gently used 2004.5 Long bed 2500 Cummins diesel with only 125k miles on it. We no longer RV much but it gets about 22mpg off load, and I haven't done a long enough trip to check it under a light trailer load. It is like new in power and does not even have oil under it.

I love my diesels because they are always ready to go to the store or haul a 36 foot fifth wheel RV.

But you have to know what to look for. I got this last one for $9k. It blew the lift pump and I tried to baby it home which starved the injection pump and tore it up. Diesel is also the lubricant for the fuel delivery system. I had them replace the lift pump, injector pump, and all the injectors in case any metal shavings got that far. $5k charge which puts me now having as much in it as I could sell it for. I'm very happy.

You see as long as it was used regularly and maintained the fluids and filters, you can assume 500k miles or more with a Cummins 5.9. Its parts are heavier weight than the eight cylinder light duty diesels. There is a reason the Over The Road heavy duty tractors use in line six cylinders like the Cummins 5.9 In Ram diesels.

I try to buy them with under 200k. Oh and yeas my long bed trucks have a very big turning radius and I park either in the handicapped slots or in the back of the lots. It does go under fast food and bank drive-throughs and the automatic car washes.

Do not forget, I am biased to the Cummins. However I find most diesels are idled for long periods in summer for A/C, winter for heat, for outside workers, and diesels do not warm up at idle to operating temps, ithout throttle controls. So the burn is incomplete and carbon coke, which is like fine sand paper turns the engine oil black. That is what hurts them. I never idle mine more than it takes to bring the oil pressure up, under a minute. Never. Most folks with throttle controls on the newer trucks don't use them not realizing the 18 Wheelers they see idling for hours, and the gas engines that do warm up to operating temps at idle. I have no idea about the Cummins 6.7 or the ones that need exhaust fluids. The truck I have now should last me the rest of my life, unless I need a 4WD in Colorado. The reason many Ram diesels are to be had so cheap is that while ideal for full timing, gas drivers have 100k miles as the vehicle beginning of the end of life ingrained in their thinking.

The hard part is finding them that were not used by employees and abused. Taken care of and parked out of the sun, they can be as new looking as a one or two year old vehicle. Those that know them and care for them aren't usually selling.

Did I mention I am biased?

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