Comparing a 5th Wheel and a Diesel Pusher Motorhome

Barbaraok · August 28, 2019

3 hours ago, folivier said:

Last night while traveling down the Cassiar highway in northern BC Canada we pulled into a rest area in the heavy rain. Parked, got out of my seat, took a shower while my DW was preparing dinner. Read some then went to sleep in a nice warm motorhome. All this without having to exit the motorhome. The next morning I did my normal walk around and we drove off.

That is one of the reasons why I enjoy traveling in a motorhome!

X2!

orca · August 28, 2019

Both RVs have both pros and cons. The MH and enclosed trailer i had were more manouverable than the MDT and 45' 5th i now own. Both are around 65' but the 25' enclosed trailer would stay within the turning radius of the mh due to the long overhang past the rear wheels would "steer" the trailer into staying in the mh track. The 5th's tires would force a larger turn radius by 4-5' in order to not mount the curb.

The security of just jumping into the drivers seat and driving away from a sketchy parking situation is the one thing i miss about the MH. The other is that the toilet is a short walk from the drivers seat.

In th MH our only other transportation was the motorcycles in the trailer. Guess whose job it was to go out on the mc on rainy days to get the cream for my better halfs coffee!

With the MH and trailer i had more storage than "stuff" but with the 5er i have more "stuff" than storage. (i was able to bring a fullsize smoker BBQ in the cargo trailer)

And i do think i am compairing apples to apples because the 5er i have now is used to haul the same motorcycles as were transported by the mh and cargo trailer.

folivier · August 29, 2019

Orca, glad you mentioned the wider swing-out of your trailer. At a tight campground near Denali a guy pulling a long 5th wheel hit my truck (which was fortunately parked in front of my MH and protecting it!) and caused $2000 damage because he didn't watch his turn. But my dash cam caught it all.

hdrider · August 29, 2019

After 6 1/2 years of fulltiming in a Class A we switched to a 5th wheel in April. Pro's and con's to each. We are still anylizing but will also do a blog update comparing the two. Hands down we like the MH best on travel days, hands down we have more storage in the 5th wheel and that is after taking everything from the 42' MH and putting the exact same stuff in our 40' 5th wheel. Each floor plan is different and stories will vary.

FL-JOE · August 29, 2019

We are almost to the 2 year mark of full timing in our DP. Previously we did 2 years of full timing in a Montana fiver pulled by an F350 SRW diesel.

It would take me several paragraphs to list my opinion on the pros and cons of each. Much of it would probably just be a repeat of what others who have owned both have already said.

For us there are two huge differences that carry the most weight when deciding. My DW and I just had this discussion this week about the possibility of going back to a 40' to 43' fiver.

Number 1: Added cost of fuel and maintenance of a DP. With my F350 my annual maintenance was always less than $150, plus even pulling a heavy 40' fiver I averaged 11.5mpg for the year. With our current DP my average mpg is 6.5. My maintenance will vary due to a couple different factors, but for the first two years my average is right at $850. If you start figuring in eight 22.5" tires that will have to be replaced within 5 or 6 years, plus four 14ply trailer tires, plus seven toad tires, well let's just say I will spend at least twice as much for tires in five or six years by having a DP and pulling a trailer with two toads inside. Based on how many miles we travel each year our DP is going to cost us about $4,000 more each and every year than our fiver did.

Number 2: What toad do you want? When we were full timing in our fiver I made the decision to give up my Harley. We didn't want to get a toy hauler and then have a dually as the daily driver. This time around we wanted a car plus the Harley.

Barbaraok · August 29, 2019

Joe, 8 tires for the motorhome? Is your tag (that's what I'm assuming you have) single tire on each side? We found that with our Toyo tires, 7 or 8 years to change is a more appropriate period. Since you aren't pulling the car, do you really think you will need to change out your car's tires that often, and why 7 tires for the Mini? We don't have a spare for the CMax, the setup is with 'drive' on tires as there is no room for a space since the big battery is in the 'trunk' area.

FL-JOE · August 29, 2019

1 hour ago, Barbaraok said:

Joe, 8 tires for the motorhome? Is your tag (that's what I'm assuming you have) single tire on each side? We found that with our Toyo tires, 7 or 8 years to change is a more appropriate period. Since you aren't pulling the car, do you really think you will need to change out your car's tires that often, and why 7 tires for the Mini? We don't have a spare for the CMax, the setup is with 'drive' on tires as there is no room for a space since the big battery is in the 'trunk' area.

Like most tag axle coaches, I have eight tires on the coach (3 axles). Almost all tag coaches I see the tag are single tires on each side behind the dual rear axle. The enclosed trailer has 4 tires, the Mini has 4 tires (run flats/no spare), and the Harley Triglide has 3 tires. We are averaging 14,000 to 15,000 miles on the Mini, 10,000 to 11,000 on the Harley, and 7,000 to 9,000 on the coach.

Heck, between replacing the tires on my coach (8) and the house batteries (eight 6v) I would be spending well over $4,000 that year alone!

I did misquote the difference in what the mpg between pulling our fiver (11mpg) and driving our DP (6.5mpg) is each year. It is probably closer to $1,000 difference.

Edited August 29, 2019 by FL-JOE