Conflicted About Selling 5th Wheel Camper

[marymonde]

Dh and I are considering putting our 5th wheel camper up for sale. I am kind of partial to it, for we have had it since '93 and there are lots of good memories, and possibly still more to be made. However, dh wants to sell it and buy a cab over camper for the back of the pick-up (am I phrasing that correctly?). Since we have 4 horses and a trailer, without a sleeping quarters, he thought the cab over would be ideal. I am resisting because if we ever had to get out of the area quickly, we could store more preps in the 5th wheel. His argument is that we would have an alternative source of transportation, being able to haul the horses with a cab over. He also believes we can store more than I think with his idea. I can see the flip side of the coin in both situations, so I am stuck trying to figure it all out. If anyone has any imput, I welcome it.

 

[marymonde]

I meant to add the horses would be fine at our farm if we left them behind. We have plenty of pasture and a double spring fed creek, so if we were gone, they would have food and water.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Providing your truck is sturdy enough to truly haul the loaded cab over camper and still pull a loaded horse trailer I say sell the fifth wheel.

.....Alan.

 

[Renegade]

You didn't say how big the 5th wheel was, but you're probably right about the less storage space.

However, having the cab over in a "leaving quickly" scenario would be better to me. Logistics are a lot different when you start pulling a big trailer. Cuts down on a lot of possible options. Mobility factor would get cut dramaticly.

 

[William]

I meant to add the horses would be fine at our farm if we left them behind. We have plenty of pasture and a double spring fed creek, so if we were gone, they would have food and water.

But don't forget the horses are pretty tasty too.....

 

[summerthyme]

So, if you had to leave quickly, you COULD leave the horses? And use the trailer for preps? Sounds like the cabover option gives you more flexability overall. A horse trailer can be packed with a BUNCH of stuff...

Summerthyme

 

[OldMan]

I have gone roundy-round on this subject too....and have had a number of campers of various types. I currently have a fifth-wheel camping trailer with a gooseneck adapter ('cause I hate cluttering up the pickup bed with a fifth-wheel hitch...even the ones that supposedly are easy to dismount....I have the B&W turnover ball gooseneck hitch that takes about 10 seconds to mount/dismount the ball. I also have a 20 foot bed gooseneck utility trailer. I also mounted the highest capacity receiver (i.e. bumper-pull) hitch I could find on the truck, not trusting the truck manufacturer's hitch (for good reason)....so now I can haul just about any trailer, even a 5th wheeler if I use B&W's Turnover 5th wheel hitch adapter.

One problem with gooseneck and 5th wheel trailers is (obviously) they prevent use of most of the pickup bed for hauling "stuff", whereas a bumper-pull trailer does not affect the capacity of the truck bed.

A possibility with the cab-over camper is that you would have the option of leaving the horses home and taking the horse trailer loaded with "stuff". So you have more flexibility there.

OldMan

 

[rafter]

If push comes to shove, and you had to live in it...which one would you rather have?

Are you clostrophobic? ( I know I spelled that wrong) I know the head room in the over the cab bed on the pickup camper isn't as much as your 5er. I have panic attacks in pickup campers.

Are you looking at an 11 ft cab over with a bathroom? If not you will regret not having your bathroom and shower.

You didn't say how long your 5er is, but IMO personal opinon I would rather keep the 5er and maybe buy a used overhead for pulling the horse trailer. A few years back we bought a really nice overhead for $800. It looked like new. Unfortunatly we couldn't get it on our dually because of the jacks. We put it on a trailer...pulled it home and took it off and sold it for $1200.

 

[OldMan]

Just wanted to mention another option that "could" increase one's flexibilty.......

If you use a 5th-wheel/gooseneck/bumper-pull trailer (i.e if you don't use a cab-over camper)...it is pretty easy to mount a 110 gallon fuel tank with pump in the front of your pickup bed...this can REALLY increase your bug-out options by at least doubling your driving range!

I know this is feasible for diesel ... almost all of these fuel tanks come with explicit warnings/labels that they should not be used for gasoline....I have seen a number of them being used with gasoline and are probably in violation of state and/or federal law.

OldMan

 

[ofuzzy1]

AT and Renegade make some good arguments.

 

[nomifyle]

I've lived in two tag along campers, one was a 26' and we lived in it for about six months. It wasn't too bad but it did get close, one thing that made it bearable was we knew we had our home to come back to. The second time was when we evacuated for Katrina we bought a 32' with a slide out. It didn't take long before we were almost crazy in it, but then we knew we did not have our home to go back to. Its a tough call, the slide-in campers (as in slide in the back of a truck) can be very nice but over all they are tiny. I could live in one by myself but with another person (my husband) I would go nuts. Fifth wheels (the larger ones) give you much more space. But then you would not have an option about your horses. Personally, I would not want to leave them behind. If your reason for leaving would be bad weather then your horses would be in danger no matter how much food and water they have. Its a tough call.

Good luck on your decision.

Judy

 

[SAR01]

I have a Sunlander 11 ft truck slide in camper. we bought it to use for horse shows and never used it once, only because that year we started with sick parents and never did another horse show. it has been parked with a blue tarp for 5 yrs. and there is a leak in the roof, but I had someone look at it and told me this happens to most of them, and if someone is handy they can remove the piece that is damaged , and re-paint the room with elastic coating. the interior is original and looks brand new, sleeps 3-4 adults comfortably and a small child in a bunk, we had filled with saddles and hats. plenty of storage self contained with propane. and AC. I can only vouch for when we parked it, everything worked...

i'd be willing to trade something or-send a picture . PM if interested. I am in Ohio

we have a 3/4 GMC all set up for that camper and the horse trailer was modified to pull it. would be great for bug out.


Marymonde, I just might have to see if you were interested in a trade up, and if you liked Tenn. Walking horse, if I could retire one of my horses with you since we have no pasture.! he's 13 and still plenty of riding left. we just need to downsize if we have to move for work.

excuse the italics I don;t know how that happened.

 

[SAR01]

this is a picture from a photo

 

[parocan]

Sell the 5th wheel, buy the truck camper.
you can get to alot of outta the way spots with that type
of camper, that you wouldn't get even close to with a 5th wheel.

 

[timbo]

In Michigan it is legal (Im sure its legal in other states as well) to pull a 5th wheel and then another trailer behind it. I've seen it many times with a good size boat or some times even a covered one axle trailer on behind a 5ther. (So maybe a horse trailer,a twoer not a fourer) could still be pulled behind.

Now Im sure you need a good size truck to do this with but that might be a possibility.

5TH wheels that Ive seen in that above configuration were not small,and guessing at 30 footers at least.

Ive owned a truck camper,a fifth wheel and now a motor home.

They all have their advantages and disadvantages. A fifth would give you tons of storage but it still gets down to how much poundage your truck can pull.

Dont know where you are now but the rec. type vehicles in MI sales are really a buyers market so you may really lose making the change where you are.

 

[Hokey]

Ditch the fifth wheel and nix the truck camper. In a bug out situation you need to be mobile right? Get a cabin in the wilderness instead.

I always said if you're going to go camping then you might as well just take a tent! I'm just a purist I guess.

And Timbo's probably right. You might not be able to sell your fifth wheel for as much as you'd like. Might as well keep it. Could you shove the horses into the fifth wheel? (assuming thats legal, if not a little messy perhaps)

 

[SAR01]

We have also have the pull behind, and a motor home, and they is ups and downs for them all. with our truck, we have a saddle back for a goose neck, extra springs, and a new from the factory engine.

the guy we got the camper from hauled it on a 1/2 with heavy springs, I do not know how he did that and pulled 2 horses from Ohio to Florida every fall.

If you decide to get a camper.. make sure the truck can handle the weight, I strongly suggest at least 3/4 ton, especially if you plane to have the camper on AND pull a loaded trailer. a camper doesn;t need plates, but a horse trailer would.

this camper empty is 1800 lbs I think, I;d have to crawl in it to double check.

I have been looking for a decent camper or 5th wheel to park by the gazebo here for use as a guest house for week-enders that want to come but feel they would be putting us out. the camper wouldn't work out as well.

 

[Nuthatch]

Caveat: I have never owned either type.

But I have lusted after them......my favorite being a TAB.

But I'd ditch the 5th wheel and go for the slide-in. My main reason being that it has hard sides. Fifth wheels with those pop-outs are flimsy in any real weather. And don't offer a secure hard wall. But I might not even invest in the slide-in if I'd only use it for storage and emergency shelter. You can always set a cot in the horse trailer after unloading the horses if it was a serious emergency. May be better to have somewhere to go to.

Now a TAB is a thing of beauty with hard walls and easily pulled by smaller cars. I can dream can't I?

 

[momof23goats]

we have a pull behind, camper trailer. we were trying to figure out how we would do things.
one truck would pull the trailer, and in the bed of that truck, we would put the goats. and chickens.
the other truck would pull the horse trailer, with the horses, and the bed, would carry grain.
we would use a third truck to haul another trailer, filled with hay.

 

[marymonde]

So far the consensus seems to be to forgo the 5th wheel camper. In my heart I kind of thought it would make more sense, but I am a sucker for comfort.

The camper is 30'. We had a cab over a LONG time ago, and we did camp with 4 young children and two adults fairly well. The two oldest now live in the city (God only knows why they like it there) but I still have an 18 year old son and 14 year old dd at home. They despise the city, so I know they will always be near us to bug out, if need be. The other two

I am going to show dh this thread later tonight so we can make an informed decision. You all had some great comments and I appreciate that very much.

 

[marymonde]

In Michigan it is legal (Im sure its legal in other states as well) to pull a 5th wheel and then another trailer behind it. I've seen it many times with a good size boat or some times even a covered one axle trailer on behind a 5ther. (So maybe a horse trailer,a twoer not a fourer) could still be pulled behind.

Now Im sure you need a good size truck to do this with but that might be a possibility.

5.

That is funny you brough that up. Dh use to pull the 20' ski boat behind the 5th wheel when we owned an F-250 (it had 3/4 ton suspension...I think that is how dh said it). Heck if I know if it was even legal. It was too much for me however. It gave me a freakin' heart attack pulling all that and I had to spend the entire evening by the campfire downing Budweisers to calm me down.

We now have a F-350 Heavy duty diesel. I'm gonna have to block your post timbo, it will have dh salivating and putting dangerous ideas into his head!

 

[rryan]

I can't help but think that in a bad situation that neccesitated "getting out" that a large camper/rv is the equivalent of painting targets on yourselves.

 

[marymonde]

A horse trailer can be packed with a BUNCH of stuff...

Summerthyme

That is a brilliant idea.

 

[marymonde]

I can't help but think that in a bad situation that neccesitated "getting out" that a large camper/rv is the equivalent of painting targets on yourselves.

Good point.

 

[LeafyForest]

Another option might be to look for someone to trade with - your 5th wheel, for another type of 5th wheel with the back area holding horses and the front living quarters. Our neighbor does this well, but it also suits them. You need to decide what is more comfortable for you when you have long term living in mind. We also have a 92 28ft 5th wheel which would be comfortable for hubby and I as long as we need, but have often wondered if a newer cabover camper might be in order as we get older, just for the driving aspect of it. We only use the 5th wheel a couple of times a year but it sure comes in handy for company, and they are comfortable there rather than in the house, and often ask if they can stay there when they come for a visit!! Think you are wise in talking it over, so it is a decision that you both make so you will be happier in the end.

 

[Loon]

I don't know how things are in your state but here in Michigan you can't hardly give away travel trailers. There are a glut of them for sale. I think the increase in gasoline prices plus the high unemployment caused lots of folks to try to unload the toys. Driving along the roads you see motor homes, fifth wheels and travel trailers for sale............all just sitting. Nobody is buying. You for sure won't get your price unless you are very lucky.

I'd just keep it if you like it and find a used truck camper to add to what you already have.

 

[RC]

I don't know how things are in your state but here in Michigan you can't hardly give away travel trailers. There are a glut of them for sale. I think the increase in gasoline prices plus the high unemployment caused lots of folks to try to unload the toys. .

We were recently in the market for a camper (we finally decided to get a new one), and I did notice that prices in Michigan were lower than comparable units elsewhere.

I generally was searching within 500 miles of MN, so I can't speak for the rest of the country, but prices were quite a bit lower in MI than MN, WI, IL, MO.

If we had found similar prices in the Chicago area, it would have been worth the drive. Unfortunately, they put something called Lake Michigan in the way, so taking advantage of deals in the Lower Penninsula wouldn't have been worth it.

 

[Jmurman]

this is a picture from a photo

This is the kinda set up that I would like to have for our family for some camping.

What are you asking for the set up?

 

[SAR01]

Jmurman,

Just answered your PM. it depends if we are dealing, and how much of the "Package" you'd want, (if the trailer went with it, or just the camper) I'd love to keep it as a package since it all was customized for horse shows or camping/trail riding.

 

[Sparco]

I think everyone should have a camper never know when you may need
a home.Love camping to get away.

 

[The Freeholder]

If the 5th is paid for, I'd vote for keeping it. But I'm telling you, you're going to need one heck of a truck to handle a slide-in plus a 4 horse trailer that tows on a hitch (vs a goose neck).