Which is REALLY better? Motorhome versus fifth wheel

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✅ VIDEO DESCRIPTION
Fulltime RVer Liz Amazing has had three fifth wheels and one motorhome. In this video she shares the pros and cons of each. Find out who is ideally suited for each.

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📺 Videos mentioned

⏰ Timecodes
0:00 Which is better, a Class A motorhome or a fifth wheel
0:22 Is a Class A more nimble than a fifth wheel?
0:35 Setup and teardown of a motorhome vs a fifth wheel
1:46 Floor plans of fifth wheels vs motorhomes
2:14 Expenses of a motorhome vs a fifth wheel
2:38 Quality of a fifth wheel vs a motorhome
3:04 Windows in a fifth wheel vs a motorhome
3:25 Storage in a motorhome vs a fifth wheel
5:01 Travel days in a motorhome vs a fifth wheel
5:27 Rest stops with a fifth wheel vs a motorhome
6:35 Backing a motorhome vs a fifth wheel
7:13 Daily driving your towing vehicle vs your toad (towed) vehicle
8:07 Getting engine work done on your truck vs a motorhome
8:24 How to decide between a motorhome or a fifth wheel

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Cathy Misze
Gallagher Price (Kyra)

✅ Who is Liz Amazing?
Liz is a fulltime RVer who hit the road in 2018, after dreaming about this life for 26 years. This channel provides entertaining and informative RV tips and tricks if you are thinking about living the RV life fulltime, part time or just on weekends.

#motorhome #fifthwheel, #rvlife

[EconomicRefugees]

My wife and I have been ful-time over 12 years and we've had RV's for years before and we knew and looked around for the best fit and we bought a used low mileage class a diesel to start and have lived ful-time in it for over 12 years and still love it, and what makes thing easier is I'm a mechanic so I do my own service and repair !! enjoy your video's !!

[wanderingfree]

Full time traveler here for about 6 yrs now. Started in a class A and 5 months ago got into a 5th wheel. Love my 5th wheel. When I decided to go full-time, I chose a class A because I wanted to do a lot of boondocking and as a single woman, I wouldn't need to leave my class A to get ina truck. If there was drama, I could just get into the driver's seat and go. I've since learned it's pretty safe out here but always trusting your instincts is a must. Great video!! Safe travels!

[JodysJourney]

For me, it all came down to the daily driver. I just didn’t want to be driving a 3/4 ton in cities or busy tourist spots. I also like the easy access to everything and not having to do set up and tear down in the rain. You still have some of that in a class A but not much. Finally, as a single woman, I just feel safer in my motorhome when overnighting on the road.

[deb]

We've been camping since 1990, always using a 5th wheel. Trading up for newer ones every 5 to 7 years, alway Jayco brand. Our children and dogs have traveling most of the US every summer as hubby and I were teachers with summers off. We loved them. Didn't have to pull a support car, just unhooked the camper and used our truck. Never had a problem parking the truck when exploring away from the campgrounds. We liked getting outside at the rest stops and stretching our legs, walking the dogs, letting the kids run. Wouldn't have wanted to keep everyone locked up in the motorhome. I can definately understand why older people like the motorhomes, or if you're in the RV full time. But for us and our family, we preferred a 5th wheel.

[bryang]

When I took up camping in an RV (not full time), I started with a travel trailer and for me, it was a pain in the rear to back up a travel trailer, plus having to worry about the swaying and hitching it, etc. This was too much. I sold it and bought me a Class C motorhome and I love it. I can flat tow a mid-sized truck or tow my car on a car dolly (flat towing is a whole lot easier to do than dolly) behind it for day trips and it is a lot easier to back in the Class C motorhome. I just unhitch and park the truck before backing into the site. It is a 2017 Jayco Greyhawk 29me with three slides, auto leveling system, and it is easy to drive and easy engine access. One big advantage of a Class C motorhome is crash protection and it has the airbags, three points of entry and exit, and a dash air conditioner and heater and even a generator. Setup and breakdown are a whole lot easier. Also, I can use a mid-sized truck to drive around and park instead of a huge truck, which is a lot easier to park and maneuver in tight spaces for day trips and lighter to tow with the motorhome. Also, I can still go from the cab to the living area without going outside. As for me, changing a tire out in a blowout is easier with a Class C than a Class A since the tires are the same size as a full-size pickup truck tire, whereas a Class A has bus tire.

Some people say that unhitching the truck and using the truck for day trip is an advantage over a motorhome, but this means you will be driving around a huge truck (3/4 or even a one-ton truck) around which can be very challenging to park even at a Walmart, Target, or in a tight parking lot. As with the motorhome, having a tow means you can drive a small car instead or even a small truck or jeep. As for cost, it is a lot more expensive to buy a fifth wheel or even a travel trailer, plus the truck to tow it and a fifth wheel hitch and have it installed than to buy a used, well maintained Class C motorhome, and have a mid-sized truck that is capable of being flat towed that i already own set up for flat towing and to use it as a toad vehicle.

[rebekahwarriorspirit]

As a family of 5 we love the 5th wheel, we can unhitch and drive around if we need to. We also love the floor plans.

[kathyinmo]

Currently in Florida for our 4th winter. Second Class A. We really love Class A. Ours weighs 22.5 ton (45, 600 pounds) and it just FEELS so much more secure than a flimsy bumper pull camper or 5th wheel. Smooth ride and plenty of room. First one we had was gas, and we loved her. This second one is diesel. We love it, too, but the cost of diesel is (currently) just ridiculous.

[celestepalm]

An older 5th wheel - depending on brand - is usually built much better than many RVs today. It's great to only have to worry about servicing one engine instead of two and 5th wheels have way less to break down than a Class A. It's also much easier to get a truck serviced than a Class A. I want to spend time in Nature, not in some shop, which is a much more common occurrence with today's Class A's & the other slipshod RVs being pushed out nowadays without enough quality control.

[DWDinAtlanta]

My husband wanted the 5th wheel. I wanted a Class A. I won because, we both had cars & didn't have room for a truck. His car was a company car for work, so we couldn't sell one. Plus, we had 2 dogs at the time & our oldest son lives in
Oregon. We had lots to see between Atlanta & Oregon. If we decided to stop at a roadside attraction or needed to grocery shop, we could leave the dogs in the rig with the air conditioning running for them. The set up & break down was so easy & we didn't have to transfer the dogs, they were already in their home! Not to mention I could use the bathroom & not worry about finding a place we would fit. I could make lunch, coffee or grab snacks and we only had to stop for gas! HUGS ~Donna

[aryprice]

We actually live in a motorhome we love it but when parked probably we all would love to have the 5th wheel space. Each one has it's benefits like you said. You have to ask which one is best for you. By the way I absolutely love your new motorhome. Beautiful!!

[stevenallannapier]

We have had 3 fifth wheels and now a MH (gas). I am 69 and when we were younger, the set up and breakdown was no problem. But at 64 (5 years ago) with bad knees and an arthritic back, it got real old. So we bought a 2018 Thor Hurricane (when they were actually built pretty well). Wow. What a difference. Unhook the toad, back in, level up and you are camping. We’ve never had an outside TV and love it. Residential frig with ice maker. We’ve had very few problems since ours was built pre pandemic. Bath and a half. Love it. We have our own bathrooms. So at this point in our lives after both knees being replaced, MH for us. Luv ya Liz!

[paulchristiansen]

One other advantage of a motor home is the ability to either back in or drive forward into the campsite. This is most often used when camping without hookups and the best view is out of the front windshield, like a lake or mountain view site.

[REL]

With every RV there's compromise. The best one is whichever is best for you.

[Roadtripmischief]

What a great video! You make a great pitch for the benefits of a diesel pusher! Of course, you bring up the less appealing things as well but if money were no object, and I could convince Mickey, I would love that Class A. We have our fun times backing - especially back in our driveway at home!
Excellent comparison and facts as usual!! ❤️

[Michaelw.]

Another great and timely video! My brother and I were just discussing this - and here you are talking about it! I'll add a few other thoughts.

Big plus to the motor home when traveling in inclement weather. Wind? Rain? Snow? In the 5th wheel, you're going to get wet and probably track in dirt, sand, dust, mud when you're setting up camp or just have to go to the bathroom. Motor home? Walk to the bathroom in comfort every time. No mess, no muss, no fuss.

I realize that if you had a house problem with the motor home, you had to sleep somewhere else while they fixed it - but that's equally true with a trailer. And if it's the power train, there's only an advantage if you conveniently broke down after getting your rig parked and set up. In fact, if there's an engine breakdown on the road - you've got your toad to take you into town and get help or repair items: having a second engine could be a real life-saver. I'm going to give the advantage to the motor home here too. And if you need towing instead, I'm thinking the motorhome will be easier than towing both a truck/trailer combo - or worse, towing your vehicle in, and coming back to tow the trailer too that was left on the side of the road - or having to have two tow trucks out at once.

I think security is better with the motorhome. Trailers can and do get stolen when you're away from camp: they're harder to lock down and a lot of that can be defeated fairly quickly. A lot tougher with the motor home.

You made a great case on quality differences between the two. I sold a small 2015 camping trailer and bought instead a 2002 motor home - the difference in quality and sturdiness, even in something 13 years older, was amazing. And as you mentioned, all the bouncing down the road in the trailer is going to shorten its life: all that vibration just can't be good for it. But the motorhome has much less vibration inside: things should last much longer, and there's probably less flexing from all that bouncing around.

[santiagojimenez]

Hey Liz I’m totally agree with you I have before my motorhome To fifth wheel and is much easier to have a motorhome for everything it’s corral do you say that you have an engine and transmission bad it’s still better easy to park and to drive and the highway

[wesalexander]

Great video, Liz, thank you! We started out RV'ing with a 5th wheel, but only had it for 9 months. It quickly became apparent that it wasn't the best choice for us. Build quality was very disappointing, storage was lacking, parking it was a challenge. So, after 9 months we traded it for a Class A diesel pusher. We enjoyed that coach for two years until we discovered it was quite vulnerable to cross winds and effects of passing tractor trailers - I'm talking white knuckle conditions! So here we are in our third RV, a 2020 Newmar Dutch Star 4369. Finally, an RV we are happy with. Plenty of storage, great build quality, rock steady on the interstate, it tows our Jeep Wrangler with ease, and it is a bath and a half! The thing is, what may look good on paper might not actually work out that way in reality, no matter how much homework you do before buying, you really need to live in it, to experience it, to know what works best for you.

[michaelfinley]

We had a Reflection 320 MKS for 2 years which we really liked. We traded for a Solitude 380 FL and really love it. It seems more solid with the 6 hydraulic levelers. We tow with an F450 dually. Parking the truck can be challenging, but we choose to park in the back of parking lot and walk in, not a big deal. We thought about a DP, but the negatives of maintenance and insurance while also having to pull a tow vehicle we decided against it. That’s not to say a class A diesel pusher isn’t in our future as we get older. There are pros and cons to every options. Thanks for your great informative vids.

[frankveronese]

Very well done, I have neither if I was in the market hands down the motor home. Would be nice just to pull over in a rest area and jump from the driver seat to bathroom and then a snack. Without ever leaving the vehicle.

[joyandscott]

You made some great points. If I had a family a 5th wheel would be my choice. However, its just the two of us and we love our 35 ft DP with a toad. Room for us and an occasional grandkid. Take care.