Are travel trailers / 5th wheels cheaper than motorhomes?

[1stimerver]

I love these discussions...
In our case, We had done a lot of conversion van camping in our younger days. It served as a second vehicle and was well within our budget. We used until It died some years ago at 200,000 miles.

Now retired, we decided to start by looking at pop-ups, assuming they would be easier to tow and lower cost than TTs.
We ditched the pop-ups for the convenience of TT's that our budget could accommodate.

After looking at new and used we found the TT "of our dreams" that my pick-up could tow, that wouldn't break the bank.
We normally use it to camp with a group of family and friends with 5vers, for long weekends 5 to 6 times a year along with 1 or 2 two week long trips per year..

In hindsight our planning helped us stay within budget and get what we really wanted..

We managed to avoid the "buyer's remorse" of making compromises to buy the lowest cost item, not really getting the RV that best suits your wants/needs.
Safe travels and all the best.

 

[Isaac-1]

The question should be then, would your decision have been different if you did not already own a pickup truck?

 

[Kirk]

would your decision have been different if you did not already own a pickup truck?

I didn't and it was.

 

[House Husband]

Most class A Mhs have hydraulic leveling jacks. Most pull behinds have stabilizers.
While I'm turning on my jacks, my neighbor with a pull behind is looking at outside levels, rolling the trailer back and forth on boards and screwing down the stabilizers. When my MH is level, I'm sitting outside with a cold drink in hand watching my neighbor sweat.
I can unhook my toad in about 30 seconds and reattach in about 2 minutes.
My toad is smaller than most PUs, which allows me better access to tourist traps.

Richard

 

[Old_Crow]

The question should be then, would your decision have been different if you did not already own a pickup truck?

Heh, when we upgraded from a TT to our first Class A, my wife started out looking at bigger TT's. When I imposed a size limit due to the truck we had, she started looking at Class A motor homes.
The 29' Sportscoach we bought served us well while we were weekend warriors. We towed either the Jeep or a trailer with 2 Harleys on it depending on the trip.
After we "retired" and ended up with the camp hosting job, we decided 2 things...one, we wanted to go full time, and two, we needed a bigger coach.
Now that I'm traveling solo, I sometimes look at the coach and think I could do with smaller. Then I think, Nah, I'm good. I've had this coach long enough that I've caught up on the "deferred maintenance" and I have a pretty good handle on the condition of the coach and all the systems.

 

[Joezeppy]

Most class A Mhs have hydraulic leveling jacks. Most pull behinds have stabilizers.
While I'm turning on my jacks, my neighbor with a pull behind is looking at outside levels, rolling the trailer back and forth on boards and screwing down the stabilizers. When my MH is level, I'm sitting outside with a cold drink in hand watching my neighbor sweat.

Circa 1997, we were struggling to buckle our two girls into their car seats in our Dodge Neon in the pouring rain. A family of 6 in a minivan next to us slid the side door open and all jumped inside in about 5 seconds. Once we got in the car, soaking wet, Kim turned to me and said "I want one of those!" And yes, we got one.

 

[Contributor]

Most class A Mhs have hydraulic leveling jacks. Most pull behinds have stabilizers.
While I'm turning on my jacks, my neighbor with a pull behind is looking at outside levels, rolling the trailer back and forth on boards and screwing down the stabilizers. When my MH is level, I'm sitting outside with a cold drink in hand watching my neighbor sweat.
I can unhook my toad in about 30 seconds and reattach in about 2 minutes.
My toad is smaller than most PUs, which allows me better access to tourist traps.

Richard

This reminds me of the times I've pulled to a campground with my truck and trailer at the same time as a MH with a toad in the rain. I'll back my trailer in to my spot and we will go in and hang out waiting for a break in the weather to finish setting up.

In the meantime, the MH folks are getting soaked while trying to unhook the toad and get it set up to move it to a parking spot. Usually, DW has to drive the toad while DH drives around the campground looking for a suitable spot. The driver of the MH then backs into the spot, the toad driver arrives and all is well.

I can't say that either one had a better experience, but we spent less time in the elements.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I did not read all the post so maybe someone already made a similar comment as this.

We've always been travel trailer people, but many years ago my wife and I debated about getting a motor home instead of a new truck.

We debated for a long time and I crunched some numbers. In the end, the cost of a new truck that was capable of towing the type of trailer we wanted was the same price as getting a motor home of the same length. So, in the end, cost was not the factor.

So, we had to consider our lifestyle, the amount of camping we did, and the purpose for the second vehicle (truck) opposed to a motor home and how everything was to be used or not used camping and not camping.

For a LOT of reasons we decided to stay with towables and a really nice beefie pick-up truck. We've never regretted our choice. BUT the cost and expense was NEVER the factor. That was a 100% wash.

 

[silversport]

For us it what makes our life style work, having the restroom available as we travel down the road is a BIG plus for my wife. We travel with friends that pull a 5th wheel with 4 slides, its an apartment! would I what it? Nope

 

[Ray-IN]

Wouldn't life be really - really dull if we all wanted the same things and lifestyle?

 

[jymbee]

Wouldn't life be really - really dull if we all wanted the same things and lifestyle?

Dull, and a LOT more expensive!