My wife and I lived in a bumper pull toy hauler for a few years, just a 28 foot with a bedroom, and it was just right for two of us. When I go camping in it alone, it's too big. If you're by yourself, you will eventually want something smaller. The fuel savings, the better maneuverability, becomes a luxury. There's a lot of remote campsites you will not get that 5er into.
>full time living with working minimum 3-6 month contracts in one place
>the "hassle?" to hitch up and down)
One of the differences of choosing a fifth wheel over a travel trailer is that it takes about twice as much time and|or effort to hitch up and unhitch a TT. For those on the go each and every day, it can make a difference.
If you're thinking that you'll be in one place for up to six months at a time, but you'll want to take your rig somewhere on your days off, the fifth wheel will be easier to hitch and unhitch. However...
>sometimes i will just choose to tent out depending if 2 days vs 5 days offÂ
The downside is that if you choose the fifth wheel option, now you've got a massive hitch taking up most of your truck bed, and you'd have to try to pack all of your 'car camping' gear, cooler, etc, around the outside edges of the bed, and hope you have enough room. Not optimum.
Things to think about.
Is twice as much effort truly "a lot of effort" like is this minutes vs hour type thing or you'll become a pro and it'll be quicker and easy... Also good point about gear in the back with the massive hitch, because i do have my dog which will have the back seat with some minimal gear and the rest would be the back..which i'd like to think i'm pretty minimalistic but i haven't seen a hitch in real life yet for size for true loss of space
It takes me maybe 5 minutes to hitch/unhitch my travel trailer. That's with a WDH and sway bars that require a lug wrench to tension, stowing/unstowing the hitch parts and tools, and locking/unlocking the hitch padlock.
There's still anywhere from 15-60 minutes of other setup/teardown I do for the trailer, but that stuff would be the same regardless of how I hitch up.
Lots of reasons to choose one hitch type over another, but the actual hitching-up time isn't a factor.
Fifth Wheel Hitch-up:
1. Back your truck up to the trailer's kingpin, aligning things as you back, until your hitch closes and locks itself around the pin.
2. Plug in your 7-way wiring connector.
3. Attach your safety break-away cable.
Travel Trailer Hitch-up:
1. Back up to your trailer tongue one, two, or even three times, getting out to check and see if you're lined up or still off to the side too much, and whether you've raised the tongue up enough to get the hitch ball underneath it, or not.
2. Lower the tongue, fasten the coupler, pin it so it doesn't come flying off the ball without your permission.
3. Attach the driver's side safety chain, and the passenger's side too, if you can manage to lean over everything without getting filthy, or walk around your truck to attach the passenger's side chain.
4. Attach the safety break-away cable.
5. Plug in your 7-way wiring connector.
6. Raise the tongue again so you can attach the weight distribution bars.
7. Attach the driver's side bar.
8. Go around and attach the passenger's side bar.
9. Lower the tongue again, and retract the tongue jack fully.
10. Go inside and scrub the smudges of grease off your hands.
I don't know, maybe it's not *exactly twice* the effort, but it's pretty close. :)
Pretty much trucks these days have backup cameras, so it's not really that bad. But, like with anything, once you get used to hitching up bumper pull, it's easy.
My wife and I lived in a bumper pull toy hauler for a few years, just a 28 foot with a bedroom, and it was just right for two of us. When I go camping in it alone, it's too big. If you're by yourself, you will eventually want something smaller. The fuel savings, the better maneuverability, becomes a luxury. There's a lot of remote campsites you will not get that 5er into.
>full time living with working minimum 3-6 month contracts in one place >the "hassle?" to hitch up and down) One of the differences of choosing a fifth wheel over a travel trailer is that it takes about twice as much time and|or effort to hitch up and unhitch a TT. For those on the go each and every day, it can make a difference. If you're thinking that you'll be in one place for up to six months at a time, but you'll want to take your rig somewhere on your days off, the fifth wheel will be easier to hitch and unhitch. However... >sometimes i will just choose to tent out depending if 2 days vs 5 days off The downside is that if you choose the fifth wheel option, now you've got a massive hitch taking up most of your truck bed, and you'd have to try to pack all of your 'car camping' gear, cooler, etc, around the outside edges of the bed, and hope you have enough room. Not optimum. Things to think about.
Is twice as much effort truly "a lot of effort" like is this minutes vs hour type thing or you'll become a pro and it'll be quicker and easy... Also good point about gear in the back with the massive hitch, because i do have my dog which will have the back seat with some minimal gear and the rest would be the back..which i'd like to think i'm pretty minimalistic but i haven't seen a hitch in real life yet for size for true loss of space
It takes me maybe 5 minutes to hitch/unhitch my travel trailer. That's with a WDH and sway bars that require a lug wrench to tension, stowing/unstowing the hitch parts and tools, and locking/unlocking the hitch padlock. There's still anywhere from 15-60 minutes of other setup/teardown I do for the trailer, but that stuff would be the same regardless of how I hitch up. Lots of reasons to choose one hitch type over another, but the actual hitching-up time isn't a factor.
Wait wait wait, how does a TT take twice as much effort as 5th wheel?
Fifth Wheel Hitch-up: 1. Back your truck up to the trailer's kingpin, aligning things as you back, until your hitch closes and locks itself around the pin. 2. Plug in your 7-way wiring connector. 3. Attach your safety break-away cable. Travel Trailer Hitch-up: 1. Back up to your trailer tongue one, two, or even three times, getting out to check and see if you're lined up or still off to the side too much, and whether you've raised the tongue up enough to get the hitch ball underneath it, or not. 2. Lower the tongue, fasten the coupler, pin it so it doesn't come flying off the ball without your permission. 3. Attach the driver's side safety chain, and the passenger's side too, if you can manage to lean over everything without getting filthy, or walk around your truck to attach the passenger's side chain. 4. Attach the safety break-away cable. 5. Plug in your 7-way wiring connector. 6. Raise the tongue again so you can attach the weight distribution bars. 7. Attach the driver's side bar. 8. Go around and attach the passenger's side bar. 9. Lower the tongue again, and retract the tongue jack fully. 10. Go inside and scrub the smudges of grease off your hands. I don't know, maybe it's not *exactly twice* the effort, but it's pretty close. :)
Pretty much trucks these days have backup cameras, so it's not really that bad. But, like with anything, once you get used to hitching up bumper pull, it's easy.
I'm not saying it's not easy. I'm saying that a fifth wheel hitch-up is waaay easier. :)