Motorhome vs 5th Wheel .. the ongoing dilemma

In our RVing history for the past 9 years, we have owned 5 different RV’s.  John had an older Bounder motorhome, which we sold right after we married.  We didn’t want twin beds for starters, but mostly the living area was not large, no couch and no slide out.

We purchased an older 26′ Terry 5th wheel, which we really liked.  It had one slide and worked well for us.  We added a generator and inverter, and it worked well for dry camping also.  We spent a lot of time in it, including a 2 month trip.

Then it started – someone told us about a motorhome someone they knew had for sale.  We looked at it and purchased it thinking it would be easier for John to not have to disconnect and set up the 5th wheel.  And it was.  That was our Monaco.  It was older but well built and insulated, but we always seemed to have an issue with the batteries and inverter/converter.  It was frustrating!

Then decided we wanted our “dream” motorhome to use for retirement.  We purchased our 42′ Tourmaster motorhome.  All of these we spent at least 2-3 years using.

Well, the Tourmaster was very nice, but reality set it that when we retire, John didn’t have the background to work on a big rig (we try to do our own maintenance).  If we went back to a truck and 5th wheel, it would be more affordable for us in retirement.

Motorhome vs 5th Wheel – decided the 5th wheel was best for us

So our latest purchase a year ago was a new 2020 Grand Design Solitude 310.  We love it, it has all the bells and whistles, lots of living space, is still easy to set up, plenty of room for family to sit when we are group camping, and now we have an F450 truck to pull it.  So maintenance will be much more affordable on both, we hope anyhow.  Motorhome vs 5th Wheel.

Why we chose a 5th Wheel

We did a lot of research on trailers when looking, and decided on the Grand Design Solitude 310 for their reputation.  We purchased literally the weekend that Covid hit and things started shutting down, so I have to say that the warranty work needed has been a pain in the *&($%!  We had long delays getting replacement parts.  What is disappointing is the issues we have been having and everything that needed to be fixed or replaced.  It is still under warranty so it isn’t costing us anything but time and working our camping trips around it being in the shop.

Problems we have had with 5th wheel

Funny (or not so funny really) thing is, here we are 14 months later, still working on getting warranty work done, they are being good about covering it all, but it has been in the shop for warranty service about 5 months of the 14 months.  This is not all Grand Design’s fault.  Part of it is Covid, but more of it is the dealer who we have been having issues with.  Hoping to be done with it all in the next month.  We wanted to buy new so we wouldn’t have to worry about repairs . ugh!  Motorhome vs 5th Wheel.

So as far as motorhome vs 5th wheel, I know it is a personal preference, and usually, people’s ultimate goal is to do the opposite of what we did.  I now people usually want to move from a 5th wheel to a motorhome, but we did that and then went back.  We do miss being able to tow our small car around to use for running around, and I miss the washer and dryer (can put one in eventually) but overall, the 5th wheel was the best choice for us.  Motorhome vs 5th Wheel.