New to the site so apologies if this has already been dealt with. Am approaching retirement and plan to buy first caravan and make trips of various length (1 week to 3 months). We have looked at motorhomes, caravans and 5th wheels and are leaning towards 5th wheel at the moment, swayed by the extra room afforded by the pull-outs. Need a car anyway, so having to get a pick-up is not an issue and I'm guessing the extra weight is going to give us some fuel penalty. Question is: What are the pros and cons in the 'van vs 5th wheel debate? Would appreciate some advice from more experienced members.
We enjoyed Duinrell in Holland a few years ago but the new van we have is too long to go there. It might be similar with 5th wheelers. I do like them though.
A caravan can be uncoupled and manoeuvred within its length, whilst the 5th wheeler has to have the tractor unit coupled making for a greatly increased manoeuvring length.
Thus for us it cant be entertained as our road is not wide enough to turn into our property; much the same will happen accessing some pitches, particularly when sites are near full.
Pity really as the welsh offerings have a lot of appeal.
If you are confident reversing and don't mind that some sites don't like Fifth Theel outfits as we have found with our Twin Axle then my vote would be go for the extra room and home comforts.
A 5th wheel is not something I would entertain as they are just too big. The point that JTQU makes about not being able to move it unless hitched up is an important consideration. Many sites, particularly abroad, could make reversing into a pitch difficult, especially on popular sites. There was one at Broadway last week which has pretty good sized pitches but unhitched it took up the whole depth of the pitch. Also don't forget that if you are camping mainly in the summer you will spend a lot of time out side the unit.
There was one on sandringham C&CC last week. It was one of the 5th wheel company ones and was one of the smaller models. It was certainly no longer than many twin axle caravans. Probably a lot less length than some outfits when hitched up.
Many thanks for the replies and advice - much appreciated. Certainly set us thinking! Guess we need to go to as many shows as we can before we buy (and talk to as many people as possible!) Newbury is the next one we can make.
I have seen the Eterniti range today. Saw the article in Practical Caravan and looked them up on the internet. Hopefully we'll see them 'in the flesh' at a show soon.
The Eterniti look very interesting; do they look similar inside to existing British caravans or are they continental looking or anything like Stealth? (perish the thought!)
Quote: Originally posted by David Klyne on 02/4/2012
A 5th wheel is not something I would entertain as they are just too big. The point that JTQU makes about not being able to move it unless hitched up is an important consideration. Many sites, particularly abroad, could make reversing into a pitch difficult, especially on popular sites. There was one at Broadway last week which has pretty good sized pitches but unhitched it took up the whole depth of the pitch. Also don't forget that if you are camping mainly in the summer you will spend a lot of time out side the unit.
David
For any given size of caravan a conventional caravan is always going to be longer than a fifth wheel unit.
The fifth wheel is within the the length of the towing vehicle and there is no drawbar on the 'van so a fifth wheel combo is going to be shorter than a conventional car / caravan.
I will concede that fifth wheel caravan manufacturers do seem to go large, I don't see many 14 /15 / 16 feet units around! Maybe they are missing a trick here.....
One other thing....... Fifth wheel units are harder to steal.......
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i would think it would be motor home v 5th wheel as the costs are in the ballpark, the caravan it good but motorhomes are better for touring like wise the 5 th wheel is even better as you have the option to remove the pickup and use all the time once you are not using the motorhome a lot of the cost is for a engine that you do not use that much, me i would have one today, err just need the money.
Not like the Stealth, a bit American outside but with brighter, european internal design.
Mike
Ooh I like these! I like the thought of that extra floor space, look really nice outside too.
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The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
One thing to consider is the water supply/disposal issues. We were on a site with one a few years ago and the chap had to rig a huge length of hose to fill his tanks and then realised that he could not, without considerable effort, empty his grey water.
IMO they are really too big for the average UK and continental site....excellent pieces of kit that they are!
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Topic: Caravan vs 5th wheel
