My wife and I may be retireing in a couple of years and are thinking as taking a trip around europe and staying in warmer clims in the winter at present tour in a bailey caravan but will need more space for a longer trip have looked at rv but mpg etc worries the wife.Starting to look at fifth wheels any members comments welcome.
main points I do not know
1, best pick up not american mpg etc
2, any problems at campsites
3,what are the imported american fifth wheels like build quality etc
4 ,are the british ones better as seem to be a lot more to buy
5,any other points.
Looking forward to the new year as just had a year out building a house so now back to my house on wheels.
Thank you for all you replys an if any members are in Cornwall and would not mind would love to see what fifth wheels are all about
Having toured all over Europe with a caravan, I think you might be limited in your choice of campsites with a fifth wheel. This is certainly true for RV's, as pitch sizes vary a lot and can be on the small side sometimes. We've seen RV's that had to take up, and pay for, two pitches. We saw a fifth wheel on a French campsite in December - it was on its way to Spain. It couldn't fit on a pitch and had to park on one of the roads inside the site - this was ok as the site was almost empty, but at other times could be a problem.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
In Spain at the moment on La Manga where there are a few fivers on site but most of them never leave here. The ones that do seem to head straight back to the UK.
They are too big for most sites in France as they require easy access and also a large deep pitch.
You might not need as big an outfit as you think. Our caravan is 24 ft 11 in, (7.6 metres) and since retiring we've twice spent a full year travelling round Europe, with a two year break in between. We found the van plenty big enough, even allowing for the fact that we had to take clothes for all kinds of weather, cold as well as hot, enough Yorkshire Tea bags to last a year, spare bedding and pillows, books to read and even jigsaws to do!
Our 'van has fixed twin beds, which we find a lot easier than having to climb over each other to go to the loo in the night! We made full use of the underbed storage areas for bedding and clothes, as well as the usual lockers and wardrobe, and checked the weight to make sure it was ok. Of course when you're on a site your awning doubles your living area.
Another possibility is a twin-axle (I don't know Baileys well so I'm assuming your present van is single-axle.) You'd be slightly more restricted in your choice of sites which could take a twin-axle.
If you'd like to know how we got on and where we went, have a look at our blog:
Thanks for all your feedbacks most helpfull at present we run a twin axel with fixed bed but we like to spread out, will have to look at all the typs of van avaible and campers etc .If any members have any more feed back please continue thanks for comments so far
I would never go back to a drawbar caravan, we are on our 2nd 5th wheel. Disadvantages are you must be able to reverse, some sites are too small or they don't like you, people keep looking at you or come over and talk to you. Our 5th wheel is Approx 32 Ft long and is pulled by a Dodge Ram 2500 with a Cummins 5.9L TD. Overtaking lorries is a joy, no swaying, same on a windy day. I have electric brakes, so I can stop, a lot better than overrun brakes. Large fixed bed which is in a slide out, so can walk around the bed room. It has separate shower and separate toilet. A large main living area with a large slide out. High headroom, at the lowest approx 7ft going up to over 8ft. Large water and waste tanks. Outside under the bedroom a large storage area that carries 1300 Kg. I use the Dodge as my everyday car and get 22 MPG which I can live with. I could go on all day about the advantages of a 5th wheel
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Fifth wheel
