Who has downsized from a fiver

[camperkilgore]

What did you downsize to, and any regrets?
Especially when it comes to towing, sway problems,and reduced room for your stuff.

We have a 2005 Keystone Cougar rear kitchen fiver that is 32' long and gvwr is about 10,000 give or take a few hundred.

We are getting older and the fiver is becoming a bit hard to deal with. The weight is also a factor. My wife and I might be better off in a smaller TT.......maybe in the 25' range. I would probably spring for a hensley hitch to have towing characteristics that are closer to the fiver.

We have owned a TT in the past, but it was 30' long, and I don't think I would like to get into another one that long. We would miss the storage in the fiver, but the more storage you have, the more stuff you bring with you. It would also be nice to get my truck bed back, with maybe a shell on the back for added space.

Any experience you might have would be appreciated.

[camperkilgore]

Kittykath wrote:
We decided to downsize from a 40' 5th wheel on a seasonal site all the way down to a 25' TT for ease of traveling. Sure, it's tight but not cramped with one large slide. I guess the Solaire 251RBSS is considered a couple's trailer with it's large bath and lack of sleeping space for guests. We were sold on the floor plan with it's unusual amount of storage for a trailer that small. I especially like the outdoor kitchen which allows us to move our activity outside easily. Now after 3 seasons, we're thinking about moving back to another 5th wheel to be able to pull an ATV trailer. We're in the market for something smaller this time, but with more of the bells and whistles we gave up with the TT. Looking for opposing slides if we can find it. As our lifestyle changes, so do our campers.

I know what you mean about bells and whistles that we might lose if we go to a TT. That's what makes our decision a difficult one. I've spent about 10 years making our fiver easy to use by adding this and that.

It's tough to weigh the advantages of a smaller camper vs the nice things that a larger one offers. I just have to think very hard about any difficulties we have with the fiver in regards to maneuvering, parking, and watching for low overhangs.

There have been situations in which the tall fiver has been a problem. A wrong turn comes to mind, where we went down a tight street with low tree limbs and close to the street sign posts that gave me an ulcer or two.

That Solaire looks very interesting.

[Kittykath]

We decided to downsize from a 40' 5th wheel on a seasonal site all the way down to a 25' TT for ease of traveling. Sure, it's tight but not cramped with one large slide. I guess the Solaire 251RBSS is considered a couple's trailer with it's large bath and lack of sleeping space for guests. We were sold on the floor plan with it's unusual amount of storage for a trailer that small. I especially like the outdoor kitchen which allows us to move our activity outside easily. Now after 3 seasons, we're thinking about moving back to another 5th wheel to be able to pull an ATV trailer. We're in the market for something smaller this time, but with more of the bells and whistles we gave up with the TT. Looking for opposing slides if we can find it. As our lifestyle changes, so do our campers.

[camperkilgore]

garysol wrote:

goducks10 wrote:

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs 🙂

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

We are just starting to deal with this as well after 25 years of marriage.

Yep, we seem to get worse the older we get. My problem is that my wife can go to sleep 30 seconds after she lays her head down, but I sometimes can't dose off for 20 minutes or more, depending on how tired I am.

Ear plugs help, but it seems like the snoring sound is just the right frequency to travel through the mattress right into my skull, bypassing the eardrums completely. Lol. 😞

[garysol]

goducks10 wrote:

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs 🙂

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

We are just starting to deal with this as well after 25 years of marriage.

[goducks10]

Bols2DawaLL wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs 🙂

x2. My wife snored REALLY BAD until she got rhinoplasty surgery. Now it's not near as bad. I'm a light sleeper until about 4-6 am. I still use earplugs. Have been for the last 10+ years.

[Bols2DawaLL]

camperkilgore wrote:
All good advice from you folks.

One of the big things with our consideration of a smaller camper is the fact that my wife SNORES. Well she also says that I SNORE too. Lol. So we can't sleep close to each other any more. That creates problems with floorplans that don't offer far apart sleeping quarters.

As the corporate guys say.....we are facing "challenges". To me they are problems. Lol. It's kind of fun looking for a solution though.

earplugs 🙂

[goducks10]

I sorta went the other way. I went form a 31' TT to a 28' 5th wheel. Same size inside sqft wise but way more storage inside and out.
Heading into our 6th season of camping starting in less than two weeks. Not sure I could go much smaller. I think about it from a simplicity standpoint at times. But then when we look at smaller TT's, it's like where would I put all our stuff? I would have to buy a shell for my truck. So thats even more money spent. I'm sure I could give up some gear we take but then why?
To get much smaller with a TT I'd have to downsize to a 23' OAL TT. Thats only 20' inside. I'd give up 8'. My trucks 22' and with the 5er I'm at 45' now.
So I'd be towing the same length but have way less usable space.

[pld33270]

Yes, we did the downsize.

We have have pulled TT from 17 thru 26 ft, then purchased a 32 ft 5er. the 5er towed the best and gave us plenty of space. After my daughter stopped camping with us my wife lost interest, I had an unforeseen job change with longer computer, etc. So, I sold 5er with with GMC Duramax. I purchased a GMC canyon as a daily driver, tow the boat, and for hauling lumber and stuff.

Last year my dear wife asked if we could get back into camping. The idea thrilled me. I did not want to purchase a truck and trailer, so we set our sights on smaller TTs, in which could be towed by our GMC Canyon with the 3.6L V6. We settled on the KZ Connect Lite C201QB. So far, we have been on 4 trips ranging from 2 to 5 nights from South Carolina beach to Tennessee mountains. We have found the layout very functional and comfortable. We share the space with 2 rat terriers. The truck could have handled a little larger/heavier trailer, but decide to be conservative. Other than wind gust and occasional tractor trailer, it handled very well. I use the Andersen WD/anti-sway hitch that works very well. As for space, we started with the must haves, then started adding the wanna haves. We still have some space for more things, but I thing we are well equipped now. This TT works well for two adults and two small fur kids. Also, since we were budget conscious, when I got the news 2 weeks after taking delivery on the trailer that I was being laid-off again, we were good.

[camperkilgore]

jnjeter wrote:
We are on our fifth TT and have had four 5th wheels in between . Our last 5'er was a 39'
Landmark. Without a doubt, all our 5'ers pulled/handled better than the TT's. Our main reason to return to a TT is that we don't need a big dully and what that encompasses
when driving w/o the trailer. The newer F-150's and 2500's are just nicer to drive and can handle most TT's.......of course I'm old and if younger, would stick with the 5ths.
Currently ; 2015 F-150 3.5L Eco-Boost & 2014 31' Keystone Passport ?

Do you have to use boards or lynx type leveling things to level your TT?

My wife and I are also beginning to feel our age. Getting close to 70.
I think I would really miss the 'Ground Control' electric leveling jacks that our fiver has. So I would probably buy a set of those for whatever TT we might trade for. Can't see myself using boards to level the camper like we used to do.

So I need to weigh the advantages of pulling less weight vs losing some of the nice things about our fiver.

[jnjeter]

We are on our fifth TT and have had four 5th wheels in between . Our last 5'er was a 39'
Landmark. Without a doubt, all our 5'ers pulled/handled better than the TT's. Our main reason to return to a TT is that we don't need a big dully and what that encompasses
when driving w/o the trailer. The newer F-150's and 2500's are just nicer to drive and can handle most TT's.......of course I'm old and if younger, would stick with the 5ths.
Currently ; 2015 F-150 3.5L Eco-Boost & 2014 31' Keystone Passport ?

[garysol]

We went from a 33ft TT to a 40ft FW and now we are back to a 29ft TT. The fifth wheel was just a huge pain for us. The size made quick last minute trips a bit of a daunting task. Where will I stop for fuel, where can we stop to eat, can we find a site that we fit in.....etc...... The smaller travel trailer at least to me is just a "simpler" camper.

[camperkilgore]

arkie guide wrote:
We had a 35' T.T. and a 35' 5th wheel with slide out,and went back down to a 24 foot T.T.
, now we are thinking even smaller.

Good luck.

24' would be about right for us I think.

Are you thinking smaller than that for boondocking? The smaller the camper is, the more chance of parking just about anywhere especially when boondocking.

That also reminds me that in a lot of situations ground clearance might be an issue. A lot of campers are just too close to the ground it seems, and we've been in some very unlevel terrain where a low camper might drag.

[arkie_guide]

We had a 35' T.T. and a 35' 5th wheel with slide out,and went back down to a 24 foot T.T.
, now we are thinking even smaller.

Good luck.

[NWnative]

camperkilgore wrote:

NWnative wrote:
Downgraded from a 35ft 5vr to a 30ft class C and eventually settled on a 30TT with no slides. Best decision we ever made. Just enough room for us and we can get it into most state parks / campsites. Very happy with the decision and, we find that we spend more time outside enjoying nature than sitting around in a big 'home on wheels' so to speak.

Have been thinking about Airstreams along with other possibilities.

What is your feeling about the Airstream towing performance compared to a fiver? Seems like they would be better in the wind due to the shape. Any sway issues for you?

I am considering a Hensley hitch if we go with a TT. Do you think it might be a good thing, or unnecessary? We pull with a Ram 2500 Cummins 5.9.

The AS tows well in my opinion. You will have no problem with the 2500. I tow with an F150 currently and it's a pleasant experience towing. The aerodynamics are a factor but so is the low center of gravity with the AS and the torsion axles.

I have never used the Henssley but, people who do swear by them. Certainly can't go wrong with that combo.