Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:12 pm
and here are my reasons why based on much experience with them.
I used to own a Towing Service...sold off my shares and retired for all of 4 months before I went stir crazy...another story. Among our clients were 6 RV dealers.
In dealing with RV's, Fifth Wheels, and Hitch Ball type trailers I firmly came to the conclusion I would ONLY buy a Hitch Ball type with either a round roof (think Airstream or Avion) or one whose roof lapped over the edge of the top...meaning the roof and wall did NOT meet at a 90 degree angle but in a seam several inches below the top where the roof curved over.
I'll explain the "round roof" first...in much older trailers you will notice two things...the metal sheeting is corrugated and the edge of the roof and the side wall meet at a 90 degree angle. The edge is sealed with massive amounts of silicone sealant in order to keep water out....however water puddles in the hollows of the corrugated roof sheet. Most trailers use a wood sub-skeleton (except Airstream and Avion they use aluminum). It is a given that over time the silicone breaks down or vibrations from being towed will crack it and you find out you have a roof leak about the time one of the kitchen cabinets falls to the ground.
Therefore you want something that has a round or flat smooth roof so water runs off...if the roof sheet folds over the edge and is sealed in a seam along the side water cannot puddle and leaks are much rarer.
The major problems with large motor powered RV's
are:
1/ Not being driven much. It is quite common to find 15 and 20 year old RV's with less than 50K miles on them. Also vehicles of any kind that are not driven much have problems with belts, hoses, gaskets, bearings and seals drying out, and brake shoes and calipers rusting in place. Frequent driving circulates the fluids...especially oils and grease which lubricate and protect those components.
Another problem if they aren't moved for any reasonable length of time is engine compartments and the insides of bumpers and frame rails are very attractive places for mice and squirrels to make nests and they are great wire chewers. Starting an RV after a number of months without checking out the engine compartment especially is inviting the possibility of a fire if they have build a nest on top the the exhaust manifolds...lots of dried grass in them.
Trailers only have tires, wheel bearings, and brakes to check out before going on your way...and better ones have full belly pans so that there is no where for the mice and squirrels to get in and at the wireing and other tasty edibles.
2/ Cost of Towing...Now if you happen to be traveling...it doesn't matter where you are in the US... towing a large motor home is expensive...and even more so west between the Mississippi and California. It requires specialized heavy equipment and there are a lot fewer wrecker services that have the eqiupment than those that only tow cars...and probably 40% of towing services that have the trucks capable of towing an RV will refuse to do so...they are VERY easy to damage and costly to fix.
Conversely because there aren't many services that will do it...especially out west...the cost of towing a large Class A (like Jacobs) can start at only a couple of hundred for a mile or two to $3000.00 plus in the direction of Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico...mainly because the nearest services with the proper equipment may be 200 or 300 miles away....as might be the only truck/rv garage.
Also when you get towed in to the repair shop the first question will be "What Hotel Do You Want To Stay In?"..because you can't stay in the RV while its in the shop...especially if the repairs will take several days.
At Least with a trailer (Fifth Wheel or Hitch Ball) the towing service can pull you through a site at the local campground, disconnect the trailer, and take your tow vehicle to the shop...at least you have your trailer to stay in.
Now the next problem...say the motors blown up an the shop says $20,000 to fix it...what are you going to do??? Abandon your home?..You're stuck paying it.
However if you have a Hitch Ball type trailer you sell the vehicle you used to tow it for scrap and get a U-Haul and tow your trailer home and worry about replacing the tow vehicle another day.
More problematical with a Fifth Wheel though... you can't rent trucks with fifth wheel couplings unless its a big road tractor...and you can't do that unless you have the proper CDL (commercial drivers license). Or you might get lucky and be able to pay someone at the campground to pull your trailer home...not as expensive as a tow truck but probably still a good chunk of change.
I used to own a Towing Service...sold off my shares and retired for all of 4 months before I went stir crazy...another story. Among our clients were 6 RV dealers.
In dealing with RV's, Fifth Wheels, and Hitch Ball type trailers I firmly came to the conclusion I would ONLY buy a Hitch Ball type with either a round roof (think Airstream or Avion) or one whose roof lapped over the edge of the top...meaning the roof and wall did NOT meet at a 90 degree angle but in a seam several inches below the top where the roof curved over.
I'll explain the "round roof" first...in much older trailers you will notice two things...the metal sheeting is corrugated and the edge of the roof and the side wall meet at a 90 degree angle. The edge is sealed with massive amounts of silicone sealant in order to keep water out....however water puddles in the hollows of the corrugated roof sheet. Most trailers use a wood sub-skeleton (except Airstream and Avion they use aluminum). It is a given that over time the silicone breaks down or vibrations from being towed will crack it and you find out you have a roof leak about the time one of the kitchen cabinets falls to the ground.
Therefore you want something that has a round or flat smooth roof so water runs off...if the roof sheet folds over the edge and is sealed in a seam along the side water cannot puddle and leaks are much rarer.
The major problems with large motor powered RV's
are:
1/ Not being driven much. It is quite common to find 15 and 20 year old RV's with less than 50K miles on them. Also vehicles of any kind that are not driven much have problems with belts, hoses, gaskets, bearings and seals drying out, and brake shoes and calipers rusting in place. Frequent driving circulates the fluids...especially oils and grease which lubricate and protect those components.
Another problem if they aren't moved for any reasonable length of time is engine compartments and the insides of bumpers and frame rails are very attractive places for mice and squirrels to make nests and they are great wire chewers. Starting an RV after a number of months without checking out the engine compartment especially is inviting the possibility of a fire if they have build a nest on top the the exhaust manifolds...lots of dried grass in them.
Trailers only have tires, wheel bearings, and brakes to check out before going on your way...and better ones have full belly pans so that there is no where for the mice and squirrels to get in and at the wireing and other tasty edibles.
2/ Cost of Towing...Now if you happen to be traveling...it doesn't matter where you are in the US... towing a large motor home is expensive...and even more so west between the Mississippi and California. It requires specialized heavy equipment and there are a lot fewer wrecker services that have the eqiupment than those that only tow cars...and probably 40% of towing services that have the trucks capable of towing an RV will refuse to do so...they are VERY easy to damage and costly to fix.
Conversely because there aren't many services that will do it...especially out west...the cost of towing a large Class A (like Jacobs) can start at only a couple of hundred for a mile or two to $3000.00 plus in the direction of Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico...mainly because the nearest services with the proper equipment may be 200 or 300 miles away....as might be the only truck/rv garage.
Also when you get towed in to the repair shop the first question will be "What Hotel Do You Want To Stay In?"..because you can't stay in the RV while its in the shop...especially if the repairs will take several days.
At Least with a trailer (Fifth Wheel or Hitch Ball) the towing service can pull you through a site at the local campground, disconnect the trailer, and take your tow vehicle to the shop...at least you have your trailer to stay in.
Now the next problem...say the motors blown up an the shop says $20,000 to fix it...what are you going to do??? Abandon your home?..You're stuck paying it.
However if you have a Hitch Ball type trailer you sell the vehicle you used to tow it for scrap and get a U-Haul and tow your trailer home and worry about replacing the tow vehicle another day.
More problematical with a Fifth Wheel though... you can't rent trucks with fifth wheel couplings unless its a big road tractor...and you can't do that unless you have the proper CDL (commercial drivers license). Or you might get lucky and be able to pay someone at the campground to pull your trailer home...not as expensive as a tow truck but probably still a good chunk of change.