Trailer or Fifth Wheel? WATCH THIS FIRST!!

hey everybody josh the rv nerd here at hayward rv of coldwater michigan and a question i get with just almost everyday frequency is what is better a travel trailer or fifth wheel but the answer that question is a little more complicated than either this one or that one it boils down a little bit to how you're going to use it and what sort of benefits are you looking for because if one was just better than the other they wouldn't build both types now the thing is to really answer this question right like right right to help you make sure you're finding the right one the only way to really do that is we need to get the chance to speak with you we need to be able to get to know you we need to learn things like are you going to be parking the rv are you going to be towing it are you going to be towing it short distance long distance what kind of terrain are you expecting what type of weather are you expecting there's a lot of really big variables that go into this and without the chance to get to know a client it's really hard for us to be able to answer those things effectively so instead what i'm going to focus on this video here is to give you a general idea of the benefits of a trailer versus a fifth wheel to maybe help get you steering down the right track and then to narrow in a little bit further all you got to do is give our team here at halo rv a call in exchange for the fair shake at working with you we're always happy to dive in and take the time to get to know folks and help provide some suggestions but to get those good personalized suggestions we got to know what makes you tick guys uh a lot of times people will leave me a comment all the time says i got a 1500 with a v8 what can i pull what's the best one there's no answer to that question i have no idea what kind of things you're looking for but i can maybe help you start to look a little more toward the right direction so what are like the guaranteed aspects of a travel trailer that will always reign supreme in comparison to a fifth wheel well the first thing is there's just physically less trailer there there's physically less construction and that immediately translates into less weight less cost your hitching is less expensive unless you go some very specialized travel trailer hitching but generally speaking your hitching will cost less here another really cool factor on travel trailers is they are generally speaking easier to resell that'll vary slightly but nine times out of ten it's easier to find a home for a trailer because there are more people who can afford and tow one of these whereas a fifth wheel it takes some more specialized hardware a little bit deeper pockets now just for a little quick confirmation of something i just said how a trailer will cost less than a fifth wheel what about a really specialized example like this like jayco makes one of the few things i call a true flat deck 5th wheel the full what i call big bird eagle series right here behind us is a 330 rsts it has dual opposing living room super slides big king bedroom it's a washer and dryer prepped it has all those things that you find in a fifth wheel but it's here in a travel trailer they make this exact same floor plan in a fifth wheel called a 321 rsts exact same layout a real similar weight in size but the thing is because the fifth wheel version has to goose neck up there's more structure there's more material there's more time and labor that goes into it this will still weigh a little bit less and it will generally cost several thousand less than the equivalent like part for part match in a fifth wheel so trailers will be less weight and cost just simply largely due to the fact that they don't have to gooseneck up they're physically smaller in size now that's an extreme example where you try to put a trailer and a fifth wheel head to head most of the time most trailers are significantly smaller than fifth wheels which translates into significant cost and weight savings so then if trailers are so good at things why would anyone ever choose a fifth wheel because they got their own list of awesome sauce qualities and really i think one of the biggest ones immediately to discuss is the fact the fifth wheel's toe nicer they absolutely toe nicer and it is due to the way that the weight uh of the rv is loaded onto the vehicle um your vehicle is designed to handle weight basically like especially a truck since we're talking fifth wheel weight in the bed of the pickup not behind it like a travel trailer now vehicles are good and travel trailer hitching systems have improved dramatically from what they used to be years ago but a fifth wheel most definitely still tows nicer just almost by default um another thing is fifth wheels tend to get bigger outside storage bays you tend to get more outside storage also fifth wheels tend to be larger and they are commonly associated with a what i call higher trim package now that's not as true as it used to be it used to be like there were trailers and there were fifth wheels and they were up here and nowadays you can get travel trailers that are on par with nearly any fifth wheel but typically speaking a travel trailer will kind of go what i sort of call low to upper middle class if that makes sense well fifth wheels will kind of start middle class and go all the way up to that luxury like lifestyles of the rich and famous kind of level the glamping yes so you're thinking which one's better then dude like cut to the chase here and that's the thing they're all better in a little bit different ways and it really depends on how you're planning to use the rv and just as much what you plan to tow it with if you plan to tow at all so let me give you some situations here so let's say the situation is you just don't plan to tow at all in that case from a logical dollar per dollar perspective a travel trailer makes more sense because you're not paying for the extra construction of a fifth wheel that gives you in the enhanced tow ability you're probably not paying for fancy jack and leveling systems and things like that that you get on a fifth wheel that you're not getting the benefit of when the rv's not being towed and really that is where something like these uh wildwood lodge and grand lodge destination trailers really shines through because it still gives you the big space and all the big features of a fifth wheel but it does it by peeling out the things that make a fizz wheel a fifth wheel so if you're not planted to tow it a travel trailer can be a great option and remember you got things like those uh big full big bird eagles out there that give you all those big fifth wheel features on one flat deck which is very nice if you got bad knees and don't want to be going up and down stairs so what if you're going to be doing some towing but you're not going to live life on the road uh that is really like one of the best case scenarios for a conventionally constructed travel trailer often called stick and tin because they give you uh like a lot of features per dollar but you're not paying extra money for things like a smooth skin aluminum skeleton trailer and a fancy suspension system that will help you with the high mileage towing that you're not doing here so you're thinking yeah but what if i am going to be towing a lot that is where a laminated smooth skin trailer which not always but often comes with some kind of enhanced suspension package that would potentially be a good fit for a high mileage tower and goer but if you have plans to do things like full time rving and you want to spend most of your time in the rv potentially moving and on the road or you want a nice big space when you get there but you're going to kind of bounce around the country a few times maybe a couple weeks a couple months here and there we're going to do some north south florida kind of sunburning in relation to michigan you get the idea whatever works for you that is when a fifth wheel really shines the most because it's going to give you those big long-term use and features the extra storage with the enhanced tow ability that is where it's really a total package and all that's great in theory but so much of it really needs to be shaped by the vehicle and that is a conversation that has not had enough between dealers and customers and a lot of it is due to the fact that i think a lot of dealers and manufacturers they're afraid to lose a sale instead of actually doing the job of investigating and getting to know and meeting a customer and making sure what they can and cannot haul safely they're more worried about just getting the sale done that is not our goal here at halodrv we are a safety before the sale kind of place we're family owned and operated i'm a son of mr haylett i'm an sob with a phd son of the boss's parent had a dealership and that is not just a haylet bumper sticker on the back of that cougar it is my family name i take that very seriously and it's why i get so revved up about certain topics because i see how it affects people and i see my family name associated with that and i want you folks to to always know that we're going to give you good straight information and one of the biggest misconceptions out there is half tons and fifth wheels now we will absolutely always get into this in more detail but something you need to understand is that very few half-ton pickups are truly well equipped to handle fifth wheel rvs and the long and the short of it is there's uh like you might have a half ton with a monstrously high tow rating that rivals that of a three quarter ton pickup totally understand that's possible like you get up i got a half done pick up with a 12 000 pound tow rating great this rv behind me it weighs like 9 000 pounds so you're thinking i should be fine right probably not because the hitch weight the weight on the front of that cougar is more than the payload capacity meaning how much weight i can press down into the bed of your pickup before your suspension and brakes and other things are overloaded there's a lot that goes into this you know it's more than just what's my tow rating there's a lot of different factors that go into it and we again to do this correctly really need to get to know you to make sure that we can always keep you and your family safe um there are some fifth wheels that will legitimately be half ton towable things like arctic wolves tend to be lighter but understand sometimes to get you down to those weight ratings there are things that have to be omitted from the rv things that you'll find in a montana that you cannot find in a lighter half-ton towable fifth wheel and that's exactly conversations like that are exactly why i say to really answer this question right which one's better trailer or fifth wheel we really need to get to know you now obviously if you've got a you know like an suv or something like that well then you're by default in the travel trailer market but i don't believe those folks are watching this video not with the serious intention of pulling a fifth wheel anyway i think there's a lot of people out there with pickups of some variety who maybe haven't had an rv or considering upgrading and trading out and you're trying to figure out which way do i go with this thing there are benefits both ways and it really is just a matter of finding the one that fits your needs wants and desires the best and if you give us a chance to do that here at hayward rv i mean we got a sieve inventory chances are we're going to have something that works for you so in general though a travel trailer probably a good direction for you to start looking if you're on a a more limited budget or you're just trying to keep your budget a little more conservative maybe this is your first time around you don't want to go neck deep into something without knowing how well it's going to work for you whereas the fifth wheel will be a really good fit for high frequency travelers and people who are going to spend a great deal of time in the rv and there are all sorts of shades in between that's why we have hundreds of these things here because i can't find the one that everybody agrees on and if you can help me do that i will pay you some serious cash money because that would massively simplify my life and our life [Music] so if this has been beneficial make sure you hit that subscribe button and follow along and you know we've got all kinds of different rv tours and tips and tricks and how to's and things like this out all the time and when you are ready we're not a high pressure place we are mom and pop shop we've just grown to be very successful uh when you're ready to kind of investigate a little further and make that idea a little closer to reality give our team here a call and we would love to meet you so that we can get an idea of like how you're going to be using it what you towing with where are you going all those things there's there's layers to this thing guys like like an onion or parfait as we learned watching shrek and donkey so as always thank you very much for tuning in take care stay safe have fun and happy haylett camping everyone appreciate it very much [Music] you

Channel: Haylett RV Reviews, News, & More

Views: 59,057

Rating: 4.9734998 out of 5

Keywords: Michigan, RV Dealer, camper, wholesale, josh the rv nerd, camping, travel, rving, rvs, rv, rv sales, rv for sale, rv nerd

Id: 0CLhcR4GW_M

Length: 12min 42sec (762 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 05 2021