Looking for the perfect 5th wheel RV

My wife and I have begun our journey to find the perfect fiver. We want a rear living area with a side bath. We do not want the shower in the bedroom area. Does anyone have a model like this and how do you like it? Thanks!

First I don't think there is a perfect 5th wheel. We have owned 5 since we began RVing. We have like somethings in all of them. But we didn't like some of them. We did have a inclosed bath room (slept in it 8 nights), which was a expensive mistake to change to something we like more. We feel you lose to much space and we also didn't like the John inside the shower room. We like the open space in the shower and bedroom area. But again each will have their on thoughts, likes and dislikes. I recomend you spend a lot of time inside several floor plans. And take your time, and research, research and them research some more. However now is the perfect time to buy, many good buys out there. GBY...

We also don't feel there is a perfect unit and agree on the all in one bath. We like the openess of the split bath and so far everything we look at we compare it to the Big Horn 3400RL.

I realize there is no "perfect" rv. We are just looking for the right rv that fits our needs at this time. We purchased a travel trailer a few years ago and realize that it is not comfortable for what we want. We have looked at Keystone's Challenger 32SAT and 34RSA. I have heard good things about Heartland, and plan on looking at the Bighorn and Big Country.

Look at the Big Horn 3370 its the floor plan your speaking of. We went from the split bath to the 3370 because of the all in one bath but we did opt for a queen size bed.That gives more room in the bedroom.But that is why they build so many floorplans so everyone has a choice! Good luck in your search but spend a lot of time in each. Patti & Jon

Delaine and Lindy said:

We did have a inclosed bath room (slept in it 8 nights)

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WOW, that must have been a heck of a party, I ain't never been that tore upNone

Best advice I can give you is to find a dealer with several floorplans in stock or go to a show and look at them. Step into the shower and move like you are soaping up, sit on the toilet seat and reach for the toilet paper and actually perform any fancy manuvering you might have to do to finish the job (I'm not kidding), lay down on the bed, get up and pretend you're getting dressed, try everyplace you will have to sit, lay, use or walk around and find what suits you best. It's the only way to get something you can truely live with in the limited amount of space in an RV.

Happy hunting

Turbopilot51, pmmjarrett said it all. Try to go to RV shows and try everything out for size. You can browse www.heartlandrvs.com the Heartland website for floorplans that will give you an idea of models that are available that would suit your needs. I like the Bighorn3580. It has a split bath that has doors on both sides for privacy. Good Luck and Welcome to the Heartland Forum.

turbopilot51,

Lot's of great suggestions here so far. While not fully-inclusive, below is my list of things to consider when choosing one of the Heartland brands:

Price point*

• Landmark - Heartland's top-of-the-line
• Bighorn ~$10k less than Landmark
• Big Country ~$10k less than Bighorn
• Eagle Ridge price TBD
• Sundance/North Trail ~$10k less than Big Country

Profile: Mid or Full Profile

• Full Profile: Landmark, Bighorn, Big Country & Eagle Ridge
• Mid Profile: Sundance, North Trail

Bath: Split (separate commode room) or all-in-one:

• Most of our brands have split and all-in-one floor plans available. Some people prefer the commode in its own room while others prefer the convenience of having a bathroom just like in a home, all-in-one room.

Interior Wood Finish:

• Medium Cherry - Landmark and Eagle Ridge
• Oak - Bighorn, Big Country, Sundance, North Trail and Landmark**

Interior Hardware Finish:

• Brushed Nickel - Landmark
• Oil Rubbed Bronze - Bighorn, Big Country, Eagle Ridge, Sundance and North Trail

I think I got all the above right None If not, I'll correct as I am corrected by others.

Footnotes:
* While we do not allow coach pricing (other than MSRP) to be posted on the forum, the $10k steps I listed above are rough/generalized but still gives you a sense of the pricing steps between the brands.

** We are experimenting with Oak in Landmark for those who prefer it. Ask your dealer or regional Heartland Rep about this option

The only thing I'd change in our 3370 after using the heck out of it for a year, is I'd order the queen bed and skip the king. While it is nice and roomy, another few inches around the bed would be good too. I do like the 2009's hallway pocket door design instead of our full swing door, but then I'd have no place to hang my bathrobe.
I didn't go into detail about our comparison shopping on Rvnet, But our final choices were Everest, Cardinal and a Cedar Creek. When we finally saw a Heartland, we were impressed. After we walked around the RV Expo and looked at everything again, as compared to the Heartland, there was no comparison in that price point. The solid wood face frames on the cabinets were a huge thing for me as I have spent a lot of time touching up nicks in vinyl wrapped wood. When we looked in late 2007, none of the above mentioned brands had wood cabinet frames or even full extension drawers. Also, everything standard on the Heartland was an option on the others. When you started adding up all the options, what seemed like a better buy, wasn't. One example is the 15K Ac unit instead of the 13.5 and a 12 gal gas/elec water heater. Standard on HL BH, options on others. Weight was also a factor for us and in our shopping, we only compared similar models. With the aluminum framing, the 3 foot longer BH weighed over 1000 lbs. less than the 30' Cardinal we almost bought.
Just my opinion, and no matter what you buy, I hope you find a rig you love as much as we do our Big Horn.

We recently purchased a BH 3670RL. Like you we wanted the enclosed bath and plenty of living space. And a big kitchen with lots of counter space and storage. We stopped at a couple of dealerships and looked around, searched the internet for floorplans, and went to a couple of shows. We looked at Cameo's, Cedar Creeks, Montana's, and pictures of a few others. The last show (Novi, MI, early October) was the first time I encountered a Bighorn that I could get inside, and it was from the same dealer that sold us our travel trailer (didn't show on their website until recently). There are several brands with the side bath and lots of other goodies, but I have to agree that once you've seen the Heartlands, it's hard to look any where else. One of my "quirks" is to open the cabinets and drawers and check the woodworking quality. If it's Splinter City, it tells me their quality control may be lacking in other areas, as well. And the use of "Euro-hinges" on cabinet doors is a real step above face frame exposed hinges and plastic support struts. Ragged plywood drawers and uncleaned pocket holes (along with plastic wrapped wood) turned me off real fast. Then I crawl to the off-door side and look at where the sewer fittings and controls are. Some like to put them under the slide, where they're not easy to get at. And Heartland's basement is about the biggest, most open one out there.

Rear living fifth wheel with side bath.

Take a look at the 3385rl Big Horn r the 3670rl Big Horn. The Sundance 3300sk is also another great side bath.

Perfect For Us

everyone's perfect is different - for us it is the 2009 sundance 3300sk. it is a midprofile and not for anyone over 6 ft. tall, but we are not...None
side bath is great and quite large.
we just need a queen-size bed, and that is standard. lots of closet and drawer space in the bedroom. love the linen closet!
kitchen has more countertop space than many larger 5th wheels - i like the microwave over a countertop area and not over the stove.
length of this camper is just under 35 ft. and we did not want anythng larger/longer - so, as i said "perfect" for us. hope you find yours...
jim & harriet dahlgren
roanoke,va

Perfect? No such thing...not in the world of the RV...there's close btw!

My wife and I prefer the Side Isle bathroom, alot more room all in one area, one thing to consider, from our past units, is that large skylight over the shower, which lets the light in very early in the morning, so this was one of the reasons for choosing the side Isle bath,alot more room light,when the bedroom and shower, are all in one area.

You're alll a little off the mark. Some of us know that the CYCLONE is the perfect 5er! I can't believe Jim left it out! JK

htneighbors said:

...I can't believe Jim left it out! JK

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I'd love to have a Cyclone too - it would just need to be 55' long

Not a Cyclone, a Landmark with a Garage

jpmorgan37 said:

Not a Cyclone, a Landmark with a Garage

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Yes! I sit corrected

Jim

It would be nice to have a Landmark with a garage to compete with the Escalade Sport.