My husband and I have been shopping for a 5th wheel for about 8 years, so that when we retired we would know exactly what we wanted. We had already even purchased a tow vehicle and hitch. We both retired earlier this year. When we saw the Newport, it was nearly perfect. When I saw the floorplan for the Arlington in a brochure, it WAS perfect. Then I found out they had been discontinued. Then I found a brand new one online with all the features and colors we wanted. We put down a deposit over the phone. We got everything in place - a spot reserved at a secure RV storage facility, a campground reservation for on the way back home, we even purchased a satellite and receiver, surger protector, and a few other things. We drove 12 hours to go purchase it, and at the last minute (and I mean the VERY last minute) my husband backed out of the deal. His reason - he's "not comfortable" pulling it. He's never pulled one before, and it scares him. We asked the dealer about taking it out for a test drive, and they never really gave us an answer. So now we're on our way back home, with no trailer. I am at a loss as to how to convince him it's not that difficult. I am devastated by losing the perfect camper we've searched so long for, and I don't want to give up our retirement travelling dreams. Advice?
Ladies - I need some advice
- Thread starter SDurbak
- Start date
kowAlski631
Well-known member
Heaven knows that they can be intimidating to drive. We have a Bighorn 3670RL and when I first saw it I thought " Oh my goodness, what are we doing. This is huge and I don't think we should do this." But I'm so glad we didn't back out.
I doubt that any dealer would do the test drive thing. It's not a vehicle, it's a trailer and you'd need proper insurance in place to allow someone who's never driven one to do so. Personally, I wouldn't let someone drive mine.
But here's an option - find someone who transports trailers or drives semis for a living to drive it with your husband after the sale to get him and you comfortable with driving it. Our son taught me in an empty parking lot and I'm good now.
Good luck, Martha
I doubt that any dealer would do the test drive thing. It's not a vehicle, it's a trailer and you'd need proper insurance in place to allow someone who's never driven one to do so. Personally, I wouldn't let someone drive mine.
But here's an option - find someone who transports trailers or drives semis for a living to drive it with your husband after the sale to get him and you comfortable with driving it. Our son taught me in an empty parking lot and I'm good now.
Good luck, Martha
RoadJunkie
Well-known member
It's difficult to instill comfort into someone that feels insecure or uncomfortable regarding almost anything. My wife won't think of driving while pulling the 5'er and I would not put her in a position of insisting. I was not completely confident in pulling the rig when we got our first one, but I cautiously drove it off the dealer's lot to the nearest large parking lot, Lowe's if I remember correctly, and practiced maneuvering the beast until I felt comfortable moving on to a highway. The parking lot was a great place to practice backing and simulating RV park maneuvers. I suggest early mornings before the crowd gets there, my experience was on a Sunday morning. Another option is that if you have confidence and consider the task "not that difficult" is that you both do a tag-team and share the driving duties. At first you might request pull-through spaces at RV parks which will help. Be sure to watch your height limitations, especially service stations. Don't drive scared, but rather aware. The idea of a tutor is a good one.
Maybe I have a different mindset here, BUT if your husband isn't comfortable pulling something that large and heavy, how about downsizing to something smaller like a travel trailer or a shorter/lighter 5th wheel? possibly even something used? This way he could get a feel for towing something and if he doesn't like it, the price tag and depreciation hit would be much less than that brand new heavy 5th wheel. If he does like it and gets more comfortable towing something, then you could upgrade to the "dream" 5th wheel.
Garypowell
Well-known member
I agree with ziggyson. Get a 30 footer and try that for a while.
When anyone one approaches me and says the want to go full time but have never had a 5th wheel I tell them to go rent a small motor home for a week....they are rentable. Sometime that dream when it meets reality is not your cup of tea.
And frankly if your husband is not comfortable......travel in a car and motel it. You might get a few more miles out of him....which should be the real goal here.
When anyone one approaches me and says the want to go full time but have never had a 5th wheel I tell them to go rent a small motor home for a week....they are rentable. Sometime that dream when it meets reality is not your cup of tea.
And frankly if your husband is not comfortable......travel in a car and motel it. You might get a few more miles out of him....which should be the real goal here.
MountainDon
Active Member
Hello Sdurbak,
We have had travel trailers and a small fifth wheel before and in my ignorance lived with some damage to the rigs and my truck and a lot of stress.
We have not had a trailer for 10-15 years before last summer. The salesman tried to put us in our current rig, but I would not even consider it, because it was too big. I have a very narrow place to park our trailer and a lot of bad memories. We got a smaller trailer, that we ended up hating, but even still I was extremely stressed towing it at first. As I got used to it, the stress went away. We were able to sell the trailer and get our north trail, which is only 26.5 foot long, but seemed so huge last year. I do not have stress pulling this trailer now. I have been on the forum, gotten good advise and I have some experience. We just took a 1000 mile trip in it and We were able to be relaxed and happy. We are planning to get a mid sized fifth wheel in the future ( 35 ft ) and it doesn't bother me at all to think about it.
If your husband is stressed about the 5er, it will not be good for either of you. Try something that he can be comfortable with and gain the experience he needs. I understand completely about backing out at the last minute. Looking on paper at floor plans does NOT prepare you for the size of a 5er like that. You can find a rig you can both be happy with and maybe eventually work into a larger rig.
Good luck
Don
We have had travel trailers and a small fifth wheel before and in my ignorance lived with some damage to the rigs and my truck and a lot of stress.
We have not had a trailer for 10-15 years before last summer. The salesman tried to put us in our current rig, but I would not even consider it, because it was too big. I have a very narrow place to park our trailer and a lot of bad memories. We got a smaller trailer, that we ended up hating, but even still I was extremely stressed towing it at first. As I got used to it, the stress went away. We were able to sell the trailer and get our north trail, which is only 26.5 foot long, but seemed so huge last year. I do not have stress pulling this trailer now. I have been on the forum, gotten good advise and I have some experience. We just took a 1000 mile trip in it and We were able to be relaxed and happy. We are planning to get a mid sized fifth wheel in the future ( 35 ft ) and it doesn't bother me at all to think about it.
If your husband is stressed about the 5er, it will not be good for either of you. Try something that he can be comfortable with and gain the experience he needs. I understand completely about backing out at the last minute. Looking on paper at floor plans does NOT prepare you for the size of a 5er like that. You can find a rig you can both be happy with and maybe eventually work into a larger rig.
Good luck
Don
I'm not sure if this will help or not but my wife and I bought a 4270 just a couple of months ago. It is 44' long and the longest trailer I had pulled was 22'. My wife had never pulled a trailer before. In Colorado we found a trainer that spent a day with us in our truck and trailer and got both of us comfortable driving, turning, backing up, parking, driving in heavy city traffic, etc. It certainly helped both of us. I wish you the best of luck, whichever way you decide to go.
Al
Al
That sounds like an excellent idea. How do I go about finding a trainer?
I got in touch with some friends of mine who have a 5th wheel, and they agreed to let my husband try pulling theirs. My husband just spend about an hour driving it in different types of traffic, backing up into parking spaces in an empty parking lot, etc. He says it wasn't nearly as bad as he thought. So, that's progress.
BarbandFrank
Well-known member
Our Landmark is over 42 feet long and since we are full time, we both drive. I took lessons through an RV Driving School - two days behind the wheel - practicing highway driving, city driving, turns, backing up, using the mirrors, etc. It was a great experience - and one I highly recommend. It did a lot to build skill and confidence.
Good luck.
Barb
Good luck.
Barb
We talked to a local RV dealership (the one we bought the 5th wheel from). They gave us the trainer's name. The trainer was awesome and very patient. We even learned how to navigate through roundabouts which looked pretty scary at first but once you learn the techniques, they're pretty easy.
Al
