How important is length really?

[TXAdjLady]

I just joined the forum & we are looking to purchase our first GD. We started pulling a travel trailer years ago when the kids were small, but trips were typically only an hour or so away. Once the kids were out of the nest, we moved up to a fifth wheel, which is now sitting on a permanent location at the lake. We have never pulled our current RV, as our truck is not large enough (F150). We are retiring now & want to start traveling nationwide. We plan to buy a larger truck, sell our current 37’ RV and buy one with a king bed. I’ve heard for years that you shouldn’t go any longer than 35-36’ or it would be hard to find spots in national parks, etc. I’m hoping that has changed over the years, but wanted to ask the opinion of experienced full timers. What size would you buy? My favorite floor plan is the 41’ with opposing couches at the rear, as it would allow plenty of room for my kids & grandkids to sleep when we’re home at the lake; however, my husband is concerned it’s too large to travel easily. What do y’all think? Go for the big one, or stay in the 35’ range? We’ll select the tow vehicle once we’ve decided which size RV to go with. Thanks in advance for your opinions!

[xrated]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about being able to stay at a National Park, there are plenty of private campgrounds close to all the National Parks and many that will accommodate big rigs. In my opinion, I would rather have a camper that I want and fits my needs for space requirements and being able to accommodate the kids and grandkids, than to worry about fitting in some of the state parks and national park's campgrounds.

[MoonShadow_1911]

I just joined the forum & we are looking to purchase our first GD. We started pulling a travel trailer years ago when the kids were small, but trips were typically only an hour or so away. Once the kids were out of the nest, we moved up to a fifth wheel, which is now sitting on a permanent location at the lake. We have never pulled our current RV, as our truck is not large enough (F150). We are retiring now & want to start traveling nationwide. We plan to buy a larger truck, sell our current 37’ RV and buy one with a king bed. I’ve heard for years that you shouldn’t go any longer than 35-36’ or it would be hard to find spots in national parks, etc. I’m hoping that has changed over the years, but wanted to ask the opinion of experienced full timers. What size would you buy? My favorite floor plan is the 41’ with opposing couches at the rear, as it would allow plenty of room for my kids & grandkids to sleep when we’re home at the lake; however, my husband is concerned it’s too large to travel easily. What do y’all think? Go for the big one, or stay in the 35’ range? We’ll select the tow vehicle once we’ve decided which size RV to go with. Thanks in advance for your opinions!

I just joined the forum & we are looking to purchase our first GD. We started pulling a travel trailer years ago when the kids were small, but trips were typically only an hour or so away. Once the kids were out of the nest, we moved up to a fifth wheel, which is now sitting on a permanent location at the lake. We have never pulled our current RV, as our truck is not large enough (F150). We are retiring now & want to start traveling nationwide. We plan to buy a larger truck, sell our current 37’ RV and buy one with a king bed. I’ve heard for years that you shouldn’t go any longer than 35-36’ or it would be hard to find spots in national parks, etc. I’m hoping that has changed over the years, but wanted to ask the opinion of experienced full timers. What size would you buy? My favorite floor plan is the 41’ with opposing couches at the rear, as it would allow plenty of room for my kids & grandkids to sleep when we’re home at the lake; however, my husband is concerned it’s too large to travel easily. What do y’all think? Go for the big one, or stay in the 35’ range? We’ll select the tow vehicle once we’ve decided which size RV to go with. Thanks in advance for your opinions!

We start our full-time journey in August of this year. We have a 35' 320MKS. My wife wanted something around 28', but the floor plans, across all the manufacturers that we looked at, in a word, sucked. She wanted the 28' because we would be able to get into 98% of state and national parks. Well, after listing out what we had to have in a coach, then what would be nice to have, the coach floor plans we were looking at got longer. After some research, a 35' fifth wheel will be able to fit in approximately 70% of all state and national parks.

The general rule of thumb here is to make sure, by calling the park, that you will fit. In some cases, the park may only have 1 or 2 spaces that will accommodate your rig.

I would think the most important thing, for us anyway, was to list out the "must haves", "nice to haves", and "luxury" things within the coach, then find floor plans that match at least the "must haves" list. We were lucky with the 320MKS; it fit all of our must have and nice to have list, except for the length. We were looking at the 344GK which is a Solitude line coach, but was 2' longer than the 320MKS (which is a Reflection line coach). The floor plans were almost identical, but for some reason the 344GK just didn't "feel right" compared to the 320MKS. So, that is how we decided. I'm good with around 70% of all state and national parks. Since I still work full-time and she is retired, I really need electric to work, so we might be visting state and national parks over weekends.

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[trailrydr]

We have a 295RL 5er which is 33" long from hitch to tail. It weighs only 9k dry and pulls nice. Might consider it if a 5er is what your looking for. BTW, it's also under 13' tall.

[FlyStar]

We tow a 37’ 312bhts and love it. Room for grandkids. And as they get older they want their own room. Perfect.

Also, when you want to read and your partners wants to watch a movie, this rig has two rooms. Perfect again.

Can’t fit in National Parks. Is a con. But. Well. Those grandkids want to stay with us.

It depends on your mission.


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[Ynot4me2]

Humm I guess it depends who you ask. Lol just had to.
Get the shortest floor plan that checks all of your must have needs. Dont ignore the nice to have needs. What is important to us is accessing the toilet while the slide is closed, fridge and bedroom are bonuses. The longer you are the more limited spots you will have access to but as mentioned above, every cg has spots for large rigs but will they be available? At the same time, it's your home so you need to be comfortable and enjoy it. If your going to be traveling a lot, you need to comfortable towing it around also.

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[goducks14]

I would suggest making a mock trip of where you want to go. See if the places you REALLY want to stay in have room. Try booking those spots for real. I think you'll find out that the long sites go 1st.
Sure you can stick a 41' 5er somewhere but not everywhere.
FWIW yesteray at an RV park we're at a guy rolled in with a DRW truck and what looked to be a 38-40' 5er. He couldn't back it in because the road was too narrow.
I stuck my 31' TT in a spot almost exactly the same length and configuration as his.
He ended up in another spot.
So yeah the site may be long enough but getting it in is another story.
Not to mention the everyday towing of it with stops for food, gas and pee.

[CaptPicardo]

We've done mostly standard RV parks over 18 months full-time, however I have a good friend who did 13 months full-time in a full-size GD Momentum across all lower 48 states, mostly boondocking and the first words he always share with me was to prepare for more damage, more warranty issues (due to roads) and more risks. I took away from that, you can do a lot of parks in a big fiver but be prepared to navigate some really tricky circumstances with some damage. That's a very general statement but wanted to share.

[Tom Traveler]

As others have said, it's all in how you are going to use it. We are going to full time for 7 months per year and need room for hiking and climbing gear, kayaking gear, skiing gear, fishing gear, bicycles and gear, etc. See where this is going? Need space for a computer system setup with a decent monitor and printer and enough room to not feel continuously cramped and on top of each other. That resulted in a 380FL with all of the rear storage including pull out tray. It is 41.5 ft from pin to bumper, 43 ft overall. We will most likely have to stay outside of Parks and drive the few miles to them. That's OK. We will also be going places and staying for a month or two. Life always seems to have tradeoffs and you have to pick the ones you can live with. For most of the places we've looked at, once you are over about 30 ft. you are into the "long" sites anyway. I'm sure we will find some where we don't fit.

[IBEW Sparky]

I pull a 36' 337RLS and it's plenty for the Mrs & I. We don't full time but are both retired and put on some miles. You can't always go by the listed measurements for site lengths at State or National Parks... best to call the park and try and speak with a park ranger. Most list their site length from the edge of the road back to a concrete tire stop so plenty of times there is ample room for the last 7' of your rig to extend back past the tire stop. Visiting or calling the park is the only way to really know. When we're staying in an area we like and would come back again we try and visit State Parks within the area and check out sites that fit our needs for a future trip.