Is more room better ?

[fishingpig]

I have a 26ft fifth wheel with a slide, but want a 26 or 28ft airstream. I'm thinking about full timing and wounder if the storage is going to be that much less in the airstream. It will be just me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Silver Goose]

I traded for a 27FB last year and discovered a lot of stuff in my old trailer I had been carrying for 12 years but never used. Let's say we're enjoying it more these days with less stuff. I can't address full timing but for us on long weekends and cross country vacations, we are very satisfied with the storage once we figured out how to get the most out of it.

[jdalrymple]

We down sized from a 32' five-er to a 31' AS and then a 27' FB AS. The 27 is quite comfortable. I do agree with Yankee. I carried, and still tend to carry, much more than I ever use.

It will be Airstream from here on.

[ASwifey]

Way less, if storage is what you need then you'll probably want to get a bigger Airstream. Our 30 footer, has soo much more storage than our 25 footer did. I highly recommend it.

[Aage]

Any 5th wheel I've ever seen looked cavernous compared to any Airstream. The trick in a 5er is the height, waaaay taller than an AS.

My advice is to go with a 34-foot AS. Three reasons:

• They are the most bang for the buck of any AS. They go used at silly low prices, compared to say a 25-footer.
• They are, believe it or not, the easiest to tow and back up. Try one, you'll see what I mean.
• You WILL get more space. Oodles of it. Actually, 3.75 oodles, IIRC

And welcome to Airforums.com, by the way!

[DKAir]

Welcome to the forum!

My wife and I spent more than two months down south this winter and plan to spend a good portion of our time on the road from here on out. We found that there was more than enough storage in our 30' for us and our two dogs, but we did utilize the topper-covered bed of our truck for a lot of our gear. We had everything from winter gear to beach wear with us, too.

Not anywhere near the storage you'd find in a 5th wheel, but we felt the trade was more than worth it and have already realized there's less we need to have with than we originally thought.

Best of luck,
DK

[Fly at Night]

I've been packing stuff into my 27' for months, and still haven't filled it.

The other day I looked around and thought "Do I really need this?" Now I'm packing stuff out.

It all depends on your emotional ability to let go of things.

[Airtandem]

Remember, one can have ALL the storage one wants; but it is the WEIGHT that gets you. "SIZE DOES MATTER"

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by Airtandem

Remember, one can have ALL the storage one wants; but it is the WEIGHT that gets you. "SIZE DOES MATTER"

Exactly.

It's not "Do I need this?" anymore. Rather, "Does my truck need this?"

With the cost of fuel and potential repair bills, those emotional attachments to stuff starts to wane.

[Bill M.]

Have known 2 couples that were fulltiming, both in 31 or 32' trailers. One couple in a 34. The 34 foot guy said that he was over his rear axle weight limint on the 3/4 ton truck he was using. All had a 3/4 ton truck with a high cover You pick up a lot of storage from freeing up the truck bed from the hitch. Good place to carry heavy, dirty stuff like generators and clean stuff sealed in plastic boxes. To me, all airstreams seem to tow fine. People witht he 34' do say they tow better than the dual axles. Do not know. We have a 32 parked on a lot in florida and we tow a 25' when we travel. I might get a little better fuel milage with the 32, but that is probably because I have only towed it in the east. I would certainly run out of weight capacity before I ran out of room on the 32.

[Gene]

Everyone is different and has different needs for space. Two of us spent 8 weeks on the road last year in a 25' with a 1/2 ton truck. If we were full timing, that would be a challenge because there is all sorts of paperwork we need too that stays at home when we travel. Getting rid of things is not all that easy. If you cherish old photos, they get heavy. If you collect Hummels, fishing rods, anvils, or whatever, you got a problem.

One way to solve space is a bigger truck and a bigger trailer. Another is merciless removal of things. Some can do it, others can't. It may not be just you after a while—companions show up when you least expect it and sometimes they are people, or maybe a friendly dog, so you may need more space that you anticipate now.

A fifth wheel has lots of basement storage, an Airstream rides close to the road and has far less storage. Fulltiming may require larger water tanks if you do a lot of boondocking and you will need a larger Airstream to get bigger tanks.

You should go to a dealer and look around at all the sizes and check storage. When you decide on a size then you can see what tow vehicle matches well and then look a for a nicely treated used one.

Gene

[kb0zke]

This is one of the questions that we're looking at, too. At this point, if we were to go with an Airstream for a FT coach, we'd probably be looking at a 34' classic, with or without a slide. We do want the wide-body, though. Those started in 2005? 06?

[Gene]

Originally Posted by kb0zke

coach, we'd probably be looking at a 34' classic, with or without a slide. We do want the wide-body, though. Those started in 2005? 06?

I think it was the late '90's, but I'm sure someone will have the exact year soon enough.

Gene

[azflycaster]

I believe that the wide body was introduced in 1995 but was only available on the 34' trailers.

[kb0zke]

Great! Thanks! That makes a larger pool of possible candidates if that's the direction we go.

Now, when did the slide appear, and was it standard or an option?

[Gene]

I don't think slides were options like the fancy radio or the cheap one. Some models had them and some didn't. The trailer has to be built differently for them, so they were different models within a trim line. They didn't sell that many and it wasn't cost effective to keep the parts around for slides, so they discontinued them a couple of years ago, though I saw a post a while back that you could special order one.

Gene

[kb0zke]

Okay, so if I find one 2004 34' Classic Limited with a slide, then all 2004 34' Classic Limiteds will have slides? That makes it really easy.

[carl2591]

in 2006 i believe the 28ft safari came in slide and non slide along with the 30ft model.
they go from like 2002 to 2010 for slide models.. mainly the 30 classic and 32's and a couple years the 28ft safari.

[Gene]

I believe the models that had slides were also made without. They stopped making slides around the time the Great Recession hit and sales went way down. It appears they would make some on order, but none were made without orders. Presently the company website shows no slides (unless I missed it).

Gene

[Aage]

As I re-read this post from the beginning, I remembered an old saying from my years of owning a motorcycle:

"Too much horsepower is just about enough."

I believe the same is true for TT interior space. I've never heard anyone complain that they had too much space.