Guest j hayes Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 to all with regards cant seem to make mind up regarding giving up caravan for motorhome would like people with motorhomes for answers as if they would go back to caravans or not. many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Caravsns Pro,s You have a car to run around in when pitched. Its less costly. Cons If its raining you have to get wet to get a cuppa. Rather limited on weight. Carrying water is not normal. Its a car engine working a lot harder than normal doing the work. A pig to reverse. The but of lots of jibes! Motorhomes Pro,s Pull up and apply the hand brake and you can have a cuppa, take a nap etc. Normally carry a full tank of water. Normally has a signficant residual load carrying capacity. Based on a chassis and drive unit designed to work for a living. The driving area is used as part of the living area when parked up. No problems reversing (unless you tow a car!) Much improved vision associated with commercial vehicles. Much improved driving posture associated with commercial vehicles. Cons You need some auxilliary transport, push bikes if you are young or a scooter on the back if you are not. Us? Two caravans, each for only a few months intersperced between three motorhomes covering 28 years. Its horses for courses! We like the quick ability to move about, the much improved vision and seating associated with motorhomes (better than 4X4's) and the need for only one set of electronic "toys". In a caravan settup we needed one set for the van and another for the car! But its your money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 I can't find the 'key word' for 'search' but about three or four months ago there was a lot of advice on this subject with about a dozen or so postings. Tom has covered it very well, without going into long boring details. I have been doing it for forty odd years, but I cheat, I have both, but use the motor home most. Just back from Newbury show, fantastic long weekend outing, so many nice happy motorhomes to chat to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest j hayes Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 thanks tom,thanks david,for the advice.regards j hayes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Searching the forum on "caravan v motorhome" (omitting the quotes) will retrieve the earlier posting of 10/03/2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 We too enjoyed Newbury until the Mrs wheelied her scooter and we ended up at North Hants Hospital to have her shoulder checked out. Thankfully only bruising. Then we came home. Us retired old buggers should know better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 We have had both caravan for 26yrs, m/home for 4yrs. They are altogether different. A caravan is better suited to going to somewhere for a period of time, exploring day to day with car, then going on/home, whereas a m/home lends itself to touring. A motorhome has far less storage space, just think about it you loose the car boot and interior for starters plus with internal water tanks you loose at least one locker as well! However a m/h can go quicker if desired, use the third lane of a motorway if needed, is quicker and easier to set up and move and when you get older (the reason we changed) you dont have to do any manual pushing or pulling. The Caravan Club has a scheme where you can hire a car at competetive rates at the site you stop on, not every site a list is available, the hire company pick you up and drop you off or bring the car to site, they cost from £23 per day less if you hire for more than 2 days. That does away with the transport on site problem if it was an obstacle. Which would we prefer, well the motorhome has the advantage for us now, I do not ever see us going back to a caravan. You pays your money and takes your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Storage space? Dont agree with Paul on that one. Our last caravan was a Swift Challenger 510 4SE. Quite a monster in its day. We managed to crack off the tow hitch up a mountain in France as it was not up to carrying all the clutter we needed.The coachbuilt motorhome however is! Stacks of cupboard and under floor space and don,t forget that spacious Luton overcab. That more than compensates for the lack of car boot.Compare eggs with eggs. But I would agree that a caravan compared to a van conversion would win space wise hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Well we are all entitled to our opinions, however our last caravan was a 23ft 6in twin axle 5 berth model with on board water and two fixed single bunks which makes the Challenger 510 look small, being slightly larger than the Challenger 550/ 5 which is the caravan we had prior to that. Our current motorhome is a 22ft 6in 6 berth, none of which is fixed, which we use as a two berth because we could not do with less space than we were used to. The weight allowance is virtually identical for both, the caravan had a full accross the front opening storage space that took just as much clutter as the luton (normally bulky but light items to give correct nose weight) this contained gas and water as well. It had more cupboard space more underbunk space, only the Carver Cascade water heater intruding into one, and end kitchen. This alone beat the motorhome on storage space, with a greater number of cupboards and underbunk storage plus we had the estate car boot and interior. I can only speak from experience, I have no doubt whatsoever that there is far less storage space in our motorhome although the living space is virtually identical, with front seats turned on the swivels. Having said that I repeat I still prefer the motorhome you just have to cut your cloth according to its width and only take with you what you really have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Well we are all entitled to our opinions, however our last caravan was a 23ft 6in twin axle 5 berth model with on board water and two fixed single bunks which makes the Challenger 510 look small, being slightly larger than the Challenger 550/ 5 which is the caravan we had prior to that. Our current motorhome is a 22ft 6in 6 berth, none of which is fixed, which we use as a two berth because we could not do with less space than we were used to. The weight allowance is virtually identical for both, the caravan had a full accross the front opening storage space that took just as much clutter as the luton (normally bulky but light items to give correct nose weight) this contained gas and water as well. It had more cupboard space more underbunk space, only the Carver Cascade water heater intruding into one, and end kitchen. This alone beat the motorhome on storage space, with a greater number of cupboards and underbunk storage plus we had the estate car boot and interior. I can only speak from experience, I have no doubt whatsoever that there is far less storage space in our motorhome although the living space is virtually identical, with front seats turned on the swivels. Having said that I repeat I still prefer the motorhome you just have to cut your cloth according to its width and only take with you what you really have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest j hayes Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 had a go in motorhome today different class to caravan motorhome for me, thanks all regards j hayes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pat Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Can I throw another hat into the ring? What about fifth wheelers? Does anyone have any experience of them and if so what are the pros and cons? Regards Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Forget the bit about what to get until you know how you intend to use it - do you want to stay on one site for a while - in which case a caravan would probably suite you more - or do you want to move about and see things whilst you travel from one site to another, then a motorhome is ideal as you don't have to keep going back to the same site all the time. If you decide on a motorhome are you going to want to take it to go and see things, like stately homes, into towns etc rather than leave it on site? If so, you probably won't want anything longer than 20ft as parking will be a pain. It's all a compromise I'm afraid, we'd all love to have a 35ft Winnebago interior in an 18ft box but that just ain't gonna happen! Just look back on what you do presently and decide if you want to change it or keep it the same, this will help you decide on what holiday vehicles you'll need. Write a list of what you did over the last couple of years, how you did it and then how you would change it if at all. This at least should help to crystalise your needs a bit. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 5th Wheelers? like caravans but heavier and the tractor unit is likely to have a better driving position than a car. Did anybody see the "clipcar" last year at any shows? French thing that looked like a 5th wheeler but wasn,t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Posted May 19, 2005 Share Posted May 19, 2005 On board water tanks in a caravan? Yes we had one fitted by the caravan supplier in our challenger. After the tow hitch cracked, was repaired and we had returned to the UK I raised this point with the van supplier, His answer was that the on board water tank on a caravan should never be full when towing, its only for filling up on site! Perhaps because it was fitted in the front of the van had something to do with the excessive nose weight that knackered to tow hitch! But needless to say we never travelled again with it full untill that is I moved it under-floor directly over the axle. But then we sold it anyway as part ex for our camper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted May 19, 2005 Share Posted May 19, 2005 5th wheelers, as with articulated trucks, are more stable a tow. As we all know, the closer the tow ball is to the back axle of the tug, the more stable the tow with a car/4x4 & caravan, it follows that if the hitch is in front of the back axle, as with 5th wheelers/articulated trucks, the tow is even more stable, as the weight of the trailer hitch is putiing it's down thrust within the four wheels of the tug, not putting it downward behind the back axle, and a slight lift off the front axle. An acquaintance of mine had a big American 5TH wheeler for a while, not long, cost a fortune to run. Have you ever seen a long booted Jaguar towing? I have once, up in Scotland, had two of the old leaf spring type Scot stabalisers fitted to stop boot hitting the ground on rough roads, don't get that with a 5th wheeler, nor a motor home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JeffT Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Hi.There is only thing to consider when comparing one against the other. Cost. Buy a motorhome and you have got to use it, it is not a good idea to pay tax and insurance on it if you are going to park it up for eleven months of the year. Apart from the fact that vehicles do not like to be ignored, they dead cranky and start rotting away before your very eyes. I always used to laugh at people pulling a car with one. The caravan pulling the car. Ha Ha. But I ended up doing the same. In the bad weather I pull a car and in good weather I pull the Motorbike (a big 5cwt 1200cc tourer) and that was why I went from caravan to RV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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