By Gail Marsh
It’s an age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Folks around the campfire changed the question to this: Which comes first, the truck or the RV? When a person decides to take the plunge and begin an RV lifestyle, should their first purchase be the truck or the RV? As you’ll see, the conversation was lively!
Truck first
“If you get your truck first, it can be your guide to buying the RV,” Stan said. “Once you know your towing capacity, that will dictate which RVs you can safely pull.”
“Getting the truck first might also save you some money,” Ron added. “A smaller, less expensive truck may mean you are limited to a smaller and less expensive RV.”
Not everyone agreed. “But then you’re stuck,” Maggie complained. “If you can’t find an RV you like within the weight parameters, you’ll end up having to upgrade to a bigger tow vehicle!”
RV first
Maggie continued, “Definitely begin by buying the RV. Then you can get all the features you want or need, like a washer and dryer, for instance. Once that big decision is made, you can buy the tow vehicle necessary.”
“Right,” Dan agreed. “Then you can buy the exact truck you need with the right tow capacity and gearing to haul your RV without any trouble.”
It depends
“For us, the financing dictated which came first,” someone else chimed in. “To be honest, it was easier to get the truck loan, so we started there.”
What about you? If you were about to begin an RV lifestyle, where would you start? What would you advise a “newbie” to do? Buy the truck or the RV first? Let us know in the comments below.
Related:
Learn from others’ RV buying mistakes
##RVT1072
About to retire, I had decided to ‘go full-time’ traveling the West (away from Indiana). Researched and attended an RV show and decided on the fifth wheel I wanted. Issue: it was heavy. Researched trucks and settled on one that would handle the load even in the mountains and afforded more storage capacity. I bought the truck in November, learned to handle it (a GMC Topkick), and then bought the 5er in February. Picked it up and moved it to a campground in April where my dog and I learned to live in it until my retirement in October. Full-timed for 12 lovely years.
For us it was both the finances available and the right fit camper for two. Moving up from pulling a Pop-up with an SUV to pulling a TT, it was clear to us that we needed the truck first, before we could begin to look for a two person TT. Finding our used Ram 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi and low mileage was the perfect fit for our home away from home Coachman Freedom Express 248 RBS.
You can buy them in any order, but you must first do your research on them both as a pair. Much easier to change your mind on paper.
Your don’t have to buy either first. All the GVWR you need to make your buying decision is available up front. So are quality and reliability. Do your research well in advance of purchasing either. I was a month into the process when my wife & I decided on the 5th wheel model we wanted. We purchased our good, used truck 10 days before coming across an even better deal on the 5th wheel. We bought it from a private seller who was returning to Michigan after a trade for a motorhome fell through in FL. He listed it on market place. We bought it that day. I hadn’t even put a 5th wheel hitch on the truck so the seller drove the 62 miles from where we had looked at & bought the 5th wheel and helped set it up on our site. He drove off to Michigan and we were in out new to us home on wheels.
I towed our bumper pull back home, put it on marketplace and sold it in less than a week. Do your research, then buy either first.
Very logical. I’d like to think most people do this but they don’t apparently.
I agree with those who said to do the research first. Have a very good idea of what you want and feel comfortable towing. Know the weights. That’s what we did and since we had a very good idea of the size and weight of the fiver we wanted I went ahead and bought a new diesel truck first that could handle the weights, then we finalized our decision on a fiver that met and stayed within our specifications, weight limits, etc. We have been very happy with both units after over 40,000 miles of towing.
I think if you decide on the trailer you like and outfit it with all the geegaws and accessories and add-ons you ‘think’ you need, you may then find you can’t AFFORD the truck you need to pull it. 🙂
Always great comments Tommy!
For me it was the truck first since it is an everyday driver. Having driven F250 and F350’s everyday at work I knew the F150 fit the best. With only the two of us we didn’t have any trouble finding a TT we could tow and live with.
Vanilla or chocolate ice cream? Hmmm both are amazing, so it is up to the individual to decide truck or trailer first.
I planned my RV retirement for almost ten years! Ultimately I bought my 35′ 5th wheel first, and then my dually diesel Chevy 3500 shortly thereafter. Whatever you decide to do, please ensure the truck is “more than enough” for your trailer. It will be so much safer and give you peace of mind! Good luck to all who are now in this enviable situation!
We were in the truck first camp. My wife told me “buy whatever truck you will need to tow whatever 5th Wheel I decide on”. How lucky am I? I got my Ram 3500 Big Horn Dually 6.7L Diesel 4×4!! 😁
Shop for the rv you want but don’t buy until you have a truck which can legally handle the fully loaded weight
Seems like people are talking gvwr. Which is essential but also take into consideration MOST national parks will not allow anything over 40 feet (trailer). Also, even if you have a 1-ton diesel (as my husband and I have), you can tow almost anything.
Truck first! You can’t tow the trailer without it! 🙂 Did both a few years ago. Shopped one with the other in mind. Looked at weights and lengths of trailers. Got an idea of what I wanted would weigh. Shopped trucks. This was easy. Bought the truck with the highest capacities in the class I was looking for. Then went back to picking a trailer which was all about floorplans and features. Ordered the trailer and drove the truck to the dealership to tow it away.
It’s not a blind decision. You have to plan for both simultaneously. Once you have done that it doesn’t matter which you buy first …. but know if you don’t already have the truck, you’ll have to pay somebody to make that first move of the trailer off the lot.
We went a different direction. We bought the big trailer and had it commercially moved to the RV park where we leave it as a seasonal residence. We never did buy the big truck. If we want to move the trailer, all those savings way more than cover paying to have the trailer moved. …and there is another part to this story. We do still want to travel. We bought a reasonably tow capable SUV and a much smaller, but still self-contained trailer. The SUV overall costs less than the dully truck to own & operate on an everyday basis. The smaller trailer is great not only for non-full time travel, but serves nicely as a ‘rolling hotel room’ for the seasonal migration.
If you buy the TT or 5th wheel first, you may not be able to find a truck these days to pull it. I had to travel 1000 miles last October to buy my 2022 RAM 2500 at a reasonable price. With an almost 20k lbs tow capacity I could buy almost any RV I wanted. Seems dealer lots are full of RV’s lately so unless you aren’t flexible on what you want you should be able to find an RV. I found my latest TT in Sweatwater, TX (online). It was discounted $10,000 and delivered to my door (1009 miles to my house).
I know where Sweetwater is, but Sweatwater is new to me. Lol
We studied what our expectations would be when we started exploring our rv future. We had an idea about what we wanted in an rv as far amenities we might need. Based on that we decided to purchase as much truck as we could afford. We then used the truck to narrow down our search for the most accessorized rv we could afford. That was six years ago and that decision worked out quite well. We are now looking to move to a class A or C with a toad next year.
I started with a truck first, sleeping in the back at the lake because I always towed a boat. Over the years I kind of evolved from truck to camper to truck to camper, always getting larger and more powerful. Although now, I have downsized from 5er to TT again, but I’ve kept my F250 diesel. I’ll never downsize my truck… Now boat? that’s a different story!
For the newbies, don’t buy a trailer based on advertised towing capacity! Truck manufacturers base their advertised towing specs on a base line no additional options 2 door standard cab truck. If you’re satisfied with this configuration go for it, but if you’re like most people you’ll upgrade to a truck with much more style and options, you need to very carefully check out the load carrying and tow capacity because you can be very surprised. The experts say don’t buy a trailer that weighs more than 10% of the trucks rating, I prefer to stay 15% away and have never been surprised towing up a mountain or handling an emergency stop. That’s where the towing capacity rears it ugly head, towing is the easy part, stopping is the hard part.
I researched options for over a year. My choices were colored by 9 years traveling in a1990 Toyota motorhome. I knew I didn’t need much more in terms of space, but I wanted more flexibility about where I could go. And be able to boondock for several weeks at a time. I settled on a Chevy Colorado truck with 4wd and an rPod trailer. Traded my Subaru in on the truck and paid cash for the trailer. Picked them up on the same day! That was over 5 years ago, I’ve made several long trips of 3 months or more and am very happy with it. With solar and generator I have boondocked in the desert for 2 weeks before having too dump and fill tanks.
At least for those in the market for 5th wheels or especially truck campers, it can make more sense to decide on the make & model RV first, so you are sure the truck you get has the right measurements to either haul a fiver or carry a camper.
For example, if I wanted a mid-sized to heavy fiver, I’d choose a 450/4500 truck. If I wanted a large Lance or Host camper, I’d feel safer if I went heavier with the truck, so I’d lean towards a 550/5500.
For a newbie, buy the truck. It has uses as a truck. Buy a truck you can afford with options you want. If you also want to RV, then consider whether a truck camper, bumper-pull, or 5th wheel works for you AND your truck. Make sure your choices are guided by the capability of the truck. Once you’ve selected and bought an RV that your truck can handle, see if you really enjoy RVing. If the RV works for you, then you’re done; enjoy. If you want bigger, better, or different in the RV, then also make sure that you can concurrently buy an appropriately sized truck, presuming your present one won’t. Overall start small. If you don’t like RVing, then you have less to liquidate and more potential buyers to acquire your RV (and truck?).
Buy as big of a truck as you can afford and then buy the RV it can ‘safely’ pull/tow and most importantly, ‘stop’!!!
We researched which RV we wanted first. That took about a year.
When we made a decision we researched how big the truck needed to be to pull the RV.
Armed with this information we looked for the right truck, which took many months. Once we purchased the truck, then the search for the RV, at the right price, began.
It is a good thing we bought the truck first, since we bought it in ID and the RV in western Oregon.
We are very happy with our choices, we wouldn’t change anything, and our time, research, and patience were very rewarded.
Recently, we met a couple who followed the information about buying the RV first. Well, that went great but it took them months to find a truck to buy, since they are in short supply. They were so desperate they spent thousands more on the truck than they had planned.
So, my five cents, find out which RV feels like home first! Then buy a truck and drive to the RV dealer to buy it!
You can’t have too much truck!
Bingo!
But you CAN spend too much money.
We bought the truck first, only because we had done our research on Rvs and knew what we were looking for in an rv. With hindsight beng 20/20, if we were doing it today, we would definitely buy a DRW!
I bought my truck first in early 2021 because of the great financing at the time. However I had already found a small (20 foot) trailer that ‘ticked’ all my boxes. After buying the pickup, I was astoundingly lucky and found a good used trailer of the same model I had previously looked at. I felt like I had really scored! Only regret was wishing I had gotten the “e-torque” system for the truck.
Ideally, the RV should be purchased first. Then you will have a MUCH better idea of the weight the tow vehicle will have to SAFELY pull and control (you WILL have to guesstimate the weight of your “stuff”).
If you buy the tow vehicle first, you may well learn that it does NOT have the weight rating or power you need and, will be limited in the selection of RVs you can SAFELY pull. Remember to keep in mind that you NEED a safety factor of at least 10% (15% would be better). Also keep in mind that “flat land” towing is one thing (relatively easy). Towing in hills and mountains is QUITE a different situation. Plan for the worst possible circumstance and, you’ll be far less likely to ever find yourself in one.
NOTE: if the salesperson’s lips are moving, that’s an excellent sign that they are lying to you (“of course this truck can pull your RV Mr Jones”). Pulling is simple. CONTROLLING that big RV is an entirely a different matter. Remember Murphy’s Law.
Twice, we had the truck first, then bought the RV, only to have to get a larger truck. When we bought our last rig, we knew we wanted a large 5th wheel, so we shopped for the truck with this in mind. At the time of purchase, we made sure the truck had the capacity to tow what we wanted. Then, we bought the RV. It was the best sequence from our past experiences.
Start with the truck
Truck first. But we bought a Ram 3500 DRW. My wife’s instruction was “buy the truck you will need to pull whatever 5er I decide on.” I like the Ram. It’s perfect for our 38′ Solitude. Only other truck I’d consider is F450.
Truck list plus desired RV list. Tow weight vs towed weight. Homework first.
We bought the RV first and then bought a 41 ton ton truck to tow it. But that TT had too many issues so we upgraded to a fifth wheel and the owner of the RV manufacturing company told us that our truck would be fine for towing it.
Yes, the truck has towed it just fine-but only after adding air suspension, larger brakes and engine upgrades. It handles mountains , high heat, braking is excellent – but it’s not rated by the manufacturer so it’s not legal. If we bought a 2023 1ton series it would be rated to tow our 5er.
Our solution is to sell the trailer and downsize.
We bought a 1 ton truck.
Ah the lying sales person, that’s hard to believe that a salesman wouldn’t know what they were talking about. Lol
Camper First.
We knew the TT we would get, so we bought the truck first. It then took about 6 months to get the TT. We had a truck to tow it home.
No right or wrong answer here. We bought our Montana 35′ 5th wheel first as I knew we wanted a sizeable trailer for spending our winters in the Southwest.
At the beginning of the pandemic trucks were flying off the lots and we ended up with my third choice, a Chevy 3500 dually diesel long box. So happy that the Ford and Dodge truck deals fell through for me. They are both great, but absolutely and thoroughly happy with the Chevy.
We bought the truck first, then shopped for the trailer. It was a 2018 Nissan Frontier, since Nissan hadn’t changed the design since the 2005 model it was not rated like other midsized trucks which limited our trailer selection. Many medium trailers are actually designed for the midsized trucks towing capacity, but our truck was under their weights. We finally found a trailer that fell into the towing capacity of the truck less 15%. I know Dave recommends 10% but I feel more comfortable if I know I’ve got that extra 5% weight factor. Both in towing and stopping capacity, I’ve never been in a situation that I regretted my safety standards. Here in TN we have Mt.Eagle on I 24 no problem.
We bought a Nissan Frontier to tow our first travel trailer. We special-ordered a new Rockwood Mini Lite that had a GVWR 25% under the truck’s 6,300# towing capacity. But we still had difficulty towing it at 60-65mph in hilly terrain or headwinds and it was a dog in our Colorado mountains. Only after reading the entire Nissan owner’s manual did I find that Nissan specified a max frontal area for any trailer of 60 sq. ft. Our trailer was a square of 64 sq. ft and had relatively little frontal slope. That extra 4 sq. ft. may not sound like much, but we sold that truck and trailer after 2 years and an Alaska trip. So, weight is not the only spec that is important for towing a travel trailer.
Pick out your trailer then buy a truck you know will comfortably tow it and buy the truck. Then you can tow the trailer home. After owning many different trailers and tow vehicles, I’ve learned it’s better to have more truck than what’s required.
I would buy the RV first. Choose one with the right features and space that suit you so you won’t be disappointed later. Now pick a vehicle that can adequately handle the weight of the trailer, trailer contents, vehicle passengers and cargo. Only then will you be happy, confident and comfortable!
Doesn’t matter! What matters you don’t listen to a salesman or company with the claim this combination will work!
Buy the rv first. Fall in love with what you found? Will the truck handle it? We LUCKED OUT with our fifth wheel . The chev 2500 HD was more than ample to pull it. However a couple years ago we decided to buy a truck camper in addition to the fiver. All of a sudden the truck was marginal at best. Ooh, it met minimum specs. I’d like to have a little( lot ) more capacity. As is it’s within 300# of max
Shop RVs, get a good Idea of what you want in that RV, including its size and weight. Then shop for the truck that can tow those specifications plus a little more. Buy the truck first and be certain that you can tow whatever you have in mind for your RV. Don’t put the cart ahead of the horse.
Thank you, Gail! We are on RV #2 and both have been/are MHs. So, this contributes little (nothing?) to your question. 🙁 We bought the most recent non-RV vehicle with the requirement that we can tow it four-wheels-down. So, we bought the RV first, and then the towed vehicle.