Motorhomes vs Towables – RV Inspection And Care Podcast #1

Hello everyone and welcome to the RV inspection and Care podcast.

Yes, in addition to all my YouTube videos I’m going to add a weekly podcast to the mix as well.

We’re going to talk about all kinds of subjects about RVing. You know, about RVs themselves, the RV lifestyle, RV camping, towing, and all kinds of things.

And there’s going to be a lot of information here on this podcast. So what I invite you to do is please subscribe to the podcast.

And that way you won’t miss anything as I go along.

Now for those of you that are watching this on video right now, you can go down to the description below the video.

And there’ll be a link to my podcast where you can subscribe there.

But I’m not only going to just talk to you myself. Today of course, it’s just going to be me on the podcast.

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Table of Contents

• future RV podcasts
• Motorhomes VS Towables – Which To Buy?
• Motorhomes VS Towables – Points In Common
• motorhomes vs towables – motorhome pros
• Motorhomes Pro #1 – Weight Considerations
• Motorhomes Pro #2 – Kitchens & Bathrooms
• Motorhomes pro #3 – small towed vehicle
• motorhome pro #4 – may not need towed vehicle
• motorhome pro #5 – more storage space
• motorhome pro #6 – campsite maneuvering
• motorhomes vs towables – towable pros
• towable pro #1 – usually less expensive
• towable pro #2 – may not need a tow vehicle
• towable pro #3 – easy to repair tow vehicles
• towable pro #4 – costs less to repair tow vehicles
• towable pro #5 – better safety features
• towable pro #6 – keep tow vehicle when changing RVs
• motorhomes vs towables – overview
• motorhomes vs towables – conclusion

future RV podcasts

However I’m also going to try to involve other RVers, you know, that we really could learn from.

There’s a lot of our RVers out there, and there’s a lot of RVers that have opinions.

But that’s really not what we want to focus on.What we want to do is find RVers that we can learn from.

You know, they have something to teach us, something to share that we can benefit from.

And I’m going to work hard to try to involve folks that I find along the way that will be beneficial not only to me but to you as well.

And I’m sure we’ll enjoy listening to them. So let’s go ahead and get started now and talk about one of the biggest decisions for newer RVers that they can face.

Motorhomes VS Towables – Which To Buy?

And that is, should I buy a motor home or should I buy a towable RV?

Now, that was a very big decision for me. And I really kind of struggled with this for a long time.

No doubt several of you have too. And even if you have a motorhome or a towable, you are probably kind of going over in your mind “Hey, I wonder what it would be like to have one of the other kind”.

So we’ll talk about that today. And the first thing we want to get into is the fact that actually there’s a lot that they have in common.

You know ,you can focus on the differences. But there’s a lot of commonalities as well.

Motorhomes VS Towables – Points In Common

For instance, when you’re talking about motorhomes or towables, they’re going to require some hookup at some point. If you use a tow vehicle with your motorhome.

So you either have to hook it up, or if you’re a towable, you’ve got to hook the tow vehicle to your RV.

And the truth is that it’s about the same amount of time either way you go. So that’s really kind of a wash as far as I’m concerned.

The next thing is that both of them are going to require a certain amount of set up and a certain amount of tear down at the campsite.

And it’s going to be similar. It’s not going to be a lot different from motorhomes to towables.

The next point is, as far as costs are concerned, insurance and fuel costs to me are kind of a wash.

You know, you might have a little bit difference between one part of the rig or the other part of the rig.

But when you take them both as a whole, well insurance and fuel costs are probably going to be pretty close to a wash.

motorhomes vs towables – motorhome pros

But now there are differences. There are things that would make either kind of RV more attractive to certain RVers. And let’s talk about that.

Now first of all, let’s talk about the pros, or the advantages, of having a motorhome.

Motorhomes Pro #1 – Weight Considerations

And the number one thing, and this was the thing that really kind of got me about motorhomes when I first was starting out RVing.

That is that all of your weight considerations are already done for you. And that was big for me.

You know, what happens is that RV manufacturers usually buy their chassis from someone. Then they build their RV on it.

And at that point, they establish the gross vehicle weight rating, the gross axle weight rating, the gross combined weight rating, and all of that.

So will you buy that motor home you’ve got it all worked out for you.I

You don’t need to have to figure out “okay, well I’ve got this tow vehicle. Now what kind of RV can you put with that?”

Or “I’m going to buy this RV, now what kind of tow vehicle can I use to pull that?”

None of those considerations are needed. It’s all taken care of for you. And that’s a big pro when you’re starting out .

Motorhomes Pro #2 – Kitchens & Bathrooms

Now the next point is that bathrooms and kitchens are available while you’re going down the road.

And boy is that nice! You know, I’ve got to tell you that when you’re traveling down the road, your on a long trip, and somebody needs to go to the bathroom, well you need to have a motorhome.

Because that’s going to make it really easy to take care of that situation. So if that’s an issue for you, well then, motorhomes are going to be a good buy!

Motorhomes pro #3 – small towed vehicle

The other point is that when you have a motorhome, and you’re towing a vehicle behind it, to run around town in, you can have a smaller vehicle.

You can have a very fuel-efficient, small kind of a passenger vehicle. And so that means that when you’re running around town you’re not burning all that fuel that a bigger tow vehicle would be burning up if you’re towing an RV.

So that’s a real kind of an advantage right there.

motorhome pro #4 – may not need towed vehicle

Now the fourth advantage I want to mention is that if you want to go really light, and you are in a motorhome, you can buy a small Class C. Or you could buy a small Class B and you don’t even need a tow vehicle.

You can actually use the RV for traveling around town. And so you’ve got all of your usable RV and over-the-road vehicle right there in one vehicle. You don’t need anything else.

Now that’s only true of smaller motorhomes. But it is an advantage that they have.

motorhome pro #5 – more storage space

Now the next point is there’s generally more storage space in motorhomes as opposed to towables.

Now I know that’s not always the truth. But it is especially when you get up into the bigger motor homes.

The diesel pushers especially. oh my goodness, you’ve got storage space! And that’s really nice to have.

motorhome pro #6 – campsite maneuvering

And then the next point is that you can more easily maneuver motorhomes in my opinion into campsites, than you can with towables.

Now that doesn’t mean the towables aren’t easy to do. But again, think about it, you only have one vehicle to get into the campsite.

So it’s pretty much like backing in a car or truck. It’s just bigger as opposed to having two vehicles that you’ve got to maneuver into a campsite instead.

So for some people, they find that backing-in procedure to be really valuable to them. So we’ll give that advantage to motorhomes!

motorhomes vs towables – towable pros

All right now, we’ve been talking about all the advantages for motorhomes. But there’s tons of the advantages for towables too.

towable pro #1 – usually less expensive

And one of the things that people really like about towables is that, number one, they are generally less for the cost of the entire rig.

And you know, that’s kind of interesting. Because a lot of people think that motorhomes are less expensive.

But pretty much, if you look at the length of almost any rig. And you check into the cost of a motorhome, or buying a motorhome for that length.

Or instead doing the tow vehicle with a towable, usually you’re going to find that the towable rig all together will be less expensive.

So that’s a big point! And it’s especially a big point for newer RVers who want to get started in RVing and like to keep their costs down.

towable pro #2 – may not need a tow vehicle

Now the next point is that in some cases with towables you don’t even need to buy another vehicle to tow it with.

If you get a small enough travel trailer. In fact, many little small travel trailers can be pulled with SUVs or even minivans, things along that line.

So you may very well have a vehicle that you already own that can tow a smaller travel trailer.

And if you do, you’re all set to go. You don’t have to make that extra expense in that case. So that’s an advantage!

towable pro #3 – easy to repair tow vehicles

The next advantage is that there are more places to repair the engine and the components of the tow vehicle then there is for motorhomes.

My point is this, if it’s a towed vehicle, it’s probably going to be some kind of regular passenger truck or something along that line.

Or some sort of SUV or minivan. And all of these can be repaired almost anywhere.

You can find mechanics to work on them very easily. Motorhomes though, are not as easy.

And especially when you get up into those diesel pushers. Things get tough because the bigger the rig the more difficult it is to find places that they can fit into be repaired.

And even mechanics that can work on them too, so in general there’s more places to repair the engine, and so on. On the the components of a tow vehicle.

towable pro #4 – costs less to repair tow vehicles

Now the next point is closely related and that is that they’re usually less to repair. Let me tell you, when you have a diesel pusher motorhome, almost everything you have done to it is going to be expensive.

The parts are more expensive. The labor is more expensive and so on.

So when you have a towable, and you’re towing it with a tow vehicle, that passenger vehicle again has so many places that it can be worked on.

The competition is out there, and you can usually repair them a lot for a lot less money than motorhomes.

towable pro #5 – better safety features

The next point is that while you are going down the highway, there’s better safety features in towables.

You know, when it’s a passenger vehicle, they are are pretty much forced to have the very best safety features in them.

And so, all of your passengers, and you, and everybody in that vehicle, has good safety features.

Unfortunately, motorhomes are very often not quite up to that standard.

Some are better than others. But some are really not very safe, especially for your passengers, if you have kids and so on. So it can be a consideration between the two.

towable pro #6 – keep tow vehicle when changing RVs

And finally, if you decide to make a change in the RV part of your rig, if you have a towable, all you’ve got to do is just change out the RV.

You don’t have to change the tow vehicle most of the time. And if that’s the case, all the maintenance you been doing on that tow vehicle, all the effort and the money you spent on it over the years, well you still get the rewards from it.

But in a motorhome, when you make a change, you change everything. And all the work you’ve done on the engine, and your suspension, and everything else on that chassis, well it’s going to go right along with it in the sale.

So that is a little bit of an advantage for towables as well.

motorhomes vs towables – overview

So as you can see there are some advantages either way. But let me make this point- it does not matter which one you choose as far as RVing is concerned.

You may have certain preferences though. You know, what I recommend is as we are going over the list here, determine what are the things that are most important to you.

What’s most valuable in your opinion, your priorities. And that will lead you toward either a motorhome or a towable.

But just understand that you’re not going to make such a big mistake that you can’t recover from it.

Both of those kinds of RVs will take you anywhere you want to go in your RV adventures. And allow you to have great fun and enjoy your time there.

motorhomes vs towables – conclusion

So what I’ve covered today hopefully will be beneficial for you. It will help you in trying to make the decision between the two.

But either way, you’re going to be able to get out there and go RVing and have fun RV camping.

Well that’s it for now. Have safe and happy travels my friends and thanks for listening to my first podcast.

Until next time ….