Are You Looking for the Perfect RV?

Are You Looking for the Perfect RV?
by Ed Hill

Is there really such a thing as a "perfect" RV? Well, it depends. There could be a perfect RV for your personal situation, your income, your travel schedule - right now. But, any of those things could change overnight! And, with that change, your perfect RV would no longer be perfect.



So, how do you choose the RV that best meets your needs? First, you need to understand that your needs will change over the years. Second, your first RV will probably be the first of a series of many different types of RV's you will have over the years.



The good news is that you will enjoy every one of them for a variety of reasons. Some you will like better than others. It is often said that the two best days in a boat owner's life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. Some RV's can be like that, too.



So, what are your needs right now?



* Are you single? Married? With kids?



* What kind of time do you have in which to travel with an RV?



* Do you prefer a two-week vacation once a year or a series of three- or four-day outings spread throughout the year?



* Do you have a place to store an RV?



* What is your travel budget?



* What about your budget to buy an RV?



There are countless other questions to be answered in your quest for an RV that will meet your needs right now. Each question has an answer that will point in one direction or the other. The chances are excellent that the answers won't all point in the same direction. That means that, whatever you do decide to buy, it will be a compromise.



Sometimes, the compromise will be between various factors in your lifestyle. The compromise might be between you and other members of the family. "Perfect" will be pretty hard to find but there will most likely be several options that are "pretty good."



Another thing to remember is that you might come to love one of the options you didn't think you would like at all. You bought it because your spouse wanted it or it was a great deal you just couldn't pass up.



In the next couple of postings, I'll talk about RV's that are motorized vs. those that need to be towed. They all have their advantages and disadvantages - depending on your lifestyle at the moment.



Motorized RV's



There are a few things to think about before you decide whether a motorized RV is the best choice for you. First, how often will you be traveling? Remember, an RV is about living space away from home. Between trips, it has to be stored somewhere. You'll also be paying license fees, taxes and insurance - whether you're driving it or not! And, some engine and transmission parts can start to deteriorate if they're not used for long periods.



If your travel schedule allows you to take several short trips throughout the year, a motor home is a great way to travel. One person can drive while the other takes a nap - on a real bed! Or, makes a sandwich in the kitchen - while going down the road at highway speeds. Or, uses the bathroom. A motor home can make the trip, itself, enjoyable and relaxing. You can actually get up and move around unless, of course, you're driving.



The design most easily recognized as "a motor home" is the Class A. These motor homes are designed from the ground up as motor homes. The outline shape of the Class A is, basically, a box on wheels. It makes the most efficient use of the square footage by concentrating on living and storage space. Speed and handling are secondary. It's a compromise between the comfort of your house and the ability to drive down the road. Like all other compromises, it doesn't do either job very well.



However, the motor home lifestyle takes that compromise into account and becomes something you enjoy for its own sake. You know that the Class A motor home will never handle like a sports car. You also know it will never be as comfortable and spacious as a house. But, you don't care because you enjoy the freedom of having your own kitchen, bedroom and bathroom wherever you want it to be. None of the other RV types can quite match a Class A in this area.



The downside is that a Class A motor home is more expensive to buy and maintain. It is larger than most other vehicles on the road and harder to drive safely. Depending on the size, you could be somewhat limited on where you can park for the night. Some older campgrounds are unable to handle the larger units. Every choice involves making compromises as to living space and comfort vs. size and ease of handling.



The next type is the Class B motor home. It is, basically, a van that has been modified to serve as a compact motor home. Storage space is at a premium and the variety of floor plans is limited. You can only do so much with so little space.



However, being a standard-sized van makes the Class B usable as a "daily driver." Fuel and other operating costs are lower. It's much easier to drive because of the smaller size. You can also have it serviced at your local car dealership. However, it is not a good solution for a family with children. The Class B motor home is best for a couple who enjoy being close together for hours at a time.



The motor home that fits between the large Class A and the compact Class B is known as the Class C motor home. Basically, the Class C is a van cab and chassis with a motor home body built in place of the van body. Nearly all of them have a cab-over design with a bed built in above the driver and passenger seats.



Class C motor homes can be found in an amazing variety of sizes and floor plans. Being based on a van chassis, it can be serviced by your local car dealership like any other van. It's also a lot easier to drive than the full-sized Class A and a lot less expensive!



A disadvantage of the larger Class C's is that the chassis is not as capable of handling the size and weight as a Class A chassis is. There is not as much storage space or load capacity. However, the Class C motor home can be a great family RV. In fact, that's where you see most of them being used.



One more choice in the motorized market is the pickup camper. The camping unit, itself, slides into the bed of the pickup and turns it into a type of motor home. If the pickup is a 4×4, the pickup camper can go places most other RV's can only dream about.



The advantages are that the pickup can be used as a pickup when you're not actually on the road. In fact, many people drive to their campsite and off-load the camper. That gives them the comfort of a camper while making the pickup available for other uses. The smaller size of the slide-in camper makes it a lot easier to store between trips. It can be loaded onto the truck in a matter of a few minutes.



What's the downside? First, they're limited by the size of the pickup bed. You can do only so much with the available space. There is very little storage space. The pickup, itself, should be a heavy-duty 3/4 or a 1-ton to handle the weight and size of the camper. There are slide-in campers available for 1/2 ton pickups but they're lighter and smaller units without many luxury features.



That does it for the motorized RV's. If you're going to travel often, a motorized RV is a wonderful way to travel. As you can see, there is a huge variety of sizes, shapes and floor plans available. If your travel schedule or preferences dictates only once or twice a year, you may well wish to consider the great towable RV's out there.



Towable RV's



Towable RV's have their own unique advantages. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that they cost a lot less. They don't need as much maintenance as motorized vehicles do. Insurance costs are lower because the trailer is considered to be part of the tow vehicle when on the road.



Another advantage is that the tow vehicle can be used for normal, day-to-day driving chores when you're not traveling or camping. The major caveat is that it has to be able to safely tow the trailer.



Let's look at the trailers, themselves. We'll start with popup campers. Quite a few manufacturers produce popups in various sizes and styles. In most cases, they have canvas or nylon side walls. This pretty much limits these units to fair weather use.



Compared to other towable RV's, popups are the least expensive. This allows more families to enjoy camping without having to sleep on the ground. Many of them have built-in stoves and iceboxes. The beds fold out providing sleeping area for several people.



Many of them are light enough to be towed by a car or a small pickup. Camping trips can be relatively inexpensive because the vehicles, themselves, are economical.



The primary limitation is the level of comfort and convenience they offer. Luxury features cost money and add weight to any RV. Popup trailers are a great way for younger families to get into RV travel affordably.



Another type of popup trailer is one with hard sides that either fold or telescope down to create a more easily towed unit. They weigh more than "soft" sided trailers but offer more weather protection and comfort items.



Next in the lineup is the travel trailer. This is a huge category that ranges from about 14-38 feet in length. Some are light-weight units with few luxury features. At the other end of the scale are heavy, super luxurious trailers that require a heavy-duty tow vehicle.



As you move up the scale, increasing numbers of them are designed to be four-season RV's. Many have slide-out sections that greatly increase the living space when set up in a camp ground.



The travel trailers attach to the tow vehicle at a point near the bumper. The larger ones need a sway-control system to keep the entire unit under control. Side winds from weather or other large vehicles can cause a trailer to sway out of control if it's not controlled by a sway-control system.



A popular solution for sway control is a fifth-wheel trailer. In the fifth-wheel system, the hitch and pivot point are over the rear axle of the tow vehicle. That means, of course, that the tow vehicle has to be a truck.



In most cases, the master bedroom and bath are in the front section up over the bed of the truck. Various floor plans divide up the rest of the living space and offer varying levels of luxury and comfort.



Due to the design, fifth-wheel trailers tend to be heavier which requires larger trucks. They're also more expensive. However, the safety and stability of the fifth-wheel system makes it worthwhile for those who can afford them.



A relatively new RV trailer is the toy hauler. Initially, the toy hauler was designed as a utility trailer for toys that also included some very basic living quarters. The biggest change in the toy hauler market came when the guys' wives wanted to go along without giving up living comfort.



Today's toy haulers can haul a lot of toys while offering amazing levels of comfort and convenience. They're available in regular tow-type, (or, bumper pull) designs or as fifth-wheels. The larger ones are all fifth-wheel units.



With that, we have covered the major types of towable RV's. There are some others out there that don't fit neatly into any one of the major categories but they're the exception rather than the rule.



Making the Choice



Now comes the time to start narrowing the search. Once you've decided whether you want a motor home or a trailer, you start looking at the various choices with that category.



If you have no idea where to start, ask someone who owns an RV similar to what you think you'd like to buy. RV people love to talk about their RV's.



For example, let's say you see an RV in a gas station that looks interesting. Just walk over there and ask the owner about it. It will amaze you how many of them will be perfectly willing to show it off and tell you all about it!



Tell them you're planning to buy an RV. Ask them what they like best about theirs. Ask them why they decided to buy that particular brand or that type. Ask them if they would buy it again and why. Again, you will be surprised how many of them will be happy to tell you what they can.



Another excellent way to further your research is to rent an RV. Drive to a campground only a short distance away and set up camp for the weekend. A couple of nights in an RV will tell you a lot about it.



The reason I suggest going only a short distance away is that, if you are new to RV'ing, you will think of things you should or could have brought along. It's not all that far to drive home, grab what you need and come back to spend the rest of the weekend in the RV.



While there, walk around and look at other units people have brought. Stop and talk to several owners. Again, RV people like to talk about their RV's. You'll walk away with more information than you ever thought you'd get.



A few weeks later, rent another RV that's quite different from the first one and go off for another weekend. After a few outings like that, you will have gotten a much better idea of what works for you and what doesn't.



I, personally, like camping over 3-4 day weekends. You can go many different places and do a lot of fun things without using up all of your vacation days at once.



Most of the larger cities offer exhibitions for camping, outdoor recreation or other leisure activities. There, you'll be able to see many different units on display, side-by-side. This gives you a great opportunity to contrast and compare them.



Sooner or later, the time will come to just do it! Think about all the people you've talked to and the camping experiences you've had. Choose an RV that looks like it will do the best job of meeting your unique needs and go for it!



Then, take it out and use it every chance you get. Travel with RV'ing friends or take guests along. Make it a fun part of your life and you'll come to love the RV'ing lifestyle like I do.



Maybe we'll cross paths in some campground somewhere. I look forward to it!


Ed Hill was introduced to 'camping' by the US Army nearly half a century ago. Since then, he has camped his way across most of the United States and parts of Europe using tents and a variety of RV's. In addition to RV'ing, Ed is sharing his love for RV travel in his blog, http://www.EnjoyRVTravel.com


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