Selecting the RV

Selecting the RV

For us, selecting the RV was six months of intense research. We were convinced going in that we wanted a Class A DP. We went to several RV shows and looked at dozens of units. After looking at a few and getting an idea of what was important to us, we putogether a set of checklists to help us keep focused on these very specific requirements. The initial checklist was concerned with substance, the second page was concerned with style. Style can be fixed or changed later, substance you have to live with.

We had narrowed our choices down to 3 units in particular, each with high scores on both the substance checklist and the style checklist. None of them were better than the other, and each had a few things that didn't really work well and would have to be modified.

On the way out of the show, we stopped to look at a 5th wheel, only because the picture on the living room TV was spectacular and I want to see what the electronics were. While sitting there, I was running through the style checklist and it was scoring better than any of the DP's we sat it. Up to this point, we didn't even have fifth wheels on our radar screen and we had gone through more than 20 Class A DP's.

Representative of Our Future Rig

Now, we have decided on a 5th wheel becuase of the wide array of floor plans available, and have found several that match our lifestyle.

Picking the 5th wheel came down to four choices. The first option is a great floorplan in a medium quality rig. Fleetwood has some great floorplans, but the materials aren't what we're looking for. The second option is a premium unit, but all of these have floorplans (no front LR) that don't meet all of our needs. The third choice is a a premium unit with some modifications. The fourth choice is a fully custom unit.

Initially, I thought the financial end of it was pretty straight forward. Option 1 is about $65,000. Option 2 is about $95,000. Option 3 is about $130,000, and Option 4 costs about $165,000. THIS IS WRONG!

Since the Tampa 2006 Show:

Option 1: $65,000 - Fleetwood

Option 2: $87,000 - Double Tree

Option 3: $149,000 - Teton Homes / Travel Supreme Bunkhouses

Option 4: $129,000 - SpaceCraft Mfg.

We made our first serious inquiry using Option 3 with Travel Supreme. They worked with us to some extent, but are really locked into their existing floor plans. I sent an inquiry off to Teton Homes and they responded with both an answer to my email and a package of information. I sent an inquiry to Space Craft Manufacturing and didn;t get a response to my emails. I have since talked to them in person and it looks like we will get custom unit from SpaceCraft.

Our floor plan wish list looks like this:

Front LR open to dining area (Not really available from any premium Mfg.)

Mid Kitchen with peninsula or island

House style entertainment center

Seperate Desk/Computer area

Shower, Commode, Lav not in Master Bedroom (Excel has nice Floor Plans).

Storage for a tandem bicycle, must be upright (Need a rear bunk house config that can be modified, Travel Supreme has best one for this).

Queen size bed with night stand

Washer/Dryer not in bedroom

Our Decorating wish list:

No institutional beige walls.

Cherry, Mahogany, or Alder woodwork.

Primary lighting not flourescent

Corian or Granite counter tops.

Our feature wish list:

6.5kw Quiet LP Generator

Solar house battery charging system

Pykel dishdrawer

Externally vented splendid W/D

Separate inverters for Entertainment, Computer

Dirty clothes hamper

Kitchen trash can storage

Kitchen knife storage

Large pass through front storage