If you could design an RV...

[magnusfide]

What would you incorporate or change?

It's been awhile since I did a thread like this and each time I see something new suggested by the other RVers.

Our mh pretty much addresses many of my concerns now but in our shopping I still saw a lot of the same old tired design flaws. I'd like to see manufacturers address the following:

Wish #1-Better roofing. There's a roll-on sealant available aftermarket to help prevent leaks but to me it would make better sense to stop cutting the holes in the roof to begin with. Mount the AC and other units on the backside of the rig. Do a low profile ductwork to the rest of the space. It's not that hard to change.

Wish #2-Improve the clothing closets. Some manufacturers have been doing better about this but too many still rely on those dinky shirt closets. A full length closet can be done. Offer a variety of closet configurations with those modulars that are available now. IKEA can do it - so can you.

Wish #3-Another improvement I've seen in some manufacturers is the offering of On Demand hot water heaters. Good for them but the rest of you: catch up with the tech.

Wish #4-Stop using bar sized sinks for a kitchen sink. There's no room to do dishes. I couldn't believe it when I saw those things in large rigs. Really.

What would you change or add?

[jims1]

There is a custom builder called Space Craft RV. They build towables but might build a drivable.
Most of their recent builds incorporate LG Mini Split heat and air units, heated floors, normal size appliances, etc. Several I know of run off battery entirely. 4-4k Magnum inverters pulling off of a variety of battery sources. Either Volt batteries, Telsa, or a company called Volta. Entirely custom builds. Your wife want a large tub? Done. Nothing but solar on the roof? Done. Heated floors, silent mini split temp controls? Easy. Tired of sweeping and vacuuming and want a Roomba? Simple with toe kick storage garage of course. All tablet operated? Easy Peasy.
BUT... Bring your check book.
They are on FB with recent builds.

[free_radical]

Id also be happy w only two burner cooker and Deep sink to wash dishes.
Double pane windows and enough rigid insulation everywhere to make genuine 4 season rig would be great.
Espar diesel for heating.
On contruction side,make it at least as strong and durable like all school buses.
Even better would be body made of some strong unbreakable material in case of some tree branches or large hail comes down.

Could Hemp plastic be the answer?

https://youtu.be/srgE6Tzi3Lg


Also why cant anyone make an RV bit more streamlined aerodynamic nowadays to improve mpg,when back then buses were smooth round,awesome looking
57 Flxible
https://youtu.be/KipEWECwjx8

GMC futureliner


First RV maker builds something like this,preferably with hybrid electric 4x4 drivetrain will get my money..

Now maybe someone should PRINT this tread and send it to all RV builders..
😉

[pnichols]

Veebyes wrote:
Unfortunately with all this stuff comes a cost & people don't want to pay for quality.

Compared to boats RVs are dirt cheap. Yes, there are cheap boats out there. Builders like Bayliner come to mind very quickly.

My biggest grumble with my 2007 Alpenlite is the frame. Yes, it is Lippert & it has cost me over $1500 in spring hanger area upgrades to make me feel confident with it. I am happy with weight as long as it translates into strength in the frame & quality of materials & workmanship in the house.

Over the years I have been in the process of 'marinising' my 5er. It has a battery type more commonly found on upmarket cruising boats. It also has an inverter/charger commonly found on those boats. It is wired like a boat. No more converter. As fasteners need replacing SS ones are being used. I'd like to replace the cheap RV grade hatches with marine ones but standard hole sizes are different. I'd like to replace all the cheap RV grade drawer slides with marine slides that don't run out all by themselves. Marine grade cupboard closures with double catches & hinges too. Outside needs the same attention with better hinges & closures for access doors. Too much simple cheap junk on RVs.

All this marine stuff costs $$$.

When something goes wrong, as it will with anything used, I do the vast majority of repairs myself. Repairs are usually easy. Getting access to what needs attention often is not. I'd like to have space for battery bank expansion. Space available on most RVs is enough for a couple of 6V batterys, no more. Not enough for any more than a couple of nights without a genny or solar without serious conservation of power usage.

Tankage in most units these days is a joke. What can anyone do with 60 gal or less when a water source is not readily available?

With your RV you're doing it right by applying: "Do it right and do it once.", and "Each time it breaks fix it so that break will never happen again."

We're not full-timers, but the two of us and one small dog get by pretty good on our small motorhome's 45 gallons of onboard fresh water (inc. the water hearter). I have retrofitted our main kitchen sink faucet with a 0.5 GPM aerator outlet, we carry bottled water along for all cooking and drinking, and we use wipes a lot for sponge bathing instead of using the shower.

It seems that it's a major design challenge to have an RV be small but with still generous tankage. For the case of our 24 foot motorhome, it could have been done by the RV builder because there are a lot of unoccupied dead spaces in the coach interior where larger or multiple FW tank(s) could have been installed plus exterior spaces within the chassis where larger BW, GW, and propane tanks could have been installed. Our chassis even has plenty of spare weight capacity so as to handle more liquid weight, too.

What could fix the tankage size issues are customers who pay attention to it at new RV purchase time and walk away if tanks are small. IMHO, "floorplan" is not the most important thing when buying a new or used RV.

[Veebyes]

Unfortunately with all this stuff comes a cost & people don't want to pay for quality.

Compared to boats RVs are dirt cheap. Yes, there are cheap boats out there. Builders like Bayliner come to mind very quickly.

My biggest grumble with my 2007 Alpenlite is the frame. Yes, it is Lippert & it has cost me over $1500 in spring hanger area upgrades to make me feel confident with it. I am happy with weight as long as it translates into strength in the frame & quality of materials & workmanship in the house.

Over the years I have been in the process of 'marinising' my 5er. It has a battery type more commonly found on upmarket cruising boats. It also has an inverter/charger commonly found on those boats. It is wired like a boat. No more converter. As fasteners need replacing SS ones are being used. I'd like to replace the cheap RV grade hatches with marine ones but standard hole sizes are different. I'd like to replace all the cheap RV grade drawer slides with marine slides that don't run out all by themselves. Marine grade cupboard closures with double catches & hinges too. Outside needs the same attention with better hinges & closures for access doors. Too much simple cheap junk on RVs.

All this marine stuff costs $$$.

When something goes wrong, as it will with anything used, I do the vast majority of repairs myself. Repairs are usually easy. Getting access to what needs attention often is not. I'd like to have space for battery bank expansion. Space available on most RVs is enough for a couple of 6V batterys, no more. Not enough for any more than a couple of nights without a genny or solar without serious conservation of power usage.

Tankage in most units these days is a joke. What can anyone do with 60 gal or less when a water source is not readily available?

[roaminaround]

This list is for travel trailers, but some are universal:
1. More exterior storage
2. Eliminate the skylight bubble in the shower (just another hole in the roof)
3. Tank sensor system that actually works
4. Quality mattress
5. Front window (we have one but almost nobody makes them anymore)
6.Entry steps that rest on the ground
7.Thicker paint on undercarriage to keep rust at Bay
8. Carpet is usually a bad idea as it stains too easily

[magnusfide]

I would pop for a Vespa or other brand of scooter. Easy to stow, easy on the pocket and is street legal. Beats a towed any day. There's also those 3 wheeled motorcycles but they're far more expensive than a motor scooter. In some deals you can get two motor scooters for less than the 3 wheelers.

[CincyGus]

dedmiston wrote:

CincyGus wrote:
I got most of mine but it took some time to find. A toyhauler that didn't have any of the things I DON'T want.

I don't want a slide on the awning side of the camper, taking up awning space.

I don't want a TV placed where I have to go visit the Chiropractor due to watching it once I return from the trip.

I don't want a shower that feels like a old phone booth. Give a fella a little elbow room.

I don't want a bathroom with mirrors instead of medicine cabinets.

I don't want a kitchen that if you leave the coffee maker on the counter the only prep space you have left is the stove or sink once you put their covers on them.

I don't want a kitchen that it's impossible to pass someone without touching them.

I don't want a "RV/Short Queen Bed" ever again.

My new Wolfpack 23pack15 avoided all the I don't wants, Gave me 2 medicine cabinets, a well placed TV that we can all see from the living area without a neck brace in our future, plenty of room in the kitchen/living space and room for our golf cart and plenty of storage throughout the camper. Not everyone's camper of choice but it was nearly perfect for us. And that's whats important to all of us. Finding the one that works for them!

That's a good list. It's nice that you found what you wanted.

What kind of toys do you haul?

About the slide on the cub side: Ours has a large slide on that side and three awnings. It's the best of both worlds.

Just a golf cart at this time although there may be a bike once I retire.

[pnichols]

That about describes our 24 foot Class C on it's overkill E450 Ford chassis ... excepting and including:

No slide

No TV

Shower is large enough (I'm 6'2")

Bathroom has both mirrors and medicine cabinets

The coach is a widebody, so no touching when passing by

I fit either queen bed and diagonally on the full bed

Outside storage is 7 steel-walled and carpet-lined slam-shut exterior cabinets

Interior storage for a whole bunch of stuff and equipment, including at least 1-2 weeks of food for two

29 gallons grey, 39 gallons black, 45 gallons fresh, 18 gallons propane

Heated tanks, large double batteries, and an outside shower with remote water pump switch

4000 watts of 120V fairly quiet off-grid AC power fueled from the 55 gallon main gas tank

650 watts of 120V ultra-quiet portable generator off-grid AC power for battery charging that consumes around 1/2 gallon of gas every 5 hours

130 amp engine alternator for ~no-sound V10 coach battery charging, or coach heating, or coach cooling - anytime and anywhere

So .... the perfect RV for two does exist in that our 24 feet is both small enough for no-towing-required and large enough for complete comfort in all weather conditions, with or without hookups, and with no sun required.

Happy Camper. 🙂

[dedmiston]

CincyGus wrote:
I got most of mine but it took some time to find. A toyhauler that didn't have any of the things I DON'T want.

I don't want a slide on the awning side of the camper, taking up awning space.

I don't want a TV placed where I have to go visit the Chiropractor due to watching it once I return from the trip.

I don't want a shower that feels like a old phone booth. Give a fella a little elbow room.

I don't want a bathroom with mirrors instead of medicine cabinets.

I don't want a kitchen that if you leave the coffee maker on the counter the only prep space you have left is the stove or sink once you put their covers on them.

I don't want a kitchen that it's impossible to pass someone without touching them.

I don't want a "RV/Short Queen Bed" ever again.

My new Wolfpack 23pack15 avoided all the I don't wants, Gave me 2 medicine cabinets, a well placed TV that we can all see from the living area without a neck brace in our future, plenty of room in the kitchen/living space and room for our golf cart and plenty of storage throughout the camper. Not everyone's camper of choice but it was nearly perfect for us. And that's whats important to all of us. Finding the one that works for them!

That's a good list. It's nice that you found what you wanted.

What kind of toys do you haul?

About the slide on the cub side: Ours has a large slide on that side and three awnings. It's the best of both worlds.

[CincyGus]

I got most of mine but it took some time to find. A toyhauler that didn't have any of the things I DON'T want.

I don't want a slide on the awning side of the camper, taking up awning space.

I don't want a TV placed where I have to go visit the Chiropractor due to watching it once I return from the trip.

I don't want a shower that feels like a old phone booth. Give a fella a little elbow room.

I don't want a bathroom with mirrors instead of medicine cabinets.

I don't want a kitchen that if you leave the coffee maker on the counter the only prep space you have left is the stove or sink once you put their covers on them.

I don't want a kitchen that it's impossible to pass someone without touching them.

I don't want a "RV/Short Queen Bed" ever again.

My new Wolfpack 23pack15 avoided all the I don't wants, Gave me 2 medicine cabinets, a well placed TV that we can all see from the living area without a neck brace in our future, plenty of room in the kitchen/living space and room for our golf cart and plenty of storage throughout the camper. Not everyone's camper of choice but it was nearly perfect for us. And that's whats important to all of us. Finding the one that works for them!

[mr__ed]

toedtoes wrote:
Molded fiberglass body
Stove with oven
Large windows on all four sides that you can actually see out of while you're sitting inside

Oh wait... That's my 1975 clipper. It has a full length closet and a fullsize kitchen sink, and a regular sized 4 burner stove with oven in a 21ft package.

I recall that my previous full timing RVs all had ovens (with the exception of some small campers I also owned). I recall using the oven one time in a class C lazy daze. Other than that I used only the stove top and microwave. Just the way it turned out in my case.

[pullin2]

I want an LED indicator on the left front of my TT that lights up if the water pump switch is on. It should be visible in my mirror at all times. Tired of trying to remember whether I shut it off before getting on the highway.

This seems like an easy thing to do.

[JonWalter]

Solar panels are nice for helping to keep the battery charged.
Good mattress
Lift chairs
compact gym

[Ralph_Cramden]

pnichols wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:
On our Rockwood 23WS there was plenty of room to add a 2nd 43 gallon freshwater tank, and where the black and gray tanks are located they both could of easily been doubled in size from the current 39 gallon size, but is a little harder to accomplish after the fact unless I wanted to basically reconfigure all the plumbing which would of probably required tearing into some of the inside construction. The tanks go in first prior to the rest of the build so its problematic to change. There are plenty of other models / floorplans with the same box size made by both Forest River and other manufacturers with much smaller tanks. Its determined more by manufacturing costs than size IMO.

But Ralph ... is your Rockwood 23WS chassis enough overkill to handle the additional weight of that much larger tanks?

Yes.