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The newest recreational vehicles offer room to stretch out, do the laundry or just take in the changing vistas from the bay window.
By GORDON and JANET GROENE
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001
High tech has hit the road. You can now find recreational vehicles that are relatively skinny as they move down the highway but can almost double in size at the campsite. Touch a button, and the living room wall slides out, complete with sleeper sofa, while a bay window unfolds from the kitchen and the bedroom gets a foot longer.
RVs now have touch-screen controls for plumbing and heating systems. Some have hot tubs, others a plasma TV screen that comes out of the ceiling or a bed that tucks up against the ceiling, allowing the "bedroom" to be used as an office during the day.
Why the gadgetry and size flexibility?
"The next generation (RV) buyer never grew up in an apartment or rental property. Their families owned homes, often more than one," industry observer Bob Zagami told the trade publication RV News.
These buyers "will look at an RV as a home . . . and will want all the fun things they came to enjoy . . . with focus on the kitchen and bath."
Thus, even vans may have beds and bathrooms now. Furniture choices include wooden computer stations and a desk chair that boasts heat and massage options.
Or vans may come with the most utilitarian of fold-away furniture, so that the floor space can accommodate motorcycles or watercraft, tucked into the vehicle through its rear door.
For those who want a minihome, including hot and cold running water and the kitchen sink, all of that can travel in the bed of a pickup truck. When the vacation is over, the living quarters can be lifted off to allow the pickup to return to work duties.
In short, the marketplace offers almost any combination you could wish for.
The RV industry delivers between 28,000 and 32,000 travel trailers and motorhomes each month, enlarging the current fleet that is estimated at 10-million.
The evolution of the modern RV has been filled with morphing and crossover. Early cars could be fitted with bunks and stoves -- the first big wave of automotive snowbirds to Florida were called Tin-Can Tourists because they converted cars to under-the-palms guest rooms. Even before World War II, designers had created streamlined aluminum trailers that were towed behind automobiles.
A basic option today is "the slide-out." Once a leaky, creaky gimmick, the sliding expansion has become a reliable, enormously popular way to expand the interior of the RV after it's parked in a campsite. Slide-outs are found in most kinds of RVS, from conversion vans to big motorhomes.
Most commonly, the slide is a section of the living room that rolls out 2 to 3 feet. However, manufacturers may also provide expanding sections in the dinette, kitchen and bedroom. Some RVs have as many as three slide-outs. Newest version: a bay window that retracts for the road.
No matter the options or gimmicks, buyers should also check for the oval-shaped RVIA seal, displayed near the entry door of an RV. The seal means that the manufacturer certifies the vehicle complies with more than 500 safety specifications for heating, electrical, plumbing, fire and life safety, established under the American National Standards Institute Recreational Vehicle Act.
As of last June, about 7-million seals had been shipped by RVIA.
New as of Sept. 1, 2000, are revised weight labels indicating loaded and unloaded weights of each vehicle. Ask salesclerks to explain what these labels mean to you.
As the industry seeks to broaden its market, each year brings product changes. Among those for 2001:
Industry giant Winnebago this year offers four floor plans and lengths ranging from 32 to 37 feet. Each unit includes a hydraulic slide-out that makes a room larger by 20 to 30 inches.
Units are prepped for installation of a washer-dryer and have a 19-inch TV in the bedroom. In one floor plan, a rear bedroom slide-out adds a whopping 21 square feet to the living area.
Winnebago, which offers about a half-dozen basic sizes and propulsion configurations, also makes the Itasca and Rialta motorhome lines. A dozen floor plans are new for 2001, and all of them have slide-outs.
Jayco, known for its price-appeal pop-ups and travel trailers, offers a design that combines features of each. Its 2001 Kiwi models are hard-side, hard-top travel trailers with canvas extensions front and rear, pop-up style.
Dynamax Corp., a maker of van-style RVs, offers a driveable "touring sedan" in floor plans up to 28 feet long.
Among the most luxurious motorhomes is the Bluebird Wanderlodge, with a diesel engine and a slide-out that increases interior space by a whopping 200 square feet.
Costs for such large and luxurious RVS run $750,000 to $1-million. Clearly, those vehicles are no longer in the weeklong-getaway class.
Among practical options available this year:
Dometic's OneStep awning that works via a push button rather than hand crank. Dometic has also introduced a down-sized dishwasher and a small trash compacter for the RV galley. The company's thermostat system allows for climate control in up to four zones.
SeaLand Technology has introduced a higher, deeper toilet that looks more like a household model. The Traveler 500 Plus is available in white and four colors.
MOR/ryde's Rubber Equalizer suspension system complements existing leafsprings on travel trailers and fifth wheels (trailers towed by heavy-duty pickup trucks). The company says its product also increases towing stability.
Made especially for RVs and boats are down-sized appliances, such as an 18-inch-wide dishwasher that heats its own water, a combination washer-dryer, combination microwave-convection ovens that eliminate the need for a conventional oven and a trash compacter.
Automatic-ignition stoves and refrigerators with icemakers and auto-defrost have been available in RVs for years.
You can also order an RV with a central vacuum system and central heat and air, including radiant heat installed in the floor.
One top-of-the-line unit is completely independent of outside electricity: Everything runs on invertors, which convert battery power to household current. When batteries run low, a generator kicks in to charge them.
The Groenes are authors of Living Aboard Your RV, Cooking Aboard Your RV, and Great Eastern RV Trips. Check out their Web site at http://www.gordonandjanetgroene.com.
The term RV covers a wide variety of vehicles. For instance, conversion vehicles, which start as a van or SUV that then might get added windows, custom seats and sofas, even a rudimentary kitchen and bath. These usually are sold by auto dealers, seat up to 12 and coast an average of about $30,000.
Folding camping trailers, or pop-ups, are lightweight for towing. They are often the choice of people who are starting out in RVing. Once set up in the campground, they may sleep up to eight people. Most have a kitchen, and some have a basic toilet and shower compartment. Prices average about $8,000.
Motorhomes are vehicles with an engine at one end and complete living quarters at the other. Class A motorhomes or motor coaches are built on a truck or bus chassis, often with a rear diesel engine. They're priced at $100,000 and up.
Class C motorhomes are complete living units attached to a truck chassis, diesel or gasoline, to create one unit in which you can walk from the living area to the cockpit. Prices start at about $50,000.
Travel trailers are towable, which means you have a vehicle for sporting around and sightseeing after the trailer has been left in a campground. They range from compact or streamlined models to large units with multiple rooms and beds for up to eight people. Prices start at about $10,000 and may go to $65,000.
Fifth-wheel trailers are towed by pick-up trucks with a special hitch. Their average price is about $26,000.
Truck campers are units loaded onto the bed of a pickup; they average about $12,500.
Basement. Storage under the RV; may be only a small compartment in a van or a cavernous space running almost the length and width of a large bus conversion.
Black water. A separate tank that holds sewage. Water from the sinks and shower go into another tank. (See gray water).
Dump station. A special sewer outlet is provided for emptying your black water tank. If you are not a paying guest of the campground, expect to pay for dumping.
Gray water. It is no longer legal to empty sink and shower water onto the ground. It goes into the RV's gray water tank.
Hook-ups. Campgrounds usually offer direct hook-up to your RV for water and electricity. Full hook-ups usually means water, electrical power and sewer, although telephone, modem and cable hookups are on the rise. Better campgrounds also indicate 30-amp or 50-amp hookup for today's high electrical demands.
Pull-through. It is far easier to enter, settle in and leave a campsite that you can drive through, with no backing up.