What would you design?

[NWJeeper]

O.K. imagine if you will that you can design your own RV. No matter the type, what kind of things would you want? What kind of things would you leave out? What would the layout be? If you were given the job of designing the next great RV for a company what would you build?

We chose our Georgetown 378TS because of the floor-plan. We absolutely HATE that most motorhomes have the TV above the driver/passenger seats. It is an unnatural place to have it because of the fact that when you sit on the couch (which is always against the wall) you have to turn your head left and look up to watch TV. This gets old and painful in a short time. Our 378 like only a few before it such as Rexhall and more recently Winnebago has a dual slide in the living room with an entertainment center in one slide and the couch facing it in the other so our living room is more or less just like you would arrange your furniture at home, with the couch and recliner facing the TV! We love it!

However there are things that I wish that RV builders would do like:

1. Pre wire for solar panels
2. pre wire for an inverter (although lots of RVs come with them anyway now)
3. My dad's old '84 Winnebago has lines that run from the radiator on the engine all the way back to the water heater, there is a heat exchanger in the water heater that uses the engine coolant to heat the water so that no matter where you are on the road you have hot water ready when you stop. It has worked great for over 20 years now, why did they stop that?
4. How about putting the air compressor found on the diesel rigs on the gas rigs with a tank for airing up your tires, or inflating the floaties for the lake.
5. Fluorescent or LED lighting for more energy efficiency.
6. I would have a bank of electrical heat strips in the plenum of the gas furnace so that it could be run on either gas or electric.
7. How about Yakima rack system on the roof that uses the bars so that you could easily throw a pair of canoes or kayaks up on the roof?
8. More skylights so that you aren't using battery power to turn on lights. Better yet how about electric skylights like cars have? You could have a nice big one like 2' x 3' that could be open and closed for more air and a nice view of the sky.

So what would you do? Get rid of the dinette? More storage? Let's hear it!

[powerboatr]

some sort of a dumbwaiter system for the kitchen to the basement for those pots and pans you don't use every day


stop using sheet metal screws to hold wood cabinets together

use a real slide seal system that actually SEALs, this could be done using air bladders that inflate after the slides are out and deflate before you bring them in, no more bugs or cold air drafts

run extra wire chase tubes through those hard to reach areas. so if you add an item you have a way of getting power to it.

a real set of books for your rv.

[PumaPro]

Originally Posted by powerboatr

use a real slide seal system that actually SEALs, this could be done using air bladders that inflate after the slides are out and deflate before you bring them in, no more bugs or cold air drafts

See also: Bluebird Wanderlodge. $25,000 option.

[shineysideup]

Has anyone managed to see an earthbound rv? They come with a factory 3 year warranty and claim to be up to 1500lbs lighter than comparable 30' travel trailers. There is not a lot of info on their site but the dealer I deal with is getting one this week (maybe). Going to be in the $40,000 - $45,000 canadian range, the website pics show the trailers as very upscale, innovative and built to last. (earthboundrv.com).

Guess I will see on monday (maybe) as my trailer is going to the dealer for some year end warranty work. If anyone has actually been inside one I'd like to know what they thought!

cheers,

shineysideup

[powerboatr]

Originally Posted by PumaPro

See also: Bluebird Wanderlodge. $25,000 option.

wow thats alot of seals

[pjeffreysr1]

If I were going to design an RV, one of the first (and major) design features would be to use SLIDING cabinet doors - not hinged ones. Less weght, less chance for contents to end up in the floor, and no worries about someone getting their fingers injured by pulling a door open the wrong way, busted knees or heads from a cabinet 'accdentally' left open at bed time (O-U-C-H - an 'Excedrin' headache). Also make use of cabinets space better. Cut wasted space by opening up places like under the couch, over the fridge, etc. In fact I came very near building a rig before we got the new Wildwood 26BHXL.