RV wood framing, types of lumber used

I doubt it would be anything exotic, probably the standard whitewood you find in lumberyards used for 2X4's. Type will vary by which part of the country the manufacturer is located. Hardwoods, and yellow pine are heavy and the hardwoods are expensive and they are harder to machine. Just a guess tho.

2X2 pine most likely for its low cost.

Construction Fir is good. About the same as pine except... it shows more grain
and is heavier in weight if you compare it to pine.
Brian

The cheapest soft wood they can buy...rarely is it pine and never pressure treated.

Most of what I have seen looks like common fir.

Ivylog wrote:
The cheapest soft wood they can buy...rarely is it pine and never pressure treated.

X2 and luan for the roof decking.

I suspect cardboard would be used if they could get it to last until the warranty expired.

shermy1987 wrote:
Hi to all.

Does anybody know what common types of 2x2 lumber is used for constructing RV walls?

I can find so many posts about wood vs aluminum etc, yet nothing about what actual types of wood is being used in modern RV framing construction.

The "type" of 2x2 wood used does not really make a difference in the strength.. That is because the walls, roof and floor are actually "truss" systems.

The paneling on the walls are glued and stapled to the wall framing, this makes a strong but yet lightweight truss..

Take the outside siding off and the inside paneling off and it would not take much effort to demolish a RV..

The RV industry uses what ever evergreen type of wood (generically called "pine") they can get at the lowest price and it depends on the availability of species closest to them.. It is light weight, fairly strong and inexpensive compared to many other woods like cherry, oak, maple..

^^^ Even leaving the paneling and siding on it doesn't take much effort to demolish a typical wood framed RV.

As far as the type, as has been noted, the cheapest, lightest stuff they can find.

When I rebuilt our TT I went to the local lumber yard and bought 2x2's by the bundle. I glued and screwed everything back together, double and tripled sealed everything, beefed up where I could without adding unnecessary weight and it's held up well.

Bruce Brown wrote:
^^^ Even leaving the paneling and siding on it doesn't take much effort to demolish a typical wood framed RV.

As far as the type, as has been noted, the cheapest, lightest stuff they can find.

When I rebuilt our TT I went to the local lumber yard and bought 2x2's by the bundle. I glued and screwed everything back together, double and tripled sealed everything, beefed up where I could without adding unnecessary weight and it's held up well.

Actually, RVs are a lot stronger than you would think and that IS because of the paneling creating a structural truss.. Without the paneling there is no way that 2x2s would be able to withstand 1ft to 2ft deep snow loads..

I have seen 2ft+ snow and ice drifts on top of my TT and it has not suffered any structural damage.

Take the paneling and siding off and 6" of snow would easily collapse the framing..

It should also be noted, harder wood does not necessarily make a structure stronger.. Many hardwoods can shatter/break under loads when softer pine species will simply flex..

You DO want some flex or give to the structure otherwise something else will have to give..

I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek in my "it doesn't take much to demolish" answer, to a point. I understand exactly what you're saying; mine was more of a "look how fast they become toothpicks" when they hit something statement. They may hold a light snow load (and where we live 2 feet is a light load), structurally they're not really all that strong.