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Johnnyvans's avatar
Johnnyvans
Explorer
Oct 23, 2014

Any info on North American RV?

My wife and I are considering the full-time 5er lifestyle for a while (just married and in our mid 30's) and after a google of custom 5th wheelers I came across the North American RV and trailer website. I have spoke with them twice, and they are super nice however I'll be darned if I can find anything besides their website after extensive searching. I know there are about 70 billion different 5er companies out there, so I thought maybe a post here would yield some potentially helpful info...
I am considering them b/c they will build me a 45 footer to my slightly altered specs...45 feet cause we plan on living in it for a few years, and having been a trucker I know 45 feet isn't really that scary. However I don't see many that long which must mean something...
Any info or thoughts are greatly appreciated!

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  • The_Mad_Norsky's avatar
    The_Mad_Norsky
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2014
    Johnnyvans wrote:
    A loaded North American 44' clocks in at 15,000


    Other known reputable companies, say Heartland, Jayco, LifeStyle, DRV/Mobile Suites, just for a few, make 35 foot long fifth wheels in about the same weight range.

    I'd say 15,000 for a 44 foot fifth wheel is just a tad light in weight, which could indicate you may not be getting the quality you want.
  • Johnnyvans's avatar
    Johnnyvans
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2014
    A New Horizon must be great if you can afford to pay for it, and haul it around. But $100 or so large is a little steep lol. The truck we plan to tow with is a Ram 3500 duallie crew cab, 8 foot box. Also with the Cummins and 6spd manual. That truck in stock form pulls just shy of 18,000 with a payload carrying weight of 5,000. A loaded North American 44' clocks in at 15,000 and can be purchased for 38 large, I was told. So our slightly customized 45' should be right where we want to be, price and weight wise.

    The Monte Carlo model appears to be built by Recreation By Design, which houses a variety of models and manufacturers, including North American. HL Enterprise apparently makes only travel trailers, not 5ers.
  • Johnnyvans's avatar
    Johnnyvans
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2014
    donn0128 wrote:
    The web site seems kind of sketchy and lacking much information. Where is their head quarters? Where are the trailers built?

    Next question I would have for you, where are you going to park 45 feet of trailer? That size will automatically exclude you from a lot of parks including most NF, many state and a lot of the older private parks.


    It appears everything is in Elkhart, Indiana. When I called their phone number, the guy listed as the (president?) of the company is the one I've spoken to. I can't tell if this is good or bad lol. He is very nice and willing to talk however.

    Where we live, in the far East Valley of the Phoenix area, there are plots of land you can get that have water and electric run to them. My wife and I would park the rv there as our living residence basically. As far as campgrounds and such, a quick search of 'big rig campground' seems to yield quite the bevy of available sites. So basically we would work our jobs here in AZ, then for fun hook up our house and head to one of those big rig parks for a nice getaway :-)
  • n7bsn's avatar
    n7bsn
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2014
    NorthAmerican and MonteCarlo produce mostly for the Carnie and Traveler folk. So they don't worry about things like fitting into public campgrounds.

    Personally, if I wanted a custom (at custom prices) I would talk to New Horizon. Mind you they will not be cheap. But they will produce exactly what you want.
    Plus they actually have "cred" in the full-time RV world.
  • donn0128's avatar
    donn0128
    Explorer II
    Oct 23, 2014
    The web site seems kind of sketchy and lacking much information. Where is their head quarters? Where are the trailers built?

    Next question I would have for you, where are you going to park 45 feet of trailer? That size will automatically exclude you from a lot of parks including most NF, many state and a lot of the older private parks.
  • tsetsaf's avatar
    tsetsaf
    Explorer III
    Oct 23, 2014
    The two brands you should consider are Monte Carlo and HL Enterprises Premier Elite. Both offer semi custom floorplans in sizes over 40'. Monte Carlo regularly puts out rigs in the 50' range. They sell a bunch in the Dakotas and AZ.

    We bought ours used in AZ and it is very solid yet light enough to be towed with a 1 ton. Otherwise there are also DRV Suites in the 40' range but very heavy. Open Range also has 40' rigs too.
  • NJRVer's avatar
    NJRVer
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2014
    I came across their site on a Google search once.

    Interesting...but I think I would definitely want to see their factory and a close up of their construction techniques.

    Also would want a very detailed contract and plain no nonsense warranty wording.

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