Me Again wrote:
So the frame under the Montana and several others of similar size to our 29' Cardinal appear to be the same. Is there just one traveling frame engineer that spends one day a week at 5 different trailer manufacturers? Chris
I think much like the traveling floor plan designer. At one time Jayco, Dutchmen, and Heartland (at least) all had a floorplan designated "3950", which for all intents and purposes were identical. Yet the faces at the various rv shows will all tell you that they were designed by their in house engineers, or architects, or whatever it is they call the people that design these floorplans.
Have you ever seen those house floor plan books at places like Lowes or Home Depot? I swear I think there is an RV equivalent that all these companies go to get "their" floor plans from.
The Jayco tour leader was at least honest in admitting (flat out) that if they see a competitor design that is selling well, they will rip it off in a heart beat.