Manufacturers or Models for full-timing.

Once you own a 4 slide Motorhome and use it 5-6 months a year you will never go back to 1or 2 slides.Kinda like once you drive a 400+Diesel pusher you will never go back to gas or a 300Hp unit

RVER wrote:
Thunderingquiet I totally agree about Tiffin but as many slide outs is not a good idea, they weigh too much and each has a potential for failing.

When evaluating a mh the buyer needs to do research when determining the amount of slides versus weight. Our Phaeton has four slides and FULLY loaded we are still 900 pounds below the max CC weight of our chassis and that does not include the towing capacity. Sure the more slides the potential is there for problems. But slides have been around for years and have become pretty dependable. On our last DP, that we had for 10 years, we never had any problems with the slides. Sure the 'potential' is there for failure, but having the extra living space far exceeds the fear of a potential failure.

You are correct about the sliding storage trays in the basement. We have one, but wish I had two. But without a raised rail chassis the height on things on the tray is severely limited. If you store something more than 9 or 10 inches it will limit how far the tray can slide out on the opposite side.

BTW - Tiffin is not producing the front engine diesel anymore Tiffin Motorhomes.

Thunderingquiet I totally agree about Tiffin but as many slide outs is not a good idea, they weigh too much and each has a potential for failing. Also you want your storage to be pass thru as much as possible and have it on rollers so you can pull out the roller drawer and have all your stuff in front of you instead of not knowing what is hiding way inside. Also if the storage door is under the slideout it can be a problem crawling under to get to the door and then definitely need those roller things. Tiffen does make a nice unit and supports it like no other company, I will never understand why they built units with a diesel engine up front!! BUT if people buy them they will build them I guess.

prism wrote:
If your looking for a decent unit thats reasonable well built and has Factory support thats second to NONE Buy a Allegro bus.Tiffin warrentys everything about their coach for many years even if your second or third owner if its a manufacturer mistake on their part or something goes wrong that should not have.My unit is 6 years old.I bought it used and have had it for 2 years.The windshield poped at the two corners a few months ago.I called tiffin about it to see if there was anything I should look for when repairing it so i dont have a repeat.They said not that there aware of but they said get it fixed and they paid the bill. true story
The roof rails on some develop small vertical cracks.Again I,am taking it to a dealer near calgary next spring and it will be repaired for free under their warrenty.My Buddys 2009 had wiper arms break off.They sent him two new wiper arm assemblys free of charge hard to argue coverage like that.

The Tiffin factory support greatly influenced our decision to purchase our used 2012 Tiffin Phaeton. Not only is Tiffin support well known, but the website Tiffinrvnetwork is very active and run by people that own Tiffin products. The knowledge base there is fantastic! The website is not sponsored by Tiffin.

Having that factory support available with a phone call makes life easier.

But back to what the OP asked. Quite a few mentioned floorplans and quality. All of that is important, but has anyone mentioned storage space? Now I'm not knocking gassers but they typically has less storage than a DP. They usually have storage 'compartments' with doors that open up, requiring you to bend down and under the door. OK if your young and nimble, not so good if your've older and not so nimble. With our last mh there were compartments that I needed to get on my knees to access them.

IMHO basement storage with a raised rail chassis should be high on the list for fulltiming. Remember when fulltiming, this is your home and you WILL NEED more storage then a mh designed for weekends and vacations.

Our main reason for trading our last DP was it lacked basement storage and it had lift up storage doors. Our priority for selecting another mh was basement storage with a raised rail chassis, side opening storage doors, floorplan, living space (slideouts) and a stacking washer and dryer. Get as many slideouts as you can, you won't regret it.

If your looking for a decent unit thats reasonable well built and has Factory support thats second to NONE Buy a Allegro bus.Tiffin warrentys everything about their coach for many years even if your second or third owner if its a manufacturer mistake on their part or something goes wrong that should not have.My unit is 6 years old.I bought it used and have had it for 2 years.The windshield poped at the two corners a few months ago.I called tiffin about it to see if there was anything I should look for when repairing it so i dont have a repeat.They said not that there aware of but they said get it fixed and they paid the bill. true story
The roof rails on some develop small vertical cracks.Again I,am taking it to a dealer near calgary next spring and it will be repaired for free under their warrenty.My Buddys 2009 had wiper arms break off.They sent him two new wiper arm assemblys free of charge hard to argue coverage like that.

Dick_B wrote:
Suggest contacting the RV Consumer Group www.rv.org for their more objective reviews of rigs for full-timing. They believe full-time rigs must have better than average systems and appliances.

While researching my next motorhome purchase last fall, I went ahead and sprang $$ for RV Consumer's product. Didn't find it any more helpful than doing a lot of reading and asking around here and IRV2. RVCG does not consider my '03 Monaco Sig suitable as a full time rig. I know several here who would beg to differ.

dc

Full timing rigs have double or triple layer windows, insulation in storage areas with heat in storage areas to keep pipes from freezing, usually a home style refer but not always, Slide outs and I would say at least one in livingroom and one in bedroom, walk around bed(queen or king), larger capac. water tank and holding tanks, really comfortable furniture and I do believe you need a well built unit so it will last longer than a couple of years 24/7. Newmar, Tiffen, Winnebago(although saw a new one the other day and it had multiple manufacturing mistakes that will need to be remedied before anyone will buy)Country Coach and there are more that are solid, diesel (rear diesel only) do not buy front diesel, very loud. A larger hot water heater is not needed for one person, washer dryer(two separate units not the one does it all).

super_camper wrote:

dons2346 wrote:
There is no difference between a "fulltimer" and a "non fulltimer" rv. The difference is the manufacturers warranties. Some mfgs will not honor a warranty if the rig is used full time and as such is stated in the warranty. Most say that the rv is made for "recreational" use only. You have to read the warranty.

I would like to know if there is any truth in this?

I was looking through RV's at the show including the documentation and warranty and did NOT find any references to this anywhere.

Yep - that's what ours says. How they would verify it, I have no idea. We bought an entry level MH because that's what we could afford. We are in our early 50s and anticipate that we will buy another RV before we retire, so we didn't want to drop all we had on a better rig at this point. At some point we intend to spend 9 months of the year traveling, but we have to wait until we retire.

Older, DP, Top of the Line when produced.

But then again, I am not objective.

super_camper wrote:

dons2346 wrote:
There is no difference between a "fulltimer" and a "non fulltimer" rv. The difference is the manufacturers warranties. Some mfgs will not honor a warranty if the rig is used full time and as such is stated in the warranty. Most say that the rv is made for "recreational" use only. You have to read the warranty.

I would like to know if there is any truth in this?

I was looking through RV's at the show including the documentation and warranty and did NOT find any references to this anywhere.

When you look at an RV at a show, all you are going to see is the standard 2 year, 24,000 mile type stuff. When you purchase the RV, that is when you see all of the documentation and the full warranty.