Forum Discussion

4X4Dodger's avatar
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Mar 11, 2015

What Do These Figures Mean?

In January of 2015 The RVIA reported that 18,000 Travel Trailers were Shipped to Dealers in the US.

For the same period only 1,900 Class A Motor Homes were sent out from manufacturers.

On this forum under the Heading of Class A Motor Homes there are 146,837 Topics and ONLY 416 Posts (answers)

By contrast The Travel Trailer Forum (not incl 5th wheels) has 86,226 Topics and a whopping One Million, Forty-seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety (1,047,990) Posts.

This is an astounding difference. What accounts for it?

Some thoughts:

Class A owners are less likely to work on their own rigs and thus have less to contribute from the maintenance/repair side?

Travel Trailer owners are a more argumentative lot by nature?

Class A MH owners are more affluent and thus have shops work on their rigs more.

Travel Trailer owners are more social than their brothers and sisters in the Class A's?

As for 5th Wheel owners it looks like this:

There are 81,975 Topics and 8643 Posts. Another large variation not unlike the Class A's.

Could it be that the more affluent buyers like to post topics but don't like to answer?

Now I must admit that I have not spent any considerable time on either the Class A or the 5th Wheelers forums and have never posted there myself. But this does raise some interesting questions about "US" as a group.

Of course it makes sense the complexity of the Class A's seem daunting to repair yourself, but why so few Posts (answers) to the very large number of topics?

I think there is a PHD thesis lurking somewhere amongst these statistics..but God knows what it might be.

I make no judgement about either group, implied or otherwise, with this post it is simply a contemplation of a seemingly odd set of numbers.

28 Replies

  • Yes, first it says you have too much time on your hands. Second TT are most populare as they are cheaper and more people have them, FW next and Motorhomes are the fewest, many people can not afford the $100,000 or $300,000 or a million dollars for them. A TT can be picked up for $10,000 up to $40,000 or so.
  • It only means that TT's are sold in much greater quantities than Moho's. As for posts and topics in each I couldn't say.
  • I believe the topics remain, but a post falls off after a period of time based on how old the post is...

    Otherwise, we'd have posts over ten years old at the end of each topic. So, probably conserves ISP bandwidth in the long run.
  • I think something is wrong with your figures? You state "and ONLY 416 Posts (answers)" to Class A topics. Only 416 Answers? If you look just under the posting of Let Me Know if You Have Allison Transmission Fluid Questions, there are 238 answers there.

    You may be right on less Class A owners work on them. I think part of this is because for a lot of people they're harder to bring home - meaning to have a place large enough to park them while working on them. And just going by storage places in the general Phoenix area, I think more Class A owners store them someplace besides where they live, then fly in to use them - snowbirds.

    Can't say I've seen one group being more social than the other.

    Bill
  • With the approach of warmer weather, lots of this type postings will go away till next winter.
  • I think the stats for the Class A Forum got reset. I believe the Class A Forum is the busiest forum here.

    But something is amiss. The number of posts should be greater than the number of topics, correct? How can you make a topic without making a post.

    ~Rick
  • A lot of us old geezers in Class As either can't afford internet on the road, or just are not computer literate. Also, lots have solved or fixed their own problems already, and are tired of hearing the same problems over and over again.
  • I am thinking that of that 1900,some were sold to management and leasing companies for business and celebrity use. Leasing companies sure wouldn't be posting on an RV forum.

About RV Tips & Tricks

Looking for advice before your next adventure? Look no further.25,151 PostsLatest Activity: Jul 27, 2025