RV Manufacturers

An exciting step! You’ve decided to launch yourself into the recreational vehicle (RV) world, a world full of options as you plan that next great adventure on the road. From a tiny trailer to a big daddy RV, the first thing to do is understand the different options available.

The Class A option is the biggest on the market. Think of these as massive homes on wheels. The bells and whistles are plentiful, some even containing a parking option underneath the RV for a sports car-size vehicle. You get a lot of space with a Class A RV, some serious luxury, and there is also the option of towing a car as well. As you might have guessed, Class As are expensive and don’t feature the best fuel efficiency. But fun they are, bet on it!

Class C RVs vary in the 20 to 30-foot range, and the sleeping quarters are frequently positioned over the top of the cab plus another area in the back. Class Cs, like Class As, have separate bathroom areas and these are great RVs for someone with their eye on a Class A but not willing to shell out Class A money. Finally, there’s Class B RVs, frequently known as camper vans. While these are small options, some are big enough to sleep 6. The most notable drawback is there is not a ton of space and amenities are rather basic. But they’re easy to drive, have great fuel economy and parking spots are never a pain in the butt.

Now that you know the classes, time to get to the manufacturers. In the Class A category, trusted brands such as American Coach, Coachmen RV, Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International LLC, Custom Coach and Forest River RVs are leaders. The latter is a fantastic manufacturer, mainly because they have a rabid fan of owner groups (both online and in-person meet-ups) which keep one up-to-date on new models, changes, repairs, etc. Coachman was started over 50 years ago, the brainchild of 3 brothers who initially fabricated truck caps. They moved into RVs and to date have sold over 600,000 units.

In the Class C arena, ALP, Cowboy Classic, Dynamax, EarthRoamer and Gulf Stream Coach are all excellent. EarthRoamer fabricates what’s known as rugged RVs, the type that have been known to make expeditions from Alaska to Africa and anywhere in between. Their engines are Ford F-550s and come with a 5-year, 100,000-mile warranty. Dynamax is widely considered one of the premier Class C manufacturers, colloquially known as the “Class A of the Class C.” Their Freightliner model contains slide outs with king size beds and even the smaller models feature queen sized beds.

Finally, Class B RVs count on an array of manufacturers, namely Sportsmobile, Roadtrek, Pleasure Way and GTRV. For a truly bespoke experience, Pleasure Way RVs take up to 6 weeks to build, hand crafted with tubular steel coupled with fiberglass technicians working on the coverings. In Canada alone this company sells the most RVs and for a small Class B, having a shower installed is a plus, plus, plus!