RV Door, Door latch and handle Of all the things in an RV, you’ll use the RV Door and the RV Door latch and handle every day, probably multiple times in a day. Almost every RV Door handle I’ve ever seen looks completely different than the sticks and bricks door knobs and handles. I don’t […]
Structural
RV Roof – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
RV Roof : The RV Roof is one of the most important things to your RV. This is for a million reasons – first and foremost I’m reminded of the saying “three squares and a roof over my head” ( or something similar ). Or when the weather is incredibly terrible, raining, snowing, hailing, etc, […]
RV Windows – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
RV Windows : RV Windows are a key component of the Fifth Wheel. They connect you to the outside. And traveling the world and connecting to the places you visit is really important to you. So windows deserve at least a discussion. The good thing is that I don’t need to show you where they […]
RV Entry Way Handle and Steps – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
RV Entrance Assistance : If there was any one thing that could use some innovation it is the assistance that RV’s give to people getting into the rig. The high end motorhomes do a really nice job – because they can afford to do so. But the normal run of the mill RV’s do a […]
RV Entry Door – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
Entry Door for a Recreational Vehicle : Probably not something anyone would think about for an RV guide, but there are definitely things that need to be said about the door to the RV. There are a couple of door styles that I know about that have a PROFOUND impact on the enjoyment of your […]
RV Rear Leveling Jack and Stabilizer – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
Rear Jack or Rear Stabilizer for a Fifth Wheel Some RV’s won’t have a rear “jack” or leveling jack at all. What they have is a “stabilizer” jack. The difference is really important. The IDEA behind a stabilizer is that it makes contact with the ground and then gets tightened up snug enough so that […]
RV Leveling System – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
Fifth Wheel Leveling System Assuming most RV’s, particularly more expensive RV’s have electric or hydraulically controlled jacks (also called landing gear) on all four corners of your RV, then it is not a stretch that your RV might have an automatic leveling system. Our Open Range 399BHS has just such a system. The systems are […]
RV Wheels – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
RV Wheels To make the Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide complete, at least a mention of the WHEELS of the RV need to be mentioned. After all, the wheels are what makes an RV an RV. Most RVs now have 4 wheels on two axles. The smallest campers form a class called camping trailers and they […]
Fifth Wheel Landing Gear – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
The Landing Gear Every towable RV ( travel trailers and camping trailers included ) has the concept that the wheels form the two rear corners of the “houses” foundation and that there is a front “support” that forms the front foundation. In a travel trailer, this is usually called the “jack” and on fifth wheels […]
Fifth Wheel Hitch – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide – the RV manual
RV Fifth Wheel Hitch The Fifth Wheel hitch is the differentiating feature in the fifth wheel towable RV category. Towable recreational vehicles are broken into two classes which are determined by their hitch type. The travel trailer attaches to a ball on/near the bumper area of a truck and the fifth wheel RV attaches to […]
RV Slide out – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
RV Slide out The RV Slide out is one of the most interesting and most innovative ideas that the RV industry has had for a long time. As near as I can tell, slideouts are maybe a 10-20 year old idea. But what the RV slide outs do for the RV is amazing. By the […]
RV Basement – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide
The RV Basement As you walk around a fifth wheel, you should notice that the floor in the FRONT of the RV is raised due to the fifth wheel hitch being raised high to fit inside of the bed of a truck. You should also notice that the floor of the REAR of the RV is […]
My redneck moment – Unsafe without excuses – leveling your fifth wheel RV
Just because your jacks can make it level doesn’t mean you should! I had the RV parked on an incline once before… and it never bothered me. But the FRONT of the RV was very close to the ground and the front jacks were only extended about 6-7 inches. In other words, the wheels and […]
The Pros and Cons of having an additional 1/2 bath in an RV
Sheri and I say – Skip the 2nd bathroom in an RV We’ve lived in an Open Range 399BHS for over three years and we feel like we know enough about it to comment on some of the things that affect future buyers when they are making decisions on getting a 2nd bathroom in the RV. Actually, […]
RV Underbelly Material
RV underbelly magic : Coroplast A Plastic material that is very similar to cardboard Many people wonder what the material is that covers the underbelly of an RV. The story is actually interesting, and certainly not consistent across the board. Our first RV, Puma, was a bit of a wreck underneath. I’m pretty sure it […]