Types of Recreational Vehicles Review

1. The Pop Up or tent trailer is often the least expensive and easiest trailer to pull. It is also the simplest (short of tenting). For the money these will give you quite a bit of space.

I am also going to put what is called the Hi-Lo in this category. One of the major differences is that the Hi-Low is hard sided. Pop Ups are made of canvas.

We pulled our pop up with a mini van. It is very likely that if you have a family you have a vehicle that will pull this type of RV.

2. The Truck Camper goes into the bed of a pick up truck. They vary in size to accomodate the truck you already have or one you will buy. You'll get a small space with a lot packed into it. The door will always be in the back. This does not stay on your truck in a campground. You crank up four supports and pull your truck out from under it.

3. A Class B motor home is a compact unit that looks very much like a regular van. Although I don't think you are getting the most bang for your buck people like them because they can often double as a vehicle. If not double then at least they are easier to drive than a Class A.

4. A Class A motor home or self contained unit is not pulled with a truck but it is driven. These range in size and price and are what we see most often in campgrounds especially with the retired crowd. Small cars are often pulled by the Class A.

Slide outs are available on most models but you will pay for them. A slide out is a section of the unit, usually the couch, sometimes the dinette, that slides out anywhere from anywhere from 18" to 3'. They close in at the push of a button when you are ready to move still giving you plenty of room to move around. I've seen units with 4 slide outs. I've seen units with 1 or none.

The driver's seat in a Class A unit usually sits high with the windshield stretching the full width of the motor home.

5. The Class C Recreational Vehicle are built on a cutaway chassis with a manufactured cab that has driver and passenger doors. They usually have four wheel drive. One real plus to the Class C is the ability to have it serviced. Most of the parts are standard.

The Class C is certainly easier to drive than the Class A. We've rented Class Cs on two occasions. If you rent an RV this is the type that you probably will be renting.

Fifth-wheel trailers range from about 8,000 pounds to more than 18,000 pounds thus the need for a huge truck. The neck of the fifth wheel fits in a hitch in the bed of a truck. If you want to leave your RV at the campground you'll have your truck to drive.

7. The Travel Trailer is pulled by a car or truck and comes in many lengths, weights and designs. These are the biggest selling RV. They require little maintenance since they have no engine.

You can find small trailers weighing less than 2,000 pounds and can be pulled with a wide selection of compact vehicles.

There are a variety of different floor plans for the Travel Trailer as well as the other RVs.