My personal preference is for the full body paint.

The last RV we had the fiberglass finish and the one we have now is painted. To me the painted one is much easier to take care of. I just wash it with car wash soap, and it looks great. Our fiberglass RV started looking very dull after awhile and needed a lot of elbow grease to get it to shine again.


As for size, we've been in National Parks, State Parks and COE Parks with everything from our first 17' travel trailer to our present 40' MH. The larger RV you have the the more limited you are in sites, but the trade-off is the decreased living space.

Like everything else with RVing, there are trade-offs and you have to decide what is important to you. Also, keep in mind that the lengths of sites listed in CG Directories are usually an "average" size. That being said, we have stayed in parks with our 40' MH where the length of the site was listed as low as 26'.

Jim

The point is, CG size info printed in CG guides, particuarly for the bigger boys, is almost completely worthless. I roll a 45 footer with tow and often I have to stop in a Walmart type lot (even many of these are big rig unfriendly) or a wide side street, unhook and then scope out the local CGs for ones that will really work. I can park my monster on a dime, but the stories a CG owner will tell you are amazing - and they already have your "non refundable" deposit.

The bigger the boy the more you'll need to call the CG and ask the specific questions that are a concern to you. H&L hosted at Arches NP CG - which certainly does not print they can handle a big rig - but H&L will assure you that (because they were the hosts) that even a 45 footer can fit in 1 or 2 spaces there under their supervision. SO, you gotta call. Ask about trees (height can be a big issue), curbing, radius, when was the last time a size xx was in there and how long did it took them to park it, and so on... Don't just ask if they are big rig friendly - that's not enough or reliable enough. I also use Google Earth to zoom in on a CG and see for myself (if it is a high resolution image area). Also www.rvparkreviews.com is a possible source of real RV owner info relating to size - the reviews you'll have to apply a grain of salt.

As far as paint? If you boondock or like to get in and around tight places, full paint is going to scratch and be very expensive to fix. Whereas, fiberglass will only need simple rebuffing that anyone can do and you are as good as new. Also, if you have a 12-13 foot tall rig, small town main street can/will be a nightmare as the trees are seldom pruned on the right side of the road and full paint will take a beating. Full paint sure looks nice but it is subject to expensive scratch damage that you can not repair at home, unlike fiberglass which is easy to repair the finish. Yes, fiberglass will not shine like full paint, but.... what is important to you? You'll also pay a fantastic premium for full paint over fiberglass finish.


-- Edited by RVDude at 14:52, 2008-10-20

I agree with Fred regarding the fiberglass roof. I just read a post on another forum where an rv'er was asking how to go about repairing his cracked fberglass roof.

Our 5th wheel has the EDPM rubber roof membrane and sits outside 24 X7 in Southern California sun 4 miles from the ocean. It is 14 years old and just recently I had to do some minor repairs to fix a couple of leaks (no roof tears just loose trim pieces).

As for the painted vs white siding, For cost reasons I would go with smooth white or off white. But I would not want any type of vinyl graphics. The vinyl goes bad and begins to curl and peel, gets real ugly looking. Maybe painted on graphics would be ok.

It seems 35 feet is a good average size RV to fit most state & federal campgrounds. If you look at the campground descriptions majority indicate a maximum of 35 ft. I've been in parks with 35 ft maximum length restrictions and the campground host rv is a 40 footer or 37 footer so the size limit is probably more a reflection of the roads inside the campground and what size vehicle can negotiate them easily and safely. Some of the turns can be very tight.

Also slideouts can be a problem. One site we stayed at was narrow and in order to use the slideouts I had to move over towards a tree. This meant the awning could only be deployed about a quarter of the way out. It meant no shade in the afternoon. It worked out OK for the week we were there.

In my experience, most new (20 years or newer) campgrounds (especially privately owned) accomodate big rigs without much concern other than the occaisional tight turn.

I have an Elite with a fiberglas roof. Some think the fiberglas roof is the way to go, I don't.
Things to consider..... If it has a seam in the roof (like mine) it may be prone to opening up with trailer flexing. I have been told ones without a seam do not have this problem. My paint extends to the fiberglas roof. When getting cracks repaired you will have to repaint the affected area...a step not required with just white unpainted fiberglas. Painted graphics do however appear to weather better than vinyl. I believe most rubber roof products carry a significant warranty (up to 10 years) Not sure about other manufactures but DRV only covered my fiberglas for 1 yr.

Dixie,

Options like instant hot water, front porch stairs, entertainment systems, or even dishwasher can be added by the factory, if ordering new or dealer if the rv is already on the lot. The sky's the limit as long as you don't violate weight capacity.

We made several visits to the factory where our 5th wheel was built to have service done and items added.... it was impressive to see just how much custom work the factory would do. Of course it all came with a price tag. We had a lot of creature comfort items (sink hot water tap) added along with some custom cabinets for inside storage in some of the vacant areas including storage in the steps leading up to the bedroom.