Considering purchasing a new or used RV? Do you want a motorhome, travel trailer, fifth wheel, or toy hauler? There’s a lot to consider when choosing the right RV for you. Here’s a quick guide to RV floor plans, and how to choose between them.
Motorized or towable?
The very first choice you will need to make, do you want to drive your RV or tow it? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. If you’re leaning toward towing, check out our towing capacity guide to make sure your vehicle can tow your next RV.
What kind of motorhome?
Just like with towables, size matters in motorhomes. There are three main types of driveable RVs: Class A, Class B, and Class C, motorhomes, all of which differ in size and shape.
The Jayco Alante 29F is one of our most popular Class A motorhomes, and as you can see, it resembles a bus that comfortably fits a family inside. Many Class A RVs use diesel instead of standard gasoline, and come with many luxurious features that make them a higher priced option than most Class C’s.
The Jayco Swift 20T is an example of a Class B RV, which runs significantly smaller than Class A or Class C motorhomes, and resembles a typical passenger van on the outside. On the inside, there’s enough room for a couple to vacation out of, while keeping the vehicle small for driveability. Many campers even boondock in more rugged editions of Class B’s, such as the Jayco Terrain, an adventure Class B.
The popular Jayco Redhawk 31F is a well known example of a Class C RV. Known for their cab over bunks hanging over the driver’s seat area, Class C’s are the original motorhome, and their high quality for families or couples has stood the test of time. They come in gasoline or diesel, depending on the model, and drive more like a large truck than the more bus shaped Class A’s.
What kind of travel trailer?
There are even more options for travel trailers than motorhomes, not including fifth wheels, which are towed differently than travel trailers and run considerably larger.
The Forest River Grey Wolf 22RR is considered a toy hauler, which is a travel trailer designed to fit other vehicles inside, such as motorcycles or four wheelers. The ramp door for vehicle entrance is on the rear of all Forest River toy haulers, so that ramp door also doubles as a party deck! Many toy haulers come with no slides, to keep the weight of the RV down to account for the heavy vehicles inside. These are great for couples or a small family who values outdoor adventures.
Single axle trailers have just one pair of wheels holding them up, such as this on Jayco Jay Feather Micro 199MBS. Only very lightweight travel trailers are constructed this way, and most single axles are for couples. They’re the easiest trailers to tow and park, as well as the lightest.
The 2022 Jayco Jay Flight SLX 8 267BHS is a double axle travel trailer due to its four wheels. It’s also an example of a bunkhouse floor plan, due to the bunk beds in the rear that serve as an additional sleeping area to the queen bed up front. Bunkhouses are great for families, particularly Jayco’s double bunk bed setup which creates spacious sleeping areas for all family members. However, RVers who travel solo or as a couple tend to prefer floor plans without bunkhouses, to have more room in their kitchen or living areas.
The Jayco Eagle 332CBOK is a large couple’s travel trailer, which lacks bunks and has space for a larger living area.
Now that you know the basic floor plan styles of motorhomes and travel trailers, you are ready to browse more detailed varieties of RV floor plans. For more RV tips, tricks, and news, follow our Pete’s RV Info Blog today!
With the enormous rise of new RVers since 2020, here’s how to avoid being the troublesome neighbor at the campground.
Plan your campsite ahead of time. There are numerous apps for finding RV campsites, from traditional spots at KOA’s to boondocking recommendations in the desert, there are campsites for every taste out there. The most important part about choosing one is researching beforehand. Some good apps for this are iOverlander, the Dyrt, Free Roam, and Outly.
Leave No Trace. Just like you wouldn’t want to leave parts of your RV behind after the trip, the great outdoors doesn’t want to permanently change because of your RV. Practice leaving no trace by picking campsites that have already been used by vehicles in the past, carrying out all of your trash, only dumping at approved waste stations, and most importantly, never dump black water on the land.
Be campfire conscious. Much of the United States is at near constant risk of wildfires, and many campgrounds have little wood left in the area from ambitious firestarters. Many campgrounds recommend only lighting a fire if you need it for warmth or cooking. If you must make one, never leave it unattended, and extinguish it with lots of water.
Be mindful of quiet hours, and the location of your pets and children.
There’s nothing better than friends and food at the campground. Follow the Pete’s RV Info Blog for more information about how to be the best RVer you can be!
The All-Important tanks on the front of your travel trailer might just be the most versatile tool in your RV. Propane lets campers cook, run heat, make hot water, and power appliances, all without needing to connect to electricity. It is frequently recommended that campers who are connected to electricity use propane sparingly.
To maintain your propane tanks, make sure to do the following:
Keep watch of the age of your propane tanks. The manufacturing date is stamped on the tank, and it needs to be replaced or recertified after 12 years.
Turn on your fridge the night before with propane, so it’s cold enough at the start of the camping trip. Switch to electric if you’re going to a campsite with a hookup.
Check the propane flow by “bleeding” the system. Turn on your stove and let the flames burn until they’re blue. This gets the air out of the propane lines, clearing out room for you to turn on other appliances.
If you smell gas, turn off all propane tanks and RV appliances! The strong smell of propane gas indicates a leak, and you’ll need to replace the seal and tank. Do not attempt to repair leaks yourself, as propane is stored in its tank at -44 degrees, which will give you frostbite at the touch.
Keep a working carbon monoxide alarm and propane safety alert inside your RV.
Avoid using propane in a moving vehicle, and always keep your RV well-ventilated when cooking or using propane inside.
For more RV tips, tricks, and news, follow our Pete’s RV Infoblog!
One of the big mysteries of full time RVing to those who don’t live on the road is how do full time RVers do laundry?
The easiest way is the laundry machines often placed in RV parks. One RV blogger said that “I can count on one hand the number of RV parks that didn’t have laundry machines.” Despite this frequency, not all RV parks have enough laundry machines for the number of RVers within the parks, and not all RVers stay in RV parks! Additionally, hunting down all the quarters required to use a park laundry machine can be a struggle in an increasingly cash-less world, especially with the sometimes high cost of laundry machines.
Mountain View Campground in Morrisville, Vermont boasts many amenities along with laundry machines
Another solution is using a local laundromat, typically easy to find on Google, but not always found in remote areas. Most laundromats do have a machine for getting quarters though, making it easier to stock up for more washes down the road. Some even have laundry machines that can be activated with a credit card swipe.
Not every roadtrip situation offers the flexibility to wait around on laundry machines, though. That’s why many RVers have gotten creative with portable laundry devices.
This portable washer-dryer has two neighboring tubs, one for washing and the other for spin drying. It takes up to 10lbs washing capacity and has a drainage tube for emptying the dirty water, and runs off the 120v power similar to most RV refrigerators. Most reviewers do say that after the spin dry clothes are still damp though, so an additional investment of a drying rack is also recommended. Keep in mind that many RV parks do not allow outside clothes lines to dry your own clothes.
A smaller personal laundry option without needing to use your RV’s precious electricity is the Scrubba, which is popular with backpackers. It works by filling the bag with laundry, water, and detergent, rolling the bag down and clipping it, twisting the valve to deflate, then rub the clothes on the Scrubba’s internal washboard for anywhere between 30 seconds and five minutes. You then unclip, pour out the water, and rinse clothes with fresh water in the Scrubba, and they are now clean and ready for the drying rack.
Perhaps the most luxurious RV laundry option is having washer and dryer hookups within your RV, which is becoming increasingly popular in luxury fifth wheels. The laundry cycle can take a few hours this way, and you won’t be able to do this while boondocking, as it requires a lot of power and water, but is temptingly easy if your RV is plugged in one place.
No matter how you keep your clothes clean on the road, Pete’s RV Center has all of your RV camping needs in mind. Follow our infoblog today for more RVing tips, tricks, and news!
The roadtrip of your dreams in your own RV is an inexpensive way to see the world, without the pricey hotels and restaurants that can raise travel costs. But beware, the cost of gas can raise roadtrip rates significantly. Here’s some strategies for limiting your pain at the pump.
Start Small
If you’re looking to purchase a RV, consider an upgrade–in the form of a downsize. Small RVs often pack in just as many features and amenities into a less gas-guzzling frame. There are more options than ever for smaller RVs, including micro travel trailers that are several thousand pounds lighter than most towable vehicles.
Jayco Jay Feather Micro
If you’re shopping for a motorized vehicle, Class B RVs such as the Jayco Swift are exploding in popularity. The size of a standard van, they are by far the most fuel efficient–an easy to park–motorhome.
Jayco Swift
Turn off the engine
Idling is the worst way to burn fuel, and very environmentally destructive. According to the jayco.com blog, “a test performed by the Edmunds.com automotive staff showed a fuel savings of up to 19 percent by shutting the engine down at each stop (10 stops) during a 10-mile test drive, rather than letting the engine idle during the two–minute stops over the same 10-mile, 10-stop test route.”
Be smart about cruise control
Using cruise control on those long, mostly flat stretches of uninterrupted highway can save both your foot and gastank. However, keeping it on in mountain filled areas will force the vehicle to use extra gas to maintain the cruise speed, wasting lots of fuel as the engine speed rises to climb the mountains.
Pack Efficiently
Fill that huge water tank at the campground. Buy groceries near the campsite. Leave behind everything you don’t really need, because camping is about keeping it light and having fun anyway.
PetesRV.com expert, Randy Murray provides an overview of basic camping essentials and the tools required to make your next trip safe, worry free, and fun!
Video Transcript for “Basic Camping Essentials | Pete’s RV Quick Tips”
Randy: Hey, folks. Randy with Pete’s RV TV here today. Another Quick Tip segment for you. I just want to take a couple minutes and show you some of the things that I bring me … with me when I go camping.
I take a lot of phone calls from customers that have small problems while they’re camping that do arise. and when I direct them on the best way to take care of that problem, they need a couple tools that, they may not have with them. So, if you put together a basic tool kit, when you go camping, leave it right in the camper, no problem whatsoever. We can talk you through most anything.
So, some of the things that I bring with me is, first of all, I always bring some sort of, like, source. Either something I can put on my head, or … This little guy right here in kinda neat. We sell him in the store. It’s got a magnet on the back, so we can stick it to a piece of metal in the camper where I’m working there. It’s got a hook on it and it gives me some light underneath the cabinet or in the front storage compartment or by the battery, cause nothing ever goes wrong in the daylight. It always happens at night, especially if you go camping with me.
So, a couple lights, which are nice to have, or even if you’ve got just a regular flashlight that you store, and keep charge in the camper. Another thing I bring is I’ve got a bag of fuses. So, every fuse … every camper has multiple different size fuses in them. So, I kind of got a bag of … Just, a variety of everything that I run into in a camper and a good thing to have with me. Roll of electrical tape. Never know (laughs) and you can fix most anything with electrical tape, if needed.
I also bring some crimp-connectors, which you can buy in a kit like at, your local, home goods store or something like that. And these are just if I have to re-attach a wire, or we have to shorten something up, or we have a mishap or something pulled loose. Just, to be able to make a crimp connection is nice. That will also work in conjunction with a pair of crimping pliers. And, again, sometimes the kits you purchase will come with an inexpensive pair of pliers that you can use, to get by for the weekend.
Now, most campers are built with, screws, obviously. And the type of screws they use are a square-tip, or a screw had has got a square tip, so you need a special square tip, to go to those screws. And that’s this guy right here, if Josh can pan in on it, and you’ll see I got a Phillips right next to it.
most people have a Phillips, because that’s what we have at home. Campers are a little odd, and they require that square tip. So, this tip that I purchased from, again one of the local box stores. It’s a Milwaukee kit. I think it cost like $20. It’s got everything I need in it. It’s got, screw acceptor for my screw gun. You will need a screw gun as well. and it’s got the square tips, it’s got fill-ups, it’s got a couple torques here, and it’s got spares of all, because if you lose them like I do, nice to have a spare. But anyway, for the cost of this kit, I think it’s just a great kit to (laughs) … I have one at home, and on my carry-around tool box that I do bring with me when I go camping.
Sheet-rock knife, or a box cutter. This one actually folds up like a jackknife. I actually carry this one with me all the time, right in the pocket of my pants, but, good to have. you never know when you’re gonna need that. Wire-strippers, and cutters. Again, if we have an electrical problem … A lot of times, we can talk you through it, or you can find it very easily yourself, but having a good pair of strippers on board, it makes that job a lot easier for us stripping that wire back.
I like to bring a couple pair of channel locks if I’ve got a plumbing issue, and usually I can get by with a bind if I got to tighten something up with a channel locks. And again, this can be purchased at your local box store. Christmas is a great time to pick this stuff up because they’ve usually got kits on sale, relatively low price. And you don’t need the best ones. A lot of these tools are very expensive tools. This is how I make my living. You don’t need the best tools for your basic kit that you keep in your camper.
I usually will carry a Phillips and a regular screwdriver. These are like mid-size so they’re pretty much good for almost every application, unless it’s something specific. we’ve already talked about the crimpers. I do carry a pair of side cutters with me. Sometimes these are just a little easier to make a cut close to something or pull a staple out that may be in our carpet or what have you. But, again, pair of side cutters.
Needle nose. You can always get yourself out of a bind with a pair of needle nose. Especially, when you drop something in that spot that my little fat fingers can’t get into. Needle nose, it makes it very easy for that. there is some neat, small kits out there. Again, the big box store, Sears, all of them have kits that have couple different size open end box wrenches. This is one of the ones I carry in the small kit that I have that’s all over my toolbox cause I left it open. i also bring a couple of adjustable wrenches with me as well. Reason for the adjustable wrenches is, they’re adjustable. We can use them for almost any size, anything to get you out of a bind.
Again, these aren’t tools to, you know, fix the problem per se, but enough to get us by for the weekend before you can get it in for service and get it ap- repaired appropriately. an electrical tested. This particular one right here is for 120 volt power. Pretty much, I’m just going to plug it into the outlet and it’ll tell me if my power is good, tell me if it’s wired properly, and tell me if power is present. So that’s a good one. I take phone calls a lot where, “My TV’s not working.” “Well, do you have power at the outlet?” “I don’t know, Randy.” (laughs) well, I’m gonna- Having you plug something else in, but if you’ve got a quick electrical tester to plug it in, then you can tell me.
This guy right here is for checking 12 volt power. It’s called a stab tester, 12 volt tester. We’d hook this into ground or anything pretty much metal on the camper and then we can test our fuses with this guy here. I’m gonna have Josh pan in on one of these fuses here. This is a great way to test our fuses so if you can pan right in on that and see the two metal tabs on either side of the 40 there, Josh. Each one of those is a test point so I can test if I’ve got power coming in in the fuse and I can test if I’ve got power going out of the fuse.
So when you’re looking at a whole fuse panel and you’re trying to determine which one is the one for your furnace or your LP detector, something like that, which is labeled incorrectly, by testing both sides, as well as the fuses, we can quickly determine whether one is blown or not. And again, we would do that in conjunction with this tester here. This will also test if we’ve got power at breakers and things like that on the 12 volt side of things so when you call me up and tell me that your slide outs not going out, I’m going to ask you if you’ve got 12 volt power to the breaker going through the breaker to the slide out. This is a great way to test that.
This is another tester that I carry with me. Kind of [00:06:00] on the same lines of this one here, but I can actually put this next to any wire and it’ll tell if it’s 120 volt wire and it’ll tell me if I have voltage present rather than putting it into an outlet. It’s called a [wiggie 00:06:09] tester.
Multimeter. This is what I love for customers to have cause we can do all sorts of testing with this guy here. Not everyone’s gonna put this, in their tool box that they keep in their camper because these can be a little bit more pricey, but if you’ve got like an inexpensive version of this and one of these, which aren’t too bad, we can usually get by anything.
So anyway, there’s just some of the tools that I bring with [00:06:30] me camping and, again, enough to get you out of trouble in a pinch. maybe not make the final repair, but definitely continue on with your camping weekend if you are having a small problem. So, just wanted to share that with you guys and if you’re looking for presents for Father’s day, birthdays, or even Christmas, great time to put this little tool kit together and can be done for relatively, inexpensive on the Father Day, on the Christmas side of things, cause that’s when we see a lot of tools on sale at our local box store. So, thanks for watching Quick Tips with Randy today. look forward to seeing you on the road and happy camping.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Achieve Extended Hot Showers When RVing
Thursday, September 8th, 2016 18:16:23
Pete’s RV Vermont Service Writer and Resident RV Expert Randy Murray provides a step-by-step overview on how to achieve extended hot showers in an RV.
Video Transcript for “How to Extend Hot Water Showers in Your Camper”
Randy:(singing) Hey folks. Randy with Pete’s RV TV here today. Another quick fix segment for you. When you’re camping, do you go to take a shower, do you get about three minutes of good, hot water? And then it starts to go lukewarm on you? And of course your hair is full of soap, and you haven’t rinsed off yet? Happens to me too, but I’ve got a trick. So when we’re camping, different camp grounds have different water supplies. Some of them will have very deep wells. Some of them will have shallow wells. Usually on a deep well, the water coming out of the ground is very cold. This can happen at the spring of the year as well, when the water feeding that well is very cold. So what my trick is for that is I will, when I’m having that problem, I’ll fill my fresh water holding tank. And when I take a shower, I’m actually going to turn the city water off, and I’m going to turn on my water pump and feed the water from the fresh water holding tank.
The reason I do this is the water coming in from a very deep well is mixing with the hot water in your tank, as long as you don’t have a tank-less hot water heater. So it’s mixing with that warm water in the tank and it’s bringing the temperature down very quickly. And we’re also taking water out of the top, so as that cold water is mixing with the hot, it’s going to bring the temperature down. Where if we’re taking it now out of our fresh water holding tank and mixing it with that same hot water in that water heater, it’s going to be ambient air temperature coming out of that fresh water holding tank entering the hot water heater. Rather than the real cold water from the city coming in and cooling down our water a lot faster.
So if you’re looking for a little bit longer shower to get that hair, or that soap out of your hair, fill the fresh water holding tank when you arrive. And use the fresh water holding tank rather than the city while you’re taking your showers. Then you can go back over to city after you’ve done your shower. But that will give you another minute or two of warmer water to get rinsed off. So just another quick tip from Randy at Pete’s RV. Thanks for watching our quick tips segment, and I look forward to seeing you on the road. Happy camping.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Program Your RV TV Friday, July 1st, 2016 15:23:13
Pete’s RV Vermont Service Writer and Resident RV Expert Randy Murray provides a step-by-step overview on how to program your RV TV.
As Randy explains, as you travel you will begin to pick up different TV stations depending on the region you are in. You will continually need to reprogram your TV as you arrive in a new television marketplace. Randy provides you with a step by step guide on how to set up your TV and boost your reception so you won’t have to miss your favorite shows while on the road!
The steps to programming your TV as you travel explained by Randy include:
If running on open air antenna find your camper’s TV booster and turn on your antennas extra power setting (not necessary to do when utilizing cable)
Open the auto channel search menu on your TV (refer to your owners manual if unsure how to do so)
Select “auto channel memory” on your TV
Start your TV’s automatic search mode and let it run until complete
To learn more from Randy as well as stay up to date on all things Pete’s RV be sure to visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
Pete’s RV Center Acquires Connecticut Dealership Van’s RV
Thursday, September 17th, 2015 19:04:54
On September 1st, Vermont-based Pete’s RV Center officially assumed ownership of Van’s RV Center in South Windsor, Connecticut.
Located just 20 minutes from Hartford, Van’s RV has served thousands of customers in Connecticut, southern New England, and New York since opening its doors in 1963.
Looking to step out of day-to-day operations after 40-plus successful years, longtime Van’s owner Mark VanOstrand explained the acquisition as being well-timed and an excellent fit, “The acquisition of Vans RV brings together two of New Englands longest established RV centers.† I am excited to be working with Pete’s RV as we blend together the best of our business practices.”
With the acquisition, Pete’s RV is now selling Jayco-branded recreation vehicles from the Connecticut dealership. “Along with a location that allows for expansion throughout southern New England and New York, being able to offer our customers popular Jayco travel trailer, fifth wheel, and motorhome lines such as Jay Flight, Eagle, and Greyhawk is an opportunity we are excited to take on,” said Pete’s RV co-owner Chad Shepard.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
Going Unhooked: Give Dry Camping a Try
Wednesday April, 30th 2014 16:08:03
For those who have not tried it yet, ever thought about giving dry camping a shot?
It means going to a place where there is no electricity, water or sewer hookups and living exclusively off your RV’s internal utilities.
Preparing for a trip where you’ll be dry camping requires a different approach and set of questions before you heading out. If you are new to RVing and leaning more towards dry camping in more remote locations versus full-service campgrounds, it is important to know how well the RV you are shopping is equipped to accommodate your needs. Along with researching online, talking to an experienced RV sales consultant is highly recommended.
Since you will not have an endless power or water supply, or sewage connection, conservation is the key to dry camping. Things, like turning lights on only when they are needed and not running water wastefully down the drain, are a couple of good dry camping habits. Here’s a few more:
Learn how much your RV’s fresh water tank can hold and consider bringing a separate supply of drinking water
Be crystal clear on your RV’s waste water (black) tank capacity and educate the family on the importance of taking short showers or excessive toilet flushing. Many folks go by the old rule to leave #1 in the bowl and flush when there is a #2.
Understand how many hours you will get from a full battery and what it will or will not power. For example, say goodbye to the luxury of an air conditioner and microwave. Most RVs can only power 12 volt appliances when working solely off a battery.
Along with hot water and cook tops or grills, many RVs are equipped with dual-power refrigerators. Therefore, you need to know how long your propane tanks will last.
Solar panel battery chargers are becoming more prevalent in the camping community. They can recharge an RV battery during the day when lights and other electric appliance are not being used. Converters can also be purchased that will allow you to use fans, radios and charge cell phones.
One of the best trains of thought you can have when packing for a dry camping trip is not to bring unnecessary electrical gadgets. Bring board games, flashlights with extra batteries, a camping lantern, and Tiki torches. With limited refrigeration and the convenience of microwave cooking, it’s also good practice to think accordingly when stocking your grocery and food supply.
On September 1st, Vermont-based 