268- 44 Crawford Cres., Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 Publications Mail Agreement #43638025 Vol. 50 No. 2 www.rvlifemag.com $9.95 DISPLAY UNTIL DECEMBER 2021 CLASS OF 2021 TOW VEHICLES RV BUYERS GUIDE2021 PRICES & SPECS ON 150 RV’S IN CANADA TRUCK CAMPER FIFTH WHEEL TOY HAULER CLASS B MOTORHOME CANADA’S #1 CHOICE FOR RV ADVENTURE W PLUS CLASS A MOTORHOME TRAVEL TRAILER MOTORHOMES | FIFTH WHEELS | TRAVEL TRAILERS | PARK MODELS TRUCK CAMPERS | TOY HAULER RVS | FOLD-DOWN CAMPERS CLASS C MOTORHOME FOLD-DOWN CAMPERSBEST FIFTH WHEELSBEST TOY HAULERSDEALER AWARD 5X At Grand Design our goal is simple... We strive for nothing less than customers for life and we would be honored to welcome you to the Grand Design RV Family. GrandDesignRV.com/RVLifestyle We love our customers and they love us back. Dealers rate all Grand Design products at the top of the entire industry in reliability, quality, service, and warranty. grand desing.indd 12018-11-15 3:38 PMFollow us on Facebook! @ RVLifestyleMagazine Follow us on Instagram! @rvlifestylemagazine 3 Volume 50 Number 2 | RV Lifestyle ON THE COVER The RV Class of 2021 includes vehicles to suit every family’s needs and budget! For more information please visit our website at www. rvlifemag.com CONTENTS BUYER’S GUIDE VOL. 50 NO. 2 268- 44 Crawford Cres., Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 Publications Mail Agreement #43638025 Vol. 50 No. 2 www.rvlifemag.com$9.95 DISPLAY UNTIL DECEMBER 2021 CLASS OF 2021 TOW VEHICLES RV BUYERS GUIDE2021 PRICES & SPECS ON 150 RV’S IN CANADA TRUCK CAMPER FIFTH WHEEL TOY HAULER CLASS B MOTORHOME CANADA’S #1 CHOICE FOR RV ADVENTURE W PLUS CLASS A MOTORHOME TRAVEL TRAILER MOTORHOMES | FIFTH WHEELS | TRAVEL TRAILERS | PARK MODELS TRUCK CAMPERS | TOY HAULER RVS | FOLD-DOWN CAMPERS CLASS C MOTORHOME FOLD-DOWN CAMPERS The 2021 RV Lifestyle Magazine RV Buyer’s Guide issue includes a selection of recreational vehicles currently available in Canada. Please consult your local RV dealer to confirm availability and pricing on a full range of the 2021 models. 30 RV CLASS OF 2021 31 CLASS A MOTORHOMES 38 CLASS B MOTORHOMES 44 CLASS C MOTORHOMES 51 FIFTH WHEEL TRAILERS 58 TRAVEL TRAILERS 74 FOLD-DOWN CAMPING TRAILERS 76 MULTI-PURPOSE RV’S – TOY HAULERS 79 TRUCK CAMPERS 82 PARK MODEL TRAILERS Departments 6 HITCH HINTS by Andy Thomson Towing lightweight trailers 13 RV TIPS by Garth Cane Towing a car 17 THE COOKING LADIES by Phyllis Hinz & Lamont Mackay Rollin’ on the River – Grilled Marinated Chicken Tenders on the Trent-Severn 20 TOW VEHICLES – CLASS OF 2021 by Garth Cane Trucks and SUVs to match the RV of your dreams. 28 TIRE TECH with OK Tire The importance of protecting your tires! 86 HOT NEW PRODUCTS FOR THE SUMMER OF 2021! A selection of accessories to enhance your RV experience.4 RV Lifestyle | Volume 50 Number 2 After more than a year of lock- downs, social distancing, and closed borders the world is emerging from the pandemic with a new sense of freedom and a cautious approach to travel and vacation accommodations. For millions of families across Canada and throughout North America, the solu- tion to their vacation plans lies in the RV experience – a safe, cost-efficient, eco- friendly lifestyle that offers unparalleled family values and the greatest sense of freedom available to the modern traveller. Today’s recreational vehicles encom- passes everything you need to entertain, accommodate, and inspire the family as you discover new sights and new activi- ties in the great outdoors. Your freedom as an RV traveller is incredible – you can go virtually anywhere you might imagine, enjoy meals in the comfort of your own home away from home, and spend the night in the campground of your choice or nestled into a wilderness site at one of the National, State or Provincial parks across North America. The concept brings a new dimen- sion to family touring – just hitch an RV to your family vehicle or climb into a motorhome and chart a course to follow your dreams. The 2021 edition of the RV Lifestyle Magazine Buyer’s Guide is a collection of advice and expert suggestions from our team of seasoned RV journalists. From Norm Rosen and Garth Cane to Andy Thomson and James Stoness, we put a combined expertise of more than 200 years in the RV business at your disposal. RV Lifestyle Magazine, our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/ rvlifestylemagazine, and our website at www.rvlifemag.com provide every- thing you need to know to derive the most from your family vacation. From tips on selecting the ideal RV for your family, to helpful advice on hitching a trailer and equipping a tow vehicle, our experts have created an indispensable guide to the RV experience. While a complete listing of every RV available in Canada would require several volumes, this Buyer’s Guide encompasses all the information you need to get started – with each article including links to the many websites where you can continue your search for the perfect RV. For the ultimate ease of access, even when you are on the road, the print edi- tion of the RV Buyer’s Guide is comple- mented by a digital edition – available FREE of charge to RV Lifestyle Magazine subscribers and newsstand readers, in which all the website references are hot-linked for your convenience. For your FREE access to the digital edition of this issue, please send an e-mail to editor@rvlifemag.com and request the information you need to enjoy the full multi-media RV shopping experience. This is our 50th annual RV Buyer’s Guide issue, and while we make every effort possible to include representative models from all the manufacturers selling vehicles in Canada, not all the manufac- turers participate actively in this project – even though the editorial listings are FREE of charge to the manufacturers. Please keep this in mind as you browse through the listings, and please shop for the products shown in this issue at a Canadian RV dealership near you. DISCOVER “THE GOOD LIFE” IN AN RV! Publishers MESSAGE William E. Taylor, Publisher volume 50 number 2 Publisher: WILLIAM E. TAYLOR bill@rvlifemag.com Group Publisher: MELANIE TAYLOR-WALLIS melanie@rvlifemag.com Editorial Director: NORM ROSEN nrosen@rvlifemag.com Assisstant Editor: MYLES ARNOTT info@rvlifemag.com Technical Editors: GARTH CANE gcane@taylorpublishinggroup.com Art/Production Manager: GISELLE BANSAL Design: TAMARA TAYLOR Contributing Writers: PHYLLIS HINZ LAMONT MACKAY JAMES STONESS ANDY THOMSON JAMIE RUSSELL Advertising Sales: info@rvlifemag.com 1-800-354-9145 EXECUTIVE OFFICES: TORONTO: 268 - 44 Crawford Crescent, Campbellville, Ontario L0P 1B0 Tel: 905-844-8218 Fax: 905-844-5032 MONTREAL: Tel: 514-856-0788 Fax: 514-856-0790 VANCOUVER: Bob and Carole Taylor, 1745 Rufus Drive North Vancouver, BC V7J 3L8 ADMINISTRATION: President/CEO: WILLIAM E. TAYLOR Group Publisher: MELANIE TAYLOR-WALLIS VP/Special Projects: NORM ROSEN Advertising Sales: TODD TAYLOR, Accounting: NANCY MUELLER Camping Canada’s RV Lifestyle Magazine is published seven times a year by Camping Canada Magazine Ltd. 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PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #43638025 Undeliverables to: 268 - 44 Crawford Crescent, Campbellville, Ontario L0P 1B0 MONTREAL, QUEBEC © 2021 CAMPING CANADA MAGAZINE PRINTED IN CANADACOMMITTED TO QUALITY SINCE 1986. Check out our new blog! WWW.PLEASUREWAY.COM KEY FEATURES ECO-ION LITHIUM BATTERIES SOLAR PANEL PACKAGES 2000 WATT PURE-SINE WAVE INVERTER TRUMA AQUAGO® COMFORT PLUS WATER HEATER 10-INCH TOUCHSCREEN CONTROL PANELS REAR AND SIDE DOOR ROLL-UP SCREENS PRIVATE ENCLOSED WET BATH LG SMART TV & BOSE® SOUNDBAR * Some items may not be available with every model. See website for further details. RV Lifestyle | Volume 50 Number 2 www.rvlifemag.com HITCH HINTS by Andy Thomson W 6 When I put on my business hat, which is likely far too rarely, the business gurus often talk about how you change the culture of a company. I know this is difficult because even in our little company we still have most of the culture crated by my father 40 years ago. Luckily, the corporate cul- ture that my father created did not need a lot of changing. As hard as chang- ing the culture of a company can be, changing the widely held industry cul- ture of may be almost impossible. Many of the conventions of the RV industry still trace their roots back to the 1960s and early 1970s, the for- mative years of the RV industry. For example, hitch classifications still reach back to a time when pretty much every tow vehicle weighed 5000 pounds or more. In those days, virtu- ally every RV trailer weighed 5000 pounds by time you loaded it, even a 17’ model. The only “lite” trailers on the road at that time were boat trail- ers and fold down camping trailers. Another example of an outdated indus- try “rule of thumb” is that brakes are not required on a trailer weighing less than 2000 pounds - but if you are tow- ing a 1500-pound trailer with a 2400- pound car, you very much do need brakes! Another element that was present in the 1960s and early 1970s was an assumption of the driver’s ability and expectations. After all, if you grew up driving a model “A” Ford with a three- quarter of a turn of play in the steer- ing, and mechanical brakes that often worked, a little sway from the trailer when towing with your 1969 Buick Electra did not bother you very much. When hitch classifications were first established, the only class with weight distribution was class 3, which includes hitches over 5000 pound capacity. I guess the thought at the time was that with 5000-pound tow vehicles, trailers lighter than that did not require weight distribution. This was not a correct assumption, but since almost all vehicles of that era could have a class 3 hitch if you wanted it, weight distribution was easy to do and the lack of weight distribution capa- bility on the lighter hitches was not really a problem. Also, most hitches were manufactured on the car in hitch shops – bolt-on receivers were a rela- tively new thing. Overall, I doubt that a lot of thought was given to the lighter classifications; no one envisioned 2800 pound 23’ trailers or 200 hp 4 cylinder tow vehicles. Today, we often tow 3500-pound trailers with vehicles that are lighter than the trailer, which is not a prob- lem with weight distribution. In other words, towing a 3500-pound trailer with a 2700-pound tow vehicle usu- ally requires the same degree of hitch- ing (weight distribution, sway controls, electric brakes) as towing a 6500- pound trailer with a 5000-pound tow vehicle. This can present a problem because we still design and rate hitch- es like we did in the 1970s - no one designs class 2 hitches (rated for 3500 pounds total weight and 350 pounds hitch weight) to accept the torque of weight distribution. To prevent the use of weight distri- bution in a class 2 hitch, the receiver Andy Thomson has been writing for RV Lifestyle Magazine for more than 25 years. He also owns and operates Can-Am RV Centre located in London, ON. continued on page 8 THE CULTURE OF TOWING HITCHING LIGHTWEIGHT TRAILERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY.Lance Campers, social distancing since 1965. Visit lancecamper.com to locate your nearest Lance dealer and the RV of your dreams. QUALITY = Built to Last | Lightweight Off-grid Capable Heated Enclosed Holding Tanks Ready to Roll Anytime & Anywhere Stressless Freedom! Lance 1475 TRAVEL TRAILERTRUCK CAMPERSMALL CAMPING TRAILER RVBuyersGuide_Lance_Ad_2021_V1.indd 1RVBuyersGuide_Lance_Ad_2021_V1.indd 15/10/21 9:30 AM5/10/21 9:30 AMHITCH HINTS by Andy Thomson W 8 RV Lifestyle | Volume 50 Number 2 www.rvlifemag.com the 1970s who understand how to do this, but if there is not one in your area, you can often have it done by a general welding or machine shop. One person I spoke with in Arizona had it done by a racecar builder - another had it done at a truck repair facility, and a couple of people I met had this done at a farm implement repair shop. Basically, if the fabrica- tor understands that you are going to leverage weight to the front wheels with the hitch, they can often figure out a way do to it, it is not rocket sci- ence. The way you accomplish this is to lengthen the receiver further forward on the vehicle - that way the section you add is absorbing the torque from the torsion bars, and the original class 2 hitch portion is only dealing with the vertical loads it was designed to accept. A rule of thumb is that you create strength with dis- tance - the further you can spread the loads the stronger the hitch will be. So why does the industry not just change the standard so that there are class 2 hitches that accept weight dis- tribution? One problem is that today, hitch standards are controlled by the Society of Automotive engineers, which is a huge bureaucracy in its own right. It does a lot of great work, but with all the challenges facing the auto industry, trailer hitches are not high up in its priority list. Also, as and adapts the 1.5” receiver tube to a 2”. This is doubly bad as it pushes the ball well behind the tow vehicle, further increasing the strain on the receiver and reducing stability. So how do you solve the problem if you own a potentially great tow vehi- cle, but just cannot get a receiver for it? What you need to find is a fab- ricator that can change a class 2 into a class 3 receiver. There are still a few old time hitch shops around from tube is a smaller size. Unlike the 1970s when you could buy a class 3 hitch for almost any vehicle, today there are many vehicles where a class 2 hitch is the largest hitch available. This causes some interesting anom- alies; for example, Reese builds a mini hitch that we use on our Alto trailers and some hardtops. It is ideal for these ultra-lite trailers, but you would never use it on a trailer weighing more than 2500 pounds - however there are no equivalent off-the-shelf receivers to match with it. You may own a vehicle with plenty of power to tow, great chassis dynamics etc. but it cannot carry 350 pounds on the back with- out weight distribution, and you can- not easily purchase a receiver for it that will accept weight distribution. As a result of this, I see somewhat disturbing things happen. You will see a trailer that desperately needs weight distribution being towed just on the ball, with maybe a sway con- trol, or you see people spend thou- sands of dollars to change tow vehi- cles when all they needed was a little better hitch receiver. I have also seen class 2 receivers where someone has cut off the small receiver tube and welded on a 2” tube, but they have not made the hitch any stronger so it just twists from the torsion bar torque. Even scarier is when someone takes an adaptor intended for bike carriers continued from page 6 On this car, the independent rear suspension besides being great for towing makes a perfect spot to fasten the front of the hitch. This is the reinforcement for the hitch on a Chevrolet Traverse, which goes above the spare tire. The small flanges sticking out sideways are for the spare to rest against.Insurance products are subject to terms, conditions, restrictions and exclusions, which are outlined in our final policy wording. Please speak with your Aviva insurance broker to learn more. Insurance products are underwritten by Elite Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Aviva Canada Inc. Product availability varies by province. Aviva and the Aviva logo are trademarks used under license by the licensor. Your RV, your coverage Visit aviva.ca/RVlife or talk to your broker to learn more. Class A | Class B | Class C | Travel trailer | Tent trailer | Horse/Stock | Truck camper Toy hauler | Fifth wheel | Park model | Permanently parked trailer CS-21-8582_L-RV Lifestyle Magazine Print Ad-FINAL_AM.indd 1CS-21-8582_L-RV Lifestyle Magazine Print Ad-FINAL_AM.indd 12021-05-05 9:17 AM2021-05-05 9:17 AMNext >