When buying an RV there are many options to influence your decision. From gas to diesel, wooden or tile floors, conventional or residential refrigerators, the choices can seem endless. One of the many things to consider is where the main door to enter and exit the motor home is located. However, that choice has already been made by the manufacturers in most cases.
On most motor home models, the door placement is determined by whether it is on a gas or diesel chassis. On a gas chassis the doorway is in the middle, because the engine is up front. On a diesel, the engine is on the back of the chassis, so most manufacturers place the door up front. There are only a few gas models with mid-way doors and no gas models with front doors.
Nate Deaton
Recently, we asked residents at the Lazydays Tampa resort to weigh in on their preference for the entryway. Most agreed that the middle entry of the gas chassis floorplans was more limiting than the diesel front-door plan.
Nate and Kate Deaton, of Jacksonville, both say they prefer the front door of their Fleetwood Providence, but it does make some things more cumbersome.
“I like the front, because it makes the interior bigger,” says Nate. “When we have a cooler or something, the front seat does get in the way.”
Kate says she also doesn’t like that everyone who enters and exits has to go in front of the passenger seat.
William Fernandez
For William Fernandez, who owns a Coachman Aurora, he longs for a front door. He says that his middle door is too narrow and does admit that he would have better use of his floorplan with the door in the front. The entryway of his motor coach is between a chair and the side of the sink cabinet. The snug 27 inches makes it difficult to load items.
Unlike Fernandez, Kevin Garbin, of Cape Canaveral, also owns a gas RV, but loves the layout of his Allegro Open Road. The entryway is located directly behind the passenger seat.
“You actually enter into the center of the living room environment,” Garbin says. “Sometimes when I’m trying put a cooler inside, the cooler is about the same width as the door,” he says. “So, if I’m not careful, I could end up scraping my hands. If I turn it the other way, it’s more of a strain on my back.”
Despite their likes and dislikes for either entryways, all the RVers are happy with their choice to how they travel to see the country and accept the obstacles presented by the entryways.
