This is part one of seven in a series of articles dedicated to picking the perfect rig.

Before making the jump into a workamping lifestyle, you need to do a little research and thinking on what kind of RV that you want to call home. There are many types out there and each has it’s advantages and disadvantages. During our last workamping job in South Dakota, we had the chance to see a bunch of rigs and talk with their owners. We are going to do a series on each of these rigs over the next few days.

Now, let’s go over the options of the Class A.

These are the big boys that you see driving down the road. These bus-looking rigs have a lot of room and the ability to have pretty much every amenity out there. Most all of the newer models have slide-outs on them, some long enough to go down the complete side of the RV. When you walk into one of these you feel like you’re in a house, giving you lots of room. Something that you’ll have to keep in mind when living in all of this space and luxury, is that soon you’re going to have to pack and secure all of this stuff and drive this behemoth down the road. You will have to be aware of your height and width for going under low bridges, through tunnels, and small areas that might be hard to get out of.

Something else to consider is that when you get a spot, get set up, your RV is level, all of your slides are out, and all of your hook ups hooked up, you’ll probably be ready to explore the new place that you’re in. This would be a tad inconvenient to undo all of that hard work just to venture out, only to do it again when you get back. So you’ll have to do as most class A owners do and have a toad. No, not a slippery amphibian, a toad is a small car or truck that you pull behind your RV, either directly hitched up or on a dolly. Unfortunately this makes backing up virtually impossible, so be ready to unhook your car every time that you need to put it in reverse.

Speaking of reverse, if you’re uncomfortable backing a trailer with a pivot point such as a travel trailer or fifth wheel, class A’s can be a bit easier to handle. Although much larger, the mechanics are the same as backing a car. You just have to be aware of your size. Most class A’s have backup cameras installed to assist you in knowing where you stand and some models even have a mic and speaker system set up on the back of the unit so that you can communicate with someone who is standing behind you helping you back in.

This goes for most trailers and RVs but I’ll mention it here since the majority of Class A’s are large. You’ll notice on big RVs that there is a lot of ‘RV’ that goes beyond the rear wheels, sometimes 6 feet or more overhang back there. So when driving you’re going to have what is called, “negative turn” or “negative swing”. Imagine that you’re in a tight campground with lots of trees in a regular car, you make a left turn and the car follows along that turn fine. Now image you’re in an big RV, all of that extra ‘RV’ that goes past your rear wheels acts like a big tail on a dinosaur. So when you make that left turn, everything that’s past your rear wheels swings right. Giving the potential to hit some trees or a parked car on the right that you weren’t even paying attention to because you were so preoccupied with what was on the left. When driving big rigs, you have to know where you are at all times, making it an extension of yourself. When you’re backing up to a wall, you should be able to stop before you get there and know how many feet you are from said wall.

If you feel comfortable driving a larger rig and don’t have a problem hauling another vehicle behind you, you’ll have a larger living space packed full of amenities of a Class A.