Class A – A motor home built on a chassis where the driving compartment is an integral part of the RV interior. Class A motor homes look like buses. A diesel pusher would be a diesel motorhome with the engine in the back (like Acey!) And, the generator is in the front. A gas motorhome (gas “puller”) has the engine in the front, and the generator is in the back. You can tell the difference by looking at the front of the motorhome – a gas unit will have a grill in the front, a diesel will have a “flat” front. With the engine in the back, and the generator in the front, we like our diesel pusher – while we drive, the engine and noise is in the back – and if we need to run the generator, its in the front, away from the bedroom.
Class B – or Van Camper – A motor home created from a van. Most models have raised roofs, but otherwise the living space is constrained by the dimensions of the van.
Class C – A motorhome with a truck front. It differs from the class A motor home in that the class C uses the cab designed for the chassis. Sometimes called a mini motorhome.
Super C – looks like a semi tractor with an RV built on the back of it.
Travel Trailer – A towable trailer that hitches onto a ball mount on the tow vehicle and designed as living quarters for recreational travel.
Fifth Wheel – (Requires a fairly substantial pick-up truck as a tow vehicle) A travel trailer and hitch configuration connected to the tow truck directly above the rear axle by way of a special fifth wheel hitch. This causes several feet of the connected trailer to hang over the tow truck, placing about 15 to 25% of the trailer’s weight on the rear axle of the truck
Toy Hauler – a trailer that has a large door in the back which opens down to create a ramp, dedicated garage area or fold-away furniture in the main living compartment, and often a third axle to support the heavy toys like bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, couches, even a car! (This can be a nearly any of the type of RVs described above)
Toad (or dinghy) – a vehicle towed behind a motor home. (Toad sounds like “towed”)
Black Tank – holding tank for the water that goes down the toilet. Hopefully, no explanation needed here.
Gray Tank – holding tank for the water that goes down the sink and shower drains (bathroom sink, kitchen sink). Its mainly soapy water and remnants of food from preparing food and washing dishes.
Fresh Water Tank – holding tank for the water that comes out of your faucets.
Blue Boy – Portable tank used to empty the holding tank without having to go to the dump station. These tanks are generally blue, but many are now grey and sometimes brown. You may see them attached to the back of an RV, strapped to the ladder.
Stinky Slinky – is the term used for your sewage hose. This is because the design of makes them collapsible like a slinky (for storage purposes).
Honey Wagon – A sewage pumping truck. Honey wagons are used to empty RV holding tanks in places where full hookups and dump stations are not available, usually at an extra charge.
Dump Station – Facilities for emptying gray and black water from the RV holding tanks.
Full Hookups – Having full hookups means your camper is plugged in and does not require running your generator. It also means you have water hooked up and have sewer hookups to dump the black and grey tanks
Shore Power – A boating term adopted by the RV community to mean an electrical power hookup supplied to the RV by a fixed, external source (not by a portable generator). A full hookup RV site has shore power.
City Water – When you are hooked up to a water supply, you are said to be on city water – as opposed to using water from the fresh water tank.
Partial Hookups – This is 1 or 2 items from the above. Meaning you may have power, but no water and sewage, or you may have water and power, but no sewage.
Boondocking – Camping overnight in a parking lot or rest area without any electric, water or sewer hookups. People that sleep in their RV in a Wal-Mart parking lot are said to be boondocking. Also, many times this term is used interchangeably with Dry Camping. Boondocking allows RVers to camp in remote locations by relying on the self-contained facilities in their RV.
Moochdocking – Camping at a friend’s place – with or without hookups.
Slide – or Slide-out – Some RVs have slide-outs that can be pushed out to expand the available living space and then retracted when traveling.
