Anytime, Anywhere at Your Fingertips. Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation leads the way as the only chassis manufacturer with 24/7/365 factory-direct support, giving you anytime access to information and technical support. Now, with the new 24/7 Direct app, you can easily locate a dealer near you, receive directions, view service hours and much more. And of course, our factory-direct phone support is just a click away. It’s the RV industry’s largest service network, and with the 24/7 Direct app, it’s all at your fingertips. Search: Freightliner 24/7 freightlinerchassis.com The Right RV Tire Changes Everything. Copyright ©2012 Michelin North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The MICHELIN® 305/70R22.5 XRV ®, with its expanded load capacity*, is ready to take on more weight than ever. Our all-position tire designed for exceptional performance on recreational vehicles and motorhomes will prove that The Right Tire Changes Everything.™ To learn more about the MICHELIN® 305/70R22.5 XRV ®, visit www.michelinrvtires.com. *The MICHELIN® 305/70R22.5 XRV® has a per-axle maximum load capacity of 15,660 lbs in singles and 27,760 lbs in duals at 120 psi cold pressure. You should always weigh each axle and check Michelin’s Load and Inflation Tables to determine proper fitment and air pressure for your vehicle. Michelin RV ad.indd 1 1/13/12 11:54 AM Roughing it Smoothly October 2014 Volume 11, Number 4 Roughing It Smoothly® magazine is published four times a year by Book Production Resources for Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc., 105 2nd Street NW, Red Bay, Alabama 35582. BPR offices are located at 1403 Cedar Point Way, Monroe, GA 30656. Printed in the United States of America. Periodical Postage Paid at Pewaukee, WI. Postmaster: Send all changes of address to Book Production Resources 1403 Cedar Point Way Monroe, GA 30656. 56 This issue of Roughing It Smoothly® has a printed distribution of approximately 22,000 copies, an online distribution of 40,000 copies, and a dealer distribution of 12,000 copies. It was Departments printed by Quad Graphics, Inc., N63 W23075 State Hwy. 74, Sussex, WI 53089. President’s Corner 4 From the Road 36 Copyright © 2014 by Book Production An Interview with Bob Tiffin Resources. All rights reserved. Roughing It News You Can Use 38 Smoothly® is a registered trademark of Tiffin by Sherman Goldenberg Motorhomes, Inc. No part of this magazine Tiffin Management Team 52 may be reproduced in any form without the Dealer Profile 16 Nick Palm written permission of the publisher. He Found Opportunities . Publisher, Book Production Resources Editor, Fred Thompson; Typesetting and From the Plant 28 In the Plant with Jonathan 64 Page Makeup, Andy Cargile; Copy Editor, Carolyn Thompson. Contributing Writers: Norris Lewey & Jack Elliott On the Road with Elaine 66 Fred Thompson, Norman Spray, Danny Inman, Mark Four Decades at TMH Jonathan Willis, Elaine Austin, Dr. John P. Allegro Club News 74 Pilarczyk, Claudia Abbott, Sherman Goldenberg, Owner Profile 32 and Sally Moore. Contributing Photographers: Fresh Ideas Open New Traveling With Your Pets 77 Fred Thompson, Elaine Austin, Jonathan Willis, Opportunities . Sally Moore, Claudia Abbott, Rhonda Spray, Serious Tech Talk 78 and Constellation Imageworks. Reading Roughing It Smoothly online or receiving the magazine by USPS After spending a year making the transition, dress in case we need to edit or ask for more dress including the zip code. We do not ac- two-thirds of the subscribers to Roughing It information. Color prints are welcome and cept phone calls for changes of address. Smoothly are now reading the magazine on- we will use them if we have the space. You line. That fact attests to the transient life- can also send your “From the Road” contri- Serious Tech Talk style of our owners. But why should we be bution by email to fredthompson1941@hot- To address your technical questions to surprised? That’s why you bought your mo- mail.com And that will allow you to attach Danny Inman, use the postcard bound in torhomes! At any time in the future, you are images. Images should be at least one mega- this issue, send a longer letter to the ad- welcome to change your mind and start re- byte in size. On the subject line of the email, dress on the postcard, or send an email to ceiving the printed version. please write FROM THE ROAD. We do not [email protected] If you need an In each issue you will still find two cards open emails without subject lines. immediate answer to a service problem, for sending information to the editorial of- you should call 256-356-0261. fice in Monroe, Georgia. Using the “From Change of Address the Road” card, we invite you to tell fellow Please use a standard change of address card New Subscribers Tiffin coach owners about your experiences from USPS and send to Roughing It Smoothly, If you have just purchased a new Tiffin and the special places you have discovered in PO Box 1150, Monroe, GA 30655-1150. motorhome, your name will be added to your travels. If the card is not large enough, You may also change your address online by our mailing list automatically. If you pur- please type a whole page double-spaced, and sending your email to [email protected] chased a pre-owned Tiffin motorhome, mail it to Fred Thompson, Book Produc- First, enter your old address as it appears on send the year, brand, length & floorplan, tion Resources, P.O. Box 1150, Monroe, GA your magazine label (we must remove your your name and address, and VIN to Rough- 30655-1150. Be sure to include your name old address before we can add a new one). ing It Smoothly, PO Box 1150, Monroe, GA and address, phone number, and email ad- Second, please enter your new three-line ad- 30655-1150. The following names are registered trademarks of Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc.: Open Road®, Phaeton®, Allegro®, Allegro Bay®, Allegro Bus®, Allegro Breeze®, Zephyr®, Roughing It Smoothly®, Pusher®, and PowerGlide®. 2 FALL 2014 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 4 68 10 The 2015 Allegro Open Road 32SA Features • Tiffin Listens & Creates a New Allegro.See page 8 New for 2015 • See page 22 A Private RV Resort • How We Made Our Own Private RV Resort. See page 40 The Acadian Story • A 400-Year Saga in the Maritime Provinces. See page 44 Steamboat Springs 37 PA • “Get Up Here” to Enjoy the Best of the Rockies. See page 56 Allegro RED Riding the Rails • When Old Is New. See page 68 The 2015 Allegro RED 37PA is now shipping to Tiffin dealers. 2 RECLINERS WITH ULTRA LEATHER AIR COIL HIDE-A-BED SOFA OVERHEAD CABINET OHC TV OHC WITH CHAISE DRAWERS BELOW LAV LAV SOFA BED OHC OPTIONAL WASHER/ DRYER SHOWER STANDARD TV OHC OPTIONAL FIREPLACE BELOW TV IN LIVING AREA TV CLOSET 60" X 80" QUEEN BED OPTIONAL 72" X 80" KING BED OHC NIGHTSTAND NIGHTSTAND STEP OHC OHC BOOTH PANTRY RESIDENTIAL DINETTE FRIDGE OVERHEAD CABINET OVERHEAD OVERHEAD CABINET MICROWAVE CABINET OPTIONAL EXTERIOR TV U-SHAPED DINETTE WITH BOOTH DINETTE COMPUTER WORKSTATION 3 PRESIDENT’S CORNER One-on-One with Bob Tiffin Acknowledged “Dean” of North American Motorhome Builders Sherman Goldenberg, publisher of RV Business, the industry’s leading magazine serving RV manufacturers and dealers, interviewed Bob Tiffin in June for his lead article on a motorhome manufacturer. We are reprint- ing the interview for our readers with permission. —Fred Thompson, editor, RIS OB TIFFIN MAY WELL BE THE RESIDENT “DEAN” of North American motorhome manufacturing. But Bthe affable founder, president, and CEO of privately held Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc., probably doesn’t want to dwell on that notion because he’s not all that comfortable in talking about himself. On the contrary, Tiffin is noticeably more relaxed in chat- ting about motorhome design and trendy floorplans and the specialized demands of coach owners. After all, Tiffin, 72, a straight-talking businessman, has pretty much seen it all since 1972 when he parlayed a high school education and some of his father’s financial backing — along with a contingent of workers from two area RV firms — to start up his own two-coach-a-day operation in a former cotton warehouse in the small northwest Alabama community of Red Bay. Tiffin today heads up a manufacturing company that has turned out over 75,000 coaches since its inception and currently ranks first in Class A sales of diesel pusher coaches, and second in sales of Class A gas coaches,* according to Statistical Surveys, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan. Located about 40 miles south of Muscle Shoals, Tiffin Motorhomes currently has 1,400 employees, a million square feet under roof, a network of 85 dealers operating some 100 lo- cations, and a portfolio of mainstream gas and diesel motor- home brands that include the Allegro (MSRP including the usual options for $164,000), Allegro Breeze ($210,000), Allegro RED ($251,000), Phaeton ($358,000), Allegro Bus ($410,000), and Zephyr ($570,000). Tiffin is predominantly a diesel pusher Class A manufacturer, and now builds 30 percent of its coaches (Allegro Bus & Breeze) on it own rear-engine PowerGlide chas- sis. The Phaeton, the industry’s leading Class A diesel pusher, is built on a Freightliner chassis as is the Allegro RED. Meanwhile, Tiffin Motorhomes, distant as it is from most of the industry’s frontline suppliers, has developed the capability PHOTO BY SHAWN SPENCE SHAWN BY PHOTO *See Statistical Surveys on page 39. 4 ROUGHING IT SMOOTHLY of producing in-house many component parts for both current any sale is the floorplan, along with great service and dealers.