Doubling Down

Brothers Ryan and Coley Brady set out to make not only a better RV, but a better RV company, when they launched Alliance RV in 2019.

Ryan and Coley both had fairly long tenures working for another RV manufacturer when they decided to branch out and form the Elkhart, Indiana-based company.

“We had a great run there and enjoyed our time, but came to the realization that the industry was ripe forsome change. We set off in 2019 to do just that,” Ryan says. “We wanted to change the way RVs were designed and the thought process through the design phase of an RV. We also wanted to change the ownership experience for the end retail customer and provide a better one.”

The brothers assembled what they feel is a best-in-class management team with excellent track records in the industry.

“We gathered an array of people who worked for different manufacturers to get different perspectives in the mix. Through social media channels, talking to dealers and customers, we really crowd-sourced our first model, the Paradigm,” Ryan says. “It was a nine-month process of drilling down and addressing pain points with retail customers.”

The Paradigm came out in the fall of 2019 as a luxury fifth wheel with innovative features that propelled growth early on, Ryan says.

“We got the product out, saw that is was resonating with customers and that they were finding value in what we were doing,” Ryan says. “Then COVID hit and threw a wrench in things.”

Even with that wrench, Ryan says they’ve built about 15,000 RVs since 2020. That’s largely been fifth wheels since travel trailers didn’t hit the lineup until recently.

Fast forward to 2023 and Alliance RV’s newest product: the Delta double-axle travel trailer.

“We stayed true to the crowd-sourcing model of designing our RVs rather than guessing what features, components and design people want. We pore over YouTube videos and social media. We attend shows and visit campgrounds,” Ryan says.

Delta Product Manager Eric Bailey says they took the same approach with the Delta product line as they did with their fifth wheel lineup. Bailey came on board with Alliance RV about one year before the Delta product was launched. This allowed the company to do more in-depth crowd-sourcing from real-time users.

“I spent the better part of six months just talking with customers, conducting zoom calls, having one-on-ones at shows and calls and getting to the root of our buyer,” Bailey says. “We found the Delta buyer is the camper that’s a weekend warrior. With the amount of research we did, we got a lot of variety of feedback on sizes and price point. A lot of features you’ll see on Deltas today have to do with storage. We heard from people wanting more storage in a unit. It’s important to them to be able to take everything with you that you want.”

Since storage was such a big deal, Delta offers 62 feet of pass-through storage.

“The length and weight of the trailer was something we got good feedback on. It was where we wanted to be. It’s a single slide, half-ton towable and popular with national park camping. We were able to pack in the features,” Bailey says.

“We’re making our RVs convenient and functional. We’ve challenged the design and thought of everything,” Ryan says.

Dreaming Up the Delta

It’s the big and small details that set Delta apart – such as three-way switches, dedicated space for camp tables, flip-up nightstands and more. The front cap lights can be turned on and off with a switch, and there’s a dedicated space for trash.

“We have floorplans that are really deliberately designed and well thought out,” Ryan says. “Prior to Delta, we were more focused on that seasonal camper. With Delta we’re focusing on a more weekend-type camper whose time is at a premium. We don’t want them to have to spend time figuring out their campers.”

The Delta lineup currently features seven floorplans. Bailey says the four most recent floorplans are very unique.

“We innovated those to make them better than anything else you’ll see in the industry,” Bailey says. “Right now, we feel pretty strong with our lineup at seven floorplans. We’re going to hold at seven for the time being based on their really good performance. We have something for everyone, from couple’s coaches to bunk houses.”

Delta floorplans sleep two to 10 people, with the 320BH floorplan sleeping the most. The bunk room alone with a slideout can sleep five people comfortably and provide a lot of storage.

“Delta has a modern look that appeals to the majority of the crowd. Some of the features that we do we decided to make standard on Delta. All our Deltas are 50-amp service, and two AC units is standard. You can run both of the AC units on 30-amp service. That’s very unique and can’t be done with most RVs out there,” Bailey says. “The thought process with that is that the AC setup has proved itself in our fifth wheels. We wanted to carry on that success from our fifth wheel product into our travel trailers.”

The Delta floorplans rethink certain areas of a camper to provide more storage. For example, under the sink is a full-size, tip out trash can. This is possible because of the side drain sink, which moves the P-trap, the P-shaped bend pipe used in drainpipes to connect the sink and septic tank, out of the way to unlock enough room under the sink to fit a full-size trash can.

“It’s a lot of little details: the ease of our three-way switches, storage on the inside, redesigned kitchen bases with much deeper drawers,” Bailey says.

The Delta lineup ranges from 27 to 36 feet long with an MSRP of $51,700 to $66,300.

“We’ve had really strong feedback. We’re about six months into really getting these out on dealer’s lots. We’re finding at the shows that everything we’ve talked about and everything we’ve done has resonated with the customer. They’ve had issues and have never seen a solution like we’re providing before. It sets us apart from others in the market,” Bailey says. “The same goes for the reaction from dealers. They’re excited to give their customers something they haven’t seen before.

“And our approach to service is a desire to elevate the RV experience for our retail customers. It doesn’t matter what you buy. These are rolling homes and there is going to be a service need at some point. If you buy one of our coaches, you’re buying from a manufacturer that is transparent and going to be there for you on the back-end.”

For more information on Alliance RV, visit alliancerv.com.