One of the things that I love most about the RV world is that there’s something for everyone. If your idea of camping is a simple place to lay your head, you can buy any number of tent campers for that. If you want a rolling hotel room, pick any travel trailer or general motorhome. On the far end of the spectrum is something like the 2027 Axiom RV Vendetta. This fifth wheel “camper” is 47-feet-long, has a gross weight of 27,000 pounds, and can sleep up to 12 people. This might be the most absurd and excessive new trailer launch that tries to call itself a camper.
If you’ve read my work for long enough, you know that I love to cover RVs that meet some sort of mix of being weird, well-built, vintage, custom, or just have a good story. I love pointing out what campers you can tow without buying a big pickup truck, and what campers seem to offer a pretty good bang for your buck.
But sometimes, I run across a new RV release that’s so absurd that it stops me in my tracks. The American RV has a stereotype for being needlessly excessive. For some, American RVs are too huge, too heavy, and filled to the brim with features that nobody will ever actually need to go camping. After all, isn’t part of the point being close to nature?
The 2027 Axiom RV Vendetta is one of those RVs that has stopped me in my tracks. Everything about this thing is absurd. Dare I say, this camper might be the new poster child for the ridiculousness of the American RV industry.
From Former RV Execs
If you haven’t heard of Axiom before, it’s because it’s a brand-new company. A press release about the company’s launch was sent out in May, and its trailers are beginning to show up at dealerships, so the company is just storming onto the RV scene with all wheels spinning.
According to RVBusiness, Axiom RV was founded by A.J. Jones, John Jones, and Tom Ison, all of whom used to be executives over at Heartland RV and Cruiser RV, brands of Thor Industries. Together, the trio brings over 60 years of RV company experience, and they have been collaborating with each other for the past 15 years. Reportedly, the three all had a big dream of starting their own RV company and building better RVs.
A.J. Jones, president of Axiom, says, via RVBusiness: “Over the past several months, our team has poured everything into redefining what a fifth-wheel can be. We set out to challenge the status quo — to tackle a long list of industry shortcomings that have been accepted for far too long. It wasn’t easy, but with the right people, thoughtful innovation, and relentless dedication, we found a way.”
Axiom says that its goals, alongside “challenge the status quo,” include delivering what RVers have been asking for and building the best fifth wheels in the industry. The company is starting off in the high-end side of the market, but sees itself becoming a full-line towable camper manufacturer with a brand per price point. Something neat is that Axiom is an independent company, so there’s no leash from the likes of Thor or Forest River.
Axiom currently sells two products, the ridiculous 33-foot Imperium (above) and the frankly absurd Vendetta. Both trailers have somewhat similar theming. Let’s just look at the flagship Vendetta, because the crazy starts and doesn’t stop.
The 47-Foot Beast
The Axiom starts off with what sounds like some pretty neat specs.
The trailer features a skeleton of low-alloy, corrosion-resistant steel. Axiom says that its structure has been tested to be 72 percent stronger than aluminum. Likewise, Axiom says that its trailer is so strong that it should be able to dodge long-term metal fatigue and “flex.” This is important because, as you may remember, Grand Design’s fifth wheel owners have been dealing with catastrophic frame “flex” and frame failures for too long now. There’s no way of knowing at this immediate moment if Axiom has fixed this problem, but at the very least, the company appears to be trying.
Anyway, the steel walls are backed with two layers of Azdel-style composite panels with foam cores. Axiom proudly says that there is no plywood and no lauan to be seen here. So, we’re already off to a really great start here.
As far as the rest of the build, Axiom says that this trailer is riding on a Curt coil spring suspension, and the exterior siding is marine-grade fiberglass with gelcoat. Axiom also claims to have the fifth wheel industry’s first “clean roof” design, which just means that the company moved everything off the roof. There are no holes up there for air conditioners, vents, or anything like that, which is great for longevity and removing potential sources for water leaks.
All of this is good, I think. No wood and metal, and/or composite structures should be the baseline for a camper. It sucks that deciding to build a camper out of good materials is still considered to be game-changing. So, good on Axiom for learning from the mistakes that much of the industry still makes.
Anyway, things get outrageously excessive when you get inside. How do you fill a 47-foot-long trailer? With everything, of course!
Axiom says the Vendetta starts with a tall ceiling, 9’10” of it, to be exact. This way, you could have a crew of any height and they will feel nice and comfortable. Speaking of having the whole crew with you, the living room has 12 recliners. There’s a primary bedroom in the front of the trailer and a 14’6″ garage in the rear. The couches can all be turned into beds, and there’s a bed hanging from the ceiling in the garage. Add all of the sleeping surfaces together, and you have room for 12 people to sleep in this thing.
The trailer doesn’t stop there, as there are four slides, a patio, and a garage door ramp that turns into a second patio. Features packages include a triple mini-split system, frameless windows, Starlink prep, solid surface countertops, hardwood cabinetry, a 65-inch TV, electric tank dump valves, hydraulic levelers, an on-demand water heater, and 200 watts of solar.
Additional options include dual-pane windows, cameras, an additional 190-watt solar panel, a separate washer and dryer, a dishwasher, dark graphics, and some other smaller bits. There’s also a boombox, a big electric fireplace, and LED lights absolutely covering this thing.
What’s pretty weird about this trailer is that the bathroom isn’t nearly as bombastic as the rest of the trailer tries to be. Axiom gave this crazy thing 12 recliners and 12 beds, yet the shower isn’t doing anything new. Sure, it offers seven feet of ceiling height and is large enough for a big person, but then the shower head deletes basically six inches of that headroom, anyway.
There is also a half-bath in the garage area. You can see the toilet in this image:
Other notes about this trailer include the fact that the generator has been moved to the rear and under the trailer to maximize front storage space, and you get a residential-style kitchen. Something else I noticed is that Axiom’s trailers ride really low to the ground. Axiom gives no specs for ground clearance in the Vendetta, but the smaller Imperium sits 10 inches off the ground. There have been concerns about ground clearance and departure angles with both Axiom models.
An RV tech on YouTube claims that despite appearances, the Axiom Vendetta has similar ground clearance as some other fifth wheels, and the Vendetta can clear a 13-inch drop over an 11-foot ramp with just a little bit of room to spare:
But here’s the thing: that’s a ramp at a dealership. The real world has sharp drops like curbs and driveways. Also, it’s unclear how much ride height this trailer would have at its gross weight. This is to say that you probably should be careful traversing driveways and probably don’t get daring enough to take it off-pavement.
Another oddity is that the main entry door and staircase are embedded in one of the slides. This design decision means that it would be unwise to open or close that slide with the stairs in the down position.
Anyway, things start getting cool again with the stores. The Vendetta holds 170 gallons of water, 110 gallons of gray water, and 110 gallons of waste. It carries another 60 gallons of fuel for the generator. The base model of the Vendetta is the V4250, while the higher model is the V4250SP. Both are the same size, but empty weights are 21,240 pounds and 21,885 pounds, respectively. Check out the front storage area:
Given the girth of this rig, you’ll need a one-ton dually at a minimum to tow this thing. When fully loaded, this trailer would use up about 77 percent of the capacity of a properly equipped Ford F-350 Super Duty DRW.
Does It Change The Game?
Axiom does not publish prices for its RVs, which is annoying. I suppose Axiom’s mission to change the RV game doesn’t include pricing transparency. From what I can find, you could probably get a Vendetta V4250 for around $190,000 or the V4250SP for around $200,000. Dealers are already claiming to have huge sales on these things, with one dealer seemingly suggesting that its V4250SP had an original price of $248,843.
RV influencers have had their minds blown by the Axiom. Some influencers are calling these “the future of RVs” and that Axiom “changes the game.” Now, I haven’t seen it yet, but at least when I watch the influencer videos and see the pictures, I don’t feel the same way.
Building a camper out of metal and composites isn’t anything new. I’ve championed all sorts of metal and composite campers. Though, to be fair to the company, what Axiom is doing is different from traditional fifth wheels. But, that aside, it’s weird that this thing has a 60-gallon fuel tank for its generator and 170 gallons for water storage, but only 200 watts to 390 watts of solar for a 47-foot luxury camper filled to the brim with lights and other hungry devices. Then there are those valid ground clearance concerns.
So, I like a lot of the materials and such here, but I’m not convinced the Vendetta is “the future” or a game-changer like the influencers say. It’s just different, but in a cool, wild, and interesting way.
What I am also blown away by is just how far the RV industry is willing to stretch the definition of “camper.” This thing is a 27,000-pound luxury palace for 12 people. It’s basically a single-family home bolted to three axles. A Vendetta is so huge that there are going to be campgrounds where you can’t even park this thing. I suppose a camper like this is why the term “glamping” exists, because this thing is all glam, all the time.
I want to end this with a question. Do you think you’d be the target market for a Vendetta? If so, I’d love to know what you’d do with it!
Top graphic image: Axiom RV
The TV in this camper is larger than the (solitary) TV in my brand-new 2100 sqft home.
As others have said…that’s a lot of money for a depreciating asset–one that depreciates faster than even a regular Class A RV / motorcoach.
I also have to wonder, suppose you load this thing up, then just what tows it? Only the most powerful tow vehicles I suppose…so that’s about another $100K. But I guess it is indeed cheaper than a motorcoach, so there’s that.
About $363,000 CDN.
That would get you a 2 bedroom home with a few people smoking meth or dead on the front lawn.
This actually sounds pretty appealing as a stationary home or cottage. It would cost you a lot more to build something comparable.
A quarter of a million dollars for a trailer? Invest it at 4% and take a ice 3 week vacation somewhere unique. Hauling tons of overpriced metal in a truck that adds another 100k into the mix and you are bordering on insanity. Never mind the petrol costs, parking costs, upkeep, storage, and depreciation. This thing suggests to me that the world has gone mad. Completely bonkers mad.
As someone who’s not necessarily a fan of the outdoors (and who the outdoors are not really a fan of…), at a glance, this thing looks appealing.
Of course, that’s glossing over it being out of my tax bracket.
Cautiously optimistic for the brand if these things turn out to actually be durable, though. Hooray, one of a stupidly limited number of companies making durable RVs!
(but I won’t be holding my breath)
Mercedes, have you noticed how your RV articles are garnering as much if not more attention and comments than some of the car articles somedays? Awesome job, you go girl!!!