How we build the Vehicle Storage Size Guide

Where the numbers come from

We only use manufacturers' own pages: model spec pages, brochures and spec sheets. We don't copy figures from dealers, listing sites, forums, or other storage companies, even when they're easier to find.

How each number is recorded

We store each figure the way the maker printed it in feet and inches. The metric figure beside it is converted from those feet and inches, so it may not match a metric figure the maker prints. If the maker's two figures disagree by more than 1%, the row is held until we've worked out which one the maker meant, and the guide lists that one.

Labels matter. "Dry weight" and "unloaded weight" aren't the same thing, and neither is gross vehicle weight rating, so we keep the maker's wording. The same goes for length: hull length and length on the trailer are different numbers, and we never swap one for the other.

Some pages print more than one figure for the same measurement: a trailer length with the tongue folded or extended, with or without bow steps, or a height with and without board racks. For length and height we use the largest figure the maker prints, including factory options shown on the page, with any pop-up roof or loft closed. The rest stay on file with the maker's own label.

The width we list is the boat's beam, or an RV's width with the slides in. Some boat makers also print trailer widths. We don't size by any of them, only by the beam. One maker, for example, measures its widest trailer figure with guide poles it lists as removable.

Every figure carries four things: the page it came from, the date we read it, whether it's published or estimated, and how we collected it. A cell that reads "no figure" means we don't have that number from the maker's own pages. We don't guess at it.

Length on the trailer

If the maker prints a trailer or towing length, we use it. If it prints more than one, we use the longest.

If there's no trailer length, we add 3 feet to the longest hull length the maker prints and mark the result "est." No hull length, no estimate. That model stays out until the maker publishes a length.

For RVs, the overall length is the fit length.

Height

For tower boats we list the height with the tower up and folded when the maker gives both. If a page prints more than one height, for example with an optional tower or with board racks on and off, we use the tallest. RVs work the same way: if an option such as a second air conditioner adds height, we use the taller figure. A height with a pop-up roof or loft raised isn't used, the same as a width with the slides out. We list the travel height. When a maker says its listed height leaves out an option, like a second A/C, we show that height and say so. The real height can be taller. If a maker marks its height with a footnote but never prints the footnote, we say we don't know whether it includes the A/C. When a page gives one height without saying which, we show it as published and say so.

How we check it before it goes up

Every new batch and every refresh passes the same check before anything reaches the guide:

1. A script checks every stored figure against the exact wording we saved from the maker's page. Any mismatch is fixed, sampled or not.
2. We draw a random sample: 10% of the batch, at least 10 models. If a batch has fewer than 10 models, we sample every one.
3. Each sampled model's source page is opened again and checked for the value, the unit, the label, and that it's the right model.
4. If more than 2% of the sampled figures are wrong, or their source link no longer confirms them, the batch is held back. A correct number at a dead link counts as a failure. When the failures trace back to a maker, model line or source page, we can hold back everything from that group instead. The rest of the batch goes up only if every model in it has been checked against its source page again, and a sample of its own, drawn the same way, turns up no failures.
5. Fixes get logged, and the check runs again on a fresh random sample.

Latest check: Oct 21, 2026. 6 models sampled, 48 figures re-checked, 0 failures.

What isn't in the guide yet

The guide is growing. So far it covers ski and wake boats, pontoon boats, center console boats, bowriders, deck boats, sport boats, fishing boats, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers and motorhomes. 65 models we've collected aren't shown yet. Each one is waiting on a working source, a re-check, or a decision on how to read its length.

How it stays current

We refresh the guide every month against the makers' pages, and run a full sweep each fall when the new model years come out. Any row not re-checked in 13 months is flagged and re-checked. If a source page disappears, that model comes out of the guide until we find the current page.

How the guide is used for storage

The Storage Finder uses these numbers to suggest a space: the space has to be at least 3 feet longer than the fit length, and for indoor storage the vehicle has to be at least a foot under the door. Width never rules a space out. Those rules are ours, not the manufacturers'.

Changes

• 2026-10-21: first public version, 3,532 models