Sustaining Your RV: Seasonal, Annual, and Pre-Journey Checks

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Tenting World’s RV product specialist Ian Baker and Tenting World Service Technician Sean Harless present useful recommendations on sustaining your RV, together with DIY upkeep duties and regularly requested RV upkeep questions.

Guides to Sustaining Your RV

Be sure to obtain Tenting World’s RV possession and upkeep booklet to trace your RV’s seasonal upkeep wants. Then you definitely’re able to study extra in regards to the ins and outs of sustaining your RV.

For any activity on this RV upkeep guidelines, you’ll be able to all the time schedule service at your native Tenting World.

Washing Your RV

Advisable Frequency: After every journey

Use the precise cleansing merchandise to make sure you don’t harm your RV’s decals or exterior end. Your RV’s end will decide the precise resolution, so seek the advice of your producer or proprietor’s handbook to study which merchandise to make use of (and what to keep away from) if you clear your RV.

Right here’s a tutorial on easy methods to wash your RV.

Checking RV Tire Stress

Advisable Frequency: Earlier than and after every journey

Your tires are the muse of your RV. If you happen to don’t preserve them correctly by recurrently checking tire stress, monitoring tread depth, monitoring tire put on, and masking them when your RV is sitting idle, you’ll lower their lifespan and presumably endanger your subsequent RV journey.

Listed here are some assets that will help you preserve your RV tires:

Sustaining Stabilizing Jacks

Advisable Frequency: After every journey (or 2-4x per season)

This RV upkeep activity may require the assistance of a licensed technician, particularly in case your RV is supplied with an auto-leveling system. These techniques can put your complete RV, and anybody inside, in peril in the event that they aren’t adjusted and maintained correctly. Seek the advice of a service middle to see in case your stabilizing system must be inspected and adjusted accordingly.

When you’ve got handbook stabilizers, there’s a bit extra you are able to do regularly. That features inspecting the {hardware} securing the stabilizers to your RV’s body and correct cleansing and lubrication.

You also needs to know easy methods to degree and stabilize your RV correctly to keep away from pointless put on and tear in your stabilizing jacks.

Inspecting Seals

Advisable Frequency: Each 90 days

The seals in your RV’s roof, home windows, doorways, and compartments ought to be inspected recurrently. This helps you keep away from leaks and water harm that can end in way more costly repairs in your motorhome or journey trailer.

Checking Your RV Battery

Advisable Frequency: Each 90 days

Checking the cost, cleansing the terminals, and inspecting the cables are three of a number of checks you must full in your RV batteries each three months. Listed here are just a few extra assets that will help you hold your RV batteries in good situation:

Sustaining Holding Tanks

Advisable Frequency: Each journey (and seasonally)

Your RV’s grey, black, and recent water holding tanks require correct upkeep to keep away from clogs and different septic points. This generally is a main studying curve for brand new RVers, so listed here are just a few extra assets:

Sanitizing Your Recent Water Tank

Advisable Frequency: Seasonally within the spring (or after 2-4 weeks of non-use)

Utilizing an RV water filter is essential to preserving dust and corrosive chemical substances out of your RV’s recent water tank. However even with diligent filter use, you must sanitize your RV’s recent water tank recurrently. Right here’s our full step-by-step tutorial for sanitizing your RV’s water distribution system.

Flushing the Water Heater and Checking the Anode Rod (if relevant)

Advisable Frequency: Seasonally (normally throughout winterization and dewinterization)

An anode rod is a sacrificial aspect that draws corrosive chemical substances to maintain them from damaging your water heater tank. As soon as it’s diminished, it should be eliminated and changed to maintain your water heater tank protected.

Packing Wheel Bearings

Advisable Frequency: Yearly

It is a upkeep activity that has fairly a little bit of nuance. You want the right sort of grease, specialty instruments for eradicating and packing bearings, and experience to examine trailer brakes whereas your tire is eliminated. We extremely advocate contacting a Tenting World RV Service Middle to schedule your annual wheel bearing upkeep.

Rubber Roof Upkeep

Advisable Frequency: Yearly

Rubber RV roofs ought to be inspected and cleaned seasonally, on the very least. However they need to even be professionally inspected annually to make sure all of the seals are intact and there’s no important harm to the roof membrane.

After all, there are different kinds of RV roofs apart from rubber, similar to fiberglass and aluminum. Test your producer’s directions for the correct roof upkeep procedures in your RV.

Overlaying Your RV

Advisable Frequency: Anytime your RV will sit idle for an prolonged interval

Putting in an RV cowl is the easiest way to forestall exterior fading and different weather-related put on and tear. RV covers are pretty straightforward to put in, they usually can save your roof, seals, home windows, exterior decals or paint, and tires from dangerous UV publicity, moisture, and different environmental components.

Sustaining Your Air Conditioner

Advisable Frequency: Each 90 days

Cleansing the filter in your RV’s air conditioner is vital for environment friendly operation. You too can look into blocking air vents, putting in insulated window remedies, and different options to maintain your RV cool when tenting in sizzling climates.

Sustaining Slideouts

Advisable Frequency: Yearly

Engaged on RV slideouts ought to be left to knowledgeable RV technician. They’re pushed by complicated techniques, and you’ll considerably harm your RV in the event you aren’t cautious. That stated, there are methods to manually retract slideouts in the event you’re caught in an emergency scenario.

In case your slide-out is caught, listed here are just a few assets that will help you pull them in so you may make it to the closest Tenting World Service Middle:

Inspecting and Sustaining RV Awnings

Advisable Frequency: Each 90 days

Awnings are a helpful RV accent for defense from solar and lightweight rain. However they will simply be compromised in the event you don’t function and preserve them appropriately. Listed here are just a few extra assets that will help you preserve your RV awnings:

Winterizing Your RV

Advisable Frequency: Seasonally

When your RV is sitting idle, and there’s the opportunity of freezing temperatures, winterizing is important to guard your plumbing strains, tanks, and fixtures from harm. Tenting World gives a fundamental winterization and an entire winterization package deal. Contact a service middle to search out out which package deal is correct in your RV.

Listed here are just a few extra useful assets:

Dewinterizing Your RV

Advisable Frequency: Seasonally

When making ready for spring tenting, you’ll must flush the RV antifreeze out of your recent water and wastewater techniques. There are a number of different duties that each one RVers ought to know to get their unit able to hit the highway for tenting season.

Listed here are just a few extra tutorials to help with spring RV prep:

Different RV Upkeep

For extra RV upkeep ideas, take a look at our YouTube How one can RV Playlist.

Meet the Audio system

Ian Baker | Hello people, I’m Ian Baker! I’ve been an RV Product Specialist at Tenting World for 4 years, so you’ll be able to name me an skilled within the RV business! If I’m not at work, you’ll discover me open air with my spouse and children – I’m a household man at coronary heart. I’m extraordinarily excited to kick off our first Summer season Solstice Occasion, and I hope to reply lots of your questions reside through the present!

Sean Harless | Hello everybody, I’m Sean Harless! I’m a Service Director for Tenting World, primarily based out of North Carolina. Through the Summer season Solstice Occasion, we are going to assessment the ins and outs of sustaining your RV. If I’m not at work, you’ll discover me behind a barbeque with family and friends!