From the wheels to the rooftop, every shake, rattle and roll exposes your RV to asphalt abuse at every turn. Whether you drive a luxury motor coach or tow a toy hauler trailer, your home on wheels won’t last long unless you follow a few critical but easy RV repair tips from RV experts.
Maintaining and fixing your RV is critical to enjoyment on the road. Photo courtesy tyka iRV2.com member
For a life of endless adventure from the comfort of your own home, heed the advice of Russ and Tina DeMaris. As RV enthusiasts with do-it-yourself gusto, each month the longtime contributors of RV Life’s Tech Tips corner explain the most critical RV tips you need to know. These five DIY RV repair tips articles share just some of the vital knowledge you’ll learn from these tech experts.
No RV trip is too short to neglect critical RV brakes maintenance tips.
1. RV brake system tips for safer mountain & city driving
Do you know what to do if your brakes stop working on a steep downhill? Or when and how to repack your trailer wheel bearings? No RV trip is too short to neglect critical RV brakes maintenance tips like these.
In other words don’t be a runaway on these sometimes challenging highways. Find out how to maneuver up and over mountain passes (and even around challenging city streets) with the quick guide to RV brake system safety.
2. RV generator maintenance tips
RV generators are a lot like pets. You’ve got to take care of your pet, or you’ll end up regretting having one in the first place.
Once a month, every month, maintaining your RV generator is a vital practice to ensure its longevity, and to your on-the-road convenience.
Learn how to heat your RV more efficiently during winter camping.
So, as your generator needs your attention, follow a maintenance schedule and your biggest ally for keeping warm on cold nights or chilled on hot days will never let you down.
3. Cold weather camping tips
The stars are bright on chilly nights but your toes will freeze if you have no idea about keeping warm in your RV.
Learn how to heat your RV more efficiently and calculate RV heater amp-hours. Also, avoid draining your RV batteries when dry camping in cold weather.
4. How to repair or replace RV flooring
It’s a fact that water damage happens to RV flooring. Over time, a slow plumbing leak can wreck a trailer or motor home floor and create hazardous soft spots. You’re ready to tackle soft RV floor spots and replace RV flooring, here’s what to do.
From measuring water damage in the floor to cutting plywood with a circular saw, you’ll discover it’s not impossible for the DIY RVer to take on the task of repairing floor soft spots.
5. RV battery tips for small campers
Love dry camping but hate having a small RV battery bank? Learn how to expand your power with batteries in a smaller RV or if you have a small capacity for battery storage.
For instance, discover when and how to parallel wire a battery system and how to extend RV battery life while living off-grid or in RV campgrounds.
The RV lifestyle is pretty much made for do-it-yourselfers. Whether you want to make basic RV repairs or learn how to renovate old vintage trailers, there’s practically nothing you can’t do.
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
Besides maintaining the safety of your RV, repairs will also make sure your trailer lasts you as long as possible. To me, and RV is an investment just like your house or car so it’s important repairs are addressed immediately. Don’t hesitate to go to a professional if you aren’t sure about how to make a repair yourself.
I recently pulled my RV out of my garage and I had realized that it hasn’t been running as great as it used to. I liked that you had mentioned the importance of maintaining the generator every month to make sure that you’re getting the most out of it. Unfortunately, I haven’t kept up on that maintenance and the generator is one of the things I’m having a problem with, I’ll have to find a professional to handle that repair.
I loved when you mentioned how there is not trip short enough that will excuse not taking care of your RV’s brakes. It is important to remember that taking the time to understand this can help you take care of your vehicle and avoid accidents that could cost a ton of money. Personally, I would want to take the time to come up with a schedule I can follow to properly maintain my RV.
It’s good to know that when it comes to keeping a trailer maintained that there are some things that need to keep in mind when it starts getting colder. I like how you mentioned that we need to look into the best way to keep our specific unit heated without draining the battery. This is something that we will have to look into to make sure that we will be able to have things done properly in order to be able to go out camping this winter.
It was quite informative that you talked about how water leaks and slow plumbing can destroy the trailer and create hazardous soft spots. We didn’t know about that and that lack of information caused the RV to be damaged. We can’t use it now, and we can’t allow it to continue like that because we’re planning to use it for our camping trip next month. I guess we should bring it to the professional otherwise, the situation will get worse over time. Thanks.
Sure would be nice to hear about delamanation , I had a small dent in front near the top from a tree branch and it was fine until the weather suddenly heated up near mid 90s this past summer. I called progressive insurance and at first they said yes we will cover it then two weeks later they claim it was delamination ? The dent was there from out cold winter and never grew until hot weather . What can I do ? They want me to prove it’s not delamination but I said it was a small basket ball size dent that was there for several months before the front top area started to buckel not the bottom section wow . I have taken excelent care of my Forrest river Stealth Toy hauler travel trailer SS 2216 2013 I bought new in western Washington , the damage occurred while hauling it over the mountain pass in snow conditions going to eastern Washington as I was starting my property and home build . I stored it for several months and when the weather warmed up went to set up and suddenly the weather got very hot and I drove by looked over as if over night it s damnage occured .
Is it metal or fiberglass?
The information your provided was most helpful. Can you provide some general mantenance info on ion – batteries. Also their use with solar and generator charging.
I definitely need to look into replacing RV flooring. My family loves to camp in our trailer, but we have often found the floor gets way too cold once the temperature drops! We may have to look into remodeling our flooring.
I cannot understand.how so many idiots can buy anything and not maintain it. Another example of more money than sense… !!!
Hurtful comments are not needed. Why don’t you try to help instead?
There was one thing not mentioned on this list, or I should say two. Getting your wheel bearings re-packed regularly is highly important. We neglected this and paid dearly! Our bearings went out on a steep mountain pass and luckily we were near an exit when we broke down and were able to get to a garage with some help. Otherwise, we would have had to order a special flat-bed trailer tow truck to haul our trailer to a shop, plus parts and labour. It’s an easy thing to forget, just like tires, which are the other maintenance item you should always check when you get your RV out for the year. Otherwise, great tips!
I’m surprised that one of the five critical repair tips was not mentioned. Roof maintenance. Water intrusion is the number one RV killer. Annual maintenance and repair should top the list. Thanks for the generator info!
Thanks for mentioning how you should ensure that you maintain your RV’s brakes to ensure that they do not malfunction when driving down a hill. My wife and I have started to notice that our RV has started to make squeaking sounds whenever we apply our brakes, and we’d like to fix the problem before we take our two sons on a camping trip this weekend. We’ll find an RV repair service that can help us maintain our vehicle.