Getting Intimate…with your travel trailer? It may sound funny but getting intimate with your RV is a good thing. When I say Intimate I just mean trying to understand how it was constructed and how each part of it works.
I currently have a 2017 imagine and I know more about this trailer than any trailer I’ve ever owned. The only exception would be the 1971 Jayco Jaywren. Of course the Jayco was a no-frills, very basic travel trailer; so there wasn’t a lot to learn! The Jay Wren had very limited wiring, only one water pipe, a simple propane set-up, and a couple wheel bearings to deal with. There really wasn’t much that could go wrong.
The way Travel Trailers have changed since the 1971 JayWren is huge. It would be like comparing differences between my 1966 VW Beetle and our Dodge Durango. They have very little in common, other than the most fundamental parts. It’s the same when comparing my JayWren to my current Grand Design Imagine. Of course, technology brings big changes; and big changes means more things can go wrong. When you have a component on your auto (or RV) that can fail and bring your trip to an immediate end; you might start to believe that things were better in 1966!
On our current Grand Design Travel Trailer I’ve worked on almost everything from the roof, propane lines, wheel bearings, electrical, plumbing, slide motors, even to the way the cabinets are constructed.
The RV industry seems to get more glitzy every year adding more “improvements” to their RVs. Travel trailers now have slide rooms, complicated electronics, residential style appliances, solar, etc. So as you can see there really is a lot more to deal with now.
You’ve heard the expression “knowledge is power”? Well I would say “knowledge is enlightening”. The more you know about your trailer and how the factory put it together the easier it is to work on.
Someone once told me that you “learn a lot more when you are under pressure (i.e. Your equipment is broken and you need to fix it ASAP).” While there is some truth to that, it’s not an optimal way to learn.
Watching videos on YouTube is a great way to get a taste for some of the things you need to know but every trailer is different. A case in point would be Schwintek slide motors (if you have that system). You can watch a dozen videos on replacing those motors but until you actually do it you won’t have an appreciation for how easy or hard it may be.
It’s the same on routing maintenance items like inspecting and sealing your roof, repacking wheel bearings, or winterizing your trailer.
Working on an RV isn’t for everyone, and you should never undertake any repair or maintenance outside your knowledge or comfort level. For more on that subject click here. Ignoring your own personal safety will cost much more than taking your trailer to a repair facility.
However, I do want to say that many tasks such as winterizing your RV are easier than you might think. This can be true with modifications you make to the travel trailer as well. There are many items you can add to your trailer that don’t require very much effort or skill. Items like bug screens, screen door handles, different stairs, tire pressure monitoring systems, are just a few examples.
In the case of the slide motor replacement on our Schwintek slides; I was surprised how simple it ended up being. Since we were at a campground when one motor quit; we had no choice but to deal with it ourselves. There were no available mobile RV services that had motors or that were available to perform the repair. Now fortunately for us the slide was out about a foot when it quit. This allowed us to easily access the retaining screw on the outside of the trailer. Had it been closed we would have had a harder time dealing with this repair. Click here if you want to read more.
As a result, I was happy that we learned more about the trailer. I also learned that we make a pretty good repair team. I’ve since replaced all the remaining slide motors – they were due. Now this kind of repair isn’t for everyone, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined.
The purpose of this post isn’t to try and convince you that you should repair everything on your trailer. It is just a suggestion that you learn as much about your trailer as possible. Having that knowledge will help you make decisions about repairs or maintenance you feel comfortable doing or not doing.
A manufacturing plant that I once worked at started an “Equipment Captain” program. Each Supervisor was assigned equipment that they were responsible for maintaining. That didn’t mean that they repaired the equipment or performed the actual maintenance routine. They were just responsible for learning about how that equipment operated and what preventative maintenance needed to be done in order for it to run effectively. Then they were responsible for documenting that process and setting up a maintenance schedule and handing that process off to the mechanical team.
That is not much different than what you do with your car or truck. You don’t need to know how to tear the engine apart, but you need to know what routine maintenance needs to be done. If you don’t do that eventually someone else will be tearing your engine apart.
Of course, there are things that I would not feel comfortable doing and that is where I would look for a certified RV tech. Knowing your limitations is just as important as knowing your strengths. I always try to determine the worst case scenario if I undertake a repair. If I could possibly do more harm than good, then the trailer is going to a repair facility. However, knowing your trailer intimately will at the very least allow you to have a knowledgeable conversation with the repair facility.
Now with winter approaching, it is a good time to plan for winterizing your travel trailer. Even here in Texas winterizing is necessary; however it happens much later in the year. Don’t put off the winter preparations because the last thing you want to be doing is facing a repair you didn’t need. If you would like to see an overview of our process for winterizing click here. Keep in mind each travel trailer is different but it will give you a general overview of the process.
Now, get out there and get intimate with your travel trailer!
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