If you are storing your travel trailer away from your property, you will want to take extra precautions. Even if your trailer is on your property many of these issues will still be important. The following list assumes you have winterized the water lines, and grey and black tanks are empty. If you want to read about winterization click here.

Most outside storage companies will have you sign an agreement that holds them harmless should any theft or damage happen to your rig on their premises. Therefore, try to find the most secure location for storage that you can afford. Something that has good lighting, a strong fence, and onsite security would be best. Cameras are great but most of the time don’t provide enough detail to catch the thief’s. Plus, criminals usually remove their license plates. So do what you can upfront to protect your rig.

Secure Your Travel Trailer

Buy a strong lock for the travel trailer. If you really want to dissuade a criminal from taking your trailer you need to make it really hard to steal.  If it looks like it is too much trouble to deal with, the thief will move on to an easier trailer to steal. Don’t buy a $29.00 lock from the big box store or RV store down the street. Those are easily broken with the tap of a hammer. You need to invest some serious money to protect your trailer. We chose the S5 Coupler Lock.  We chose that lock because we think it is the best lock on the market. 

That is our opinion (we are not sponsored by them) and we use ours religiously when we travel. Proven Industries also makes a very strong lock – so you have choices but be prepared to spend upwards of $200.00. Good locks are not cheap, and cheap locks are not good. Also, find a big padlock and lock your tow chains so they can not be used to drag the trailer away without using the hitch. You might also want to wrap a heavy chain through your wheels as well. The harder you make things for the criminal, the more likely they are to move to an easier target.

For more information on the S5 locks, visit their website at https://s5couplerlocks.square.site/. Proven Industries also makes a great lock. Regardless of whatever lock you decide to purchase, make sure you find a strong one.  You will want to protect your investment. 

Prevent Unwanted Visitors

Clean the inside of the trailer out. Don’t leave anything in the trailer that might be able to be used as bedding or food for rodents. It is amazing the kinds of things mice will find and destroy. If you can find a safe place in the trailer to place D-Con mice bait, that is a smart move. We have always put it somewhere that was not able to be accessed by our dogs, just in-case we forgot about it. Now, since our rig is right outside our shop, we have pet friendly bait stations. Also leave your RV fridge open so it doesn’t sweat and grow mold.

While you may not consider your outside storage areas the “inside” of the trailer, mice certainly will. So clean those out too!

The Exterior

Remove your battery. If your travel trailer is offsite, remove your battery and bring it home and put it on a battery tender. If it is not a no maintenance battery, then check your water level for each cell. Add only distilled water to the battery.

You should also remove batteries from your smoke detector or any other device that is battery operated. Then put a reminder in your calendar to buy new batteries and have them ready in the spring. I have batteries in the tire pressure monitoring system and in my S-Puck water leak detectors. If you have those, you probably don’t want to start with an old set next spring.

Propane Tanks. If offsite, you may wish to remove these and take them home. If not, turn them off. They are good outside to negative 40 degrees. If you bring them home make sure you store them upright, just as they were on the trailer.

Tires. It will not hurt to have your tires over-inflated by a few pounds when you store it. You may also choose to cover the tires to protect them from UV light, and snow etc. I would recommend checking the tires each month at your storage facility.

Doors and Windows: It may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many people will find a window that is not latched. While you check each window you might as well close the mini blinds or shade. This should help to protect the interior of the trailer. If you have a second door make sure that is locked as well.

Don’t Set It and Forget It

Check on it: It may be a pain, but at the very least check on the trailer once or twice in the winter. When I had my trailer in outside storage I would check on it monthly. I would do a visual of the outside, then go in to make sure I didn’t see any leaks or signs of rodents. I would also check the level of RV antifreeze in the toilet – you don’t want that seal to dry out.