If you are reading posts on-line about common travel trailer issues, you have probably seen at least some of the items on the following list.  They are the most frequent topics that are talked about on a daily basis.

Plumbing Issues and Issues with Holding Tanks

Whether it’s a simple leak at a sink faucet or a loose P-trap under the sink, almost all plumbing issues can be prevented with at the very least, a yearly inspection.  Most of the sink and drain plumbing is very easy to access.  In our trailer we just open the cabinet doors and check all the fittings.  Under the shower there is a small access panel that makes checking the shower drain easy.  On one of our first trips out with our new travel trailer we found water on the floor and discovered our bathroom sink p-trap had never been tightened down.  This resulted in us checking every p-trap and water line in the trailer and every p-trap needed to be tightened.

Problems become more complicated if you haven’t taken great care to protect your plumbing system in the off-season.  You need to do this by blowing out the lines or running RV antifreeze through the water lines (and p-traps) of your trailer.  Not taking the appropriate care of your plumbing system in the off-season can add up to huge dollars in repairs.  The result can be anything from broken water lines to a broken water pump or broken water heater.

The same rules apply to holding tanks, make sure they are emptied during the off-season.  There is no need to add antifreeze to the empty holding tanks.  During the camping season make sure you follow a few simple rules:

  1. NEVER leave your black valve open while camping.  This will result in a nasty accumulation of waste in your black tank which will eventually lead to plugging your black tank and making it impossible to dump.
  2. ALWAYS use plenty of water when flushing the toilet.
  3. ONLY dump when the black tank is at least 3/4 full.  If it’s time to break camp and you are under 3/4 full just add water to reach that level.
  4. Follow the black tank dumping with grey tank dumping to clean the sewer hose out.
Pest Issues

Whether it’s ants or mice no one wants critters running around in their travel trailer.   Make sure any points where pests can enter your trailer are sealed.  More importantly,  don’t leave food out side your camper when you are camping.  When you return home empty all food out of your camper and clean the food areas completely.  You should also remove any items that mice could potentially use as bedding material; paper plates, paper towels, etc.

You can also place bait stations around your RV during the off-season and place d-Con inside just incase.  NOTE: Please be careful using any sort of rodent bait if you have pets – it is poison for them as well.  When we have place d-Con in our trailer it has always been under the bed and in one other protected area where our dogs could not reach.

As a side note, some state parks (and here I am referring to Texas although it may apply to other states as well) have infestations of certain ants that have a habit of infesting trailers and are hard to get rid of (the Tawny Crazy Ants and the Argentine Ants for instance).  There are some products that can be used to prevent them from getting inside the trailer but I prefer to know which parks are an issue and avoid those campgrounds.

The infamous Flat Tire

Nothing ruins a vacation faster than being stuck on the side of the road with a tire problem.  Blow outs create some very expensive damage, so here are a few tips:

  1.  NEVER  have your tires under or over inflated.  Check them often and make the necessary adjustments.
  2. ALWAYS check tires to make sure they are nail free and have no dry rot.  Torque the lug nuts to specification before each trip.
  3. Get a TPMS system in order to avoid hundreds of dollars of damage if a blow out should occur.
  4. Fully inflate the spare tire before every trip.  People tend to neglect the spare tire…a flat spare tire will not be helpful.
Water intrusion Issues

Water intrusion from the roof and windows is the quickest way to ruin your travel trailer.  After every trip with your travel trailer, and at least three times per year (or more depending on how you store it or the climate) get on the roof and inspect it for tears or voids in the sealant.  Look around every vent, skylight and air conditioner to make sure everything is water tight.  I clean my roof after every trip, for us this means at least 6 to 8 times per camping season.   I am always on top of the trailer cleaning and inspecting – better safe than sorry!  If you are not comfortable getting on the roof you really need to take it somewhere so a cleaning and inspection can be done.

Check the seals around the windows and replace if necessary – the outside seals do shrink so keep an eye on them. Also check anywhere there is silicone and make sure that it is still intact, if not, then re-seal the area.

Battery  Failure

A Travel Trailer battery is not cheap; but distilled water is.

  1. NEVER let your battery discharge completely – this will almost always ruin the battery and require you to drop some big dollars on a new one.
  2. ALWAYS check your battery water levels, at the very least a few times per season.
  3. ONLY use distilled water for filling your battery cells.
  4. In the non camping season, take your battery home and keep it on a trickle charger.
  5. Make sure you keep your battery connections clean and free of rust.
Not having a Process

Not having a system for getting the trailer ready for travel is an invitation for an accident.  Every year you see stories where a handrail gets torn off, an open skylight gets hit by a branch, stabilizer jacks were not raised high enough, and the list goes on.  I’ve actually seen someone’s travel trailer cargo doors flapping in the wind as they drove by us on the highway.  I’m lucky because Tammy pretty much follows me around and then does the final inspection.  Make a list if you need to because there is a lot to remember both inside and outside the trailer.   An unfastened door or chair will cause a great deal of damage.

Not Using the Travel Trailer enough during the warranty period

One thing RV manufacturers bank on is that you will not use your trailer much before the warranty period expires.  Get out in your travel trailer and spend as much time in it as you can before the warranty period is up.  Chances are you will come up with a pretty good list of things that need to be repaired.  Don’t wait until it’s too late to find things that really could have been repaired under warranty.