Before I start talking about tools for your travel trailer, I have a word of caution.  Please don’t purchase cheaply made tools.  You will only frustrate yourself and probably ruin some nuts, bolts, screw heads, and generally make the repair take longer.  Please buy decent tools – they don’t need to be super high end, but you must avoid the low end of the spectrum.

There is nothing worse than stripping the head of a screw, rounding a bolt, or maybe breaking a wrench.  Wrenches that are made cheaply will probably not fit tightly and you will end up with bloody knuckles when they slip.  My son in law Bob had some really cheap adjustable wrenches that I tried to use for some repairs around their house.  Every time I turned the wrench on a nut it would instantly loosen.  That experience gave me a great idea for a Christmas present for Bob that year.

Someone once said “If you’re going to buy your child a musical instrument, buy them the best one you can afford.  If it is cheap, they will lose interest quickly because the quality and sound will be so bad”.  Well, the same thing can be said about tools.  A high quality tool will make the job go quicker, and with less effort. We have all heard the expression “The right tool for the right job”. A low quality tool, is not the “right tool”.

Now I know we talk about “Enjoying” your travel trailer, but things do break.  If you are able to repair the trailer, you will get back to enjoying it quicker.

Now the following list is based on my experience.  I like to do a lot of my own work.  You may not feel that way.  If you are not a “do it yourself” sort of person, your list could be much smaller.  If you’re not comfortable at all with making repairs THERE IS NO SHAME IN TAKING IT TO AN RV REPAIR FACILITY.

So, that’s probably enough warning about tools.  Let’s talk about the essentials:

Torque Wrench:  A lot of folks don’t use torque wrenches, and that, in my opinion, is a bad idea.  Torque specifications exist for a reason (like lug nut torque specifications).  They ensure that you have the nut tight enough that it stays in place; but also prevents you from over-tightening and weakening the nut.  You will probably be good with a wrench that can be adjusted from 10 Foot pounds to 150 FOOT pounds.  I have a much larger torque wrench as well because my weight distribution hitch requires some massive torque on a few bolts.  You may also want to purchase an INCH pound torque wrench for jobs that require torque settings that are much smaller. For instance, your air conditioner gasket bolts are torqued in inch pounds.

A Ratchet and Socket set:  Depending on your preference you may choose a 1/2:” or 3/8” drive size.  I would recommend carrying a variety of standard and metric sockets in your tool box.

A tire iron OR a socket that fits your wheel lug nuts.  You will want a socket for your lug nuts because the socket will be used on your torque wrench.  I check my lug nut torque before each trip.   If it’s a high mileage trip, I will check the torque during the trip as well.

A good screw driver set:  Should contain various sizes and both straight and Phillips heads.

A square tip #2 screwdriver.  The square tip screwdriver is used in a number of places inside, and outside of your trailer.  You will need it to remove multiple panels to access the water heater, furnace, converter, etc.  These screws are even used inside cabinets.  Take my advice and buy three – I’m always misplacing mine.

Pliers Set:  This should include a channel lock, regular pliers, needle nose pliers, several different sized adjustable wrenches.

Wrench set:  A set of box end/open end wrenches.  After a while you will have a good idea of the wrenches you will use most often.  I once left a large wrench at home that I needed for a hitch adjustment.  That was a big mistake.  Fortunately, my brother had one that I could borrow.

A hammer:  This just generally comes in handy.  Mainly I use mine for staking out the screen room, and the outside patio mat.  However, don’t underestimate the need for it on larger jobs.  Perhaps one day you will be unfortunate enough to need to change a leaf spring.  You will need it then for sure. That being said, there isn’t much more use for a hammer on a travel trailer, click here to read more about that under #5 of the strangest things we have seen camping!

An electric impact driver:  Or you could go the pneumatic route but you’ll need a compressor and a place to plug it in.  There are nuts and bolts that will require this – trust me.  It makes fast work of just about any task.  Get a set of impact sockets to go with it.  When you remove your tire in 30 seconds in 110-degree heat, you will thank me. However, don’t ever use an impact gun in place of a torque wrench when installing bolts etc.

An infrared Thermometer Gun:  I actually carry this in the truck and at fuel stops I check the temperature of each wheel hub.  If a hub is out of range with the others you may have a bad bearing or a dragging brake shoe.  That kind of repair must take place immediately.

A Multimeter:  You may or may not want to carry one of these depending on how handy you are and how comfortable/safe you are with electricity.  These are good for trouble shooting electrical issues throughout the travel trailer.

Eternabond Tape:  This tape will be used if you get a rip in your roof and need to patch it.  You should carry a roll of it in your tool box because “sh$%” happens.  Folks have actually taped up some pretty severe body damage as well just to protect the trailer until they could tow it to a repair facility.

A decent caulk gun:  Please don’t buy a $2.00 caulk gun.

A tube of self-leveling roof sealant.  Not all sealants are the same so pick one recommended by the manufacturer of your roof. 

A tube of silicone:  For sealing around windows, doors, lights, etc.

Assorted Wire nuts OR WAGO connectors.

Wire Cutter/Stripper.

Utility Knife

A decent flashlight.

A Bottle Jack:  I carry a 6-ton bottle jack with me and enough blocks to put under it to lift the trailer.  I also have a set of extensions from Safe Jack.  These mount on my jack to add 8.5 to 12 inches of lift.  Most trailer frames are very high, and that is where you will want to use your jack.

The following are not tools per see, but things you might want to consider having in your tool box.

A spare break-away cable

Any spare hitch parts you feel necessary (Hitch Pin, etc.)

A spare clearance marker/bulb

A spare turn signal/break light bulb

Fuses

Hose Washers:  It’s always good to have these handy.

Zip Ties

Work Gloves/Rubber Gloves

A small level

Hose clamps:  You can use these in a pinch of you have a leak in your plumbing.

A roll of plumbing tape.

A roll of Electrical Tape

Extra Leveling Blocks

I think the above list will serve you well.  Another great way to build out your tool box is to look on-line for common issues with your make/model RV and see if there are any reoccurring repair themes.  Then make sure you have the tools necessary should that happen to you.

In addition, it would not be a bad idea to carry a spare wheel bearing or two in your tool box.  Make sure you carry some high temp grease for that bearing as well.

I have the Schwintek Slide system on my trailer and I carry a spare motor.  I’m probably going to add a leaf spring to my tool box as well.  For most folks that might be overkill but I don’t want to be shopping for parts on the side of the road.

One last piece of advice on doing repairs.  Make sure you ask yourself the following questions:

Is this something I can do safely?  Think this one through very carefully.  If there is any doubt at all – DON’T GO ANY FURTHER.

Is this something that I can do without making matters worse? If I am unsuccessful with the repair, will I have made matters worse?  In other words, don’t make a minor repair turn into something major.  Sometimes a simple repair can be made into something almost un-fixable. 

Have your tools organized, and keep them clean.  Also, don’t store your electric tools in the RV basement when not in use.  That’s just not a good environment for them.  Temperatures in excess of 80 degrees Fahrenheit will degrade a battery.  When temperatures go over 100 degrees this will cause rapid damage. For that reason, keep them somewhere cool.

As always when working on your rig, please be safe!

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Picture this: You are rolling down the highway and your TPMS alarm goes off and you have a flat tire. Or worse yet, you notice your trailer drop to one side, and you discover a broken leaf spring. Smart Jack is one of those things you probably ought to consider carrying in your tool box. Why? Because it is going to be easier and safer than dealing with multiple wood blocks or leveling pads in order to raise your trailer to make repairs.

Now, I need to warn you that Smart Jack is not cheap. However, it is really worth the money in terms of safely jacking your vehicle.

Most of today’s travel trailers (and fifth wheels) have frames that are at least 24″ off the ground. Keep in mind you should not be jacking your trailer up on the axles. So, there are only a few ways to get your bottle jack that high, and one way is by stacking something underneath it. I have done that myself when performing wheel bearing maintenance. It took 12 leveling blocks in order to lift my trailer by the frame.

I know many folks make blocks out of wood for raising their bottle jack. These will take up a lot of space in your cargo area and probably add some unwanted weight as well. That’s one of the advantages to the Safe Jack extension. It doesn’t weigh as much as blocks and it takes up almost no space at all.

Now, if I am on the side of the road without Safe Jack, and I need to replace a leaf spring, I would almost certainly use all my leveling blocks to lift the trailer and perhaps a few more blocks to support the axle with a second jack. I suppose there could be a real possibility of not having enough blocks depending on the terrain. Plus there is a certain amount of nervousness having the jack(s) on leveling blocks when a cement contact point would be the most stable.

I have mentioned many times that trailers need to be jacked carefully. Wheel chocks, locking jack stands, as well as the bottle jack should be used in order to be safe. You are in a very vulnerable position should something go wrong when the trailer is lifted. So regardless of what you use, you need to be overly-safe. Never perform any maintenance you are not comfortable doing. If this means towing your trailer on a flat bed to an RV repair facility in order to be safe – that is what you should do.

So, what is the cost? Well for my extension the cost was $83.00. The six-ton (that is the size (capacity) of my bottle jack) extension screw collar was $18.00. I have since bought a six-ton flat pad that will sit on the top of my extension to give more surface area to the jack; that was $43.00. So my total was $144.00.

They also have base plates you can bolt onto the bottom of your existing bottle jack to add extra stability. I may consider that option in the future.

In addition, they also have packages that include many accessories plus the bottle jacks and a carrying case. As I mentioned, that will get a bit pricier. That being said, I feel it it is worth the investment. I am very happy with the quality of the construction and the ease of use. I also feel much better not using leveling blocks.

So, if you are looking for a way to lift your trailer in a safer manner, Safe Jack may be the perfect solution for you. You can visit them, and their full line of products by clicking here. On a side note, their customer service is outstanding.

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When we are at home, the Travel Trailer is on shore power, parked under the overhang on my shop. The MarCELL unit continues to monitor conditions inside the trailer. Occasionally, during thunderstorms, the power will go out and I will get a notification. Such was the case on June 15th and 16th when numerous thunderstorms rolled through north Texas. The emails below were just one type of alert that I received. I also had the text and phone call alerts. While you might find that quite annoying since we were at home, it shows just how reliable MarCELL is as a product.

I’ve mentioned before that the travel trailer gets its shore power from the shop. So, when I get that alert I know that the shop power is out. In the winter this is important because my pool equipment runs from shop power. So, if it is below freezing, the alert serves as a reminder to start the generator so my pool equipment won’t be damaged. So, as you can see, it is a multi-purpose solution for us.

As you can see, the MarCELL becomes a multi-purpose solution to not only my trailer but my stick and brick house as well.

Since the MarCELL unit works off a cellular plan, I don’t need to worry if the internet goes down. That also means that I don’t need to install an expensive internet solution in my travel trailer.

We have had this unit now for over five years and it has been flawless both on the road and at home. I can’t imagine traveling without it. If the MarCELL unit seems like something you would like to research, then check out www.meetmarcell.com. If you decide to purchase a unit use the code TTN20 to receive $20.00 off at checkout.

Now, on a side note, Tammy is currently visiting family up north. So Eva and I are holding down the fort and doing some maintenance on the trailer. The MarCELL unit is also programmed to send alerts to Tammy. So when we have been having issues down here with power, I will get a text asking “What’s going on with the power down there?”.

Stay tuned for some updates on a few maintenance items.

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I am very curious about what features fellow Travel Trailer enthusiasts think would make the best travel trailer. I have brainstormed this issue with other RV owners in the past and I will tell you what my thoughts are. However I would love to hear yours.

In one of my last posts, I talked about how quality has been dropping for a long time (click here to read that post). My feeling has always been that buyers would gladly spend more money on a quality product. So, what type of improvements would make a better travel trailer? Here is my list:

A Spray on Roof, like RV FlexArmor.

Frame-less windows.

All PEX hot and cold water lines with brass fittings.

Higher end plumbing fixtures (Kohler, Moen, Delta, etc.). Typical RV faucets are pretty terrible from a quality standpoint (as are the sinks).

Have Grey and Black tanks that are designed with straight shots to the dump valves. In addition, It would be great if the tanks were designed with a greater pitch so that everything would drain.

Build the Travel Trailer with suspensions that are oversized, so they don’t fail. Often, the springs and axles barely meet the gross vehicle weight of the unit. Certainly, I would like to see the travel trailers over-engineered for their weight specifications.

Disk Brakes and Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

Top of the line tires.

Azdel construction on walls and floors to prevent delamination.

A return to manual strong awnings. They were so much better than the horrible awnings of today. However, I don’t think we have any chance of that happening.

Hardwired Electrical Management Systems (EMS Surge Protection) for RV protection against all adverse power conditions.

Higher end furniture – non-pleather (Imitation Leather).

All AC units with RV Airflow modification for quieter and more efficient operation.

These are my thoughts, however, I would love to know what you think would make a better travel trailer.

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There were just a few glitches on our trip, but I think they are worth talking about. The first day out on the road our TireMinder gave us an alarm. It was a low battery alarm, so I wasn’t too worried and we pulled into the next rest stop and I changed every battery to avoid a repeat alarm. Then as we got on the road once more we noticed that the alarm would re-set. That is when I realized that when I changed the propane tanks, I never reconnected the signal booster. So, we took an off ramp, I hopped out of the truck, and I quickly reconnected the booster. Problem solved.

Now, that wasn’t the only thing I forgot to do when I replaced the tanks. I also forgot to open both valves, so when we were at Cliffside Park on day 8, I thought I was out of propane but I had only drained one tank. I must admit, this is the first time that I have had this issue. It really was of no consequence because the trailer never got cold enough that morning to be an issue. Personally, I’m actually pretty impressed that one tank lasted eight days given the weather, and all the cooking we did.

The other issue that happened was that we received a water leak alarm from our MarCell Unit. This has never happened before so it was a bit of a shock. I looked at the location and it told me that there was a leak under the bathroom sink. I went into the bathroom and put my hand in the cabinet, and sure enough there was water. The alert saved me from serious damage to that shelf. I just didn’t quite have the hot water line tight enough on the faucet. I grabbed my pliers and gave it a quarter turn and never had another problem. This is another good reason to always shut your water off at the campground when you leave the trailer during the day. That way if something does happen (leak), you have minimized your risk.

On the way home we stopped at the Double J campground in Chatham, Illinois. While we were in the trailer the power went out. Of course immediately the MarCell unit sent me a text message and a phone call to alert me of the outage. Since we were in the trailer, that wasn’t an issue. Had we been away from the trailer I would have immediately returned. It turned out that some of the maintenance folks were working on some electric boxes nearby and had shut off everyones power. It only lasted for about 20 minutes and power was restored.

I highly recommend the MarCell unit if you don’t have one. I initially bought one so that I could monitor the inside temperature when we would leave the dogs in the trailer. Let’s face it, power does go out at the campgrounds, and air conditioners can fail. I didn’t want to leave things to chance. Later I added the s-pucks for monitoring water leaks. Now, as you can see it has paid off.

If your interested in checking out the MarCell units click here. If your interested in purchasing one then use TTN20, to get a $20.00 discount when you check out.

I also highly recommend that you have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), like the TireMinder. There are several different systems available on the market to choose from, TireMinder is only one option. Keep in mind without a TPMS, your trailer probably will sustain quite a bit of damage before you realize you have a tire failure.

In addition to the TPMS, please invest in good tires for your travel trailer. Also, inspect them regularly and change them every five years.

All in all, a pretty uneventful trip from a travel trailer perspective as we have had trips filled with multiple issues in the past; click here to see what happened in 2018. There will always be things you need to address with your travel trailer, just like your stick and brick house. Staying on top of things will make your travel trailer adventure much more pleasurable.

Safe Travels!

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Here in north Texas we have gone from hot dry weather, to a hard freeze, to a torrential series of rainfalls; almost overnight. This whole year has been somewhat of an anomaly from a weather standpoint. Even Eva isn’t too excited to be in the yard. Regardless of the weather, there is always more to do in the travel trailer.

Even in Texas folks winterize their trailers. Some owners are firm believers in the compressed air method which I have used successfully for a number of years. Other owners will run RV safe antifreeze through the lines. Now I do a combination of both of those methods. I blow out the lines and then run antifreeze through the entire system. My reasoning is that RV antifreeze is so cheap, it just makes sense not to take any risks. Then I open the low point drains to get most of the antifreeze out. Why? It just makes that much less to flush out in the spring. Click here if you want to read our blog post on winterizing your trailer.

Beyond winterizing, I spent time working on a few other tasks inside the trailer. The most time consuming was replacing the control box on a brand-new Thomas Payne (Lippert) recliner. I think the most frustrating thing about this experience has been that they (Lippert) expect the owner to fix their own new recliner. I understand that they don’t have service centers but let me tell you this is a rather tedious job.

This issue has been facing us since the second trip out with the new recliners. I switched power supplies, and checked all the connections, but had no success getting the recliner to operate. The power box just blinks with a dull green light instead of the steady green light it should have. Absolutely nothing works on the recliner.

So I received a new control box from Lippert. In order to replace the control box, the recliner must be flipped upside down. Once you flip the recliner upside down you need to cut quite a few zip-ties and trace a bundle of wires throughout the recliner. I thought this would be more plug and play; but it was more of untangle, search, and plug. Once I made all the connections, I recreated the zip-tie circus.

The net result of all of this was over an hour of labor on my part, and unfortunately, it did not fix the recliner issue. To Lipperts credit they sent a new recliner. It arrived on a cold rainy day, however a slight break in the weather allowed me to get the box from the delivery truck into the shop without any problems.

I had to wait for a warm dry day to pull the trailer out and remove the old chair. Then it was time to install the new one. That went much faster than putting in a new control box.

Here’s the funny/ironic part of this whole chair fiasco. We never wanted all the electric options that we got on these Seismic recliners. However, that was the only way we could get cup holders included the arms of the recliners. We could have purchased a console that would have been placed between the recliners that would have included cup holders. However, the aftermarket consoles are twice as wide as the original and we were not willing to give up that much space next to the table. That space is reserved for Evas’ crate.

So, I am a little frustrated because this is exactly what we thought would happen with all the electronics. Extra electronics usually equates to more things that can fail. So, we will see what happens with the replacement as we start to travel.

There is one other thing that bothers me about these recliners. If you decide to use them as a love seat, they hook together at the bottom brace between the recliners. They have a two hooks on the left side that slip into two pockets on the right side. The problem is that the fit is so tight that the recliners rub against each other in a way that makes you think the material will rip. So we have decided to keep them unattached and I will try to come up with a solution since there is no adjustment possible on attaching these.

Since the weather turned cold so fast I really had no time to touch up on the roof; which was on my to-do list. However, based on my inspection everything looked good up there.

All of my S-Puck sensors for my MarCELL unit need to be replaced, but I will wait until spring for that. I have to say that the batteries are not lasting as long as I would have expected but I am still very happy with the MarCELL unit. That unit has supplied me with a great deal of peace of mind when traveling with Eva. If you would like to read more about the MarCELL unit click here.

Until next time, be safe!

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Not only does the heat affect the Stick and Brick house but it also affects the travel trailers ability to cool down. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the systems in an RV are not very efficient. This is certainly true of the ducted Air Conditioning System you have in your trailer.

The AC pushes air into a box cavity instead of the ducts, building pressure and cutting its cooling power by about 50%. The following rough drawings give you an idea of current and future design.

The AC Modification will stream line the air flow directly to the duct work in the RV.

Now there are two routes you can go if you want to increase your air flow inside the duct work.

1. You can buy a manufactured unit that will fit your AC unit from www.rvairflow.com for about $170.00. These look like very well made units, and many folks are installing them.
2. You can buy 1″ foam board from a home center and make your own unit for about $8.00 plus the cost of some foil tape. There are many YouTube videos about how to do this modification; just type “RV AC Modification” and you will see a huge number of videos on the subject.

Since I am very cheap and I’m always looking for something to tinker on, I decided to make my own. This can easily be done by one person. As with any modification, you should never undertake a job you feel uncomfortable performing, or one you feel might put you at risk of an injury.

So here’s what you will need to do in order to make your own:

1. 2’x2′ – 1″ Foam Board
2. Foil Tape – Also known as AC/Furnace tape.
3. Preferably a jig saw for cutting the foam board. You can use a razor blade knife but the cuts will not be clean and it will take longer. In addition, you will need to make six 45 degree angle cuts; probably not easy with a razor blade knife.
4. Tools for removing AC Shroud.

The first thing I did was to do some rough measurements on paper to make sure that a 2’x2′ foam board would be enough to do the job. It was more than enough to do my Brisk II Air Conditioner.

I tackle this modification in eight steps once I turn off the AC unit’s power.

1. Remove the AC Shroud
2. Measure and cut the Divider between the hot and cold sections of the AC
3. Measure and Cut the upper Diverters
4. Foil Tape the upper diverters into place
5. Measure and Cut the Bottom Board
6. Measure and cut the two Teepee sections.
7. Tape the two Teepee sections together and attach to bottom board
8. Insert the bottom section with the Teepees into the AC Box and then foil tape all the sections together.

Every AC Unit will be a little different so there is no standard measurement I can assign to the pieces above. You will need to measure each piece before you cut. As with all projects that involve cutting material, measure twice and cut once. Otherwise you will be running back to the big box store for more foam board.

I want to apologize upfront because I thought I took more pictures of the process than I actually did. I will complete each step as I go, giving you a sense of the process despite not having a photo on each step. There are so many YouTube videos on this modification that you should have no problem completing it, if you feel it is something you want to do.

Step 1 – Remove the AC Shroud. Start by removing your filter covers, then remove the external shroud.

Step 2 – There is a divider that separates the cold side from the warm air side of the unit. I removed the foam-lined metal plate from the base pan and replaced it with a foam board to make the modification work.

Unfortunately for me, that meant that I had to loosen and remove the bolts that held the AC unit to the roof. I did not anticipate that would be the case, so it added more work to the mod. Then I had to drill out the rivets that held the fold lined plate to the base plate.

Next Measure for the new divider, keeping in mind that the divider needs to be 1″ shorter because the divider will rest on another piece of foam board later. After cutting this piece, test for proper fitment, and then set aside.

Step 3 – Measure and cut the upper foam pieces. The measurement is from the blower hole to the top of the duct on each side. Each piece will need to have 45 degree angles cut on each side. One piece will not fit tightly unless there are notches cut for the two AC Bolts that attach the AC Unit to the roof. Firmly push that piece against the bolts to make an impression so you know where to cut notches. Using your jigsaw create a 1″ Notch for each bolt. In the above picture the upper diverter is only partially taped into place. All the seams between the foam and diverter were later completely taped to prevent air leakage.

Step 4 – After I cut the upper pieces, I tape them into place using AC foil tape.

Step 5 – Measure and cut the bottom board. The measurement is from the inside of the plenum (cold side) to the outside edge of the foam divider that you created in Step 2 above. The bottom piece will not fit tightly unless there are notches cut for the two AC Bolts that attach the AC Unit to the roof. Firmly push that bottom piece against the bolts to make an impression so you know where to cut notches. Using your jigsaw create a 1″ Notch for each bolt. Test fit the completed section, and set aside.

Step 6 – Measure and cut the two foam sections that will make up the bottom diverter which many folks refer to as the Teepee. Remember that since this fits tight against the bottom of the cold/hot divider you must allow an inch for overlap. One piece will be 3″ high, and the second will be 4″ high. Both pieces must have a 45 degree cut on one side only. The 45 degree angle will be the bottom of the teepee against the foam board.

Step 7 – measure the distance from the top of the plenum to the middle of the cold air port. Transfer this measurement onto your foam board. The purpose is to get the teepee centered under that cold air port so the flow of the air is equal on both sides. Center the teepee and secure it with the foil tape.

Step 8 – Squeeze the Bottom board with into the unit, and put divider into place. Tape all foam pieces into place.

Now it is simply a matter of reattaching the AC Shroud.

So, here is my honest opinion of the modification. It is absolutely pushing more air through the vents. Tammy sat on our back couch and said she had never felt that kind of airflow in the rear of the trailer before. Also, it is much quieter. It isn’t silent but it probably won’t require us to turn the TV up anymore when the AC runs, but I will let you know when we go on the road in a few weeks.

In the end, had I known that I was going to be required to remove the Bolts that held the AC to the roof, and then disassemble the metal air diverter from the bottom pan; I may have had second thoughts about doing this modification. That being said I do believe that this is a worthwhile modification because of the increased efficiency that you get in airflow.

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Camping in these conditions presents certain difficulties. The first is just being able to keep your travel trailer cool. Keep in mind that the best you can expect (usually) is about a 20 degree drop from outside air temperature. So if it is 100 degrees outside not only is it going to take a long time to cool the trailer but you had better be happy at 80 degrees inside. Personally if it’s 100 degrees outside, 80 is probably going to be pretty cool when you come in.

There are other things you can do to maximize the temperature inside your travel trailer:

1. Limit the amount of in and out activity. The more the entry door opens the more heat comes into the trailer.
2. Park in a shady spot if at all possible in order to limit the amount of direct sunlight on the RV.
3. There are insulation products available to put on windows and vents to reduce the outside heat coming into the trailer. We had a UV tint product put on all of our trailers windows; it greatly reduces the amount of heat coming into the trailer. At the very least you will want to have your window blinds closed.
4. Of course a second air conditioner on larger trailers is a benefit. Regardless of how many units you have, you need to keep them clean to help with their efficiency. Inspect and regularly clean the AC filters.
5. Use a portable fan to move the air inside the trailer.
6. Do all your cooking outside the trailer.

These items will help you control the travel trailers internal temperature. HOWEVER, if power at the campground or a mechanical failure should occur, the temperature in the travel trailer will increase quickly.

The reason I bring up power outages is because they are a very real possibility in this heat. Whether it is bad campground infrastructure, rolling brownouts, or a travel trailer mechanical (AC) breakdown; power outages happen.

You might think that the temperature in the trailer won’t increase quickly but that would be incorrect. Studies show that a travel trailer will get dangerously hot in one to two hours. If you are gone and you have left a pet in the trailer, it can, and will be a deadly situation for them. This is why I recommend that everyone who travels with a pet get some sort of power and temperature monitoring device.

There are a number of different units on the market, we chose the MarCELL unit. Quite frankly we love the MarCELL unit and can offer you a $20.00 discount at checkout using the code TTN20 (at www.meetmarcell.com). However, regardless of whether it is a MarCELL unit or another brand, for the sake of your family pet, please get a monitoring system. Your floor children will thank you!

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After our last trip I could tell we were getting to the point where they would need to be changed. Not only because the tread depth was getting smaller but also because it has been five years since they were installed. Most tire manufacturers will recommend that the five year mark is when you will want to replace your travel trailer tires regardless of tread depth.

I highly recommend that you take their advice. There is an incredible amount of damage that can take place during a blow out. Traveling with aging tires also puts your fellow motorists at risk.

We changed from the original manufacturer supplied tires almost immediately after we bought the Imagine. The original tires generated an incredible amount of bad PR. I decided not to roll the dice and hope for the best, so I went with the Goodyear Endurance.

There is absolutely no comparison between the construction of these two tire brands. One would only need to stand on the sidewall of each tire and you would come to the same conclusion. Back in 2017 when I called discount tire (they also sell the brand that came with the trailer) and asked them for their opinion. They confirmed that the Goodyear Endurance were the best trailer tire they sold.

Now, many folks have used the original tires without issue. However, my personal belief is that they have fewer success stories than the other type of stories you might read. Regardless of that I have almost always steered clear of the tires manufacturers put on the RV. They tend to put low cost tires on travel trailers (until recently). As a result I have always changed them out to something I trust.

It is also important to remember that any tire can fail. The most important factor on tire longevity is to keep the tires inflated correctly, inspect them before each trip (punctures, wear, dry rot), and don’t rub the tires against curbs etc. I highly recommend investing in a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) so it alerts you if a tire fails. We use the Tire Minder TPMS and have been very happy. It tells us the tire pressure and tire temperature. Tire Temperature can be just as damaging, as it will cause a blow out as well and may be a sign of a deeper issue such as rubbing brake shoes or a bad wheel bearing.

Now, It is quite possible that I could have used the original tires for a long time without issue, but tires are not something I am willing to gamble on.

As I mentioned I have had many different trailer tires over the years. I have always done my research to find a decent brand. Are Goodyear Endurance the best trailer tire on the market? That is a just a personal opinion. Everyone should do their own research and decide which tire is right for them. There are many great brands of tires out there like Carlisle, Maxxis, and more. When you do your research don’t forget to look at load and speed ratings as well.

As I have mentioned many times; there are a number of topics on-line that create a lot of negativity. Tire discussions, what Travel Trailer manufacturer is the best, and towing are really good examples. These topics are like getting into a discussion about religion. I would avoid that at all cost. Just do your research and look at customer reviews to help you make your decision. Hopefully the research won’t lead to you pulling your hair out…but it could. In the end maybe you will feel that the original tires are just fine.

I am not tire connoisseur, I just know what I like and what has worked for me. 18000 miles I believe was a very good return on the money I spent. I hope the second set of shoes is just as good as the first.

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So there has been a slight delay in receiving my shipment of Thomas Payne Furniture.Next, remove the lower rails because they bolt directly to the seats. After you remove the four foot-pad bolts from each chair, cut any zip ties securing the wiring and lift the chairs out. Right now it looks like the delay is only two days longer than the anticipated delivery date.

So, what Tammy and I did in the meantime is remove the existing Thomas Payne furniture. Let me tell you that it sounds a lot easier than it really is. The bright side is that you can do this yourself. It will be even easier if you have someone like Tammy help, because it is a two person job when it comes to removing the trifold sofa. I would also recommend getting a heavy moving blanket to protect your flooring. You will want to slide the furniture towards the door without destroying the flooring.

Start by removing the back cushions; only Velcro holds them in place, so simply pull them off .Next open up the trifold sofa (as a sleeper) and unscrew the hinges. They are located on the Stationary Back Assembly and then remove it. The next step involves removing a couple clips from some hinge pins that hold the part of the sofa that has the folding legs. I believe Lippert refers to this as the “Couch Seat Assembly”. You will need to push the hinge pins in with a screwdriver to remove this section. Once you remove that section you can remove the rest of the trifold by angling it out the entrance door. You will need a helper or Tammy for this step as it is quite awkward and still quite heavy.

The chairs were a little harder to disassemble.ou need to move the seats forward to access the clips that hold the backrest in place. If the lower rails are screwed into the floor, remove those screws so you can slide the chairs away from the wall. Quite frankly, I do not think these rails need to be screwed down at all. In some cases, these seats arrive from the factory unattached. Once the clips are pressed (outward) you lift the backrest off. Figuring out how to move these clips took me about fifteen minutes, as there were no directions on-line about how to release them.

Next, remove the lower rails because they bolt directly to the seats. After you remove the four foot-pad bolts from each chair, cut any zip ties securing the wiring and lift the chairs out. Be careful removing the chairs because they are still very heavy.

As with moving chairs or sofas in or out of a stick and brick house, you will have the same issues with the travel trailer. You must approach the door carefully so you can angle the furniture out without damage. If not, you will damage a wall. This is definitely a two-person job with perhaps the exception of the individual seats.

After you remove the seats, make sure you find any screws that may have fallen into the carpeting. My theater seats had only one screw holding them down; the other three lay loose in the carpet. Keep in mind that any loose screws will damage your flooring when you move your slide room. Also if you decide you want to screw your seats into the floor, use caution. Make sure the screws you use will not go through the floor and proceed to rip your vinyl flooring when the slide room moves.

So, now lets fast forward to the arrival of the new furniture.

As it turns out it was five days late, so it kind of made a mess of our week. It was supposed to be delivered on Monday; then that was changed to Wednesday. then Thursday which then turned into Friday. It’s always nice to stay at home waiting for something that never comes – said no one ever!I planned to install the furniture on Friday, but it arrived at 5:00 P.M., which made that impossible.

The furniture came on a really horrible looking extra-long pallet. My worst fears came true when I saw a pallet board piercing the side of the tri-fold sleeper box. We split the sides of the box and got lucky as we couldn’t find any damage. The next step was to move the tri-fold and chairs into my shop for the night.

The next day we started by moving the tri-fold sofa sleeper out of the box. The back wasn’t attached, but everything else was assembled, which caused a problem. They now attach the “Couch Seat Assembly” with a more complicated clevis pin clip instead of the simpler clips used on the previous model. It made taking the sections apart very difficult and even harder to reassemble. I would recommend that Lippert go back to their previous clip. I would also recommend assembling only the arms to the rails so you can easily transfer the rest of the couch to the trailer for final assembly. Putting it back together is much easier than taking it apart. Including directions would have helped, but the Lippert provided no instructions for the chairs or the tri-fold sofa.

Tammy and I moved everything piece meal into the Travel Trailer and began the reassembly process of the tri-fold sofa. It went relatively easily with the exception of the clevis pin clips. Once that was completed we moved onto assembly of the theater seats.

We assembled the seat quickly because the backs simply slide onto their rails, and the wiring connects easily. All the wiring is color-coded, so it’s hard to make a mistake. After that, we slid one seat into the brackets on the second seat. That step was a bit tricky, but we completed it without taking too much time. Lastly we tried all the electrical features and everything worked fine. We did not anchor the chairs to the floor. Given that there was only one screw holding the last set down, it just doesn’t seem like these will go anywhere.

I have to say the end product has a nice look to it.

If you compare this picture to the one with our old furniture you can see how the lighter fabric really brightens the trailer.

The next step was to anchor the tri-fold sofa into the floor. This is a little difficult in an Imagine as the flooring is a thin piece of subflooring over a thick Styrofoam material. So there really isn’t a lot for the screws to lock into. I will be curious to see how well the screws hold. If they fail I will come up with a different plan.

All in all I’m very happy with the results of the project.

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