Having a travel trailer can be an incredible way to explore the country and make lifelong memories. However, it also comes with costs, responsibilities, and challenges that many first-time buyers don’t consider. I’ll walk you through 12 key questions that will help you decide if RV ownership is the right move for you.

It should give you a realistic look at what this lifestyle really takes.

#1 How comfortable are you with the additional cost of RVing?

An in dependent inspection will cost at least $500.00. A WDH can be anywhere from a couple hundred to over a thousand dollars depending on what you choose. Then there are all the necessary things you will need to buy just to be able to use your travel trailer. You will need a sewer hose, freshwater hose, chemicals for your black tank, an EMS surge protector, water pressure regulator, leveling blocks, and on and on. Amazon prime will become your best friend.

Next, you will need to pay the following:

Also, remember stopping a travel trailer is just as important as pulling one.

Towing is more that moving along a level plane, or having the ability to make wide turns, you might even get into a situation where you need to back up. Tail swing is an important consideration, in particular at gas stations. As you turn, the tail of your travel trailer moves one foot in the opposite direction for every three feet you drive forward.  Towing is not as easy as some make it look so get ready to practice.

#3 How comfortable are you Setting up a hitch?

A weight distribution hitch distributes the weight of the trailer across the vehicles. A properly adjusted WDH will prevent your trailer from swinging wildly while going down the highway.  It’s not a nice to have, it is a must have. You are responsible to make sure you don’t turn another motorist’s travels into a nightmare. I’ve never found a dealership yet, that sets them up to my satisfaction.   So, I always do my own.

#4 How comfortable are you Setting up a travel trailer?

      You will need to back it up into your campsite because not every site is a pull-through. In addition you will need to level it side to side and back to front. The leveling needs to be done before you put your slides out. You need to be able to safely chock your wheels and disconnect from the tow vehicle. Then you will need to hook up your power and water, etc. I recommend hooking up your power right after you level the trailer so you have enough power to move the slides. As you can see, setting up isn’t as simple as pulling into a site and climbing into the travel trailer. However, back in the 90’s when we had trailers without slides, it almost was that easy.

#5 How comfortable are you with General Maintenance?

Be prepared because things are going to break. It might be something easy to fix like wall trim, or something more complicated.

Roof and seals need to be inspected often and maintained.

Water lines and water heaters need to be drained after each trip

AC’s inspected, cleaned, and tightened

Wheel bearings need to be inspected and repacked yearly.

Plumbing needs to be checked regularly for leaks

Brakes need to be adjusted if you don’t have self adjusting brakes. All brakes should be inspected when you do your bearings.

#6 How comfortable are you Dealing with sewage and grey water?

If you’re not willing to deal with this, it’s not a lifestyle for you.  It’s not a pleasant chore. Youve heard the expression “S&*t happens!”, yeah it does. You will need to understand the correct process for dumping your black and grey tanks. Double check all your fittings before you pull the dump levers otherwise you will be the neighbors entertainment, and you might need to throw your shoes away.

#7 How comfortable are you Dealing with Propane systems?

Run out of propane once on a cold night, and you’ll quickly understand why staying on top of it matters. Beyond that, you need to know how the propane regulator works, how to disconnect and reconnect your tanks, and how to check for leaks. Leaks can also happen inside the trailer. If the propane alarm goes off, get out immediately and shut off the tanks. Then you—or a technician—must figure out what’s causing the problem.

#8 How comfortable are you Dealing with two different types of electricity.

A travel trailer uses both AC power (like your house) and DC power (like your car). Shore power supplies the AC electricity from a campground pedestal or a generator. Your RV battery supplies DC power, and the converter charges it—think of the converter as a large battery charger. Converters do fail; I’m on my third one in eight years, so it’s something to keep in mind.

Sometimes an appliance will use both types of electricity.

Without the AC, you’re not going to be running your AC, TV, Microwave, Fireplace, or residential fridge. Without DC, you’ll be without your lights, furnace, water pump, water heater, standard RV fridge.

#9 How comfortable are you Dealing with RV systems/appliances.

All of these systems need to be maintained – even more so than your home systems. Clean the AC filters about once a week while you’re using the trailer, and clean the AC coils annually.

There are no filters on the furnace, so you need to vacuum that area regularly. It won’t take much dog fur or dust bunnies to interfere with the sale switch, then your furnace wont run.

Drain your water heater and water lines after each trip, and flush out the water heater as well. If the water heater has an anode rod, you will need to inspect it regularly and replace it as needed.

#10 How comfortable are you Dealing with heights?

You need to clean and inspect the roof, window seals, cap seals, and sidewall seals. If you’re not comfortable working on the RV roof or climbing a ladder, pay someone to handle it. A fall will cost far more than hiring an RV technician to take care of these tasks.

#11 How comfortable are you Dealing with off season winterization

 One of the most critical parts of owning an RV is winterizing it. I won’t go into details here, but doing this incorrectly can cost you hundreds of dollars in spring repairs, including broken water lines, ruptured water heater tanks, and other damage. If you’re not comfortable doing the job yourself, have a dealership or a mobile RV technician handle it.

#12 How comfortable are you with campgrounds?

Here’s the deal breaker. Many times, you won’t know what kind of campground you are checking into.  Some are great and some are horrible.  All of them have rules – think of it as a Home Owners Association.

Never let a campground host direct you into a site you’re not comfortable with—the risk falls on you. If a campground looks bad when you pull in, leave and find another one. We’ve done exactly that.

If you can’t tolerate occasional sub-standard campgrounds, road noise, or close neighbors who ignore the rules or act rudely, this lifestyle isn’t for you. Those situations will happen. How you handle them will make or break your camping experience, which is why researching campgrounds ahead of time matters.

In conclusion: If the 12 points above feel like too much work, you’re not wrong. RVing can be demanding, frustrating, and sometimes expensive. If that reality turns you off, this probably isn’t a lifestyle you’ll enjoy.

So, if you’re Thinking of Buying Your First RV, I hope answering these 12 questions helped you get a clearer picture of what RV ownership is really like. If so, then you’re already ahead of the game.  RVing can be one of the most rewarding lifestyles out there, but only if you go into it prepared.

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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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Simply put, an LP drop test is simply a leak test of the propane system. Once you hook up your gauge, you turn off the propane at the tanks and make sure that the needle on the gauge doesn’t move for at least ten minutes.

Now replacing the regulator probably took about thirty minutes. Next, the Drop test about fifteen to twenty minutes. So in less than an hour I had my repair complete. Total cost to me was $50.00 for the gauge on Amazon.

Out of curiousity I priced out what a Mobil tech would have charge to just do the drop test and it was $79.00 for the trip charge and $65.00 for the drop test. Needless to say, I saved a lot of money.

PLEASE NOTE: No one should undertake any repairs they are not comfortable doing. This would include LP, Electrical, Plumbing and/or getting on the roof of the RV. Most everything has the potential to cause serious bodily harm or death. The manufacturer wants a trained professional at the dealership to perform this job for a reason. In my case I just didn’t feel comfortable using the trailer with the recalled regulator.

The easiest piece of this repair was the drop test. I simply pulled the top off the cooktop, removed the tray to expose the burners. Next, I unscrewed the burner assembly and hooked up the gauge. Then I turned the burner on and looked at what the gauge read. Went outside and turned off the propane tanks and waited ten minutes and looked at the gauge. There was no loss of pressure. So then I turned off the burner and reassembled the burner and cooktop. It’s much easier than it sounds.

I could have just taken my new regulator to a dealership and had them do all of this but my guess is that it would have impacted my trip. In addition, since it wouldn’t have been the manufacturer supplied regulator I would have been charged for the work. Then I would need to have the work repeated once the replacement regulator comes in; because that is how they track whether your unit has been repaired.

So, that’s one more issue off my to do list. Tick…tock…the trip is coming!

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If you don’t feel handy enough to complete this task, then have it done somewhere because the last thing you want during your vacation is to be stranded in the side of the road.

Many times neglecting the wheel bearings will result in a failure that could ruin your axle. There are plenty of pictures and stories about this online.

So this is more of a cautionary post versus a step-by-step procedure although let’s briefly talk about what you’ll need to do the job.

You will need the following (keep in mind your axle/bearings may be different than mine so may require different tools or procedures):

Paper Towels

Latex Gloves

Needle Nose Pliers

Castle Nut Socket (not required but a good way to preload the bearings to spec)

Torque Wrench

Seal puller

New Bearing Seals

High Temp Bearing Grease

A Grease Gun and bearing packer (Or Bulk grease if you want to pack your bearings by hand)

Floor Jack

Jack Stands

Wheel Chocks

Tire Iron for removing the lugs on the wheels.

You tube has plenty of videos on how to do this, there is probably a video with your exact configuration available.

I’ve been down this road twice before with my 1966 VW Beetle and my Enclosed Cargo Trailer. Click here to read that blog post. It’s a messy job and depending on how easy, or how hard it is, to pop your old seals out, it may result in much profanity. Removing the seals is definitely the hardest part of this job. At least it was on 2 of my 4 wheels.

So here is a broad overview of the process:

Raise your stabilizers and chock your wheels on the side opposite of where your working.

Loosen the lug nuts on the wheel your going to work on first. I would caution you not to get two wheels going at once because bearings and races need to stay as a set; you don’t want to mix and match bearings and races by accident.

Jack the trailer up and brace with jack stands, then remove the wheel.

Remove the grease cap.

Pull out the cotter pin or retaining ring (which ever you have) that secures the outer bearing on the spindle.

Loosen and remove the Castle Nut that holds the brake drum on the spindle.

Pull the drum forward (towards yourself) and off while making sure not to let the outer bearing fall out of the axle. You can move the drum towards you about an inch or two and push it back again in order to push that bearing forward on the spindle so you can remove it, along with the outer washer.

Remove the Brake Drum.

Next you will need to remove the Inner Bearing Seal. Hopefully you can go slowly around the seal with your removal tool and work it out. Do not damage the inner bearing in your frustration. It will eventually come out but it can get ugly.

Clean off your axles spindle of old grease.

Clean your bearings (I use brake cleaner and let them dry out while I clean the inside of the drums hub and bearing races.

Inspect the cleaned bearings and races for burrs, scoring, or heat damage. If you find any of that going on the job gets longer because you’ll need to buy and install new bearings and races. For the sake of this post we’ll assume everything looks good.

Using your hand or a packing tool, grease your bearings. Again there are many videos on how to do this on YouTube.

Place the greased inner bearing back in the drum and put the new seal into the hub tapping it with a small block of wood until it is flush, like the old one was before you removed the seal.

Put some fresh grease on your spindle.

Slide the hub back on the spindle holding the outer bearing inside the hub as you slide it on.

Place the washer over the outer bearing.

Install the castle nut and while spinning the brake drum use your castle nut socket on your torque wrench and tighten to 50 ft pounds. Then back the castle nut off until it can be moved by hand and then hand tighten it.

Replace your cotter pin or castle nut retaining clip.

Replace the grease seal.

Put the tire back on and tighten the lug nuts.

Lower the trailer and tighten the lug nuts to spec.

So as you can see, bearing maintenance is a fair amount of work. You might even enjoy it depending on what your definition of fun happens to be. I be like doing this kind of work but I’m a glutton for punishment. I am always careful to do jobs that I’m certain I can complete. It’s not a good idea to do any maintenance that you think might not be in your wheelhouse.

If a dealership does this for you you can expect to pay north of $250.00 dollars. The cost if you do it yourself will probably be around $50.00 so that’s quite a savings and of course you’ll bond with your trailer.

There’s other things you’ll want to look at when the hub is off, like your brake pads, and your brake magnet. There is plenty of info online on how to do that.

Please perform your bearing maintenance yearly for your safety and everyone else who travels the same roads! Stay safe!

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Folks that bought RVs in 2017 remember that was also a boom year. As a result quality took a back seat to production numbers. In January the shipments are up 40% over January of 2020. That should concern anyone thinking of buying a new unit.

There are only three things that can change production throughput:

1. Time (skip steps/work faster or longer to decrease shop to dealer time)
2. Money (add production lines to increase manufacturing output).
3. Add more people to the production line (to speed up each step).

My guess is #1 above is the “go to” plan in the RV industry. I hope this isn’t the case but everyday I read more and more posts of people having serious issues with their brand-new units. The manufacturer caused problems ranging from plumbing and electrical issues to roof membranes that they didn’t glue down. Unfortunately, in most of these cases there isn’t just one thing wrong with the unit, there’s a list of issues.

There was a time when competition really had an impact on this industry but I don’t see that being the case anymore.

Should you be concerned to buy a new unit? The answer is Yes! This type of increase in production is a cause for concern. In my opinion quality has been going downhill for quite a while. I wouldn’t consider buying a new unit without an independent inspection.

One thing that mystifies me with January’s numbers is that we keep hearing that the RV industry is being hampered by COVID related supply chain issues. Really? How is that possible if you just jumped 40% over last January’s numbers? I must be missing something.

Don’t get me wrong, I want the RV industry to do well. However, I don’t want their success to be at the expense of families that buy an inferior product. These units are not cheap; buyers expect to get a travel trailer that is not thrown together in haste. Buying a camper and then having it in the shop during camping season does nothing for that family. Long term it doesn’t help the RV industries reputation either.

It’s a sad state of affairs when a manufacturer is fine having new travel trailers with blatant issues fixed at dealerships after the sale. It’s what we used to call a “leave it for third shift” mentality. In other words “let someone else fix our mess”.

Please, if you are considering a new travel trailer get an independent inspection. The cost is more than reasonable for the service they provide. It may be the only way to insure you are not buying a project!

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But first things first; For those of you curious about the fallout from my previous post regarding the pool; I have an update. The extent of damage was only to the manifold of the pool heater. While, that sounds minor it is still a $500.00 part. Given how severe the freeze was in the south, there is now a shortage of pool parts nationwide. I won’t see a new manifold until mid-June. So I have bypassed the heater for now. I’d rather be camping than dealing with the pool anyway!

As far as the Travel Trailer is concerned I have evaluated it’s condition and it appears that I have survived the freezing temperatures unscathed. I tried to test the plumbing by using compressed air but for some reason that didn’t work out. So I must be missing some crucial step or part to make that work. I will continue to pursue a process for that; and once I perfect it, I will come back and post about it.

It seems that there has to be a way to pressurize the plumbing system to 40psi with a air gauge and a valve that won’t allow air to escape the system. Then just keep an eye on the gauge for ten minutes; if the psi doesn’t drop, then there are no leaks.

So, since this didn’t work I ended up crossing my fingers and hooked up the hose from the house to the city water connection. I did this right after I placed all my water sensors throughout the trailer. This way, I would get an immediate alert if there was a plumbing leak. The good news is that everything seems fine with the plumbing. Therefore blowing the lines completely out and adding RV antifreeze to the ptraps and toilet was sufficient.

That is the most involved I have been with our travel trailer since I took my tumble in January. So while I may not be able to do much right now; I only need one arm to buy parts.

So during this down time I have been accumulated parts for work I wanted to do on the trailer. Some of these are the “just in case” parts. For example, a brass check valve for the water heater (a known issue), and a flexible reducer in the event that the kitchen sink p-trap breaks (another issue that happens frequently), and a multi-tester for trouble shooting.

Some other parts are just repair items. For instance, I purchased some new magnetic latches for the glass panel that opens under our TV. The old one was supposed to be replaced at the factory but instead someone had the brilliant idea of screwing a small piece of metal into my wood above it; so that it could rest over the glass when we travel. It looks absolutely terrible and amateurish. So now I can fix it myself the right way and deal with a screw hole that shouldn’t be there. If this sounds rather petty, it is, but to get the full story please read about “The Trip To The Factory” by clicking here.

You know things are bad when the factory that gave birth to your trailer breaks more things than they fix. Obviously, five months removed from this, it is still a sore spot for me. I might feel differently had the President of the company acknowledged my email (which was actually very nice considering how they botched things), but he chose not to respond.

Anyway, I digress! The long and short of this post is that there is still plenty to do, and buy, even with only one good arm. Fortunately, Tammy has a good right arm and I have a good left arm, so between us we ought to be able to weather the storm.

So, next up on the agenda will be a trip to get my annual Texas inspection so we can go camping. Then as my shoulder gets better the repairs can fall into place. In the meantime I only need one arm to buy parts.

Safe Travels!

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It’s really not that different in the world of travel trailers. You need to “get religion” over how you maintain your trailer. “You must understand how your trailer works, what tasks to perform, and when to perform them to keep your RV in good condition. Whether you do the work yourself or hire someone, you are responsible for it. Not believing that maintenance is a necessary part of ownership will lead to disaster.

We are all moving towards the winter season now, some quicker than others. Based on where you live you may have already begun to winterize your trailer. If you live in the southern United States, you may have some camping still ahead. Keep in mind though, freezing weather has a way of popping up with little notice at times. That is why I carry a portable air compressor. It gives me flexibility should I need to winterize while on the road.

Many RVers knew what tasks they needed to perform but failed to do them on time or approached them haphazardly—and they paid the price. Owners’ failures caused Broken water pipes, split holding tanks, and mice infestations that chewed wiring.

So my friends, please get religion around how you maintain your travel trailer during all four seasons. A small amount of work will save you hundreds of dollars.

Click here to read our post on winterizing your travel trailer step by step. Remember that your travel trailer may be different, but you can use this guide to get started.”

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Just as a bit of background my buddy, and fellow RVer Al, had been struggling with his refrigerator temperature during the day. Someone had told him to turn his fridge on between 11:00 PM and midnight due to the defrost cycle. The theory was that then the defrost cycle would also come on around midnight the next day. Avoiding the defrost cycle during the hottest part of the day would then keep the fridge cooler.

Since I have really never had temperature issues with my RV fridge, I had never really looked into the timing of the defrost cycle. Of course I usually turn my fridge on in the evening a few days before we leave.

After Al told me about the defrost cycle timing I decided to reach out to Norcold directly and ask the question. Here is their response in its entirety:

Hello John,

Sorry for the delay. Actually, every 49 hours the unit enters frost management. Please see the attached PDF that explains the cycle. I always tell consumers to turn off then back on the fridge at 11pm or midnight; so it defrosts in 49 hours at midnight or 1am. 

Here is the PDF info:

Gas Absorption Refrigerators- Frost Management Cycle:
Any gas absorption refrigerator with a thermistor has a frost limiter/frost management cycle. We say frost limiter instead of saying a defrost cycle because the refrigerators do not have a heater in it to automatically melt the frost in the refrigerator like a normal house hold refrigerator would have. Instead it will simply stop running until it reaches a certain temperature that is warm enough to melt some of the frost build up.

Any frost that has not melted by the time the fin temperature reaches 39F, will not melt and can stay there until the next frost management cycle. Every 48 hours the refrigerator will automatically stop its cooling cycle and begin to warm up until the fin temperature reaches 39F, in an attempt to melt any frost build up on the fins inside the fresh food compartment. Once the fin temperature reaches 39*F, the refrigerator will then begin running again and cooling the refrigerator back down.

It is also very important to remember that the fin temperature that the thermistor is constantly sensing is about 10 degrees colder than the air temperature inside of the refrigerator. This means that the refrigerator air temperature can reach about 50 degrees by the end of the frost management cycle. The reason that this is okay is because the food and water inside of the refrigerator will hold its temperature much longer than the air will. On average, the refrigerator can lose up to 10 degrees air temperature each time the refrigerator door is opened. It can then take the refrigerator about 2 hours to regain that missing 10 degrees. This is the reason why it is so important to take food or water temperatures with a food thermometer instead of relying on an air temperature thermometer.

If you are experiencing a perceived issue of intermittent cooling; please verify that it is not just the frost management cycle at work. To reset the time of day that the frost management cycle will cycle, (and to avoid using the refrigerator during the cycle and accidentally causing it to warm up more than normal); you can simply turn your refrigerator off and back on either late at night or early in the morning.

James

Customer Service, Thetford Corp/Norcold Inc

So, this is very helpful information, even more so if you are concerned about the temperature of your beer! I think this will definitely keep your food and beverages colder when you need it the most; during the hottest part of the day! In addition if you see the temperature of your refrigerator rise during the day…it may be in a defrost cycle; so follow the above instructions before you call a repair service. Now go get your Norcold colder!

If you need to download a Norcold Product Manual click here.

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Since I need to access the backyard to hook up, the soft ground made that impossible. In addition, the weather outlook for our second day at the park was projected to be a 100% chance of rain.

Those of you that camp with your floor children (dogs) understand that there is nothing great about trying to camp in thunderstorms. Travel Trailers are not quiet in a storm and the campsites can turn into mud pits. Since we are owned by a five month old German Shepherd Puppy (Eva), one can only imagine that energy x mess = horrible time! Plus lets face it, cooping up a puppy for a couple of days while it rains is not fun for the puppy either. So we have pushed the trip out to the first week in August.

This may be a better time for our German Shepherd Puppy to go camping because :

1. She will be a month older and that is a month more mature (hopefully).
2. The Trip will be closer to the time we head up north on our big camping trip. That way her familiarity with camping won’t be as far in the past.

So in the meantime I have not been idle. I have replaced the stabilizers on the front of the trailer with BAL 7500 pound rated versions. The previous stabilizers were rated at 5000 pounds but just seemed a little flimsy, and didn’t move very freely.

For those of you that want to do this, it is easy and takes about a half hour per stabilizer. First you need to remove the old stabilizer. Next, if you are putting a larger one on, you will probably need to drill larger holes in your frame. Then simply bolt and screw the new stabilizer on. I had to enlarge all my screw holes but not the hole that the bolt goes through.

In addition to that improvement, I greased my CRE3000 suspension. That was not as easy as I thought it would be. One side would not take any grease so I actually had to raise that side of the trailer in order for the grease gun to work. MorRyde actually recommends that you raise the trailer for that procedure.

So, that is all I have for now, but I’m sure more will develop in the few weeks; because as you know, there is always something to do. Until then, stay safe and happy camping!

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After reading this post I immediately thought of my Dad who we referred to as the “Anti-Handyman”. If something needed fixing around the house or with one of the cars, it wasn’t going to be my dad fixing it. My Dad was smart; he knew his limitations. He realized that he could actually make things worse by doing it himself. As my brother Bill and I got older we both became quite handy which worked in my Dads favor.

After reading the post, I checked a series of comments and felt surprised when some people actually encouraged this RV owner to “go for it… if it’s already broke, you can’t make it any worse.” Actually, this is really bad advice. If you don’t have the knowledge and basic skills to do a job you actually can make things much worse. Just ask amateur mechanics that have broken off engine bolts. Later they had to go through the extra work of having the broken stud removed.

I’ve restored eight vintage motorcycles.I can disassemble the bikes, paint the frames, replace faulty parts, repair brakes and bearings, and put them back together easily. I avoid working on the engines because mistakes outside my expertise would likely cost a lot to fix.

A Travel Trailer is just another vehicle, it just doesn’t have a motor. However, there is still a lot that can go wrong, and if you don’t have the basic skills to handle it, you can make things worse.

Many RV novices end up with broken water lines each year because they winterized their trailers incorrectly. Even resealing your roof the wrong way can set you up for trouble.

So what can the anti handyman do? Here’s a few suggestions:

1. There are classes on RV maintenance that are being offered at RV dealerships. Sign up for classes that you think will benefit you the most.
2. Pair up with a trusted friend that has an RV. Have him/her help you with whatever needs to be done. Don’t just watch him/her do the work; be actively involved doing the repair while they coach you.
3. YouTube – There are many great videos on how to do things. Repacking wheel bearings comes to mind because there are quite a few videos on that. Keep in mind, even though the videos go into great detail, they are not interactive; so that if you have a problem (Such as removing a bearing race), you will be on your own. So have a back-up plan.
4. Facebook – I found Facebook to be good for finding some information but many times the routines are just photos. Remember photos only tell one second of a story. Now one thing that might help is if you can leverage a person from your Facebook group (that lives nearby) to teach you in person.

These are just a few suggestions. I am sure that a simple google search on RV repair classes etc. may give you even more ideas.

My main caution is just “don’t make things worse”. Additionally, if you’re under warranty, it’s probably best to have your trailer fixed by the dealership. Screwing something up under the warranty period may just void your entire travel trailer warranty. This will make you really sad and frustrated when something big happens and you need to rely on that warranty.

Learning how to maintain your RV is a great thing; it makes you independent and can save you thousands of dollars. You just need to make sure to take your time and learn the proper way to make the repairs. Even an Anti Handyman can become quite skilled given patience and good instruction.

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