4 Tips For Handling RV Repair & Maintenance On The Road
This past week we completed our yearly repair/maintenance stop in Eugene, OR. We stayed in our favorite park (yes, another video review is coming) and got all the basics done within a few days. We knew exactly where to go and have working relationships with all the local shops so it was super easy. Plus the beer & food here is goooood 🙂
But when you’re a newbie RV repair/maintenance can seem like an overwhelming task.
You know you need to do it. I mean RV’s are basically big ‘ol machines that you shake around in a mini-earthquake every time you drive. The engine, transmission, and all the other mechanical bits need regular maintenance to keep them happy & healthy. Plus it’s absolutely guaranteed that, at some point, you’ll need repairs (trust me on this one).
But you may not know how to do it. Where do you go? How do you find a reliable mechanic? How do you figure out what needs to be done? What do you do with the paws while the rig is in the shop? What if the repairs take multiple days?
All these are valid questions, and like many RV (and life-related) items it just takes a bit of planning and know-how to figure it all out. I’ve actually written about this on the blog before, but with 7 years under our belts I figured now would be a good time to update that post and add-in some extra detail on how to navigate all these issues. So here goes…
#1 The Basics = What Every RVer Should Have
First of all the basic basics. There are 2 critical repair/maintenance planning items I think every single RVer should have whether they’re fulltime or not:
- Roadside Assistance – No matter what kind of rig you have, you definitely want roadside assistance. If you get stuck somewhere, the last thing you want to deal with is finding a tow truck and the (very likely) out-the-wazoo $$ they’ll charge for the job. With big rigs this is even MORE critical, since big rigs require special tow equipment that regular car hauling companies just don’t have. For ~$100-150/year you can get full coverage with companies that have specific experience with big rigs and it’s well worth the money. We have Coach-Net which has a great reputation and covers both US & Canada. Good Sams offers a similar program. Don’t go without.
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Every RVer should have a repair/maintenance budget Repair/Maintenance Budget – Every RVer should plan to put $$ aside for repair & maintenance. The amount you need can vary a ton based on how much maintenance you plan to do yourself, how big your rig is and how old it is. As an example new tires on a little class C might only cost ~$150/tire whereas new tires on a big Class A can easily run $450-$650/tire aaaand you might need up to 10 of them. That’s a lot of $$! Also older rigs may need more repair items than newer rigs. So, planning ahead & saving up for these expenses is important. We typically put aside ~$2000/year for our RV & car repair/maintenance and we keep an “emergency fund” of $5000 for anything unexpected that might come up. Your $$ may be different.
What About Buying A Warranty? Buying an RV warranty can (potentially) be a good “safeguard” against major repair items, but it can also (potentially) be a waste of money depending on your RV and the terms of the contract. Lots of debate on this one and no easy/clear-cut answer IMHO. For those interested I’ve written a full blog post detailing my opinion on warranties HERE.
#2 The Details = Figuring Out What You Need Done
So you’ve got your roadside assistance and you’ve got your $$ set aside. Now what? How do you figure out what needs to be done to keep your rig happy?
- Read Your Manual – You knew I’d say this, right? But honestly unless you have a vintage RV you should be able to find and download the manual for your rig. Then READ it. Not only does the manual tell you about all the various systems in your RV, but there will always be detailed info in there on recommended service, and how often it should get done. It’s the best place to start.
- Check Out YouTube For Basic Stuff – If you want to do some basic service items yourself but don’t exactly know how, YouTube is a fabulous resource. My fav channel (by far) for this is RV Geeks. They have tons of useful videos on basic items such as generator maintenance, roof maintenance, repairing door locks, sanitizing your water tank and more. Lots of other great RV-related videos & video channels out there.
- Keep Track Of What You Get Done – No matter whether you do the work yourself or get it done at a shop you’ll want to keep track of what gets done. This will not only help to ensure you stay on top of everything, but it’ll establish a record for yourself and anyone else who might need it in the future (e.g. when/if you sell). We keep a binder with all our service receipts and also like to use Excel spreadsheets (I’m a bit of an Excel geek). You can also scan and store your receipts electronically.
In our case we go to a shop every year to change engine oil/filters, get the chassis lubed, do our generator service (every few years or 150 hours) and check air filters, air system, coolant & transmission oil (for transmission we run oil analysis). We also replace our tires every 6-7 years. Low-level stuff like roof seals, air-conditioner cleaning, tank valve replacement, toilet seals, slide-topper replacement etc. we do ourselves.
#3 The Place = Figuring Out Where To Go
Potentially one of the most difficult aspects of RV repair/service, especially when you travel fulltime is figuring out where to go.
Now if you’re in an emergency situation where you’re stuck dead and need to be towed, you may not get too much choice in the matter since most roadside assistance programs will only pay towing to “the nearest repair facility”. However, if you find yourself in this situation I still recommend doing some research (while you’re waiting for the tow truck, say) since you can sometimes negotiate a tow to your own preference if you have a good reason for it (e.g. this is the only repair shop that works on my kind of diesel engine, say) or it’s not too far off track. Don’t just take whatever the tow company throws at you.
If you’re not in an emergency situation you have the pick of the litter, but how do you narrow down the choice? There are many great shops out there, but there are also shady ones who don’t do great work. How do you find out which is which?
- Talk To Other RVers – Other RVers are one of the best ways to find reliable service spots. We are members of several active RV forums and RV Facebook groups, and will ask both places if we’re in “search mode”. We always get good recommendations from these spots.
- Check Online Reviews – There’s really only one official online service review website that I know of and it’s rvservicereviews.com. It’s not always up to date (I do wish more people would use it and contribute to it), but it’s another decent resource to check before you make your final choice.
- Go Where Your RV Was Made – Want to know where you’re likely to find the most RV repair shops who know the most about YOUR specific rig? Right where your RV was made, of course! Out West Eugene, OR was a big manufacturer of Country Coach & Monaco/Holiday Ramblers back in the day. Out East Elkhart IN is a hot-spot and still makes ~60% of RVs today. Both places have TONS of RV repair/maintenance shops so if they’re on your travel route they’re no-brainer places to stop.
- Establish A Regular Stop – Many fulltime RVers have somewhere they go every single year, either because family is there or because that’s where their doctors are (so, they go back for annual health-checks and such). These regular stops can be a great place to get yearly RV maintenance done too, especially if you establish a good relationship with a reliable, local shop.
- Consider Truck Shops – If you drive a big rig you’re basically not much different from a big truck, and many of the big truck-service companies know this and cater to RVs. We often drive through truck washes (like Blue Beacon) to get our rig washed, but there’s service options too. For example, if you just want an oil-change Speedco does great, inexpensive oil changes. For those with Allison Transmissions you can get your transmission work at any Allison-certified shop. For those with Cummins Engines, there’s Cummins Coach Care. For those with Freightliner Chassis, the Freightliner shops will happily work on your rig. Lots of choices out there.
- Seek Out Specialists For The Big Stuff – My last, and perhaps most important piece of advice is to seek out specialists, especially for the really big stuff. RVs are complicated machines and there are very, very few places have the ability to handle all the major components with equal expertise. So, if you’re getting suspension work done go to a suspension shop. If you’re getting engine work done, go to an engine shop. I know this sounds bleeding obvious, but we’ve been caught out by this exact problem. Don’t make our mistake.
What About Mobile Techs? I totally forgot to mention this in the original blog post (this is an updated edit, hat tip to J.Dawg in the comments for this), but mobile techs can be a GREAT option for minor repairs. They generally can’t handle the big stuff (engine, transmission etc.), but they are usually very competent to handle smaller repairs. You typically pay a service call fee (in addition to labor/parts), but you get the huge benefit that you don’t have to go anywhere = they come to you! We’ve used them in the past and been very happy with them. Most RV Parks will have recommendations for a good local tech.
Pro Tip #1 -> Consider Sales Tax On Big Purchase Items: One of many reasons we love getting our RV repair/maintenance in Eugene is that Oregon has ZERO sales tax. For smaller items it’s not a big deal, but for big items (like our RV tires) it can mean serious $$. If you’re not in an emergency situation and you have some big $$ items to buy, consider sales tax in the state you plan to do your work before you push the buy button. You might save yourself quite a bit of cash.
Pro Tip #2 -> Consider Buying Your Filters Online: For yearly maintenance items, even if you don’t do the work yourself consider buying your filters online before you go into the shop. They’re typically waaay cheaper than what they’ll charge you at the service center. Good resources are FilterBarn.com, RVChassisParts.com, and FindItParts.com.
#4 The Practical Aspects = Dealing w/ Pets & Home
Once you’ve figured out your needs and where you’re going to get work done, how do you handle the pets and the fact that you’re locked out of your home while work is being done? And what if your work takes several days to complete?
- Hang At The Shop During The Day – Most repair/maintenance spots have some kind of “waiting room” where you can hang out while your rig is in the shop, and they’re typically OK with you bringing in the pets too. Doggie is happy to just relax on the floor with us all day. For the cats, they really prefer to stay in the rig so it depends what kind of work is being done. If the mechanic doesn’t need access to the back of the rig, we’ll leave them there with the back door closed, “cats inside” signs and specific instructions to come see us if he/she needs to access the rear slides. If back-work is being done we’ll put the cats in a carrier bag & bring them into the waiting room. Then we’ll put on their jackets/leashes and let them roam around (yet another reason to leash-train your kitties!). They’re not quite as comfortable as in the rig, but they don’t mind.
- Hang In The Rig At Night – Our maintenance jobs have never taken more than a day, but we’ve had a few repairs that required multi-night stays and the shops have always allowed us to re-enter the rig at night. Some of them have even offered electrical hookups or access to a power cord. For the kind of work we’ve had done staying onsite has always been the easiest option, even if it meant “packing up” the rig each day to go back into the repair bay.
- OR Find A Hotel – If your rig is getting some major work done where you don’t have access to it (for whatever reason) or you just don’t want to be on-site (for whatever reason) then the best option is to find a nearby pet-friendly hotel and hang out there. We haven’t had to use this option (yet), but it’s always there.
Pro Tip -> Stay On-Site The Night Before Service: Many shops will allow you to stay on-site the night before you need service, even if it’s just parking in their lot. We always ask about this and if they offer it we always take advantage of that option. Not only does it save us a night in a random RV park, but most of our shop-work starts EARLY, so it’s just much easier to be right there on-site when they open.
That wraps up most of the tips I can think of. “The beast” is humming again and I’m off to hang in Portland while Paul flies home. Any good tips I missed? Burning questions? Feel free to post your ideas and thoughts in the comments section below!
Related Blog Posts – Repair & Maintenance:
- Transmission Service Woes (And Lessons Learned)
- Saving $$ & Monitoring Your RV Transmission With $27 Oil Analysis
- Good RV Repairs & The 80/100/100 Rule – Elite Repair & Remodel, Eugene, OR
- TLC For “The Beast” in Eugene, OR (And Tips On Finding Good Repair Spots)
- TLC For “The Beast” Part II – New Tires
- Tire Maintenance & Handling Tire Blow-Outs
- Well, That Was Close….A Few Belts Short Of A Tire BlowOut!
- Nina Vs The RV Tank Valves – A Gripping Tale Of Plumbing Mastery….
- 5 Easy Spring RV Maintenance Steps
- Easy RV Mod -> Slide Topper Replacement With Tough Top Toppers
- The Ins & Outs Of RV Extended Warranties
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Thanks, Nina. Great post as usual, you’ve given a lot of great tips in this one.
Hi my wife, Sara and I are taking factory delivery of our first RV, a Newmar Dutch Star on June 20th. After a 1 week orientation we’ll return to Washington State. At that point we will be fulltime rs but tethered to a short leash until 2018 when we’ll both be retired.
You may remember from my post when you were in the Wallowa. I mentioned that I had lived in a teepee in the 70s.
Anyway, I was wondering if we could rendezvous with you guys to get a wee bit of mentoring while your still in the NW?
We’ve learned show much from your blogs and appreciate the knowledge transfer.
All the best,
Marc & Sara
nwlanding@gmail.com
253.495.6350
Sure. We’ll be in Cape Disappointment State Park all of June if you happen to pass that way?
Nina
Hey! We’ll finally get to see you then. We’ll be in Astoria June 7 to 14. We’ll drive over the bridge for a visit!
Whooooo Hoooooo!! Polly is already BEYOND excited!
Nina
I she less sore nowadays?
It comes and goes….unfortunately 🙁
Nina
It is so nice to know that after all these years of blogging you still have so much new and relevant stuff to share..
I surprise myself sometimes LOL.
Nina
As a new trailer owner, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your blogs. It seems every time one comes into my email, I want to stop everything I’m doing to read it. It is always chockfull of information or replete with beautifully described trips and locations. I just want to say a giant THANK YOU for being who you are and doing what you do!
Suzanne, always itching to get hitching!
Thank you much {{blush}}
Nina
Thanks again for another excellent post (as they all are). Superior Tires in Eugene is our one every six year visit. In the Sacramento CA area we have found the Freightliner Sacramento Truck Center is very good. They actually saved us several years ago when our generator cable had been damaged by an exhaust leak melting the insulation. They found it during an annual maintenance. We now leave the chassis maintenance to the pros with tools and lifts.
Btw, did you see that TJR is stepping down. Big shoes to fill.
Both excellent tips. And YES I saw that TJ is stepping down. OMG!!!! I was pretty surprised to see this and I’m sure the chatter is wild inside the company. It’ll be interesting to see who takes his place. Definitely very big shoes to fill.
Nina
Good article for a important subject. Here’s a couple of things I would add. The first rule of RVing is that – Something’s gonna break or stop working on your rig while you’re on the road. Dealing with an RV problem is just part of RVing. Roadside assistant services offer more that just towing or fixing a flat. Many offer over-the-phone technical assistance and specialists to help diagnose a problem. They will also find out the nearest service place to service your particular problem and may be able to schedule an appt for you. Popular RV destinations areas (e.g. Florida, Arizona) have mobile RV repair services. They come to you for smaller RV appliance type repairs. You pay a premium for them to come, but when you can’t wait 1-2 weeks for an appt to fix a failing fridge or AC unit, a mobile repair service may be worth considering. Lastly, if you’ve got a popular brand RV or RV chassis, call a local dealer for your rig. A roadside assistance service should be able to do this for you.
All excellent tips. We’ve used mobile service guys several times and have been very happy with them (totally forgot to include that in the post, duh!). They generally can’t handle big stuff (like engines, transmission etc.), but can be a great resource for minor repairs.
And yes, the Roadside guys offer extra services which can help in situations where you don’t need to be towed. We’ve called them for a nearby service recommendation before. Likewise we’ve called Monaco a few times for over-the-phone technical support. They’ve always been very helpful.
Cheers for sharing!
Nina
I just updated the blog post to add in the info on mobile techs. Honestly should have included this in the original post and felt it was too important to miss. So I made the edit. Hat tip to you for the reminder!!
Nina
Great tips Nina and Paul. We’re only weekend RVers right now, but want to hit the road once our kids go off to college. We’ll save this info for future reference!
Excellent article. After RVing for 30+ years, this covers the most important points that were painful to learn. Thanks for all the good info you pass out to us.
Good to know I didn’t miss too much 🙂 And yes, some of this has been painful to learn.
Nina
Great post … Thanks for sharing all the lessons you have learned! We are new RV owners and look forward to getting on the road.
We will be at Fort Stevens in late June and would love to buy you a beer and dinner. So great to be able to meet you two and ask a couple hundred new RV’ers questions
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this info. We are in the midst of two different issues with our 5th wheel. We never considered a truck stop till that was the closest service location with a wheel issue. Goodyear at Flying J in Winslow, AZ is very helpful. I have bookmarked the review site.
Nice post.
I have had AAA road service for our vehicles for a long time now. One night I was coming home from work when I passed the wife (RN), who had a flat tire with nobody stopping to help her. Fortunately I was driving by when I spotted her so I changed tires for her. The next day is when we decided to get road service so in case this ever happened again she could call up AAA road service.
Yes, I put the RV Service Reviews among my 150 hyperlinks that I formed. However, just a word of warning to people – use it at your own risk. I saw a couple of good reviews for a RV dealership that I had 4 – 5 issues with including on delivery the water system having a major leak and not making sure that the water heater worked when I asked them to make sure everything was in working order for a major trip.
I hope you added your review to the rvservicereviews website? The more folks that contribute, the better it it’ll get. I always check the date of last review and what work they had done since it can vary a lot on that site. Plus I always try to add my own reviews too.
AAA was always great to me back when we just had a regular car, but I’m not sure I’d rely on them for “the beast”. I prefer to have a big-rig tow package for our big girl.
Nina
I should add that I like Excel as well and use it a ton especially for football material. However, for this particular blog I should add that I put down the name of the RV dealership, address, city, state, and phone number for both the U. S. and Canadian locations for one RV manufacturer so it would be real quick and easy to know how far the nearest location was in spreadsheet form.
Nina,
I noticed one of the reviews isn’t on the RV Service Reviews website anymore. Do you know when that website was formed?
Another problem that we encountered with the RV dealership was putting the 7 way wiring harness on backwards on delivery when the dealership put the hitch and ball on our vehicle. We only found out about that out on a trip to California a couple of years later. It took us 3 California dealerships to help us.
For the water heater problem we called two RV dealerships up and they were booked solid like you said. So we drove further than we wanted to get it done. I eliminated one day sightseeing since I wanted to make sure that the RV dealership could hopefully fit it in within our time limit (a few days – 3 or 4 if I recall).
I have emailed two RV dealerships to ask if they participate in the Novi Michigan RV show. I haven’t received a reply back from them yet. So I guess that those two RV dealerships don’t want our business. Another Pennsylvania RV dealership doesn’t participate in the Hershey RV show since I looked that up online since the Hershey show lists who participates in that.
I am trying to learn from the mistakes that I made when we purchased the pop up camper. This is why I am taking notes and allowed a ton of time to try to get it in. I am forming my wish list for the exterior and interior for the travel trailer that I want to purchase. It looks like I might have to give up a couple of things on my wish list.
I phoned Rec.gov up the last week. I found out that Mount Rainier National Park will accept a 27′ 3″ travel trailer even though the limit is suppose to be exactly 27′.
Can I purchase my tow vehicle and travel trailer in Oregon for the zero sales tax and then set up a domicile in Texas? I knew about the zero sales tax for Oregon and zero Washington income tax since I have a niece that lives on the Washington side close to the border.
I greatly appreciate all the great posts on here and answering question.
For your question on purchase and domicile, the answer is no. You can certainly purchase your rig in OR, but as soon as you register it in TX (as you must if you establish domicile there) you will be charged TX sales tax.
Nina
Here are some RV repair links (hopefully the hyperlinks will take on here):
RV REPAIRS
Mobile RV Academy
Motorhome Directory
RV maintenance
RV repair and maintenance centers
RV service reviews
How to maintain RV air conditioning video
How to black tank flush video
How to drain and flush hot water heater video
How to dump tanks video
How to fill fresh water tank video
How to sanitize fresh water tank video
How to clear gray water tank video
How to maintain slide outs video
RV slide outs video 2
How to set up travel trailer video
How to RV in the winter video
Sorry, it looks like my direct hyperlinks didn’t work on here. People can probably do searches on those topics and come up with the same link.
I am such a lucky woman to travel and live with my own personal mechanic!! :)))) We use Good Sam and have actually “used” them three times–super service! Twice with a motorhome and once when our jeep went over in a snowbank. We paid out of pocket for the jeep towing and were promptly reimbursed by Good Sam–great company! Enjoy Portland Nina and try to stay out of trouble!!
It’s definitely nice to have a do-it-all Cowboy in the motorhome. We’re both moderately handy, but not Cowboy handy! Also great to know you’ve had such good service from Good Sams.
Nina
Thanks for putting this all together in one spot to save! Definitely our biggest frustration on the road has been competent repair work. We’ve had three issues and each one took three stops to finally get done right.
For those traveling through Deming, NM (doesn’t everyone?), Jimmys RV Repair is highly recommended. Efficient, knowledgeable, and reasonable, Jimmy really cares about getting his customers back on the road as quick as possible, and safely repaired!
BringFido.com is a nice source for finding pet-friendly hotels in an area – also restaurants and parks.
Good tips! Thanks!
Nina
Excellent article.
Thanks
Harleyhawk43.wordpress.com
Thanks for this thorough article. I was not aware of the RV Service Reviews site. That will be a winner for sure. I don’t have a favorite mechanic (yet) and am usually looking for someone convenient to my path. I may have to modify that and be a little more choosy. We have definitely had some marginal service just picking the local shop!
Excellent article!
Great post, Nina! Very helpful, indeed. When we were stuck at MORryde in Elkhart for three days with a broken suspension, we found that our patience served us well. Having confidence in their work from many prior reviews, we learned that ‘roll with it’ was part of the experience. The good repair shops tend to have a backlog. Two of those nights were spent waiting in their parking lot, plugged into one of their 20/30/50 posts. We were good with that from the get-go, as were the rest of our servicemates. If there had been a fire ring, we could have wrangled up a happy hour and weenie roast. 🙂
Jim
That brings up another excellent point which I totally forgot to mention in the blog post. The good guys do tend to book up, especially as their reputation gets around and folks know their work is top-notch. We definitely book ahead for our yearly maintenance and for any known repair work we have, so we can be sure to get into the shops we want. If we have a relationship with a particular technician/mechanic we’ll ask (ahead of time) to work with that particular guy too. And if we can’t book ahead (for whatever reason) we prepare to wait for them to fit us in.
Thanks for bringing that up!
Nina
Thanks guys you just confirmed with us we are on the right track. We head to Oregon in Oct for Yearly service with our Country Coach then down to Southern CA. Somday we will bump into you two. Eric & Kristy
You definitely can’t go wrong with Eugene as a yearly stop, especially with a Country Coach. So many experienced shops here!
Nina
Always enjoy reading your common sense approach to the costs of traveling on the road!
We’ve also had good support from Cummins Northwest, Coburg. Not all Cummins are the same, these gents seem to be in the upper club of tech’s who know:)!
And, I’ll toss in for all coach owners, our high endorsement of Oregon Motor Coach. While founded by Bob, as in the Lee Brothers of Country Coach, OMC is able to provide outstanding service of any coach. Good facilities, and a nice place to stay while work is being performed. We do have a Country Coach, and frankly Bob recruited the creme of the crop when CC went away. But, I’ve seen Monaco’s, Newmars and even Birds at OMC over the years. Bob and family, have just handed off the torch as Matt Carr, of Carr Industries, has just bought OMC. We were at OMC just before the formal handing off of the keys, and I see nothing but positives out of this. Matt was a member of the CC Factory family. He knows his staff well, and Jim Cooley will continue to work in his position.
I’ll stop here, but you can tell, I’m a fan of the ability to ‘one stop shop’ on both maintenance, modifications, and all sorts of things coaches – at OMC. Nice people, and they have a zest for doing things right.
(But please, try to avoid OMC in the early weeks of November – as that is usually our yearly visit timeframe:)!)
Best to all,
Smitty
Totally agree with everything you wrote. And you’re not the first person I know to mention Oregon Motor Coach. I’ve heard lots of good recommendations for OMC, so they’re definitely one of the “good guys” and yet another great resource in Eugene. Cheers for commenting!
Nina
Another great post! We are figuring out our budget as we will be going FT as soon as our house sells. Thinking of a $10,000 emergency fund, enough to cover health plan deductible if necessary & any big repairs.
You mentioned that you have $5,000 in yours, plus you put aside about $2000 per year for maintenance. So do you try to use what you have put aside for general maintenance & not touch the emergency fund?
We are hoping to save $500-1000 per month, depending on where we are staying-state park, resort, boondocking or workamping.
With no debt, we are looking at $3,000 per month. Does that seem feasible?
I realize everyone has different styles, we are not extravagant!! Thanks
That sounds very feasible indeed.
Yes, for maintenance/repairs our goal is always to stick to using only the $2000/year and not the $5000 which is there for emergencies only. We’ve always managed to stick with it so far. Note that this budget is separate from special upgrades (= extra’s that were planned, such as the big solar upgrade we did recently).
We also have a separate healthcare emergency fund, which we keep in a Health Care Savings Account (HSA) so that we get a tax savings on it. I recommend an HSA, especially for high-deductible insurances.
And for overall spending I think $3000 will be perfectly fine. Most fulltimers spend anywhere from $1500-$5000/mo depending on how they far travel, where they stay etc. This would be total budget including health care, insurance, maintenance, campgrounds, gas, entertainment etc. As long as you track and are somewhat choosy, especially on campground choices and entertainment you should have no problem with that number IMHO.
Nina
Nina,
Sorry to learn about your cat above.
To keep it on this topic though, I noticed a ton of Arctic Fox travel trailer maintenance list at the bottom of this link and this list didn’t include emptying the tanks:
http://northwoodmfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/OWNER_TRAILERS_2007.pdf
Do RVers really check the air in the tires every day since that seems to be over doing especially if one is staying in one place for one or two weeks, which would mean that it wouldn’t be in use travelling wise? I don’t even do that for my GMC Savana van and this comes from someone who still changes their oil every 3,000 miles even if the oil now is recommended for 5,000 miles. On my 1999 GMC Jimmy the engine lasted at around 130,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles according to my dealership service manager doing it that way. Plus that seems like a whole lot of maintenance for a travel trailer. If I went from Michigan to even Grand Teton or Yellowstone according to the service manual I would need to stop to do repairs. I never did that with my pop up camper. So how much time do RVers spend on maintenance in a week both in motorhomes and travel trailers? I want to be able to get in my hikes if we full time RV and allocated one day each for travelling to new location, travel trailer maintenance, and vehicle maintenance in two weeks time.
About domiciling – wouldn’t it be possible to domicile in Oregon for one year before moving to Texas and avoiding the sale tax there as I would be paying the Oregon income tax (lower than the Texas sales tax)? The merchandise that we need, tow vehicle, and travel trailer would be less than our income for the year so I was thinking about placing more emphasis on the sales tax rather than on income taxes.
Thanks,
Ralph
Hi Ralph,
So not sure I can cover all your questions, but I’ll try and catch most of them:
1/ Tires – I don’t know anyone that checks their tires everyday. Before we had a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) we would check pressure manually before driving. Now that we have the TPMS, we mostly use that (I definitely recommend a TPMS!).
2/ General repairs – Some of the “manual” repairs schedules are probably too frequent. We do full service once a year and check other stuff (tires, batteries etc. as needed).
3/ Oregon Domicile – YES, if you are already domiciled in Oregon and you REGISTER your trailer/car there *before* you move to TX, then you don’t have to pay sales tax once you move to Texas. Some states require the car/trailer to be registered a certain number of days out of state to avoid the sales tax when you move in (e.g. CA requires almost a year out of state, if I recall correctly), but I don’t think TX has many requirements as long as the vehicle was physically registered somewhere else.
Nina
“The merchandise that we need, tow vehicle, and travel trailer would be less than our income for the year so I was thinking about placing more emphasis on the sales tax rather than on income taxes.”
I meant that the merchandise, tow vehicle, and travel trailer would be more than our income.
Nina,
Thanks for the answers.
I have just finished reading my third RV book (library didn’t find two books in Michigan that I wanted to read), but still have to take notes on it. I ordered my 4th book tonight: “The Complete Book about Boondock RVing by Bill and Jan Moeller”. So hopefully it will be better than the books that I have read so far.
The last book will be “The Mobile Internet Handbook 2016 Edition by Chris Dunphy and Cherie Ve Ard.” Hopefully my library can find the 2016 edition here in Michigan, which is why I put it last on my list to give libraries time to purchase it or someone to donate one. Based on reviews that I saw online this book has been updated so looking for what it looks like now, but know that changes can happen before our start date. However, this should prepare me for potential options down the road or what to look for to set up the internet connection.
Too bad my local library doesn’t do national searches like they did at one time (got a few books from out of state before).
When driving an RV, it is important to have roadside assistance ready. As the article says, you don’t want to be stranded somewhere should it break down. Thinking about it, I would love to see a RV on a tow truck.
We love to go camping in our RV each year. Thanks for the advice about having roadside assistance and a maintenance budget. These would save money and stress on the road. I also find that it would be beneficial to have the tires checked before setting out on a long excursion.
I really like your tip about reading the manual. That definitely seems like a great way to figure out what you need to fix. My husband and I are going to be going on a trip in the next few weeks with our RV and we want to make sure that we won’t have to worry about breaking down. We will be sure to keep these tips in mind!
Our manual is dog-eared and well worn. It’s a great little resource. Good luck with all your plans!
Nina
I really enjoy your blog which is quite extensive and informative. I just wanted to let you know that I took this really good RV maintenance course at this technician’s RV repair shop this spring and now he’s offering it online at rvmaintenancetips.org now. Just in case anyone here needs help with their motorhome he’s really nice and has been in the RV industry and teaching for a long time.
I do like that you recommend not taking the first repair shop that the tow company will take you to. Even if you are on the road and don’t have that many options you should still try to go to a repair shop that you would prefer if possible. After all, if you’ve already done the research on the shop you prefer then you know that you can trust them.
Very glad you agree. Unfortunately I’ve known a few RVers who got “caught” in exactly this situation. They let the tow guys take them to the nearest place and ended up in repair shops that were either not fully qualified to handle their problem or simply didn’t do the job right. I do think it’s worth at least Googling (or posting on an RV forum/Facebook group) the repair guy that the tow company chooses for you before you get towed. Most folks will have to wait a couple of hours (at least) for the tow guy to arrive, so there’s always time. Also you may not have *much* of a choice in how far the tow guys will take you (the contracts usually specify “nearest repair shop”), but sometimes you can negotiate with them (e.g. if it’s not much further), or even pay a little out-of-pocket if you have a particular spot in mind.
Nina
RV manual turns into the Gideon’s Bible when you’re serious about staying on the road! Great tips, and reminders. All the best from Florida!