6 mos-workcamping--rv maintenance?

aatauses

Well-known member
HI everyone,
We are planning to do a workcamping this upcoming summer for up to 6 mos. Question is for those of you who have done this, what special things/tips did you do with your rig? We have a BH 3670. Wondering about sitting for 6 mos, bearings sitting in one place, did you 'take it for a ride" soimetime to rotate bearings?, Tires--should they be sitting on wood rather than ground? Shocks/springs---did you jack up extra to take the weight off the shocks/springs? Any special things done to the slides?
This will be the first time we have been in one location so long and just thought there may??? be some things we should be aware of.
thanks
al
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
HI everyone,
We are planning to do a workcamping this upcoming summer for up to 6 mos. Question is for those of you who have done this, what special things/tips did you do with your rig? We have a BH 3670. Wondering about sitting for 6 mos, bearings sitting in one place, did you 'take it for a ride" soimetime to rotate bearings?, Tires--should they be sitting on wood rather than ground? Shocks/springs---did you jack up extra to take the weight off the shocks/springs? Any special things done to the slides?
This will be the first time we have been in one location so long and just thought there may??? be some things we should be aware of.
thanks
al

We don't workcamp, but used our 3670 this first year on a seasonal site. It sat there, slides extended (all four have toppers), electric still on and the refer on, from early May to late September, whether we were there or not. In setting up, I did not have extra boards to put under the high side tires, so they sat on dirt. Did not affect them. When we left to come home for a spell, I dumped the tanks, turned off the water , water heater, opened some faucets to relieve pressure, and retracted the main awning. After sitting open all summer, closing the slides was uneventful and it towed home without a problem. I have the Ultra-Fab stabilizers on mine, and put a screw jack under the frame in front of both tire sets to stabilize a bit more, but did not jack it up any to take weight off the tires. Looking at my suspension, the springs are still nicely bowed and the tires only lost a couple of pounds each over the season. I have Freestar tires on mine, original equipment, and did not find any bubbles or blemishes on them. With MaxxAir covers on all vents, including the Fantastic Fan, we left the manual vents cracked open a little so it self-ventilated if it got too warm in there while we were gone.

One thing I did during setting up was to examine the outer slide wiper seals. Some areas did not fold out properly, so I went around with a long awning rod and flexed them all into proper position. We had some serious rains over the summer, and never had a leak.
 

2010augusta

Well-known member
We do alot like John, but only setup at a site for 3 months, then move several 1000 miles and repeat. two tires on a board, two tires on dirt/gravel. Slides with covers always out and no leaks. Ultra-fab eleminators at all 4 corners. We leave the two grey tanks open all the time and dump/flush the black tank every 7-10 days.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I heard or read that leaving the gray tanks open all the time might allow food debris to collect on the bottom of the tank (yes, we wipe the dishes off into the trash before washing) and not get fully flushed out, so I keep mine closed until they need dumping. Probably just personal preference on that one, but it helps flush the sewer hose after dumping the black tank. I do open Gray #1 when we're using the W/D, though.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
We are full timers and work campers. When we set up on concrete, we leave the tires on the concrete and so far no issues. When we're on dirt, sand or gravel, I like to put boards under each tire. Never had any issues with bearings but we do annual bearing and brake maintenance. Repack the bearings and clean the brakes and all hardware and wipe down the interior surfaces of the drums.
We've always left our gray tanks open and black closed till it's full. Dump as needed and flush for a lengthy period of time. Almost a half hour. When we travel I always leave several gallons of water/liquid in all the tanks and when we arrive at a destination we dump all the tanks right away. This should insure a clean tank bottom with the water sloshing around as we go down our wonderful smooth highways. If you still have a concern about rotating the tires and bearings, you could jack up one wheel at a time and give er a half turn or so once and a while but I don't think it's necessary. Have fun work Camping. Where will you be??
 

aatauses

Well-known member
Thanks for advice, if you think of something else, please let us know. Ray---We are tentatively scheduled to be in Prosser, WA for the 2010 season. Currently in FL for this wintaaa.
al
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
The reason most campers either have sealed bearings or grease packed is not having to rotate the wheels to keep the bearings from rusting. Oil type bearings like the 10K and up axles have should be turned every 6 months or so to minimize any rust that might form. If the bearing is packed properly you can let it sit a long time without any problems. Still not a bad idea to turn them once a year though. If you have the style with the Zerk then add 4-5 good strokes with a grease gun while slowly rotating the wheel. With the wheel turning and greasing slowly the grease should be visible coming back out the Zerk side and not going past the seal into the drum. There apparently were some poor quality seals not properly installed and if you have those then they have to be replaced with double lip seals.
 
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