Advice for the "new to RVing"----

[SouthernNights]

One question I think every new or potential RVer needs to ask themselves is:

"Am I mentally prepared to own an RV?"

I am not referring to being mentally prepared to enjoy nature, relax under the awning, cook fantastic food on the grill, enjoy your family in a different enviroment that removes the day to day pressures, etc. Those do not require much preperation at all.

But there is another side to RVing and ownership. Maintenance, repairs and add-ons. These things are on-going, all the time. I am not referring to a mechanical failure that leaves you stranded 100 miles from nowhere. I AM referring to the water leaks, electrical gremlins and the occasional cabinet door falling off.

Let's take maintnenace. How many "new" Rvers do a proper pretrip and postrip inspection? A good inspection will show you the items that require attention before it turns into a repair. On top of avoiding a repair, you are also making your trip alot safer by knowing the condition of your TV and trailer.

Unfortunatley, there are alot of people who get involved in this form of recreation that not only don't do any inspections or maintenance, but will scream the loudest when something breaks. Kind of like never changing the oil on your car or your filter in your HVAC. When both shut down, these people are the ones who complain that they were sold a piece of junk. NO- they bought a piece of equipment that needs routine inspections and maintenance.

How about repairs? Some things just break. Period. Failures are unavoidable. They will happen with your car, your house, your boat, and your trailer. If your disposition is not able to handle the stress that goes along with a breakdown, then may be you should find something else to do that has fewer moving parts.
Don't complain about it-things break. Deal with it.

Add-ons. Now this is fun. Dreaming about what you are going to do on "your" trailer to make it "yours". Or at least it is for most of us. There always seem to be a few that get invloved with RVing that find a way to complain about how their trailer, house, car etc. just was not built for them. Why can't the manufacturer build it so it is this or that?. Why do they put that there or use that part? Yes, even with things that are supposed to be fun, some people find a way to complain about it.

These are the people who become paranoid about their trailer. Every trip becomes an excerise of futility. They are always on the worst roads. They never get the right spot. They never have good neighbors. Their black tanks fill up too fast. The line is too long at the dump station.

Please guys and gals-if and when you get into the RV experience- get into the WHOLE experience and enjoy it.

Lighten up and quit complaining and have fun.

A hundred years from now-no one will ever know the difference anyway.

Then there are those that complain about the complainers......

 

[trdeal]

Good post Larry and so true.

 

[cookie]

That is excellent! Everyone that is thinking about RV ownership should be tied to a chair and forced to read it. Then take a test.

Peace
Dave

 

[caissiel]

I totally agree, we have to take the good and the bad.
Being able to have the freedom to travel and have fun is the most important factor of RVing.
We broke down in Hamburg PA on a trip to florida. It was the most gratifying experience for my wife. She visited the town all day and talk to all the people in this small town, while I was busy fixing my truck.
We would not have stop there at any time if we didn't breakdown.

 

[jnbhobe]

Larry: What great advice !!! A person needs special talents and good common sense to really enjoy the RVing lifestyle. And as Laurent said take the Bad with the Good...... JON

 

[SilverRhino]

Great post Larry!

We all probably need to read this at least once a year. Great words that apply to a whole lot more than just enjoying our RVs.

Travel Safe!

 

[LookN4Ward]

Excellent summary on the subject of RV ownership. In today's times the lack of personal responsibility has proliferated. An owner of an RV should know that it is his or her responsibility to maintain the RV for no other reasons than the safety of those quartered in it, the patrons in the lots next to the RV and those passed and met on the highway.

 

[geeksrus]

Hog wash..... when the BAD consumes a significant portion of time as the GOOD, you know you have a lemon!

Eh!

 

[Zonian]

SouthernNights hit the ball right onto the hitch!!

 

[caissiel]

Its like the 6.0L Ford owners. We have some that like their trucks and use them right. And there are others that hates them so much that the trucks hate them back.
I had a 6.5L GM diesel for 9 years and it was a curse for everyone else. I respected it for what it could do and the truck loved me back. These trucks were gold mines for service centers. I did my own service an stayed away and had no problems though I towed 3000k above the GCVW.
Same for my 6.2L GM diesel before this one. I took it to a supose to be expert on these, and he told me I needed the heads done. It had 100K on it then. Well I never did the heads and did an other 100K on it and traded it on the new 98. 3 years passed and the new owner called me one day and asked if I had the heads done. I said no, I asked if the truck was still good on fuel and did it start well in the winter he said yes. Well I told him he had a great truck and keep loving it. He had an other 150K on it, and only changed batteries and starter.
Some have problems and others not, it comes with service and care. To me it does. I did a lot of things to my unit that should have been done by the dealer, I don't care because I know if I have done it, I know its going to be done right.
I can tell a good dealer from a bad, when we were shopping for a car I walked right out of the saleman office when he told me I had to come in and change the oil every 3K miles. The instructions on the car manual are at every 5K. We went somewhere else an bought a new one of the same model. Everytime you drain the oil off and start the car dry, you cause more damage then any other time, unless you have synthetic or STP or similar additive.
There are a lot of myths out there we have to use our conscience and take the good from the bad.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Larry, well said and so true. A RV is no different that an automobile. They require maintanance...plain and simple. If you not able to inspect or repair them yourelf, then find someone that can that you can trust. Most owners can learn with help. Get a friend with an RV to teach you. It aint rocket science. BTW, anyone that lives close to me, I would be willing to help them and have done so many times. My 5cts Bob

 

[smday]

Great post. Should make it a sticky so all new or potential owners can read. I never knew much when I first started out rving and now I am always lending a hand to others who need it so they can have a better experience with the short amount of time we have for a camping season.

 

[caissiel]

I volonteer with HFH and many times I meet someone that has never used a hammer. Just learning to do new things, and finding that they can accomplish so much is also exiting. Just because in our service life we never had to care about our stuff because we were so busy taking care of other stuff, does not mean we cannot change and apply our talents to have great RVing experiences.

I was lucky, I had a father with grade 2 education, that was very able with his hands, and very young I was always next to him when I could. I tried to do the same with my sons but I was discouraged, because they were not into it. Now they are both learning on their own, and I love the time I can spend with them and share experiences.

 

[SilverRhino]

Hog wash..... when the BAD consumes a significant portion of time as the GOOD, you know you have a lemon!

Eh!

Must be one of those "glass is always half full guys"........

Eh!

 

[SouthernNights]

The back story to this post:

I just finished reading a couple threads on another forum where the posters were complaining about about repairs that had to be made. Without going into detail, it struck me that maybe a little preventive maintenance might have prevented both.
Instead, it seemed much easier for the OPs to get on a forum and run down their trailer and their TV.

Then I started thinking about some of the calls we have recieved over the years on some of our projects. Let me share a few of them.

-Had a call 14 months after we finished a house. Caller said her lamp wouldn't work and never worked since moving into the house. -I changed her light bulb for her.

-Had a call stating that the gutters on their new home (10 months old) couldn't handle the water off the roof. I cleaned their gutters and recommended gutter guards. "No" was the reply. "they cost too much".

-Had a call telling me that the grass died on top of their septic tank. Middle of summer. No rain for several weeks.

-HVAC syatem set a shut down code on a 1 1/2 year old system. The code was air handler restriction. Guess what the filter looked like.

-One of the best ones though. Day of closing doing a walk through. Got to the backyard. It was pointed out to me that several trees had lost their leaves during construction, therefore we must have killed them. Closing was last December. It was winter-the trees were oaks and over 100' from the house. Can you spell deciduous?

A little more common sense and a little less complaining would go along way in these people's lives.

And that's the rest of the story.

 

[caissiel]

I like this, noting like experiences to lighten up our lives.

 

[geeksrus]

Must be one of those "glass is always half full guys"........

Eh!

WRONG... my 'fix the Big Horn' glass is overflowing!

Eh!

 

[boatto5er]

The back story to this post:

I just finished reading a couple threads on another forum where the posters were complaining about about repairs that had to be made. Without going into detail, it struck me that maybe a little preventive maintenance might have prevented both.
Instead, it seemed much easier for the OPs to get on a forum and run down their trailer and their TV.

Then I started thinking about some of the calls we have recieved over the years on some of our projects. Let me share a few of them.

-Had a call 14 months after we finished a house. Caller said her lamp wouldn't work and never worked since moving into the house. -I changed her light bulb for her.

-Had a call stating that the gutters on their new home (10 months old) couldn't handle the water off the roof. I cleaned their gutters and recommended gutter guards. "No" was the reply. "they cost too much".

-Had a call telling me that the grass died on top of their septic tank. Middle of summer. No rain for several weeks.

-HVAC syatem set a shut down code on a 1 1/2 year old system. The code was air handler restriction. Guess what the filter looked like.

-One of the best ones though. Day of closing doing a walk through. Got to the backyard. It was pointed out to me that several trees had lost their leaves during construction, therefore we must have killed them. Closing was last December. It was winter-the trees were oaks and over 100' from the house. Can you spell deciduous?

A little more common sense and a little less complaining would go along way in these people's lives.

And that's the rest of the story.

Very well stated Larry! By the way, I have a couple of lights that don't work...

 

[SouthernNights]

Very well stated Larry! By the way, I have a couple of lights that don't work...

Gus
tho check your lights, make sure your have the switch on and insert your finger into the socket.
If YOU light up, you have a bad bulb.

 

[Larryheadhunter]

Hi Larry,
I think you make good points but I am sorry that I don't agree with you in many aspects. I love my Horn and my DW and I spend most of our free time traveling across this beautiful country of ours in it.

We also follow all our check lists, and listen to our RV mentors all the time to make our RVing experience an excellent one. The ironic part of what your post meant to me was most of the folks who agree with you with their posts are very technically "up to speed" and enjoy doing all the maintenance and mods and improvements etc. and that's part of their enjoyment. Many of us though, are just out to have a great time, and wouldn't know a wrench from a screwdriver. Our motto is "righty tighty, lefty loosey". I fit into that group. Bob, one of my mentors, has the right idea which is if u can't do it yourself, then find someone who can do the repairs for you, but pay attention. We also understand when to do the repairs and maintenance, just don't do it ourselves. The majority of the complainers are are people with technical knowhow, who see the QC problems and/or are upset with the presentation of their new rigs, or the leaky pipes ,or the spider web of wires etc.

I, on the other hand, found out the hard way about my fundamental suspension problems, and started a thread for all those who were suffering the same predicament, and don't want to lumped in with the constant complainers. Certain people thought these safety issues that could actually cause serious accidents and damage, were part of the RV package, and we should know that we have to upgrade these areas, and not complain that we expected that when we bought our new rigs, they should work correctly and operate safely, without 32 problems the first year we owned our RV. The remark that because my DW was worried about traveling because our suspension might break again, because the broken parts were replaced with the same items, was very insensitive, (go buy a boat) and upset me.

My bout with Lippert brought to their attention the problem of under axled/spring sets, and according to them, they are addressing the problem as I write this. So, sometimes bringing to the surface fundamental problematic issues, can only assist in updating our rigs and making them more safe.

I don't consider that complaining at all, so I am hoping that you are writing about folks who just hop in their rigs and don't pay any attention to the maintenance and sometimes things break no matter what. Look, I found out from this forum my E rated Mission Tires may be dangerous, so we went and bought G rated Goodyear 614's. We also upgraded to Mor/Ryde pin cushions when the ride appeared to rough for us. Now we are looking at air ride seats, etc, etc, etc.

So do me a favor, and try to separate the non-techies that pay attention to their rigs, to the people who just like to complain, because their light bulb went out. As a matter of fact, it took me 20 minutes trying to figure out how to remove the bad bulb, and replace it with a new one, but darn it, I got it done and now the light shines again inside my rig. And when the black tank doesn't empty correctly, some of us don't complain about the problem, instead we get on the forum, or call one of our mechanical mentors and find out different ways to solve those issues. Putting that hose into the clear 90 degree connector to the black tank and back flushing, was an awesome sight when the blockage broke up, and the tank emptied completely. Thank you Arthur for that one, as I wrung my hands and wondered what to do next.

So I think you get my point, and hopefully realize that learning how to deal with issues is part of the fun, especially when you are successful at fixing the problem. Thank God for RV campground neighbors that see you hitching up, and politely let you know that they don't think you are completely snapped into the hitch jaws, or the ones who help direct you while you back into a site while you are cursing under your breath that it can't be done. Voila, you are parked and your rig is kinda straight and that's good enough for me.

In another words, we might not understand the breakdown and incur the stress that occurs, but as you say we deal with it.

As Jim G. says " and that's all I got to say on the subject".