New to us Motorhome - Need advice

[Jim Estes]

Covers work well...as stated earlier not the most fun to put on/take off...but will protect your investment...if you cant keep it indoors ;-(

[RELHUB]

Best of luck with your new MH.

You can find on line an RV check list, as there are many available. Find one that fits your needs and you will be off to a very good start.

I would aslo like to stress the need to check the date on your tires. I would never run with tires older then 7 years. I have had people tell me their tires are 12 years old and never had a problem. I would not want to take that chance with my family and I riding on older tires.

Another important aspect to look at is replacing all of the fluids. I do the following myself, the only service I go to the dealer for is the transmission flush.

Transmission Flush
Coolant Flush
Brake Flush
Differential Fluid change
Engine Oil & filter change

My MH is a 2008 with 67,100 miles, we do a lot of traveling and have the best times.
Maybe we have been lucky but our MH has never left us stranded but I really think it is because we perform so much preventative maintance all the time.

Wish you the best, go make lots of great memories and new friends.

[NMMiller]

Tires are now brand new. All fluids were changed.

Didn't know they had checklists. Awesomeness!!! I found a bunch in just my first search. Thanks!!

[luvmydolphin]

Congrats on the purchase. Soon enough you will be posting things that you have learned for others. I've killed my batteries from leaving on the lights in the hold (switch for hold lights in my rig is on a panel as you are leaving the coach, easy to click on by accident when leaving the coach). When in the driveway at home we always have the rig plugged in. We spend many an evening enjoying the rig even when it is in the driveway.

[chuck49]

One of the best things I started doing is to keep a spare set of keys to the MH in the toad and a spare set of keys to the toad in the MH. In case I lock myself out of them both I keep a spare key to the toad in one of those magnetic boxes under the toad. Otherwise I lock myself out about once a year. Just sayin.

[Muncie_6spd]

Originally Posted by NMMiller

So it's only been sitting a week when my husband went to clean out the inside and all the batteries are dead. Which switches are we supposed to turn off when we leave it in storage?

Frustrated and still looking for RV education.....

I'm not sure about yours but mine has two switches close to the door marked chassis and coach that turn off all power from the batteries. if yours does not have these switches then make sure everything is off including the inverter which can drain batteries quickly.

Mike

[donhoward49]

two more web sites
12 volt side of life
RV 101
Lots to learn from both.. Then keep the questions coming on this site.

[Marshmellows]

Here is a piece of advice. If you going down the road and hear a buzzing sound coming from the roof, as yourself if you put the TV antenna down. Laugh, been there done that. All seriousness aside, a simple check list helps. It will save you from taking off with the power cable still plugged in. Yes I have done that also. If you see lightning on the horizon, furl the awning as their really hard to get furled when the wind is blowing 45 mph. Check your engine belts so that your not stuck on the side of the road on the 4th of July, yes that was me on the side of the road also.

One thing that I learned was that your coach manufacture did not make everything inside of your coach. They bought it and installed it. You should have a big packet of manuals someplace. If anything sticks or breaks, such as the steps will not go in when you close the door, look in your packet of manuals for help to fix it. Maybe a good idea to have a few common tools in the RV so you don't have to drive to the nearest autoparts store with the steps sticking out for that forgoten socket set. Me again...

Other advice is to keep an eye on the batteries to make sure they don't run out of water, and learn how to sanitize your water tanks with a bit of bleach. Make sure you flush out the bleach water when your all done with the sanitization.

Enjoy your RV and I will guess that it will give you many years of great service and memories.

Peace and be Mellow

[t55watson]

Welcome.
The best advice I received when I was a newbee, 19 years ago, You are never in a hurry. make sure you have the time and distance to move the rig.

[NMMiller]

Thanks everybody! This forum has been a great help. We do have switches by the door of MH (I think 4 altogether), but none of them are labeled. I found the owners manual to the MH itself online. But the last owner is looking for all of the binders with manuals (lost in a sea of boxes in a garage ). That's why I've had to ask so many questions and kind of feel like such a novice. I like to read up on my purchases and kinda of nerdy wanting to know what each switch does. I know if I don't know before we do our first trip out, we will be like that RV movie with Robin Williams and everybody gathers around sitting in lawn chairs watching his first tank dump. I don't want to be the couple people talk about for years to come. ALthough I do know mishaps are just a way of life and makes for good stories to laugh about.

I will be compiling my favorite RV checklists to use. Printed & phone to make sure I don't forget it!!

Cheers to the adventures that await us!!

[phinneyj]

NMMiller, new guy here also. I was lucky enough to get the infamous black bag (at least I don't need to carry exercise weights). This is what I did; most if not all of the owners manuals for each component installed in or on your MH may be available online in a pdf format. I located downloaded, organized in a "Digital Infobox" and uploaded to a cloud server. Now I can access all my operations, maintenance and service manuals from my tablet. Doing the research in finding all those documents is a learning experience in and of itself. You will start to become even more familiar with what goes into your MH. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

[Docschro98]

I'm doing the same as phinneyj and putting them all into iBooks on my IPad. Take his advice though and store them "in the cloud" as well. If you have to restore your iPad (as I had to do) you will find out they are gone! I'm performing this exercise for the second time. It is the best way to get familiar with things though. I use two apps to accomplish this in order than I can also annotate the PDF files with things like model numbers, serial numbers and highlighting of some of the information discovered during this exercise. I do this BEFORE I import the documents into iBooks. The apps are named "PDF converter" and "Remarks". After I'm done I'll be able to move most of these books out and gain space. By the way I also use another great app "Evernote" to create, collect and document other information I discover along the way. These notes can contain photos as well and we all know the value of a picture.

[J79Eng]

Originally Posted by NMMiller

I don't know the age of the tires yet. But I do understand the importance completely. That's why we are taking it in and having it checked from front to back. We want to know the full conditions of everything. And tires are not something I want to worry about.

Since I've always liked to camp I do have a camping "trunk" with my must haves that I believe the MH will now be the owner of. I like the suggestions of leaving a list that I write down what I remove.

I did buy my first couple of books this weekend and finished the what "NOT" to do and now I'm going over the book about the basics. My husband wants a set of DVDs to watch so I'll be researching for that. The store we went to was out of those.


I'm curious, how many people who read this, invest in a cover for their MH and the weathering when not in use? I live in Texas so we don't get an abnormal amount of snow or anything. Just extreme heat. I've seen what it can do to a boat.

Thanks again!! :-)

I bought two covers while I had a 5th wheel and found it hard to get the cover up on the roof every time but the worst was the damage the covers caused with the wind continually blowing them against the sides and roof corner. I tried to tie the cover down better and even had a custom cover fitted by the dealer. Now I have a 38 foot motor home and promise to never cover it just the tires. I do fill the lines with pink antifreeze and rinse the system out with bleech 25-1 of water let it sit for a day then rinse the system with good clean water. I also start the engine and generator once each month during the winter and move the tires just 2 inches to prevent flat spots. I also park each tire on 3/4 inch plywood during the winter as well. This all seems to keep it working good for two years now that I have had the coach. I would rather be travelling but although retired from the USAF I am still working for GE Aviation at 64.5 and counting. I hope to retire before 70 but I can not retire until the last F4 Phantom military aircraft retires becausee I am the last or youngests who knows how to keep the engines running. yes there are manuals but when I visit all foreign countries I always find things being done wrong. I have been supporting the F4 Phantom aircraft engines now for 45 years.