Community Forums

glennj3cub · 07-22-2016, 09:18 PM

The RV has been parked under the shed since May. I crank her and the gen up every few weeks and let her warm up a while.
I have used her for travel with my job doing contract work previously all year.
Know plan a trip to Florida for a week of hopeful fun. The outside temps are very hot here in SC now so I want to make sure my RV is ready to hit the road.
I plan to take her to the local shop and have him look at the belts, and hoses. Probably very difficult to look and tell if they need replacing so I am thinking go ahead and replace them all as well as antifreeze.
The tires (all 8 of them) look very good. Brakes are good.
The exhaust pipes are not the best in the world but they do go all the way to the exit pipes, so they are mostly in tact.
AC works fine.
Just putting this out there, anything else that would be reasonable to have checked or replaced at this time?
For the first time I plan to pull my little car on a full trailer (since I have one) any ideas advice on this?
My cruise does not operate, sure wish that was working!

Thanks,

vsheetz · 07-22-2016, 09:37 PM

What year and brand/model of RV???

Tires are replaced by age, not appearance or tread remaining. They age out before they wear out. Check the age by DOT code on each tire.

Do you have a ERS (emergency road service) that is RV specific? If not, highly recommended. Good Sam and Coach Net are popular choices.

Cooling system. Oil change, oil filter, air filter - engine and generator. Belts and hoses as you comment - if over 10 years old, replace IMO. How about transmission fluid level? Transmission fluid and brake fluid change due?

sdennislee · 07-22-2016, 09:56 PM

He has a 1987 Holiday Rambler Imperial according to his profile

Check the batteries

X2 on checking dates codes on tires, tires age out long before wearing out.

spritz · 07-22-2016, 10:41 PM

Check all lights, nothing worse than following someone with out them. I replaced all my clearance lights with 2 bulb fixtures. Mine were 1982 vintage. Our first big trip was to Az last winter towing our toad on a KarKaddy. 4000 miles and she didn't miss a beat.
Got a good road atlas.
Don't forget to tell us how its progressing.
Have Fun
Tim

glennj3cub · 07-23-2016, 08:45 PM

Thank you for the comments.
I have owned my RV for about 4 years and don't know much of it's history. I plan to change the hoses, belts, and transmission fluid. I recently changed the engine and generator oil and filter. I keep the lights up in good working order and keep spare bulbs and fuses handy.
I also bring some spare tools.
The tires look good and I understand the date thing. I have also read where sometimes the new tires we buy have old dates on them. Often times tires can have small cracks all around the outside, but I have found that they can hold up for a long time like that !
None the less, I will not be spending that kind of money on new ones.
I will put full coverage insurance and roadside assistance on it, that is a great idea.
I have a heavy duty dual trailer (10,00 lb) I am replacing the tires and doing some work to the tail gate. Plan to carry a small car with us. Has anyone noticed the fuel economy is a lot worse when pulling?

beamisl · 07-24-2016, 02:45 PM

Glenn,

We recently took a 300 mile trip pulling our Prius behind the MH on a dolly for the first time. MGP was the same before towing as it was while towing. We travel around 60 MPH and let it fall behind on big hills. We are in no hurry.

Recently went to Coach Net ( which we had previously bought only a year) and got 3 years for a much better price. Don't go on the road without it. Towing a MH can cost in excess of a thousand dollars.

Have a wonderful vacation! Lynne

Lisablue85 · 07-24-2016, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennj3cub

Thank you for the comments.
I have owned my RV for about 4 years and don't know much of it's history. I plan to change the hoses, belts, and transmission fluid. I recently changed the engine and generator oil and filter. I keep the lights up in good working order and keep spare bulbs and fuses handy.
I also bring some spare tools.
The tires look good and I understand the date thing. I have also read where sometimes the new tires we buy have old dates on them. Often times tires can have small cracks all around the outside, but I have found that they can hold up for a long time like that !
None the less, I will not be spending that kind of money on new ones.
I will put full coverage insurance and roadside assistance on it, that is a great idea.
I have a heavy duty dual trailer (10,00 lb) I am replacing the tires and doing some work to the tail gate. Plan to carry a small car with us. Has anyone noticed the fuel economy is a lot worse when pulling?

Tires are the most important things on a coach. You don't want to go through what happened to us and many others on this forum...Be careful and God speed!
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/anot...ut-285080.html

Deano56 · 07-24-2016, 04:38 PM

by the post above, even 1 year old tires can not guarantee you of a mishap but tires with checking and cracking might be something to be concerned about. On one of our cars I had some Goodyears that checked way before I wore them out and they were maybe just 2 years old. I replaced our tires last year for around 1800 including mounting and balancing. The previous tires were 20 years old and had cracks on the drive tires that were clearly visible. I only took small local jaunts with the MH and, never went much over 55 mph. If you're not concerned about your tires I would at least make real sure your tire pressure is spot on and keep your speeds reasonable. Keep safe

glennj3cub · 07-24-2016, 09:58 PM

Thanks, I do keep the pressure at 64 lbs in all of them. They all look pretty good, tread and sidewalls. I also have the air shocks in the front, I use a small air compressor powered with my cigarette lighter to keep them where I want them.
I drive 70 or less, but on rough roads or at night I go no more than 60.
I used to pull my horses with one, it got 10 miles per gal no matter what, but I never drove over 60!

Arch Hoagland · 07-24-2016, 10:23 PM

You need a new fire extinguisher. Buy a couple and put one in the outside bins.

glennj3cub · 07-26-2016, 07:52 AM

New fire extinguisher, great idea. Also our microwave stopped getting food hot, the convection part works fine!

Mich F · 07-26-2016, 08:12 AM

You understand "the date thing" on the tires, but have you checked the dates on your tires? You are not going to spend the money on new tires, but a tire failure/blowout can cost you many thousands of dollars more in repairs. Why are you running 64 psi ? Have you ever weighed your MH ? It sounds low to me, for what I believe is a Class A MH.
How much is your MH rated to tow ? A trailer with a car on it could put you over your tow rating ?

glennj3cub · 07-26-2016, 10:08 PM

Mitch, I seriously did not find out how much it is rated to tow. Maybe that would be in my books someplace. I can't imagine that would be considered very much to pull. My pickup does not know it is back there, starting and stopping are the most strenuous on the vehicle. Driving on essentially flat highway in 3 drive (that is all the gears she has) should not be hard on the system.
I need to look and see where the air pressure came from? I have minimum 90 lbs and 94 maximum pressures. The books that came with the RV regarding tire and pressures do not show the tires that are on it so I have to go by the rated pressure on the sidewall. Dually rear with the one stabilizer wheel behind those.

Thanks,

glennj3cub · 07-26-2016, 10:13 PM

Sorry, I don't know why I wrote 65 lbs, I run minimum of 90 and up to 96 lbs. Dually with one wheel behind those for stabilization.
The books that came with my RV have several tires with rated pressures but none have the tires that are on my RV so I go by the pressure rated on the sidewalls.
Pulling the trailer with a light car on it should present no problems, the hardest on the vehicle would be starting and stopping, cruising down the flat highway should be no issues!

Thanks,