Planning some great RV camping trips this spring? While you should always schedule a pre-trip inspection and RV maintenance before hitting the road, these RV maintenance tips from the service experts at Lazydays RV will help you start getting your camper ready for the road this camping season.
Inspect Your Slide-Outs
The beginning of camping season is the perfect time to assess the condition of each distinct part of your motorhome or trailer, and frequently inspecting your slide-outs can prevent expensive maintenance costs in the future. Before hitting the road, check your RV slide seals, slide covers and your slide mechanism for any debris, tears, or dryness. You might also consider adding lubrication to the slide-out mechanism, if needed.
Inspect Your RV Awnings
A patio awning can completely transform your RV campsite, and these tips from Lazydays can help you keep your window, door and slide awnings in great shape year-round. Pull your awnings out before washing your RV, put your awnings away during bad weather and always make sure to clear any sticks or debris before putting your awnings away. If your awning is wet, you won’t want to roll it up until it’s dry. If you absolutely have to roll up a wet awning, make sure to open it at your first opportunity so it can fully dry out.
Inspect & CLEAN RV Appliances
It’s important to check your appliances before taking your RV out for the season. Appliances such as water heaters, refrigerators, furnaces, and air conditioning units require routine maintenance to operate properly. Remove any debris and rust from the burners on your water heater, refrigerator, stove, and furnace by blowing them out with compressed air. Also inspect for any blockages from any critters that may have made a winter home in the intake/exhaust tubes. Clean or replace your air conditioner filters and inspect the coils. In addition, you’ll want to take this opportunity to test your CO and LP detectors, and replace if necessary.
Check Your Water Heater
Before you start your RV travel for the season, take a peek at the exterior vent openings on your water heater, which need to be regularly checked for rust, bugs and other debris from the road or campground.
Check Your Holding Tanks
Most RVs have a freshwater tank, a gray water tank and a black water tank. Freshwater tanks should be cleaned after each. Gray tanks connect to your sink, shower, washer and more. Along with the black tank, it’s important to keep the gray tank treated with chemicals to help prevent bad smells from infiltrating your camper. While we recommend sanitizing your RV water system once a year, at the very least, it’s a good idea to flush and sanitize each tank before or after each use.
Check Battery Fluid Levels
Many people remove batteries for winter storage, but if you didn’t do so, you’ll want to be especially careful when determining whether or not the battery is still safe to use. Batteries can discharge a great deal during storage and can be tricky to check as you can only check fluid levels in lead-acid batteries. When it comes to maintenance-free or AGM batteries, if you try to pry the top off you can ruin the battery. So, if your battery level is low or if you feel uncomfortable hooking the battery back up to the system, we recommend coming to a certified service center like Lazydays RV, where our technicians can safely install, recharge or replace your battery.
Check LP Tanks for Leaks
Unless you have an all-electric coach, it’s important to do proper checks and maintenance on your liquid propane tanks. Especially before you head out on your first camping trip of the season, you’ll want to be sure you’ve thoroughly checked for any leaks in the system, as propane leaks can be extremely dangerous.
Change Fuel System Filters
In diesel coaches, it is recommended that you change the primary and secondary fuel filters once every 15,000 miles or every 12 months, whichever comes first. To prevent algae from clogging your filters, use a treatment when you’re camping or storing your RV for an extended amount of time. You should also start and run your RV for an hour or so every few months.
Change the Engine Air Filter
Not only is changing the engine air filter generally good practice, it can also help keep your coach fuel efficient, which can end up saving you money in the long run.
Set RV Tire Pressure
Because blowouts can be incredibly dangerous for drivers as well as damaging to the coach, proper RV tire maintenance is essential. In addition to maintaining the manufacturer recommended tire pressure as found in your RV, you should also regularly have your tires aligned and check your tires for dry rot and curb damage.
At Lazydays RV, we have the nation’s largest RV service center, which is located at our Tampa RV dealership. We also have RV service centers in Tucson, Arizona, as well as Denver, Loveland and Longmont, Colorado. We even offer preventative maintenance service bundles for motorized and towable RVs, which means you can bring your RV in to us for all your maintenance needs. You’ll feel better knowing your coach has been checked and serviced by one of our RV service experts, many of which have more than 14 years of experience working on RVs. Request your appointment today!
