Your RV is your home, your vehicle, and a valuable investment; however, it can be very costly to repair if it is not properly maintained.
This is why preventive maintenance is so vital to the long-term health of your RV and to your overall ownership experience.
There are two basic types of maintenance for your RV: preventive maintenance and scheduled maintenance. Often these two terms are used interchangeably.
Preventive maintenance is maintenance you perform on your RV before a problem exists and consists of cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, adjusting, and servicing your RV. Preventive maintenance is really nothing more than common sense maintenance. It could be the difference between a safe and enjoyable trip and a costly disastrous one.
Scheduled Maintenance or routine maintenance is performed in intervals normally based on time, mileage, or hours. Scheduled maintenance is designed to keep your RV in top operating condition and prevent untimely breakdowns and repairs.
Regular RV maintenance ensures your family’s comfort and safety, and extends the life of your vehicle. Whether it’s RV roof maintenance to prevent leaks and water damage, RV generator service and RV battery maintenance to keep things running, RV air-conditioner service to maintain comfortable temperatures or RV brake system inspections to keep your coach roadworthy, there’s a lot riding on your attention to RV maintenance schedules.
So, when it comes to preventative maintenance, ask yourself:
- Do I know where to start?
- Do I know what tools and resources are out there to help me stay out in front of keeping my coach cared for and in tip-top shape?
Following are tools and resources to keep in mind:
Owner’s Manual
Don’t overlook the value of your owner’s manual. This provides information needed to operate and understand the vehicle and its components and is a great starting point for both specific and general issues to watch for, as well as best practices for your particular model.
It is absolutely essential that you read your owner’s manual and warranty information in regards to who is responsible for what when it comes to scheduled maintenance. Scheduled maintenance that is required by the manufacturer and not performed can void your warranty.
Internet
There are myriad resources available to you by a simple search: overviews, checklists, tips for winterizing, and more.
One obvious and important caveat: Only gather information from sites and resources you trust and can verify, and double-check any information before acting on something you find online.
Camp Freightliner
Camp Freightliner is open to anyone who wants to learn about motorhomes built on a Freightliner Custom Chassis. This comprehensive two-day training session in Gaffney, South Carolina, is designed to help you learn more about the benefits of driving a motorhome built on a Freightliner chassis.
Topics include the air brake system, electrical system, maintenance intervals, weight distribution and vehicle storage, plus much more. This is not a hands-on workshop, but we will spend time at a bare chassis, allowing you to become more familiar with the features.
Class size is limited and will be filled on a first registration basis. Click here, for additional information.
Use social media to connect with Freightliner Custom Chassis: You Tube channel and Facebook page.
Spartan Academy
The Spartan Chassis owner training provides you in-depth, hands-on training of your Spartan Chassis that you cannot receive anywhere else and includes personal on-the-road drive time with a certified instructor; driver course consisting of driver hazard awareness, basic driver guidelines, hazard avoidance, control, and recovery and the driver’s role; weighing your RV and adjusting tire pressures accordingly; personal walk-around and inspection of your coach with a qualified Spartan Chassis technician; chassis maintenance; chassis air systems; Spartan Customer First/Warranty information; chassis suspensions; chassis electrical; chassis troubleshooting; and factory tour.
Use social media to connect with Spartan Chassis for great preventative maintenance tips, tricks and tools of the trade: You Tube channel and Facebook page.
Good Sam
Good Sam offers Roadside Assistance and preventative maintenance tips on topics that include roof maintenance and cleaning; RV maintenance on a budget; RV refrigerators; rattling appliances; avoiding tire failure; and issues with RV awnings.
To learn more about Good Sam Roadside Assistance and preventative maintenance tips, click here.
Worth Pondering…
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy … rejoice, for your soul is alive.
—Eleanora Duse
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If you enjoy these articles and want to read more on RV travels and lifestyle, visit my website: Vogel Talks RVing.