New RV - let's have some FUN here!!!

[johnschnee]

"Honey-Bunch" & I have been RVing for five years, having purchased (new) a 2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35K. We've had a GREAT time with it - not too many "problems" with it, excepting those we've created for ourselves, of course! It's called a "learning curve" & it can be pretty steep, sometimes! Anyway, we found a NEW coach (2019 Fleetwood Southwind 36P) that we'll be picking up next week & immediately take camping: first, just a 3-night "shakedown cruise" to work out any "bugs" (straight back to the dealership if we do find any!), then the following week we are off for a month-long trip through the SE USA.

Here's my question: If YOU were to be starting out with a new rig - your 2nd - what would you do differently? I've come up with a few things already!

1. Keep a more thorough "maintenance log" of date & mileage of oil changes, generator services, etc. (Admitting I wasn't always so thorough with our first rig!) 

2. Apply 303 Aerospace Protectant to all "non-tread" surfaces of all tires REGULARLY! (Didn't know about this product until the 3rd year with first rig.)

ANY useful suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!  THANKS!!!! 🙂 

 

[Kirk W]

While I agree with #1, I sure wouldn't waste my money and time on #2. Motorhome tires almost always get replaced due to age well before they are worn out anyway but I did use tire covers when stopped for more than just a night or two. 

Wash and wax the coach at least twice each year and check the roof and all caulking each time. I also sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs at each oil change to keep an eye on what was happening in the engine. I made sure to do all other chassis maintenance as the book specified and sent a sample of the transmission fluid to Blackstone when it was changed. Since this is a gas rig you will also need to change the brake fluid periodically(I did so every 5 years). 

[johnschnee]

Kirk,

As always, THANK YOU for your advise here! I never had heard of having your OIL or TRANSMISSION (I almost used the old slang term "TRANNY", but understand that has a quite DIFFERENT MEANING now!) FLUID checked out like that - assume your watching for WATER, GASOLINE or OTHER FORIEGN MATTER infiltration, all of which can ruin one's day?

The AEROSPACE 303 - being a UV PROTECTANT - I understood can help protect those expensive tires from damage from the sun PLUS, as it "conditions" the rubber I can help ward off DRY ROT & damage from OZONE exposure? I too cover the tires when the coach is "resting".

I initialed stated using the 303 to condition the rubber seals on my slides, as advised by an old RV tech at the dealership where I purchased in '14.

Besides, I got a bargain on a gallon of that stuff, so I figure I may as well use it up! 

Again, THANKS!!!

[FL-JOE]

12 hours ago, johnschnee said:

 

Here's my question: If YOU were to be starting out with a new rig - your 2nd - what would you do differently? I've come up with a few things already!

1. Keep a more thorough "maintenance log" of date & mileage of oil changes, generator services, etc. (Admitting I wasn't always so thorough with our first rig!) 

2. Apply 303 Aerospace Protectant to all "non-tread" surfaces of all tires REGULARLY! (Didn't know about this product until the 3rd year with first rig.)

ANY useful suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!  THANKS!!!! 🙂 

 

John, I keep two different maintenance logs.  One keeps track of the mechanical stuff that I hire done, like engine service, generator service, tranny, etc.  The other log is my "campground maintenance" log.  This is where I record when I do stuff like clean the air conditioner filters, 303 the roof vents, change the whole house filter, change the frig filter, water my batteries, wax job, etc.  

I also keep a log of my fuel, cost, location of fill up, and mpg.  My main concern here is to keep track of my mpg to make sure everything looks normal.

We have owned a few RVs but only two were purchased new.  With this recent second one we stayed camped close to the selling dealer for the whole winter.  We took a total of three in state trips in order to get some miles on.  This worked out really good for getting warranty work done before we really started traveling across country full time.

[sandsys]

When we bought a new motorhome I sat down with all the manuals and made a spreadsheet of which things needed to be done at which intervals: Arrival/departure, monthly, 3 months, 6 months, yearly, and other. I knew we would never remember to do everything without that reminder sheet.

Linda Sand

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, johnschnee said:

- assume your watching for WATER, GASOLINE or OTHER FORIEGN MATTER infiltration, all of which can ruin one's day?

That is only part of what they check for. They also test for several different metals that show wear rates and early warning of bearing failures, fuel blowby, oil break down, and a lot of trace chemicals. They make recommendations on time/miles between oil changes to either increase or decrease the separation. They had me increase the mileage between oil changes. Blackstone not only gives you an analysis report but also an explanation of what things mean. They keep copies of each report and each new report shows what you have had in past reports and so indicates trends that also tell you a great deal. I also had one done when we bought a used motorhome and made the purchase, pending the passing of the analysis. 

[johnschnee]

Kirk,

Thank you for all the useful information!

JS

[OregonJim]

On 9/20/2018 at 6:48 AM, FL-JOE said:

With this recent second one we stayed camped close to the selling dealer for the whole winter.  We took a total of three in state trips in order to get some miles on.  This worked out really good for getting warranty work done before we really started traveling across country full time.

This is one of the first things I put on my to-do list in case we purchase new.  And here I was thinking I thought of it all by myself. 

 

-Jim

[blrsmith]

We've been fulltime for 6+ years and a few years ago we took our 42' toy hauler to Colorado. I decided we needed 2 days to go to the west side of the Rockies, so we threw in a tent and sleeping bag. Saw millions of stars, elk, moose, an eagle, we were quite happy when we went to bed. For 5 minutes...we tossed and turned and finally I said "I cant do this". My DH immediately packed up our clothes, said OK and we promptly travelled to Grand Lake for a hotel! our plan was later we would do Montana et al with the 42 TH and camp on side trips...the ground has gotten so much harder! So when we sold our 1st RV that was for sale for 2 years while we travelled, we went shopping for a tt to actually travel in as we were headed to the east coast. I wanted to like a 24' one, but got Claustrophobic in one. So we bought what we thought was 32' from the 3200 on the label even though it looked awfully big for a 32'. So 1 1/2 years later I convinces DH to measure it...it was 38'!! We just laughed. So now we live in a 42' TH and travel in a 38'TH.