New to campers, need tips and tricks
Bought a cheap used travel trailer, everything works and it has no leaks, pretty good shape for a 23? trailer made in 1983.
Bought it mainly for hunting season and weekend trips to Yellowstone with the girls, it will not be going on long trips, furthest maybe 200 miles in one direction.
So, I know nothing about these except for the motorcoaches I worked on at my last mechanic job.
Generator, how big will work? How often does it need to run?
Propane, it has two tanks, how long do these last? Normal use, stovetop cooking maybe twice a day, heat and running the fridge.
Water, not sure how big the tanks are. One person using it as a hunting camp for maybe a week, last awhile?
Emptying the black water tank, what kind of hookups are needed?
Winterizing, while I?ve done tons of mechanic work on million $ Prevosts and other fancy brands I have never messed with the housing area and know nothing of what to do.
Educate me
Bought it mainly for hunting season and weekend trips to Yellowstone with the girls, it will not be going on long trips, furthest maybe 200 miles in one direction.
So, I know nothing about these except for the motorcoaches I worked on at my last mechanic job.
Generator, how big will work? How often does it need to run?
Propane, it has two tanks, how long do these last? Normal use, stovetop cooking maybe twice a day, heat and running the fridge.
Water, not sure how big the tanks are. One person using it as a hunting camp for maybe a week, last awhile?
Emptying the black water tank, what kind of hookups are needed?
Winterizing, while I?ve done tons of mechanic work on million $ Prevosts and other fancy brands I have never messed with the housing area and know nothing of what to do.
Educate me
0
-
Lots of tips here:
https://forums.gunbroker.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1885080&hilit=Camper0 -
Not enough info here to really be able to tell you.Big Sky Redneck wrote:Bought a cheap used travel trailer, everything works and it has no leaks, pretty good shape for a 23? trailer made in 1983.
Bought it mainly for hunting season and weekend trips to Yellowstone with the girls, it will not be going on long trips, furthest maybe 200 miles in one direction.
So, I know nothing about these except for the motorcoaches I worked on at my last mechanic job.
Generator, how big will work? How often does it need to run?
Propane, it has two tanks, how long do these last? Normal use, stovetop cooking maybe twice a day, heat and running the fridge.
Water, not sure how big the tanks are. One person using it as a hunting camp for maybe a week, last awhile?
Emptying the black water tank, what kind of hookups are needed?
Winterizing, while I?ve done tons of mechanic work on million $ Prevosts and other fancy brands I have never messed with the housing area and know nothing of what to do.
Educate me
What size are the propane tanks? Are they just the typical 5lb bottles?
Without knowing what size the water tanks are there's no way to know how long they will last "one person using it as a hunting camp for maybe a week".
Typical blackwater flush on older trailers involves a hose running fresh water. Hookup to the trailer for the dump is fairly standard and a hose is available just about anywhere... walmart, camping world, etc.
Your genset needs will be dictated entirely on what you plan to run. micro? AC? lights? What wattage?0 -
The first thing you need to worry about is wheel bearings and tires. When was the last time the bearings were greased or replaced and how old are the tires.
I always carry a tool box I've made up just for the bearings when towing a trailer. It includes the parts, tools including grease and rags and spray brake cleaner etc. to replace bearings while broke down on the side of the highway. Even new bearings can go bad. That also includes a hydraulic jack in the back of my truck to jack it up with.0 -
Bpost said once, trailer tires are good for one year and that's it. And they're an entirely different composition than car and truck tires. Ive been thinking about a camper too so I'm paying attention to whatever gets posted. 0 -
As has been said bearings, brakes and tires. Get a good brake controller. Unless your truck has one built in get a Tekonsha. On Tires the stems go bad way before the tires. I pulled into the rest stop heading in to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel to check tires before the long tunnel. Turns out I had a stem going bad and a low tire. Luckily I had the tools and supplies to replace all the stems before heading into that tunnel. This was 15 yrs or more ago. Most new trailers come with tire pressure monitors and you can add your own aftermarket units to older campers. Same with bearing temp monitors. I also carry a laser temp monitor < $20 on amazon. scan all the bearings every time we stop.
Most campers have twin 40# LP tanks. That will last you a season unless you are running the heater. An 83 may or may not have a failover indicator to show that you have gone from your main tank to the back up. If not camping world has them. Run on one tank till its empty then isolate the empty and get it filled.
Same with batteries. Get an A/B A+B isolation switch for your batteries. Leave it in A+B when charging then if you are dry camping on only battery you can run on A till its dead then switch to B. They have special ones if you have a solar charger so your offline battery gets all the sun love and then when you switch the other one gets charged. Go ahead and replace all the bulbs with LED. Your batteries will last days longer.
Winterizing. Super important, know more than one person that got hosed not doing it. Get a 3 way flush valve. Goes in ahead of the water pump. Sucks food grade antifeeze from the bottle and injects it into the main cold water line. Also install a water heater bypass valve. It isolates the water heater, allows you to drain the tank to the outside so you dont have to fill it with anti freeze. Isolate the water heater. Switch the 3 way to the antifreeze intake then fire up the pump. Go to the back of the camper and there will be 2 lines hanging down that are the drains for the Hot and Cold Mains. Open them one at a time until the antifreeze comes out. Close it and do the other.
Then open up each faucet one at the time cold first then hot until the antifreeze is flowing for a few seconds. Shut the cold change to the hot. as soon as the antifeeze flows shot the hot off. Go to the next faucet. Do not forget the toilet, the shower and the outside shower if you have one. All the while make sure your supply bottle is not running low.
Your fresh water tank has a plug on the bottom, just empty it and reinstall the plug. In the spring, I add a cup or so of bleach to the tank fill it up and let it sit for a day then open those drain valves in the back (hot first to flush the bypass) again and turn the pump on and flush each till I smell bleach. Change to the other, wait till you smell bleach close it up and flush all the faucets. Let it sit that way for a day. I dont like to leave bleach in the water heater as that can degrade the lining on the tank. (mine has lasted almost 20 yrs so far so....) After the bleach water has sat for a day or 3 drain it all and flush with fresh water.
Best Black tank tip I think anyone ever gave me was drain when you are leaving your camp for last time of year. I had installed a spray nozzle to flush it as much as possible. Then dump a bag of ice down the toilet with an enzyme pack to slosh around on the trip home. Drain that when you get home. The ice and the enzymes scrub the tank.
for winter lube all your drain and toilet valves with appropriate silicon lube to keep the seals good.
Lonny, I don't have to tell you how far proper maintenance goes towards keeping something running.... I may have forgotten something but when I'm out buttoning mine up in a few weeks I'll let you know.0 -
casting wrote:Bpost said once, trailer tires are good for one year and that's it. And they're an entirely different composition than car and truck tires. Ive been thinking about a camper too so I'm paying attention to whatever gets posted.
Nearly all camper tires, that would be ST tires & so stamped, are rated at 65 MPH and made in china. In the 'industry' known a china bombs 'cause they fail and tear up a camper when they do.
The two best rated camper tires are Goodyear Endurance (made in the USA) and Maxxis. Both speed rated at 86 MPH.0 -
This website can provide answers to most aspects:
http://www.doityourselfrv.com/rv-maintenance-tips-repairs/0 -
Thanks BigSky for posting, I'm new as well, had a thread couple weeks ago about this same thing. Have learned now as well. 
0 -
Hit
rv.net
Lots of Q+A.0 -
Avoid truck stops. 0 -
Lonny, If your "new to you" RV has a 4 inch square tube rear bumper it may contain the drain hose for your sewer tanks. It will have caps on the ends of the bumper.
Good luck on your travels.
Jim0 -
And if it doesn?t already have them put in a smoke and carbon monoxide detector! Hopefully you?re going to store it under shelter in the winter. Also install sway bars if it doesn?t have them. 0 -
Lot?s of good advice, thanks!
Also, working in the shop that handled RVs as well as bug trucks I?m quite anal about wheel bearings. And having owned several boats and car trailers over the years bearing checks are second nature.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
13 comments