Owning an RV requires a certain level of upkeep, especially if you plan on traveling with it full time. The good news is that much of the regular maintenance involved with RVs is pretty straightforward. Take a moment to explore some basic maintenance tasks that every RVer should know about and uncover how valuable maintenance can be to keeping your vehicle in excellent shape.
Inspecting Roof, Seals, and Seams
One of the maintenance tasks every RV owner should know about is regularly inspecting your roof, seals, and seams. Many newcomers tend to overlook this aspect of upkeep. But, truthfully, it’s an essential preventative measure that helps identify leaks or water damage in your RV.
Moreover, it’s vital to ensure that your vehicle’s structure remains intact. This is because your roof, seals, and seams are the first line of defense against moisture. If you examine them and find warping or water stains, you’re likely dealing with water damage.
Armed with this knowledge, you can decide what repairs you may need. Inspecting these features regularly will help you catch issues early on, which will help you avoid costly, time-consuming repairs in the long run.
Change Your Oil and Filters
Keeping your RV in excellent shape means checking that things under the hood are working as they should. Specifically, changing your oil and filters is crucial to keeping things running as smoothly as possible.
You should make time in your maintenance schedule to have your oil flushed, topped off, and replaced as needed. But it’s also highly recommended that you have the following filters replaced with every oil change or—at the very least—on a seasonal basis:
- Air filter
- Fuel filter
- Coolant filter
- Hydraulic filter
When you don’t take the time to change your oil and filters, they can cause accelerated wear and tear on your engine. This wear causes the overall lifespan of your RV to take a drastic hit. Plus, full-fledged engine repair is more costly and time-consuming than a simple oil or filter change.
Always Examine Your Wheels
Another task you should make time for regularly is examining and adjusting your RV’s wheels as necessary. The reasons for this should be obvious. After all, you won’t get very far on your journey without a set of pristine wheels.
That’s why it’s a good idea to tighten the lug nuts and check the tire pressure of your wheels before each trip. Doing so ensures that you can get to where you’re going. Further, you can do so without worrying about a faulty tire going flat or, worse, shaking loose and coming off your RV completely.
Tire pressure and tightly-fastened lug nuts may seem minor. But in reality, they’re often the difference between safe travels and detrimental damage to your RV. For these reasons, we couldn’t leave it out of our shortlist of maintenance tasks every RV owner should know about.
