RV is a vehicle that brings travel dreams come true for many families, but also individuals. There are a lot of beautiful moments that RV brings, but at the end of the season, you should plan to store it properly. It is not a good idea to just leave your RV in storage for a long period because many unpleasant things can happen. In order to care properly about your RV, you should maintain it in the best possible way. The problem is that many people actually don’t know what they need to do in those situations. That is why in this list, we will give you 7 tips for maintaining RV’s condition during long-term storage periods.
Find a safe place
One of the most important things that you need to do in order to make sure that the RV will be in great condition is to find a good and safe place for storage. Many people decide to leave their RV somewhere in front of the house or in the open sky without any canopy above it. That will expose your pressure RV to different weather, which can influence the RV’s condition a lot. Also, an even bigger problem for leaving your RV somewhere parked outside for a longer period is that it can be stolen. In order to avoid those scenarios, you should find a recreational vehicle storage that will be an ideal place to leave your RV. In that way, you will not need to worry that it can be stolen or that it will be exposed to different weather conditions that can harm you.
Detailed cleaning
It would be easy to just park your RV in a storage garage and leave, but that will not be good for the RV’s condition. The thing that you can do and that is needed is to do detailed cleaning. That cannot be hard to do, and there are professional services that can do that without you, and even better. Detailed cleaning of the RV is important because of:
- Preventing the appearance of mold and bacteria
- Bad smells
- Protecting the surface and materials from corrosion
Those are just some examples of why it is important to keep your RV clean before storing it for a long period.
Don’t forget the boiler
The boiler can be a very dangerous thing in your RV if you don’t take proper care of it. The thing that you must do before leaving your RV is to empty the whole boiler tank. That is because the water in the boiler can freeze during the cold temperatures, and it can explode. When a boiler explodes, it can act like a bomb and cause very big damage and threaten someone’s life who is near. Forgetting to empty and turn on the boiler in the RV can cause those scenarios, and it can be avoided very simply. That is another reason why you shouldn’t just leave your RV without checking it correctly.
Change the oil before storing
One of the most common mistakes that people make is that they leave their RV for a long time without checking the oil. The best thing that you can do is to simply change the oil. Old oil in a vehicle can produce very strong acids, which can harm your vehicle and damage very important parts of the RV, and stop your next adventures that you are waiting for. Changing the oil will delay that process and make your RV safe. An even bigger problem is that oil can corrode the engine’s interior, which can cause extremely big damage to the engine, which will be very expensive to repair.
Provide a good foundation for tyres
RV is a very big vehicle, and it is present like a small house on wheels. That is because they need a lot more attention than the other types of vehicles in order to do regular maintenance. Also, an RV is usually a very heavy vehicle because it has a lot of stuff inside it, and home appliances. Leaving the RV on earth or grass for a long period of time can be a big mistake. The reasons why these present big mistakes are:
- Corrosion and rust: Wet land or grass can make an unpleasant change in the RV chassis and cause it to corrode. That will harm your brakes and other metal parts, but also, humidity can get to the floor of the RV, which is mostly made from plywood.
- Tire degradation: Long time on wet let will cause tire degradation and incur more expenses that need to be repaired.
- Leveling issues and sinking. Because an RV is a heavy vehicle, it can sink, and one side can sink more than the other. That can damage the stabilizers and frame of the RV, and it will be hard to pull it off once the season ends.
Those bad situations can cause significant damage to your vehicle, but at the same time incur very high costs. That needs to be motivation for you to park the RV somewhere on a solid foundation like concrete, where you will not have any problems.
Winterization as necessary process
Most travelers are leaving their RV in the winter period because they don’t usually love to travel during warmer periods, because of the easier travel and the blooming nature, that is blooming which is perfect for camping and enjoying. Your RV can be in excellent condition at the end of the winter if you do good preparation, and one necessary step for that is winterization. That means that you should empty all water tanks and dry pipes in order to be sure that no water will be left. Winterization needs to be done because ice has a bigger volume than water, and that will cause your pipes and devices to break and crack.
Do not let animals inside
Wild animals like rats and mice can easily go inside your RV through different openings. Those animals are mostly attracted to the smell of the food, so be sure that you cleaned RV from it. Just in case, close all windows completely and plug the hatches so that nothing can enter inside.
When you do regular and proper maintenance of your RV, it will be ready and in the best possible condition for your next trip. This list with those useful tips will help you to make that true and prepare for your next amazing travels.
Recent Comments