Ensuring Dependability

Whether you are a seasoned veteran who has been RVing for 40 years, new to the RV lifestyle, or just starting to think about the possibility of RV adventures, you must agree with the premise that you need a dependable, safe vehicle to make the RV experience a worthwhile pursuit.

Your “dependable vehicle” assumption may not be obvious to you in the beginning as the lure of spending sacred time with family and friends and your dreams of travel draw you to consider buying a motorhome or a tow vehicle and fifth wheel or travel trailer. But people who stick with the RV lifestyle for the long haul have solved the problem of making their RV dependable, with the benefits of RVing outweighing the maintenance costs. After nearly 40 years of helping RVers maintain, repair and enhance their vehicles, I have seen only two major classes of people who have quit the lifestyle: people who don’t attain a dependable enough vehicle or who give up RVing because of old age.

Since a dependable vehicle is the underlying foundation that supports your RV lifestyle, it is imperative that you learn how to evaluate the performance of your rig and use the tools at your command to ensure that you end your RVing career happy that you started it.

Let me explain a set of basic principles I have adopted during my career to help people make their RVs work better. Embedded in these principles is a method of dealing with vehicle mechanical issues in a manner that leads to acceptable results a very high percentage of a time.

Do the Maintenance: Every vehicle has a recommended maintenance schedule. If you want a hard-working vehicle to last and do its job, you have to give it a chance. Doing recommended maintenance on time is key to success in keeping a vehicle dependable. If you hear a new noise or notice some oddity with your rig, make sure any work you have done to determine the cause of the concern includes doing related maintenance. If you hear a noise from a front wheel, then service the front wheel bearings. If you have a loss of power, change the fuel filter and check the air filter as part of whatever else you do.

Keep a Logbook: An intelligently kept logbook is an invaluable tool to aid in the analysis of how your RV is doing. Use the log to track fuel mileage, oil changes and other regular maintenance. Also list the kind of driving you have done and with what kind of loads and include the dates, time and place of repairs. Make a point of checking motor oil, transmission fluid, coolant level, brake fluid, etc. at the start of each travel day. You can note what the normal level is for your auto trans on the cold dipstick before starting the engine and use this as a guide for whether you should take the time to check the hot level later. Use the log to determine trends, positive or negative, in order to determine whether further diagnostics and/or repairs are needed. If fuel mileage is dropping over time, then something has changed for the worse. To ignore changes for the worse in the log is to court a nasty surprise.

Use Appropriate Instrumentation: Many RVs do not have the in-dash instrumentation needed to show that the vehicle is operating properly. Few RVs come with transmission temperature gauges, yet they all need one for mountain travel. Many Ford vehicles have gauges that are “idiot lights with needles.” These gauges don’t move at all until a very serious condition exists. When driving your RV, you are operating a truck. A real temperature gauge can be the difference between having a pleasant picnic while the transmission cools down or being towed off the mountain to spend a week in a repair shop.

Get Regular Checkups: You should make a point of really looking over your rig from time to time. Open the hood and scan things with a bright light. Keep a list of little things you notice as you drive or during your inspections. Any change that is prominent enough that you can describe it or show it to your professional service provider should be listed and discussed when you take the rig in for service. Find a home shop for your rig and expect to pay for a few hours of time every few years to give the rig a thorough checkup. Checking fuel pressure, belts, hoses, the condition of coolant and even to the extent of measuring the power output of the engine from time to time will enable you to choose when to spend your time and money at repair shops on your terms and not on terms dictated by fickle fate when your precious vacation hours are going down the drain.

Keep Everything Compatible: Keep weight compatible with brakes compatible with power compatible with tires, etc., and never disobey this principle. Often intelligent enhancement of one of these factors can make the difference between safe traveling and danger. It is also true that too much power for the cooling system can lead to a disaster as can a cooling system not working properly because of a bad pressure cap.

Find Shops You Can Trust: If you don’t know where to take your rig for diagnostics or repair, ask other RVers for referrals. Look for references from people who don’t know each other, and ask questions. You will find that good, knowledgeable and ethical shops that know RVs will be broadly recommended.

Last But Not Least: You can pose your vehicle performance questions to “Power to the Wise.” I will do my level best to help if I can. Your questions will make it into print. The subjects and discussions for upcoming issues will be driven by you, the readers, and what you are interested in. I am very much looking forward to getting to know you and your rigs.

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E-mail questions to askchuck@thepowershop.com. Chuck Arnold is one of three founders of The PowerShop in Enumclaw, Washington, where he helps RVers with their diagnostic, maintenance, repair and performance enhancement projects. Chuck has authored hundreds of RV articles and is a frequent guest on the Northwest Auto Show, which airs on Seattle radio station KVI Saturdays from 6 to 8 a.m. Recommendations in this column are general in nature. Vehicle owners should seek professional guidance for specific problems.