Winter Maintenance for Your Motor Coach
Any RVer will tell you, owning an RV isn’t all sunshine and rainbows- sometimes it’s scrubbing dead bugs off the grill, or finding the source of a mysterious leak, investigating a strange whistling sound, or figuring out how to change the oil in the strangest engine you’ve ever seen. This post is about one of those less-than-glamorous aspects of being an RV owner- regular maintenance while your RV is in long-term storage.
There are great articles and videos showing how to winterize your RV, and you’ve likely already winterized yours (if you’re going to). And there are all sorts of ideas out there on how to keep out pests and what to clean out of your RV before you put it into storage (check out our Pinterest Board for more ideas).
And you know me, I don’t like reinventing the wheel here on The Paved Frontier. But there are a few tips and hints on how to properly care for your RV (primarily a motor coach, since that’s what we have) while it’s in storage that I haven’t really seen anyone talking about on the interwebs:
**Please add your own advice or other tips you’ve read in the comments below. We likely haven’t thought of everything, so please share so we can learn, too!
Big Lou is sitting in the storage lot.
Once you’ve winterized your RV, it’ll likely be sitting in storage for two to three months, or more! As we all know, you shouldn’t just let a vehicle sit without some sort of upkeep.
Here are some things you should do while your RV is just sitting:
1) Crank both the engine and the generator- even better, drive it around to get everything moving. You should do this about once a week, and ideally leave it running for about an hour whenever you can.
2) Pull the RV forward or backwards so it’s not sitting on the same place on the tires for months on end. Of course, if you drive the RV around (mentioned above), you don’t have to worry about this. It’s also a good idea to check the tire pressure.
3) Don’t leave your parking break on. You can chock your tires if you’re on even the slightest slope.
4) Fill up your RV and add a gasoline additive to stabilized your fuel so it won’t “gunk up” everything while being unused for so long.
5) Do a visual inspection both inside and out. Walk around the RV to make sure there aren’t any noticeable issues such as downed branches, cracked seals, leaks, or flat tires. Check inside for signs of pests or leaks.
Think of any other considerations you should make based on where you have it stored. If you’re in an ocean front area, like we are, you may want to hose the salt off and touch up the locks with WD-40. If your RV is parked under a tree that drops branches, leaves, or acorns, you’ll want to get on top to sweep it off before it stains the roof. You’ll also want to make sure branches haven’t drooped since you parked, and trim those back before they scratch.
If you live somewhere where it snows often, you’ll want to clear the snow off the roof, if possible. Snow adds a lot of additional weight on the seams and on your cold tires. This can cause cracking and leaks. Leaks in the winter can be especially bad due thawing and re-freezing, which causes more damage with expansion; it can also be a surprise to find a leak when it thaws in the Spring. And check both the inside and outside seams after each snowfall or a heavy rain.
I don’t know about you, but having Big Lou in storage is more difficult for me that I thought it would be- I’m used to our weekend vacations! Instead we’ve been stuck at home! The horror! I can’t wait until I’m writing about actual RV vacations again!
What routine do you follow to care for your RV that’s in long term storage? What tips have I missed? Share in the comments below!
