Hello. My name is Mike Stevens, certified RV technician here at Lazydays
and today I'd like to go over annual maintenance of your RV.
Most things will be for both motorized and towable,
so hopefully I can give you a few tips that will help you out.
First, we're going to take a look at all the sealant and make sure that everything's good across the board.
As you see here there's a small gap.
Something like this can cause some very expensive failures in the future,
so it's very important that all of this gets addressed.
We're also going to look at all your slide seals ensuring that they're
pliable, they're not stuck and there's no debris in them.
That does go well with your tracks and making sure that everything is well lubricated.
As you walk around your coach you're going to see
several things that are going to be important to take care of.
Inside your water tank, you do have all of your drain plugs,
your water connections, ensuring there's no leakage
and when you pop your cap off there should never be water dripping out.
If there is, that's a sure sign that something's leaking and it does need to be addressed.
Now this is a new model — ladder's nice and sturdy.
As it does get older, your screws start to loosen up.
Those are things you wouldn't normally think of until you go to get on the roof and you have some issues.
On this particular motorhome, we come across your appliances.
Appliances manufacturers do recommend yearly maintenance
and it really is important.
Not only does debris get in these open holes, but also insects.
They like to build homes in those warm places.
If you're up north, you get mice in there
If you're down south you get lots of bugs and other critters that like to live in there.
Spiders love the smell of propane.
These do need to be opened up annually,
inspected, making sure that there's no issues.
Your furnace does come apart, but that's something that you may
want to leave to the professionals that everything continues to work properly for you.
One of the main appliances we want to take a look at is our refrigerator.
When we open the access to our refrigerator,
it's important again to look for all those spiders
or other little insects that might have made a home in here
and to make sure that all of this is clean.
Now, in this particular model, you don't want to be accessing the burn chamber.
Leave that to the professionals, but make sure that this is just all cleaned out
and that there isn't anything growing.
Now, some coaches do have an outside entertainment system.
Just make sure that your seals are always good so that no water is getting inside.
If you do see some signs of water, it is something that does want to get addressed.
Your speakers are marine grade, they're going to hold up to the water.
Your television is not and that can have some issues.
Something as simple as your steps, you want to keep those lubricated so that they're always moving in
and out, nice and easy for you.
One other thing, if you haven't noticed that the whole coach is lifted and level right now.
A good shot on the jacks is this one here, it's almost fully extended.
These particular jacks are designed to lift the coach.
Some jacks on motorhomes are not, so it is very important to
look at your owner's manual to determine whether they are stabilizing only or if
they are designed to actually lift the jack to level them.
There is a jack service that is recommended every year
and it is important to get that done.
What you will find as those jacks start moving a lot slower than when they were originally new.
Always take a look at your tires, looking for cut outs any
debris that might be in there, any holes.
It is very important.
There is also an eight-year recommendation. If it happens to go over eight years old,
that is something you do want to address. The last thing you want is a blow out going down the road.
Inside your engine whether it be gas or diesel it is important to do your yearly maintenance.
Don't look at your mileage unless you are a high-mileage driver.
If it is a high mileage, if you are a
high-mileage driver, it is important that
whatever you happen to be driving, all those recommendations. For your
north-south drivers and your routine
campers it is important that once a year
that that does get done.
Now as we walked around, we look at all our seals.
Our slide room seals. It's also important to look at the seals around the windows.
Over time, they naturally will shrink.
It's something that just happens in the rubber.
But, once those do shrink it's important to get those replaced and resealed so that you don't have any
water penetration.
Once up inside your coach, it's just like looking around the outside.
Take a look around your coach. Look at the
different things that move.
This particular coach has a bed bunk over the driver and passenger seat that will
go up and down. It's important to maintain the lubrication in these per
manufacturer's specs. And please look at those they're all different.
some have oil some have grease it's important to take care of them properly
you'll also be looking at your slide rooms ensure
that along through here that everything
is fitting tightly if that starts to move there's an adjustment out of place
and it really is important to get that taken care of.
Your window blinds.
One thing that
quite often happens is these become loose.
Make sure they get tightened up before they get too bad.
Once they get wallered out, there's no fixing them again
or you have to move them.
So, stay on top of your little
things that you would think, 'oh, it's just basic; it's not a big deal.' It will become a big deal.
So, get that taken care of right away.
We also have several appliances inside. Just like outside, we do the
maintenance, we need to do the maintenance inside as well
Keeping your seals clean. If you maintain them
normally before your camping trip,
you won't have an issue with mold or anything else growing them.
It's also important if you store your coach, keep
the door slightly open. It allows the
airflow to get in there and it keeps things from smelling real bad.
Most stoves aren't usually an issue.
We don't have a lot of campers that love to
use their stove, but if you do make sure
it stays clean just like you would home.
Once that builds up,
it's a lot harder to take care of.
And one area that you don't see taken care of
very often also is inside your stove.
This does come on apart
and it's important to keep this area clean. Just like outside,
spiders, little insects, they love to live in that propane area.
And you do get a lot of debris from little grease droppings
or other things from cooking on there. So, once in a while just pick this up and clean that out.
This is a drop in sink.
Keep an eye on the sealant around the corner that tells
you two things: one is that it stays sealed and you don't have water dripping inside the cabinets,
but also it's important to do that because every once in awhile
the brackets that hold this up can start to fail.
So, if you see a gap there, have it addressed immediately.
Don't let it get too bad. For the sink can fall, so
it is very important to take care of that.
Back here we have the shower/bathroom. Treat it just like you would at home.
Keep it clean. Keep it well working.
One thing with your toilet, it is important to check around the base
and make sure that there's no leaking,
there's no water. You won't have any issues with that.
Most beds,
this particular one has no storage, but what you do want to look at
is you want to ensure that these strips are not cut
or frayed there and there. Because what will happen is, over time, those frays will get bad
and they'll start to catch the bed
and prevent your slide rooms from working properly.
And inside, especially for you Floridians
the air conditioner is always extremely important to keep an eye on.
This particular one has duct work,
so you simply just have your outputs here. Make sure they're clean from debris.
But, more importantly, look at the head unit in the ceiling, and make sure that the
filters are changed at least annually, if not every couple of months,
depending on how much you use it.
So, hopefully you've gotten a couple of tips and I was able to help
you go through a couple of things on your motorhome.
Here at Lazydays, we do have some annual packages that work
out perfectly for us, if it's something that you don't feel comfortable doing yourself.
We'd love to help you out and if there's anything that we can do for you,
please give us a call.