3 Important Maintenance Tips for Your Recreational Vehicle

If you have recently bought a recreational vehicle (RV), congratulations! You are now among the millions of Americans who own an RV. Even though you are excited to hit the road in your home away from home, you need to be aware that your RV requires routine maintenance.

When you properly maintain your RV, you will minimize the need for costly repairs and decrease your chances of a breakdown on the road. Here are three important maintenance tips for your RV.

1. Change Your Oil on a Regular Basis

Most RV manufacturers recommend you change the oil in your motorhome every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. If you use synthetic oil, you might not have to change your oil as often. Some synthetic oils claim they last up to 25,000 miles. However, even if you can get by with changing synthetic oil less often, this might not always be wise.

Some RV warranties require you to change your oil at least once every 3 to 6 months. If you don't do this, the warranty may become void. It's important to note that you should only use the kind of oil that your RV manufacturer recommends.

2. Take Good Care of the Tires

The tires are arguably one of the most important parts on your RV. When your tires are in good condition, your RV will handle better, plus you will get better fuel economy. If something unexpected happened to one of your tires while driving down the road, it could cause an accident.

You should always check your tire pressure before every trip. When you drive your RV on underinflated tires, they have an increased chance of failing, plus the treads will wear out more quickly.

Regarding your RV tires, you should do the following:

• Inspect the sidewalls of the tires for cracks and replace any tires that have cracks that exceed 1/16 inches
• Make sure that the weight of the RV is distributed evenly over the tires and always stay below the maximum load limit
• Rotate the tires on a regular basis as this promotes even tread wear and a longer tire life.
• Quickly replace damaged tires and any tires that are over 6 years old

Even when you're not using your RV, you can maintain the tires by covering them. When you keep the tires off the ground, you prevent damage, slow the aging process, and relieve pressure.

3. Service Your Generator

Your generator plays a crucial role when it comes to living in your RV. The generator provides power to your RV and allows you to cook, wash your clothes, and do other essential tasks. To keep the generator running at peak performance, it's important to operate it under load at least once a month. You can do this by running the generator at 50 percent load capacity.

Here are some more ways to get maximum performance of your generator:

• Every time you change the oil on the generator, check the hour meter and log the run hours
• Visually inspect the generator every 8 to 10 run hours
• Change the generator's fuel filter every 1 to 2 years or 400 to 500 run hours
• Adjust the valves every 800 run hours
• Change the generator's oil once a year, every 100 to 150 run hours, or according to the manufacturer's recommendations

If you have a diesel generator, you will also need to drain the water from the fuel system once a year or every 100 run hours. You will also need to replace the coolant, thermostat, and radiator caps every two years.

When your RV is in need of high-quality routine maintenance, contact The Motorcoach Store. Our RV service department provides routine maintenance for class A, class B, and class C motorhomes.