RV Camping; Tips, tricks & repairs

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Just say you are a friend of mine.

That's my go-to pick-up line already, so versatile.

[suntan]

Bought a F150 with max trailer tow package and a 28 foot trailer. Sold my 16' in less than a day.

Thing has been a bit of a clusterfuck, have to replace a piece of siding on the trailer, the stove is missing a bunch of parts, had to fix some of the cabinet door hinges and clasps, the power converter blew up, lots of little screwy things - no cord for the propane cover, really old battery, interior lights were all messed up, table base was broken, drawers weren't secured, license plate holder was broken, replaced 7-way cord, the curtain rail holders and clips needed to be replaced, all the blind clips are broken, gravity water cap was broken, and the door locks were so worn it was nigh impossible to lock. One of the windows doesn't have a screen, I have found out the hard way those things are almost impossible to replace.

Had to get new mattresses, Canadian Mattress Wholesalers sells some pretty good RV short queen mattresses for around $500. Replaced bunk mattresses with memory foam from Dormir, who gets them from Sureline.

Replaced the shower head with one of the Oxygenics ones, the thing actually works really well and uses less water.

Small things to upgrade: Replace faucet aerators with ultra-low flows, put insulation around the pipes attached to the water pump to quiet down the water hammering.

I did add struts to the overhead cabinets and to the queen underbed storage. The cabinet struts they sell on Amazon are awful, I'm going to return them and buy the ones at Lee Valley.

Next year I will replace the awning and blinds and perhaps the door.

Hobo is rapidly running out of inventory, turns out Guarantee RV has a pretty good parts department that's open early and closes late. They also sell lockable metal battery boxes in single and dual 12V/6V with plastic interior trays.

[prae]

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turns out Guarantee RV has a pretty good parts department that's open early and closes late. They also sell lockable metal battery boxes in single and dual 12V/6V with plastic interior trays.

Is battery theft really a thing? gawd

[nzwasp]

Do people use these vent covers over there existing vents for the purpose of opening their vents when it’s raining?

[sxtasy]

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Do people use these vent covers over there existing vents for the purpose of opening their vents when it’s raining?

I don't have a vent cover, but would like to get one in black for the purpose of keeping it darker inside during the mornings.

[D'z Nutz]

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Do people use these vent covers over there existing vents for the purpose of opening their vents when it’s raining?

I helped a friend installed 3 of these onto a trailer. He said he wanted them as extra protection against hail storms.

[ExtraSlow]

Several purposes. Can leave open in rain. Can leave open when driving, can leave open in storage, and some small protection against hail.

For darkness, try the camco insulated "thingies" that push up from inside.

[AndyL]

Downside to them is if you hit a tree branch with them, it costs you a full vent, not just the cover.

Suppose that could depend on how you mount them. But when I was running them every time it hit something - broke the front edge of the vent housing as well as the cover.

Didn't take long before they were just left off and a couple vent covers were stocked under the sink. 12$ cover vs 75$ vent (back then) + the cover.

[D'z Nutz]

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Didn't take long before they were just left off and a couple vent covers were stocked under the sink. 12$ cover vs 75$ vent (back then) + the cover.

Where did you find vent lids for $12?

[AndyL]

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Where did you find vent lids for $12?

eBay think they were 26ish at crappy tire at the time - yeah this might be going back more than a decade

[legendboy]

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Do people use these vent covers over there existing vents for the purpose of opening their vents when it’s raining?

I put aluminum roof vent covers on my trailer this year after the hail storm. Its a bit dark in my trailer but i won't ever have to replace one. I am on my 4th trailer and am sick off replacing the plastic covers.

[dirtsniffer]

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Attachment 93469

Ended up replacing all 5 with d load carlisle tires. Installed it was $700 through the mechanic at the storage yard. Probably some convenience charge in there. But its damn convenient!

[nzwasp]

Broke my water pump on the last trip, forgot to turn it off and it ran dry after a couple of mins on the batteries. Its a shurflo 4008-101-A65 which seems common but all the RV catalogs Ive checked say special order or call for price, any places you guys know would have them in stock? Amazon canada has them for 180 shipped but the lead time is mid sept.

Also looking for a foam mattress thats a bit higher quality that the stock queen size we have in there, the original one I feel like at my weight im basically sleeping on the wood base, costco have queen size mattresses for $379, Ikea has them for a little bit cheaper but reviews seem mixed.

The other thing that broke was the table in the slide. I bought another one of those alumium bases that the single pole slides into but I dont know if this is just my experience it still feels a bit wonky despite being all the way in, maybe they are just like that?

[FraserB]

When do you need the pump by? I think I have a spare in the trailer, I would just need to check the part number.

I’d sell it to you for what it would cost for me to replace it, I don’t expect to need it this year

[Tik-Tok]

Mine has run bone dry for more than one 3 hour drive, lol. I guess I've gotten lucky. I'm sure it's lifespan is severely reduced though.

[dirtsniffer]

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Broke my water pump on the last trip, forgot to turn it off and it ran dry after a couple of mins on the batteries. Its a shurflo 4008-101-A65 which seems common but all the RV catalogs Ive checked say special order or call for price, any places you guys know would have them in stock? Amazon canada has them for 180 shipped but the lead time is mid sept.

Also looking for a foam mattress thats a bit higher quality that the stock queen size we have in there, the original one I feel like at my weight im basically sleeping on the wood base, costco have queen size mattresses for $379, Ikea has them for a little bit cheaper but reviews seem mixed.

The other thing that broke was the table in the slide. I bought another one of those alumium bases that the single pole slides into but I dont know if this is just my experience it still feels a bit wonky despite being all the way in, maybe they are just like that?

I bought a memory foam topper at costco for $200. Couple inches big but with a fitting sheet you won't notice. Made a huge improvement.

[nzwasp]

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Mine has run bone dry for more than one 3 hour drive, lol. I guess I've gotten lucky. I'm sure it's lifespan is severely reduced though.

Yeah this is a 2012 Trailer im sure its run dry more than once before.

- - - Updated - - -

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When do you need the pump by? I think I have a spare in the trailer, I would just need to check the part number.

I’d sell it to you for what it would cost for me to replace it, I don’t expect to need it this year

Thanks for the offer, I found that Lordco in Calgary sells them for $150 so I think I will just buy one of those.

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I bought a memory foam topper at costco for $200. Couple inches big but with a fitting sheet you won't notice. Made a huge improvement.

hmm might be an option, costco also sell a 8" foam mattress for $300 online so that might be an option too. The existing mattress is just shit also I noticed its a short queen for some reason despite the fact the space fits a full queen.

[spike98]

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Broke my water pump on the last trip, forgot to turn it off and it ran dry after a couple of mins on the batteries. Its a shurflo 4008-101-A65 which seems common but all the RV catalogs Ive checked say special order or call for price, any places you guys know would have them in stock? Amazon canada has them for 180 shipped but the lead time is mid sept.

Also looking for a foam mattress thats a bit higher quality that the stock queen size we have in there, the original one I feel like at my weight im basically sleeping on the wood base, costco have queen size mattresses for $379, Ikea has them for a little bit cheaper but reviews seem mixed.

The other thing that broke was the table in the slide. I bought another one of those alumium bases that the single pole slides into but I dont know if this is just my experience it still feels a bit wonky despite being all the way in, maybe they are just like that?

You really can use any pump you want, you just need to make sure the connections are the same. There are only 2 connection types really anyways and most of them are standard threaded connections. You also can go higher flow/more power if you want too. Id take it as a good time to upgrade if you will be down there replacing it anyways. I went with a digital control variable pressure pump that is amazing. 6.5gpm @50psi or something like that. I can shower and the wife do dishes with no pressure issues.

[nzwasp]

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You really can use any pump you want, you just need to make sure the connections are the same. There are only 2 connection types really anyways and most of them are standard threaded connections. You also can go higher flow/more power if you want too. Id take it as a good time to upgrade if you will be down there replacing it anyways. I went with a digital control variable pressure pump that is amazing. 6.5gpm @50psi or something like that. I can shower and the wife do dishes with no pressure issues.

My only gripe with the current pump was that it’s quite noisy especially considering it’s directly below where my kids sleep. I don’t know if quieter pumps exist or what to look for if they do exist.

I did see a thing online where someone had wrapped their lines in foam but the noise in my case was coming from the pump itself not necessarily the water flowing through the lines.

[ExtraSlow]

Can you mount it on rubber/foam feet to isolate some of the vibration? They all seem to be noisy.