Owning an RV is an investment. You are investing in your own recreation, you are investing in your commitment to the outdoors or you are investing in the memories you are making with family and loved ones. Making this step is a great start on the path to many years of quality time and fun, but you also want to make sure that you are taking care of your investment. Because we want you to enjoy many years of good times and memories with your RV, we have put together this helpful guide including a recommended maintenance schedule and some of the products we recommend using to keep your investment well cared for during its lifetime.
Maintenance Schedule
There are a lot of different places that you can get information on when and where to maintain your RV. There are also lots of different opinions as to when you should perform maintenance tasks for the RV you have purchased. This Maintenance Chart is a combination of manufacturer recommendations, guidance from our trusted partners and years of experience and service observations. We hope that this guide can help you along your path to many years of happy travels.
Helpful Tips
We get many questions ranging from what should I use to wash my RV and what should I use in my toilet all the way to what do I use to lubricate my slide-outs. Here we will give out some of our top choices for many of your questions, plus stop back here and look for future installments as we will continue to update our list and provide new gadgets and products that will help keep your RV in tip top condition. Below are a few of our top choices for a few of the big questions we get.
RV Wash – BIO-KLEEN Super Suds
BIO-KLEEN has a great array of products and all of them work great, for this reason you will see more items from them on this list, but the Super Suds is a great RV wash. It isn’t harsh on your RV’s exterior but will cut through stuck on bugs or road grime without excessive elbow grease. It is a concentrated soap that can be mixed with water to give your RV the scrub-a-dub-dub that it needs. And although this is tough on bugs and dirt it is biodegradable and safe on your grass or your driveway (you can even drink it, but we don’t recommend that). https://www.biokleen.com/rv-cleaning
RV Wax/Polish – BIO-KLEEN Polish & Sealant
Another one of their great products, BIO-KLEEN Polish & Sealant does just what it says polishes and seals in just one step. This is a wax product so it can be used just like regular wax. Simply apply with a wet cloth or sponge, let haze and remove. A little goes a long way so although a bottle may give you a bit of sticker shock, understand that it can be used sparingly with good results. This also has a bit of color restorer to it so it can bring back some of the older faded painted surfaces as well. https://www.biokleen.com/rv-cleaning
RV Toilet Chemical – Walex Bio-Pak and Porta-Pak
The Walex Bio-Paks and Porta-Paks are a great toilet chemical. They are an easy to transport dry packet that drops right into the toilet and to the tank. The great part of the packets is that they are already all portion controlled and you don’t have to guess or try to pour out exactly the right amount into the tank. As an additional bonus, these products contain an enzyme that helps break down the waste and helps to control the odor that comes from the black water tank in your RV. Plus it comes in multiple scents to keep everyone’s nose happy. https://www.walex.com/store-category/rv-marine/
RV Toilet Chemical – Walex Commando
This isn’t for your everyday toilet treatment. Hopefully you never come to the day where the black tank in your RV gets gooped up to the point where the level gauges aren’t reading correctly or worse yet you have some leftover waste that just doesn’t want to come out. In those situations you aren’t totally up a creek without a paddle, that’s where Commando comes in. This is a great product to help get the stubborn and stuck on free from your black water tank and try to help bring it as close to factory clean as it will ever get. Walex recommends using it every 3 months to keep the tank clean and free of debris. It also claims to keep the seals lubricated to prevent any bigger problems. https://www.walex.com/product/commando-2/
Slide-Out Seal Conditioner – Camco Slide-Out Foaming Rubber Seal Conditioner
One big question to keeping your RV safe is making sure it is sealed. Whether it is the roof, the windows or the slide-outs the seals of your camper are what keeps the outside where it is supposed to be, outside. Camco’s Slide-Out Seal Conditioner is designed to keep the seals of your slide from drying out, becoming brittle and eventually tearing. It keeps the seals pliable and shields against UV damage. It also leaves a light water-repellent film that is compatible with all rubber seals.
Slide-Out Lubricant – Thetford Slide Out Lubricant
There are plenty of creaks and groans that come naturally from a slide-out, but there are plenty of times when that creak or groan could end up being a bind and a problem. Thetford’s Slide Out Lubricant is what our technicians grab when we need to lubricate a slide-out. It protects the mechanisms from road grime and is a dry lubricant that can be used on the slide-outs so they don’t collect unwanted gunk. It can be used to stop squeaks or prevent binding, plus it can be used on just about all the parts of the slide-out including the rails and gears. Thetford warns this product is not to be used on the rubber seals or any energized equipment, but can be used on the moving portions of your slide-outs to keep them running smoothly and relatively quiet. http://www.thetford.com/product/slide-out-lubricant/
This is hopefully a good start for some of your questions such as how often should I check my wheel bearings to what should I use to get my RV clean. Stop back in the future as we will continue to post some helpful tips, new items and cool gear for your RV.
