Tips and Tricks
Hints & Tips to Share
Russ and Tiņa De Maris

RVers love to share with each other. Their favorite places to park the rig and catch a glorious sunrise. A little-known dump station in the middle of an area where you otherwise can't find one. How to build a campfire quicker.

We've been the recipients of all kinds of helpful tips and stories, and we love to share them with others. How about a few technical "how to" ideas that we've gleaned from others or learned on our own? Here goes:

Keep It Clean

Keeping the rig clean--at home or on the road--can be a major headache. Here's a few tips to "clean and shine.

Waterless Hand Cleaner: This "goo in a can," can clean more than your hands. Rubbing down the rig with the soft, not gritty versions of waterless hand cleaner can lift bugs, road tar, and dirt film easily. You can wipe it off with a rag--which may leave a film--of hit it with a soft brush and soapy water.

Big Rig Wash-a-Mats: Truckers, too, have big rigs to keep clean. Look around or ask the next time you're at the truck stop. Many truck stops offer large-bay wash systems with the old high-pressure wash wands. Others are staffed with folks who will gently wash your rig the old fashioned way. The wash wand types charge by the minute, the two-legged kind most often by the foot. Either one is great when you're on the road and you can't wash your rig in the RV park.

ABCD EDPM Roof?: Dr. Suess, I'm not. If your roof is made of EDPM rubber take care when cleaning. For scrubbing down, use ONLY a soft bristled brush, not something stiff like a barbecue brush. Much controversy surrounds how to safely clean EDPM, until the dust settles, follow your manufacturer's instructions closely to not invalidate your warranty.

 Bathroom and Blackwater Brainstorms

Everyone has their favorite recipes for dealing with holding tanks and their cousins, RV toilets. Here's a few of them.

The Fan Club: So, you just installed a brand-new bathroom fan, huh? Let me spare you a little bit of misery--don't run the fan when you flush the john! For some reason fans have a quirky way of sucking the smell back up out of the holding tank. When you stop on the toilet pedal, the valve which keeps all those evil smells locked away in the holding tank opens, and with negative pressure exerted from above, oof-poof! Instant Peppi-le-Pew!

Holding Tank Level Indicators: Being able to tell how full the holding tanks are by pushing a button is great. Unfortunately, holding tank sensors are prone to being fouled. Jokes about "skin diver for Roto-Rooter" aside, nobody wants to get in the tank to do the cleaning. Alka-Seltzer to the rescue! Several RVers swear by this method.

Dump black water tanks, and rinse out with clean water. Now add five or ten gallons of water and a half-dozen Alka-Seltzer tablets and drive the rig a few miles. Depending on how groaty your sensors are, you may need to repeat the process. One other source recommended a two aspirin tablets and a half-box of baking soda instead of the Alka-Seltzer.

My question is, do you use the "cold remedy" brand in winter?

Drippy Dump Valves: The best recommendation when dump valves drip is to replace the O-ring in the valve--get them at any RV part supplier. For those too lazy to replace the O-ring, hold the dump hose directly underneath the valve when you pull the cap off--and don't get too close!

Holding Tank Treatments: Whatever you use to treat your holding tank, make sure it's biodegradable. Not only is it easier on the environment, many areas now ban the use of products like formaldehyde.

Keep the Wheels A-Rollin'

Grease is the Word: Probably one of the most overlooked, and yet vital, maintenance spots is axle bearings. Neglected, axle bearings can cause your wheel to part ways with your trailer while under weigh. Not a pleasant thought!

Bearings should be cleaned and packed with fresh grease every 15,000 miles or two years, whichever happens first.  Follow the instructions in your owner manual or check out a car or truck repair manual at the local library--the principles are the same for automobiles as they are for trailers.

Vanishing Wheel Covers: Everyone likes to "pretty it up," but wheels might be best left "au natural." Put a hub cap or fancy wheel cover over your wheels and out-of-sight, out-of-mind can come home to roost. How's that? Trailer wheel lug nuts have a funny way of coming loose--and having the covers off makes it a lot easier to check for tightness.

Now I'll probably hear from the "Keep Our RV Parks Beautiful" folks . . .

Driving Directives

A few tips on driving can make your tow vehicle or motor coach much happier.

Keep It Down to a Dull Roar: Keeping the speed down to 55 can save plenty of fuel. Remember, you're not piloting an aerodynamic rocket ship--you're shoving your house down the road.

Make Your Automatic a Manual: Automatic transmissions are dumb. On the long hill climb your automatic tranny probably won't shift early enough to prevent lugging. Use a tachometer and keep the engine powered to the best torque speed. Or rule of thumb: If the speed drops 10 miles per hour on the grade, drop it down a notch. Vacuums gauge users--shift down when vacuums level drops below 6 inches.

For diesel folks, equipped with a pyrometer (exhaust gas temperature gauge), remember, even before you melt down your turbo, you can waste a lot of fuel. Keep the temps down to a reasonable level, say 800 degrees, and things will run better. Downshift and watch the temp drop.

Mechanical Mania

A few easy mechanical jobs can make your trips trouble-free.

Keep It Happy--Keep It Cool: Add a transmission cooler to your stock tow vehicle or motor home. Heavy hill climbs raise tranny temperatures quickly, thinning out the lifeblood transmission fluid. Run hot too long--run up big repair bill. Transmission coolers are inexpensive compared to a rebuild.

Don't be a Hose Hostage: Don't leave home on your vacation before you check--and change as necessary--engine hoses. Hoses are far cheaper changed in your home-town shop than beside the road by a spendy road mechanic.

Make Camp Without Headaches

Why is it the first night out, setting up camp is such a stress-filled problem?

Furnace Fussing: Ever had trouble lighting your pilot light-style furnace? Wind blow out your matches? Use a sparking lighter--even if it's out of fuel, the spark should still light the furnace LP. Still not working? Try opening a window or door to equalize pressure. If that doesn't help you may need to re-orient your rig if wind is blowing into your furnace exhaust port.

Shocking Experiences: Avoid them! Always use a polarity checker to make sure your site's electrical hookup is properly wired. Inexpensive ones indicate polarity problems or lack of grounds. A little more money buys one that shows line voltage--does a good job to protect your air conditioning from low-voltage, if you use it.

Winter Water: If you camp while temperatures are below freezing, don't try to use city water pressure at your site, hoses freeze easily. Rather, use the hose to fill your on-board tank; drain the hose and store it until needed again.

On the Level: Fifth wheelers, do you ever have problems figuring out just how high (or low) to set your trailer when trying to back the rig under it to leave? Try adding an additional bubble level to the side of your rig, near your landing gear switch. This level should not be "stuck on" with tape, but rather, installed with a single screw in the middle of the level, up above the bubble tube. Snug the screw tight enough to keep level in place on its own, but loose enough that you can move it up and down by hand.

When your arrive and raise the king pin high enough to drive the truck out, adjust the new level left or right until the bubble indicates a level setting. Now set up your trailer so it's "happy." When it's time to leave, raise the trailer until your new level shows level. The trailer will be right back at the same height as when you rolled out the truck when unhitching.

Okay, that's it for us today. We'd love to hear your timely tech suggestions. E-mail us at ftrveditor@icanrv.com