Complete RV Guide

Learning About Living In An RV

Some people decide to retire and travel in an RV. Others find themselves in a financial bind and moving into an RV seems like a good option.

I wrote this article to help navigate new (rookie) RV’ers into the lifestyle as easily as I can. If you haven’t bought an RV yet, this might help you decide which rig is best for you.

To make this article easier to explain and understand, I’ll break it down into two components. The first part is the “home/house” part of your RV that makes you feel relaxed and “at home”. The second part will cover the “vehicle” aspect of your RV. The motor, tires, transmission are all things I’ll cover in this section.

What are the different classes of RVs?

Each class of RV has positives and negatives, but isn’t that the truth in all things about life as well? The smaller rigs are better at some things and the bigger rigs feel more like home to most people. I cover some considerations for each class. If you have questions send them to questions@lifelivedfree.com.

Class A RV

This class of RVs typically offer the largest floor plans. They are identified by the “bus” style of body.

They offer the advantage of usually having slide-outs to expand the floor space to make it seem like a nice size apartment. In most cases, they use a lot more power than the other two classes. It’s pretty common that these will require 50amps to run the electrical system with proper wattage.

If money is no object, this is where you should look as most rigs in this class will cost over $100,000 and some are even over a million dollars! You’ll have a harder time finding a mechanic to work on this class of RVs. They require a lot of space in a shop and only the largest bays will have enough room to hold them. Also, they have tighter engine compartments which makes changing out even simple parts much more difficult. The price will go up accordingly.

My personal suggesting is avoid these unless you have plenty of money to handle towing and repairs.

Class B RV

If you’ve ever seen an RV that looks like a big van, then it likely falls into this category. These are great for people who don’t want to drive a big Class A.

Some of the smaller rigs in this section will fit into one or two normal parking spaces. A good tip is to back into a parking spot to allow you to hang the back end over a part of the parking lot with plants or grass.

This gives you that extra few feet to fit into one spot. By only taking up one spot, you are less likely to draw the attention of customers or management of shopping centers. Many of this class of RV have showers, but they are usually much smaller than either other class.

Here’s a video showing you a luxurious Class B…

Class C RV

I really like this class the most for the average person who doesn’t want to tow a trailer. They offer some benefits of both Class A and Class B RVs.

The newer models even have slide-outs like the Class A. One cool set up I saw had the back slide-out to give it extra length. You can recognize these rigs by the bed area that sits directly on top of the driver section. This area is called a “cab-over” and in the newer designs, some of the cab-overs have entertainment centers instead of beds.

I don’t like that as much because I’d rather have an extra bed for friends or family who may want to join me on the road. If you don’t plan to have anyone join you, then the entertainment center might be more fitting for you. It’s pretty typical to find the bathrooms and a bed in the back, the kitchen in the middle, and a living room set up towards the front.

Fifth Wheel RV

If I could afford a nice truck to pull a fifth wheel, I’d probably buy one. The bedroom is usually in the overhang portion and the rest is typically dedicated to an open floor plan. Some even have toy hauler features to haul atvs and other smaller vehicles inside the trailer itself.

But… don’t buy one unless you plan to live stationary or have a lot of money. You will need a nice truck to tow a good fifth wheel.

You will need to keep up on all the maintenance of your truck and trailer. Have no doubts, hauling heavy loads adds an extra burden to your motor and transmission, not to mention bearings, and other common breakdown causes. But if you can afford it, you get the best of all worlds in my opinion. You get the home and vehicle separated from each other. This helps in ways you may not realize.

First, you can separate your vehicle once you get to a campsite. This allows you to go into town without taking your home with you. Allowing you to resupply and fill up with jugs of water. That extends your ability to stay out boondocking in the wilderness longer.

Second, it provides a type of insurance. I’ve personally seen more RVs burn to the ground than I care to remember. It’s sad. People lose everything instantly. Without warning. Having a second vehicle to place stuff in gives you an insurance policy. An extra set of clothes. A few blankets, some personal care items. Don’t forget some extra medicine as well. What happens if you lose your meds and your prescriptions? How long until you can get to a doctor and replace those meds? Do you have a supply set aside that could bridge that gap for you? You should! Having a second place to store things and even stay in should the worst happen is a great side benefit.

Third (and I’ll end it here even though I could give a few more), by not having a tow vehicle, you are getting rid of an extra motor, transmission, insurance payment, and maintenance cost. You are saving money with a fifth wheel over a tow vehicle just in the expense of maintaining that extra vehicle.

A fifth wheel gives you a large living space as well. Most of the spaces will be just as large as a big diesel pusher (Class A).

Bumper Pull Recreational Trailer

This trailer is a great option for those who can’t afford a fifth wheel and expensive truck capiable of towing thousands of pounds.

A small bumper pull trailer could range from a tiny tear drop trailer to a huge Airstream. Because you can buy a smaller trailer and thus a smaller truck, you can get the same benefits of a separate living space and vehicle.

If I didn’t already own a Class C, I’d probably consider a bumper pull. Some Class A RVs, most Class Cs, and Fifth Wheels all have problems when it comes to crashes. Some of these setups will disintegrate when you crash. I saw, with my own eyes, a Class C when nothing but the cab and chassis. The entire RV part was gone. Not sure what happened, but it didn’t hold up. I’ve heard this is common when you crash a lot of RVs. Keep in mind, they are built with 1″x1″ sticks with thin paneling holding it all together.

A huge benefit that you won’t hear about is safety of bumper pulling over fifth wheel hitches. A bumper pull trailer will (can/should) break loose and roll on it’s own without necessarily rolling you in the tow vehicle too. The trail has a good chance of seperating during a roll event. This keeps the momentum of the trailer separate from the tow vehicle. This personally saved my life and that’s how I found out. An Idaho state trooper designated to respond high value accidents came to an accident I was in. He stated that if I was in a fifth wheel instead of goose-neck (a type of bumper pull where the ball hitch is in the bed instead of the bumper), the truck would of rolled with my brother and I and we’d both likely would of been killed on the scene. The momentum of the trail increases the force on the tow vehicle. If you roll or end up in a situation where you might roll, you want that trailer to separate from you.

Outside of the scary stuff, being able to leave your trailer (home) and run errands and explore is a great option and the bumper pull trailer and truck (or even a car) is a great way to get these benefits.

Home Side Of Living In An RV

An RV is a great way to keep most of the comforts you are use to in a stick and brick dwelling. Most RVs have everything you’d find in most apartments and houses.

You have four areas to consider when buying an RV:

Bathroom
Kitchen
Living room
Bedroom

Small Disclaimer: This article is assuming you are buying a commercially built RV. We aren’t covering major modifications such as changing a septic system with a flush toilet to a “composting toilet”. We do cover those topics, but this guide is more designed for those people looking for a commercially built product and understanding the typical systems in those type of RVs.

RV Bathrooms

You can find bathrooms with simple features like cassette toilets and hand pump sinks to the type of luxury you’d find in a nice house.

Class A: As with almost everything Class A, these tend to be the biggest bathrooms with only a fifth wheel matching it (in most cases). You can expect to find full-size showers, flushing toilets, and a sinks with a vanity.

Class B: These bathrooms are the most restrictive of all models. Often nothing more than a cassette toilet or a composting toilet. Usually these models don’t have sinks, but you can find them if that’s important (like washing your hands after using the bathroom!). If you plan to take showers at gyms and truck stops, than this isn’t a deal breaker. This is almost the type of RV that tend to have wet bathrooms.

Class C: As with most Class C RVs, the features are more closely related to an apartment than a house. That’s the case with the bathrooms as well. You can usually find a flushing toilet, a small sink and vanity, and a small shower… often with a small bathtub. Nothing fancy. Not a lot of room, but it will do the job and do it well.

Fifth Wheels: Basically the same opportunity for luxury as with the Class A. These are usually large bathrooms with full features.

Bumper Pull Trailers: These are hit and miss. I’ve seen bumper pull trailers with nice bathrooms and some with Class B style amenities.

RV bathrooms will typically have a toilet, small sink, and shower. It’s not uncommon to find a shower and bathtub setup. Especially in Class C RVs.In some shower setups, especially the older Class B models, had “wet” bathrooms. This is because the toilet, sink, and shower are all in the same room with no division between them. They are design to let everything get wet without damaging anything.

I personally find this gross. I don’t want to shower with my toilet. Maybe it’s just me? Different strokes for different folks. Find the set up that works best for you.

WARNINGS FOR RV BATHROOMS: The bathrooms aren’t such a big deal. They are easy and fairly cheap to replace almost anything in them EXCEPT the shower/tube. Make sure the base is solid. Water damage can make the support for showers rot. This rot can cause the fiberglass base of the shower pan to crack under a humans weight. Especially those of us on the heavier side. Also look for water damage everywhere. Water can flood from the toilet. The sink can overflow or with enough splashing, get water behind the wall. Just look around. It’s hard to hide this type of damage without doing things like painting or new flooring. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker to find an RV with painted walls or new floors, but you should dig a little deeper to make sure you aren’t buying a future problem. You can buy a new toilet for a less than $200. You can buy a new sink for less than $100. Rot is where you will get in trouble here.

RV Kitchens

I don’t know about you, but a kitchen is a must. I love to cook my own food and I get sick of eating out. A RV kitchen can be as basic as a small one pot burner or as elaborate as a kitchen in a nice house.

Class A: You are most likely to find an amazing kitchen inside a Class A RV. These rigs are usually pushed by a big diesel motor and have slide-outs. This allows for huge kitchens that will make you feel like you’re in a luxury house. You can often find full size fridge/freezer combos, ovens, stoves, microwaves, and even a dishwasher.

Class B: These are likely going to be your smallest kitchens. That doesn’t mean someone can’t build a nice kitchen, but the size restrictions often limit the kitchen options. These are usually a burner; maybe two burners. A small sink could be an option. Some Class B RVs have fridge/freezers, but some are limited to coolers/ice chests. These kitchens are meant for people living a very active lifestyle and moving around a lot. If you are staying stationary for any length of time, stepping up to a class C might be a good consideration.

Class C: Like many other aspects, the class C is a mix of the class A and Class B. The kitchen options tend to be closer to that of a small apartment. You are most likely going to find a fridge, stove, oven, a sink, and probably a sink. These are usually fully functional kitchens.

Fifth Wheels: The kitchen in a Fifth Wheel has the capacity to be every bit as luxurious as a class A. They often have islands due to the likelihood of having a kitchen slide-out.

Bumper Pull Trailers: The kitchen in a tow behind trailer is almost always going to be closer to a Class C or Class B than anything else. They often have a sink, an oven and a stove.

RV Living Rooms

What would a home be without a place to sit and relax. The living room set up in most RVs vary wildly from one to the next. Some have couches. Others have diner style booths. Mine had a couch with two chairs. I took out the couch to make an entertainment center. I rarely have anyone else over. If I do, usually only one other person, which makes two chairs more than enough for my situation. Often the couches that come in most RV’s fold down into an additional bed. If you want my advice, pull the carpet out of your rig. It is really hard to keep it clean. In almost every situation you’ll find yourself in, you’ll be parked in dirt. That dirt will find it’s way deep into your carpet. It’s a losing battle. It’s much easier to pull it out, lay down some laminate, and sweep your floors when they get dirty.

Class A: Big living rooms. These usually have a couch and a couple recliners. As I keep saying… these are more home like than some other models.

Class B: Usually the least likely to have a living room set up. These may have a place to sit. Often small chairs or the bed end up being the place to sit while inside. Some of the newer Class B RVs have better living room setups, but as general rule your space is so limited you’re not likely to get much dedicated space to just a “living room”.

Class C: These tend to have a small couch (sofa bed) and a couple chairs. The other set up is a couple chairs and a kitchen booth. Unless your rig has slide-outs, you are likely going to have a small living room. They usually have everything you need, but not as much space as a couple other options I’ve laid out.

Fifth Wheels: This class/model tend to have large living rooms. Very comparable to the Class A. Full size couches and chairs are likely part of the setup. I tend to like fifth wheel setups. The kitchen and living rooms are often combined into one large living space that fits how most of us live our lives.

Bumper Pull Trailers: Unless you have a big bumper pull trailer, you are likely going to have a small living room. These tend to be more comparable to a Class C RV. A small table with a couple chairs or a small kitchen booth is likely what you’re getting.

RV Bedroom

Class A: You will likely have a large bed. At least a queen and probably some type of king bed. Only a fifth wheel will over the same size bedroom. You can expect to find a closet or two as well as night stands on each side of the bed.

Class B: Don’t expect a large space dedicated to a bedroom and possibly not even a dedicated bed. Most Class B buyers have to decide between having a living room space or a permanent bed. If you’re traveling on weekends and small get-a-ways, then a couch that folds into a bed is your best bet. If you plan to stay in this vehicle a lot, than a dedicated bed is likely the best bet.

Class C: Oddly enough, these tend to have more beds than most other RV classes. The cabover is typically a bed and there’s usually another bed in the back. On top of that, the dinette / booth tend to fold down into a bed as well.

Fifth Wheels: These tend to have large bedrooms. Very similar to Class A models. If you’d rather tow than drive a big RV, then a fifth wheel might be your best option. Most fifth wheels also have slide-outs that help them open up once you get to camp.

Bumper Pull Trailers: These are the hardest to predict. I’ve seen bumper pull trailers with dedicated bedrooms and I’ve seen some where the bedroom is open to the rest of the trailer. If you want a bumper pull trailer, you can likely find any type of bedroom you want. Personally I wouldn’t want a bumper pull trailer that was too long or heavy, so I’d probably want something smaller. I’ve seen some with good size beds that are open to the living room and kitchen. I’m personally fine with that, but you do you!

Here Are Four RV Kitchen Tips

Tip 1) Put a pizza stone on the bottom of your oven.

The ovens are so small that the heating element (gas flame) are really close to the food you’re cooking. This creates hot spots in the oven. The usual outcome is some parts of your food are burnt and other spots aren’t cooked at all.

A pizza stone will go a long way to preventing this. The Augosta Pizza Stone has nearly 6,000 reviews and less than $40. This pizza stone is designed for RV ovens so it covers most of the bottom surface, creating a balanced heat to cook food evenly. It can also make a better crust on a pizza than most other methods.

Tip 2) Put a sink drain strainer into the sink.

Most RVs don’t have garbage disposals and will clog fairly easily. A screen that allows you to catch small food pieces and dump them into the trash will save you having to figure out a way clear a clog.

Tip 3) Put a small fan in your fridge.

Most RVs have two-way or three-way systems. That means they run on AC/propane or AC/DC/propane. The propane versions are using a small flame to heat ammonia and through evaporation, cool your fridge. If you look in the back of most of these fridges, you’ll see metal ribs. These are what cool your refrigerator. They tend to cool things at different degrees. The back might freeze, while closer to the door will be warmer.

A small fan will move the air around and balance things out inside your RV refrigerator!

The proper temperature will insure you don’t freeze or ruin your food. Lettuce hates being frozen and milk hates being warm. A bad fridge can ruin both. None of these fans have great reviews, but some are better than most. This is the best fan I can currently find on Amazon. It currently has 3.8 stars and 79 reviews. You can pick one up for just about $44 as of April 2023

Tip 4) Get small containers for every type of food you plan to store.

It’s amazing how bugs and rodents will find their way into your home. I’ve had more problems with ants than mice, but I’ve dealt with them both and they suck. Thankfully I have fury creatures that love to catch mice, so they don’t last long, but ants don’t care about my cats and they get into everything. I see people dump boric acid (borax) around their rigs. I find this rude. First the place you are parking in doesn’t usually belong to you and it looks ugly to see white lines in the shape of RVs all over the place. Second, animals can be harmed by this and since it’s not your place, you aren’t going to be around when you cause some animal problems. I’m sure you’ll find your own pet peeves, but these are mine. You can solve most of these problems by getting yourself containers to hold your dry food.

These containers have amazing reviews. Over 4300 people have rated this an average of 4.8 stars with 90% rating it five stars! It is currently on sale for $94 (15% off apparently).

Dealing With Your Holding Tanks

Holding tanks can be nasty. Thankfully I’ve never had a leak or damaged my connections, but I have had the dump station flood the second I pulled the handle to drain it. What a mess. I never kept that hose. $40 at Walmart was worth not trying to place that hose with other people’s sewage back into my RV. I’m a germ freak and that was too much for me. The only other issue I have with dumping my holding tanks is the fact that many people let their sewage leak out as they disconnect the hose. That sewage is baking on the concrete at the dump station. If you are like me, you might want to work on an easy method to connect and disconnect your hose without having to kneel down or touch the concrete where the leakage has occured.

First dump your black tank. This is the tank that holds your sewage. Once you do that, pull the handle to your grey tank. This will wash the sewage down and help take any extra toilet paper with it. A side note: In my opinion, don’t bother with the RV toilet paper. It’s expensive and no one I know has ever had an issue with normal toilet paper. The only real problem is if you don’t have water (liquid) in your tank and you go #2. It is possible for that to build up and create a pyramid of poop and paper. That will cause problems. Make sure you have a good amount of water or pee in your tank to balance out the thicker stuff.

When you get done dumping your tank, go inside and put some water down your toilet and flush the tank. This will help get rid of any solid remaining and help keep things from not smelling. After that, use a water hose (most dump stations provide one, but you should have your own just to be safe) to wash out your sewage hose. Keeping things clean will help keep smells out of your RV. Do this by disconnecting the hose from your rig, leaving the other part in the dump station tank, and placing the hose in a few inches down the sewage hose. This will help prevent the water from splashing on you while you clean it out. A pair of latex gloves are recommended. Sewage carries a lot of bad things. You aren’t only dealing with your sewage, but the sewage from others who spilled or dripped their sewage prior to you getting your turn. Harbor Freight offers a cheap box of gloves that will likely last you a year or two. Be careful when backing up your rig so you don’t smack your connections into curbs or bushes. This will damage the connections and leave you with a problem you don’t want to deal with.

Refilling Propane Tanks On RVs

When you refill your propane, shut off all the valves in your RV. I’ve heard people say this isn’t an issue and others say it is. The problem is, if it is an issue, it can cause your RV to burn up in flames. The propane being filled into your tanks is under high pressure. If that pressure blows back through your fridge or stove and ignites, your RV will burn to the ground faster than you’ll be able to stop it. I’m not sure who to believe when it comes to this, but I will never take the chance. It’s easy enough to shut everything off.

Cleaning And Using Your RV Water Tanks

The drinking water you carry on your RV is held in tanks. These tanks are usually located under the couch or booth in your living room. It’s a good idea to flush your system regularly with a light bleach water solution to clean out any unwanted bacteria. Just pour some deluded bleach water into your tank, turn on all your water faucets and drain the tank. Repeat the process with clean water a few times to flush out any residual bleach. Don’t stress to much about the bleach. You’ll find many metropolitan areas placing some form of bleach into the drinking water. In very small amounts, it isn’t going to harm you and it evaporates fairly quickly. If in doubt, flush your system again.

What You Need To Know About Your RV Refrigerator

Most fridges are vented from the side of your rig and from the top. These often get debris and spider webs in them. These systems need ventilation to work properly. Maintenance is usually as simple as vacuuming out these vents. It’s an easy job. Unless you’re in an area with a lot of trees or dirt, you’ll likely only need to do this once or twice a year. While you’re at it, make sure you keep your fridge ice free. The ice will make it work harder and place a strain on your system. A new RV refrigerator can cost more than a thousand dollars. Like most things discussed hear, it’s easier and cheaper to maintain these systems then wait for it to break.

Leaks In Your RV Are Huge Problems

The horror of leaks. They happen to almost all RVs at some point.

RV roofs have three main causes of failure:

Flex: An RV will flex while moving down the highway. This flex can cause small openings in the seams of your roof.
Debris: Another cause of failure is debris falling onto your roof. That tree you parked under at the national park might of dropped a small branch or something else onto your roof. It only takes a small pinhole to start a leak.
Degraded roof membranes: This happens mostly due to the sun baking your roof. Then in the winter, it gets cold and that contracts the membrane. Even one year of this can damage a roof.

The final piece of this puzzle is the way RVs are constructed. Most are built with 1”x1” lumber. As soon as this lumber becomes wet, like all wood, it swells. When it swells, it will open a small leak into a bigger leak. Over time it will get so bad you can actually have complete failure of other parts. One RV I bought came with a bad leak. The leak was so bad (I didn’t know at the time), it rotted the wood supporting my cab-over. I knew a bad rainstorm was coming so I though about putting a 5 gallon bucket under the leak. I couldn’t find one, so I put a large 40+ gallon Rubbermaid container under it. To my shock, it flooded with more than 30 gallons of water in less than four hours of heavy rain. It was a bad leak, but I couldn’t image it was leaking that bad. The whole roof and cab-over had to be rebuilt. The water caused the wall to swell too. That caused a seam to open up along the wall. As soon as you have a small leak, fix it. Small leaks can become big leaks in one year. Final side note on protecting your rig from water damage… DO NOT USE SILICON! It doesn’t stop leaks for long and it is incredibly difficult to remove once you realize you didn’t fix the leak. Often, by the time you realize the silicon failed to stop a leak, the damage is even worse than before you did the “repair”. Save yourself or whoever is going to work on your leak the hassle of removing that nasty stuff.

Vehicle Side Of Living In An RV

Transmissions: RVs are heavy and prone to having transmission issues. Particularly in steep mountains. A method to help prevent this is to install a transmission cooler. Maybe even two! That’s not a joke. You can actually install a second cooler if you know you’ll spend a lot of time going through mountains. Most transmissions fail due to overheating. I’ve heard the number is about 90% of all failures are due to overheating. A cooler will only cost a few hundred to buy and install. A new transmission can cost a few thousand. It’s easy to wish you had made that choice by the time it’s too late. Be smart and make it before you have an issue. I live in the southwest part of the country. Two major areas that eat up motors and transmissions around me are the Yuma mountains (east of San Diego) and the “Grapevine” (north of Los Angeles). A few hundred dollars is better than a few thousand right?

Motors: The motor of your rig will impact many things. Diesel pushers tend to have more power when driving through steep mountains. They also tend to get more miles per gallon than gasoline engines. A diesel motor will usually be more reliable. The downside is diesels are usually much more expensive to have work done to them. Another factor to consider is where your motor is located. In Class B & C RVs, you won’t really have an option. In Class A, you will have the ability to buy a motor in the back or front. If it’s in the front, the cab will be a bit more noisy.

This next bit is just my opinion: I’d worry about having the motor in the back. I want to hear my motor… at least a little. I want to know if I have an issue based on the sound. I don’t want to wait for something to break just because I couldn’t hear it or see if smoke or something else was going on.

Tires: Don’t neglect your tires. The entire weight of your home is sitting on them. It’s a good idea to buy covers for your tires. These are used to guard your tires from the UV sunlight that is baking your tires. If you have a blowout you can several damage your rig and possibly even kill yourself. Don’t buy the wrong tires. Some of the older setups have odd wheel sizes. Mine has 16.5 inch tires. They don’t make them anymore. You can still find “new” ones, but they are old tires that didn’t sell prior to that size being discontinued. When I buy my next set of tires, I will almost certainly swap out my rims for a more standard tire. Don’t buy tires that aren’t rated for the weight you are placing on them. You are asking for problems if you do. My RV came with tires that weren’t rated for the weight. The previous owner obviously didn’t know better. My tires were suppose to be LT (light truck) tires. They had normal tires on them.

Don’t buy used tires if you can help it. I know sometimes many of us end up with low bank accounts and used tires help us get a few more months down the road. It’s a major risk. I’ve had to blowouts. Thankfully those weren’t complete failures. Only the tread came off. Had the whole tire blew, I would have been at serious risk of crashing.

DO NOT HIT THE BRAKES IF YOU HAVE A BLOWOUT!!! I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but the science works like this: Once the tire blows, it creates drag pulling your RV off the road in the direction of the blowout. The only thing countering that is your forward momentum. The second you hit the brakes, the drag pulling your rig off the road becomes too much and you’ll flip your rig. This has killed a lot of people. Despite your desire to lock the brakes up, don’t. Hit the gas a little and slowly work the brake and gas until you slow down. As long as you are moving forward, it’s unlikely you’ll crash.

Here’s a video from Michelin showing you how this works:

This next video shows you what happens if you don’t do this right:

Check the date on the tires: When buying tires, you should check the date of manufacturing to get the newest tires possible. It’s a good idea to buy tires less than a year old. Edmund recommends replacing any tire older than six years old. That seems a little to extreme for me, but you’ll need to decide on your own. Tires manufactured prior to 2000 have a three digit code. The problem with this method is the first two digits reference the week of the year and the last digit is the year. Nothing in this code tells you the decade. For example: 044 would could be the fourth week of 94’, but it could also be the fourth week of 84’. If your tires only have three digit codes, replace them immediately. That would make your tires almost two decades old or possibly even older.

To correct the inherent problems with the three digit codes, every tire made after 2000 has a four digit code. The first two are still the week it was manufactured, but now we have the decade and year. In this new example, I’ll use the code 0404. This would be the fourth week of 2004. It’s precise and easy to understand. Here’s a picture of what it looks like:

While On The Topic Of Your RV Tires: Lug Nuts

Rotation Of The Lug Nuts: The tires on your RV aren’t always the same as your other vehicles. Some of your who are older than I am will know this, but I nearly hurt myself learning this, so I’ll share it. First, some dully RV tires have reverse threading. What I mean by this is one side will rotate to the right to tighten up. This is how almost every threading works, except for gas fittings. On my RV, one side tightens to the right and the other side tightens to the left.

I was told this is because of how the lug nuts tighten or loosen over time and somehow this is designed to keep the lug nuts tight. That doesn’t seem quit right to me, but it’s the only answer I’ve hear for this. If you can’t loosen one of your tires, check to see if you have the same reverse threading on your rig.

Proper Pounds Of Torque For RV Lug Nuts: I have always tightened my tires by hand. I crack down until I can’t tighten it anymore without getting crazy and using leverage to crack down. I’ve heard you’re suppose to use a specific amount of pounds of torque, but I’ve always wrote that off as “overkill”. Boy was I wrong. I didn’t crack this last tire change by hand. I used a cordless impact driver. I tried to be aware of not over-tightening.

Based on results I missed the mark. Two of my lug nuts snapped off while on a 500 mile trip. I didn’t even see it until I was already at my location for a month or two. Had too many more snapped, my tire could of came off and caused a deadly crash. For now on I will use a torque wrench and verify my proper torque specs. I advise you take the same warning. It’s not worth your life.

Stay On Top Of Your Motor Oil

Either bad oil, incorrect oil, or no oil, in your motor is the main cause of engine failure. I’ve helped people on the side of the road who only thought to check their oil after they heard their heads knocking. By that point, you are likely looking at having to buy a new motor. It’s pointless. Oil is easy to check and cheap to buy. You can buy oil for $2 to $8 a quart. Most vehicles only require 4 quarts of oil. That means not putting oil in your motor saves you $8 to $24, but could cost you thousands of dollars. Silly, right?

What weight of oil should you use?

Your motor was built with a specific weight needed. It’s usually printed right onto your oil cap. Some motors require you to change different weights based on the climate outside. So what is weight? It is a number assigned by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) to measure the viscosity of different oils at the standard operating temperature of most vehicles, which is approximately 210 degrees.

Remember, heat and friction are your motors enemy. The different weights measure who that oil flows and coats your internal parts. The oil is the only thing keeping your motor heating up and seizing. Have you noticed that your car recommendation has two numbers 5w30 (or whatever yours is)? This is because modern oil (multi-grade oil) is designed with two weights. The fist number is your what weight the oil is while cold. The second number describes the weight of the oil at operating temperature. Don’t use oil weights not recommended for your rig. Don’t mix oil weights. Just keep it simple. We can go down the rabbit hole of oil and weight, but just keep this in mind: Check your oil often and make sure you are using the proper weight recommended by the manufacture of your vehicle (for the weather your vehicle is in).

Bearings And Ball Joints

Honestly, I never gave much thought to bearings or ball joints at all. I kept hearing a growling sound coming from my tire while turning through the hills towards the RV park I was staying at. I did some research and found it was my bearings. I put it off for way too long. Finally one day I wondered, “What will happen if my bearings fail?”, so I looked up the answer. Let me share my findings… your tire will snap off your vehicle and take everything with it. The brakes, the rotors, and the tire will all rip off and either lodge under your RV (or whatever you’re driving) or fly down the road as you slide to a stop. Hopefully before going off the road or slamming into someone. I never thought in my wildest dreams that a tire would snap off just because a bearing went out. I figured it might lock up and skid to a stop at worse. Thankfully my curiosity got the best of me and made me look. I fixed it the next day. While down there, I noticed my ball joint was bad too. I took care of both of those. Either of them could cause your tire to come off. Your life isn’t worth losing over a bad bearing or ball joint. You are placing a lot of weight on your tires when you live in an RV. All your belongings are usually inside.

Cleaning Your Windshield Often

Your windshield is the only thing allowing you to see the road. In the rain you need good windshield wipers to help get that water away from your line of sight as fast as possible. Dusty, dirty windows can cause you to have excessive glare and blind you from seeing the road properly. A study I read a few years ago showed how dirty windows could prevent you from seeing things like animals or small kids running into the street. I don’t know about you, but I would be sad if I killed an animal. If I killed a kid, I don’t know how I could live with myself. Isn’t it ironic that most things concerning RVs and vehicles in general, are easy to fix. It’s usually our complacency or laziness that keeps us from addressing these issues. I’m guilty of it myself. If you don’t clean all your windows, at least clean your windows you need to see the road through while driving.

Getting into RV Parks

Buying a newer RV will allow you to get into most parks. Sadly, many parks will prevent RVs that are too old. Almost all parks will require your RV to be in good condition regardless of the age. To make this more difficult, no park will allow you to do any repairs. A good option is to stop off at some remote national forest and work on your rig there. If you need mechanical work done, many shops won’t touch Class A RVs. If you’re okay with driving something large and you have the budget for repairs and gas, give it go. It makes transitioning out of an apartment or house much easier.

The Upside To Living In An RV

Okay, now that I have thoroughly scared you, take a deep breath. Most of these things I mention are simple. Just stay on top of them. The upside to living in an RV is you can be in the desert one day and the mountains the next. You can wake up next to a stream full of fish or a desert glowing during a sunset. Living in an RV can be amazing.

It can be a really affordable way to live and see the country. National forest and public lands offer the chance to park in the middle of nowhere and stay, in most cases, up to 14 days. Some even have extended stays that allow you to stay in one place for 5 months or more. If at some point you don’t like your neighbors, turn the key and drive away. Your home has wheels! Private RV parks offer some great benefits as well.