RV Trailer Maintenance
RV trailer maintenance is a very important part of RV ownership. You can avoid unnecessary breakdowns and save hundreds of dollars in repair costs by maintaining your RV properly. Being broken down on the side of the road is no way to spend time on an RV trip!
If you take good care of your RV, it will return the favor by providing years of fun and adventure for you an your family. Knowing that my RV has received the latest maintenance, gives me piece of mind as I'm driving down the road.
I have had several experiences with rv trailer maintenance that I hope will help to prevent you from having unnecessary break-downs and costly repairs.
Wheel Bearings
RV travel trailer repair shops recommend having your wheel bearings repacked every year or 10,000 miles. I have had mine repacked three times in the past 12,000 miles. I did this because a year rolled around before the mileage accrued.
The first time I had them repacked was after 1 year and about 4,000 miles. Two of the bearings needed to be replaced because of wear.
The last time I had them repacked, the serviceman replaced the bearings with new bearings that were the wrong size. I left the shop, drove about 20 miles to where I park my travel trailer and when I got out of my tow vehicle, I immediately noticed a burning smell.
I walked around the trailer and began checking the temperature of the hubs by touching them with my hands. They were all cool except one. It was so hot I couldn't hold on to it.
I jacked up the wheel and grabbled the tire and wiggled it from side to side - way too much play! The serviceman came out and fixed the problem, but left me feeling less confident about my next 1200 mile RV trip which was only 4 days away.
After all of the above experiences, I decided that I would re-pack my own wheel bearings next year. The process looks very simple and doesn't require any costly specialty tools and the savings is about $450!
What Next?
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