Travel Trailer Maintenance: The Ultimate Guide
Having a travel trailer in Australia is great for road trips… until it breaks down. But you can avoid this fate if you know how to maintain your travel trailer.
Travel trailers are a great addition to the road trip arsenal.
And if you love exploring the great outdoors with your family, chances are that you most likely have one. And you may even consider it the best investment you’ve made.
But this can all go downhill if your travel trailer ends up breaking down somewhere remote.
This is likely to happen if you don’t regularly do travel trailer maintenance.
Why is it so important, though?
See, like the average vehicle, your travel trailer also has moving parts that need to be in tip-top shape to function well. Luckily, learning how to keep them moving right is a pretty simple process when you know what to do.
And now that the camping season is near, we’ve put together a checklist on maintaining your travel trailer.
So, before you pack and chuck your bags into your trailer, make sure to follow our maintenance checklist.
The Travel Trailer Maintenance Checklist
Inspect for Water Damages
The very first thing that you want to do when maintaining your travel trailer is to check it for water damage.
During the rainy season, exposed spots can bring water into your trailer and damage it. And, since different kinds of water damage can put your health and safety at risk, it pays to check the following:
- Window seals
- Door jambs
- Slideout seams
- Windshield seals and weatherstripping
- Exterior and interior
- Roof seals
- Soft spots
- Holes
- Body seams
- Staining or discolouration
- Rust on exterior screws
- Caulking
- Storage compartments
- Electrical components
Conduct A Routine Exterior Inspection
Here, you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for any part of your trailer that needs fixing, like:
- Loose or missing nuts or screws
- Cracking rubber seals (usually, these parts can be found around hose inlets, hose outlets, and storage panels)
- Check for cracks in the fibreglass
- Signs of rust
Check Your Roof
Generally, maintaining your travel trailer’s roof has much to do with inspecting for leaks or cracks and fixing them. If ever a minor flaw does appear, you can fix it by treating it with a sealant that’s compatible with your roof’s material.
Do A Light-Pressure Wash
One thing that most trailer owners don’t know is that maintenance has a lot to do with keeping things clean.
The best way to do this is by giving your trailer a thorough pressure wash to get rid of all the dirt and grime on it. You can also apply a special-purpose wax that’s made for trailers or vehicles to keep its finish pristine.
Clean the Awning
If you’re moving around with your travel trailer often, you’ll need to keep its awning clean. Keep in mind that the cleaning method depends on the kind of awning you have.
To be precise:
- If you have a fabric awning: it’s best to clean it with a soap that’s made to treat and preserve its specialised, stain-resistant finish.
- If you have a vinyl awning: it’s recommended that you avoid any cleaners that contain bleach or harsh chemicals. Instead, use vinyl-specific cleaners that will help thoroughly clean your awning while extending its life.
Have A Seals and Seams Inspection
One mistake we see travel trailer owners make is that they don’t inspect their external seals and seams.
To avoid leaks and cracks, we recommend checking these parts and cleaning them.
Do an Interior Maintenance
Once you’re done with your exterior routine, you can start with the inside of your travel trailer.
Given that you sleep, eat, and live in your trailer every time you go on a trip, it’s important to keep it clean. To avoid any unsanitary situations with your trailer, there are three things you need to do:
- Vacuum every surface, nook, and cranny
- Dust down hard-to-reach places
- Wipe down areas like the bathroom and other tiled surfaces
How to Do Mechanical Maintenance
Before you take your travel trailer out of the garage, it’s best to keep things mechanically sound. Here’s what you can do to keep things nice, smooth, functional, and reliable during your road trips:
#1. Tighten the Wheels
Many travel trailer accidents happen because people don’t tighten their wheels. To keep your trailer from losing a wheel mid-trip, make sure to tighten its lugnuts before moving.
#2. Inspect Your Tires
Another common travel trailer accident is when a tire blows out or runs flat. To prevent this avoidable accident, check your tires and fill them up with the right amount of air.
#3. Inspect Your Batteries
When you head out to the woods with your travel trailer, the last thing you want is to have a dead battery. You can avoid this by charging your trailer’s batteries and replacing them every three to five years.
#4. Inspect Your Hitching and Towing Parts
Have you ever seen those videos where a trailer breaks loose and causes a big accident?
Well, you can avoid this by checking your hitching and towing parts. All you’ll need to do is tighten the bolts on your car’s hitch and your trailer’s hitch and grease them when necessary.
Practice Regular Travel Trailer Maintenance For Hassle-Free Trips
Getting a travel trailer can make your camping trips more exciting and memorable. But, it’s also important to maintain it so that you don’t end up running into problems that can make your trip horrific.
If you want to keep your trailer in tip-top shape, then you’ll need to start maintaining it the right way both on the inside and outside.
Once you follow all the steps and tips above, you’ll have safer and smoother trips every time.