Year long family US history tour

norfla71 wrote:
Already got our long term bill plan layed out to get out of debt in a couple of years; at some point just before leaving we're selling the house and living out of the RV on the local military reservation - need to get used to it before actually committing.

Before we do this, what is an absolute must do to get the trailer ready? I'm mostly talking about maintenance. What needs to be done once we hit the road, and at what time frames? I'm thinking that the tires are first, since they will be over 7 years at that point, and will be putting higher rated ST with aluminum or galvanized wheels. Brakes, bearings and alignment will be checked, but what about other systems?

Good plan to try to be debt free when starting this adventure. You never know when a transmission will need to be rebuilt ($2,000 - $5,000) or something else will come up that you need cash for.

Preventive maintenance is time consuming but extremely important if you are full timing. Little things like putting a torque wrench on your lug nuts and suspension bolts every week or so could save you thousands in the long run. Changing any filters on your unit and keeping the furnace clean.....the list goes on and on.

Since you mentioned tires first I will throw my 2 cents worth in about those. Prior to purchasing new tires you have to know how much weight those tires are actually carrying. It really has nothing to do with what the manufacturer says your unit weighs. You have to take you RV to a certified scale and find out how much weight those axles are carrying.

The brand new tires my unit came with were not rated for enough weight once we actually loaded everything in our FW. I needed G rated tires. Just stop by any truck stop and weigh, it usually costs $10.00.

While replacing the tires I would get a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system). You can install the TPMS yourself and for under $350.00 you can see the pressure and temperature in all of your RV tires while going down the road. If one of your tires goes below a certain pressure an alarm will sound.

I would purchase three additional fire extinguishers. You can get medium sized decent quality ones for about $15 to $20 each. I would mount a second one inside your unit (it should have come with one), mount one in your basement storage area, and have one in your truck.

Test your smoke alarms and carbon-M detectors. If you think you need more inside the RV then add them, they are cheap. For sure mount one someplace in your basement storage.

I could fill a couple pages of stuff that I do to my FW on a regular basis. I just feel like the aforementioned tips are the main important safety measures.