Full time and maintenance

lj2654 wrote:
When full timers and have always done most of the maintenance yourself prior to full time how can you continue to do it? Or do you have to bite the bullet and have it all done at service centers on the road?

I've only been full timing a few months, but it's not always possible to DIY. For example, we just had a breakdown on I-80 south of Chicago and ended up in a local K-Mart parking lot. I had the tools, but not the part nor the expertise. This is when having CoachNET proved invaluable.

On the other hand, I'm going to install a new Fantastic Fan in my current campground.

But changing oil? Many of the campgrounds I've been in would not let you do this. A lot depends on where you camp.

BTW, before we started full timing, I loaded up the RV with lots and lots and lots of my tools. Then I decided to only take just "lots", sell the rest, and enjoy retirement as much as possible.

I never ask a park if it's ok to do the maintenance because if you're told "no" and get caught doing it anyway, you're going to be in trouble. However, if you don't ask and get caught doing the maintenance, you have the option of pleading dumb. With that said, I try to do the maintenance "low profile"--in other words I'll keep my tools under the RV, do the work on a Sunday when no maintenance or security guys are working, etc. I do make sure that I leave the lot as I found it. There are no oil stains on the cement, etc. If you do maintenance, I think you need to be responsible about it by not leaving a mess when you're done.
As for the dirty oil, etc, we've found that nearly every dump has a recycle section that allows you to leave used oil, etc, there.

My boss got a warning from the EPA, having a mobil motor oil service coming out and changing oil outdoors at a paved lot that he was using as a domicile. The mobil service was changing oil on 1 semi and somebody seen it and called the EPA. No oil was spilled but still the EPA was adamant on no changing motor oil outdoors! The EPA expressed there feelings that oil changes were to be done indoors and a big fine was in order for my boss next time a outdoor oil change was preformed. FYI : Make sure the people around you are not enviromentalists.

Thanks for all the great feedback. We are not ready to fulltime yet, but getting closer and want to have everything figured out ahead of time....

When we bought our rig (new), I spent weeks going through all the manuals, not only for the chassis/engine/transmission, but the fridge, genny, water heaters, air conditioning, jacks, toilet (actually had its own manual), water pump, inverter/charger, awning(s), slideouts, satellite dish, TPO roof, ..... everydamthing.

I take the rig to Freightliner annually for the chassis/engine/tranny stuff (hard to do myself without a maintenance pit), but do most of the rest of the maintenance myself. Built myself a checklist showing all the different parts, and what's needed and when.

I sometimes get lazy, like last year the genny service was due the same time I took it in to Freightliner, so asked them to do its oil/filter change, but otherwise do most of it myself. 5 years fulltiming and nothing's fallen off yet.

FYI: Some stuff is supposed to be done by a "licensed professional", like the annual propane leak check. Do whatever you feel you must to feel comfortable about that. I figure I'm just as smart (and maybe a little bit smarter) than the dude at Camping World who did the leak check on my rig the first year, so......

It depends - I've been able to do things like pull and clean batteries, repair awnings, and even change generator oil and filter, but for the oil changes, I use Speedco. Most RV parks don't allow anything major to be done, and I'm OK with that.

We have found a few RV parks that will allow some maintenance to be done.
We found one in NH where we spent the summer the first three years we full timed and one in AZ where we spend all or part of the winter.

My experience is that the more expensive parks with a lot of activities won't let you do any maintenance.

For service on the road Speedco seems to be relatively painless and reasonably priced.

Up until this year DH has done the maintenance on our DP. Oil changes, filter changes, lube, etc. This year we used Speedco for oil change and were very pleased.In, out and on the road again! A bit more money but worth it. We also had the lube done when we had it aligned at a truck suspension shop.

I generally live in trailer parks just for this reason. It's usually allowable to do your own maintenance in them versus traditional campgrounds. I do carry a pretty good set of hand tools and often times wish I had more, but speciality tools are available at local Autozones for free. They also will take care of your used oil, etc.

Here's another thread posted recently regarding carrying tools, etc.