You don't need it.

A post made not too long ago, suggested taking an inventory of how your RV is actually built and bring along only the tools necessary to fix any object in your RV. For example, most RV's don't have Philips head screws, they have Robertson. So why drag along a Philips screwdriver when everything in your camper is Robertson? It's just one EXAMPLE, but multiply that by the amount of "stuff" we "think" we need and really don't, and a lot of "stuff" can be eliminated.

I'm also a strong advocate for outfitting my camper with items that have multiple uses. And my best example is, bring along a good pair of meat scissors and you don't need any others. Meat scissors will cut, not only meat, but paper, metal, plastic, and cloth. So you don't need to bring along 4 or 5 different kinds of scissors when the right one will do it all. Same is true for a hammer. Why drag along a hammer when a hatchet can be used, not only for chopping wood, but for driving a nail back into a picnic table too. Making this simply change, can and does, eliminate a LOT of over stuffing the RV with unnecessary clutter.

If a part fails, for example the sail switch on my furnace, well, I'll just have to track down an RV parts place and get what I need then. I'm not dragging along a separate trailer with all the parts to rebuild an Indy race car.

OP, thanks for the confirmation that far too often, we carry too much "stuff" we really do not need! Thanks!

After our first trip I cleaned out everything we never touched.
I replaced all my tools with one of those cheapo tool kits from the hardware store.... small socket set, vice grips, combo screwdriver, pliers etc. It served all my needs and 20 yrs later I still have it and seldom needed it.

P.S.
We don't boondock so we are never far from a store.

naturist wrote:
The Racing Law probably saved you: the only part that will ever break is the one for which you have no spare. Glad you had a great trip.

Oh yes.. and the tool you will find most useful...
The one back on the bench in your garage 1500 miles away :)

I had to laugh. My very first RV trip to Colorado I took way to much stuff. When I got home I unloaded about 70 percent down to the very basics. I take a few basic tools a cordless drill (for stabilizer jacks) and cordless air compressor.

Like you said prepare your equipment.

I carry a full set of tools and quite a few spare parts. I get 3 of the 12 storage bays to use and i'm filling them up with my stuff before DW takes them over. That being said, I usually end up loaning / using the tools for other campers' rigs. Just like naturist said, if I didn't carry the tools and parts, then I would have things break. I figure it's cheap insurance.

The Racing Law probably saved you: the only part that will ever break is the one for which you have no spare. Glad you had a great trip.

I will add that I went South last month from NY to Florida towing our 5th wheel with my 2017 Ram 3500 with the 6.4 Hemi. I worried some about going down Fancy Gap On I-77 entering North Carolina from Virginia (a vertical descent of 1,289 ft. over 6.2 miles. There's three runaway truck ramps. The first part of the grade is moderately steep but becomes more aggressive about halfway down). With Tow/Haul engaged, I downshifted manually to 4th gear and road down the hill at 55mph and never touched the breaks once. I was relieved when at the bottom but also impressed with the Ram's performance.