Being Prepaired

[down_home]

Another forum, someone asked about Air Condition quitting.
After a while, you encounter a lot, of these, house problems.
A first timeer might panic when facing this huge complicated RV.
First thing buy a spare water pump and physically find wher it is installed and look at how it is connected, at your leisure.
That will solve a lot aggravation on the road.
Buy spare capacitors, American made, and yes they still make them, for your air conditioner(s) and sail switches or whole thermostats for you environmental controls.
Third, and the Manufacturers should provide a starter kit of these, two or three, minimum, of the 12 volt fuses, each size, and a fuse puller. You you will more than likely appreciate having one, and divided box to keep them in and two breakers, of each size, in the RV.
A spare or two ground fault receptables.
Tool set of 1/4,3/8,1/2 ratchet and extensions and adapters
Screw driver set
Two pairs, of piers, because you will lose one or loan one or bury one.
Circuit tester a good one, and read the manual, and use it a time or two....and wire cutters and wire nut and splice set, with heat shrink tubing.
Three or four or five, and special size socket for, Nylon or other Water Heater Plugs, and teflon tape.
Two good tire pressure gauges, cause you can't find one when you need it.,
And the biggie. I wish I had obtained the Fellow RVers name, one year at American Coach.
He had a large size divided drawer system,, for these tools and extras, situated on a slide. Just like, at home everything you need. He repaired a light for us in about a minute after finding the problem.
I forgot to mention two or three bulbs, of every size and screws that the sizes correspond to reak light hosuing and others sizes
I haven't found the too chest that ill fit our slide yet so, if I can't find the tool or widget or bulb I end up calling a Mobile Tech and that can get expensive.
What did I forget.

[pnichols]

Here's a few examples of how what we have onboard (or didn't have onboard) has been beneficial on RV trips:

1) Loaned our spare water pump to friends we were RV'ing with when their's failed.

2) Loaned our 12 ton hydraulic jack to a person who needed help hitching up their TT when they didn't have a decent portable jack along.

3) Loaned some unusual socket sizes to a motorcyclist to repair their bike.

4) Used our built-in roof ladder to get up on the roof to repair a cracked vent cover.

5) Loaned a flexible long-neck funnel to friends we were RV'ing with so they could refill their Class C's transmission after a near-catastrophic over-heating fluid loss.

6) Used our beach umbrella to sit under while using our extra lawn chairs to sit right at the water's edge on a beautiful sandy beach on Lake Erie.

7) Used our quiet backup portable generator (instead of the louder built-in generator) to power a large oscillating fan outside to keep a group of frineds comfortable duing a BBQ on a hot day.

😎 Used our portable propane single burner stove outside (instead of our stovetop inside) to cook bacon on when boondocking along the Salmon River so that grease wouldn't get splattered all over our galley area.

9) Used our 30,000 lb. tow strap to try and pull out our friend's Class C we were RV'ing with when they got stuck in a soft shoulder on a remote highway (with poor cell phone access).

10) Used all 100 feet of our total freshwater hose length in order to fill our FW tank at a beautiful but otherwise poorly set up campground.

11) Used all 80 feet of our total shore power cabling in order to have full hookup capability at an over-flow camping spot in a campground.

12) Loaned our full power portable compressor to another camper in a horse event drycamping area so that they could blow up a low tire on their 5'er.

13) Had to tolerate very limited fresh water use for a few days on our recent otherwise spectacular RV trip due to a leak that developed in our toilet's water valve assembly. This is the SECOND TIME that this has happened to us - so I now pack a spare complete toilet valve assembly along with our other spare items.

You never know what trip altering event - that stuff you carry along could have eliminated or minimized - can occur when out and about. Why not carry the stuff along if one can fit it in and if one's rig can tolerate the additional weight?

[DallasSteve]

Prepaired? Is that when two Boy Scouts decide they will share the same tent at next week's camp out?

[Dave_H_M]

when I glanced at pnichols post I immediately thought of American Pickers pulling up. :W

[CavemanCharlie]

I carry tools and such. Basic things like the other posters have said.

I don't carry extra capacitors and such.

But, I never stray too far from home or civilization. If I did get far from civilization a spare capacitor would not help me anyway.

[Grit_dog]

^Well you're prepared for sure.
What a lot of people, don't realize is a lot of The things you talk about are already in/on the rv if you know how to use them. Yore not packing that much, except for the spare parts.

[pnichols]

big jim 2 wrote:
I can't believe anybody would carry all that stuff when you can buy about anything you need while on the road in about the same time it would take to find what you needed in all the stuff your are carrying. Take half the stuff and twice the money and you will be find!

We consider each RV trip as kind of a mini-expedition, so we like to carry as much of the provisions for each expedition as possible when we head out. We have the room and the weight carrying capacity - so why not? We don't have to reload up for each trip - not counting clothing and food - as we leave most everything in the RV all the time. We leave home with all tanks full that should be full and all tanks empty that should be empty.

Try buying anything one might need 25 miles North of Plush, Oregon or way out at Dubinky Well in Utah. 🙂

[big_jim_2]

I can't believe anybody would carry all that stuff when you can buy about anything you need while on the road in about the same time it would take to find what you needed in all the stuff your are carrying. Take half the stuff and twice the money and you will be find!

[pnichols]

For what it's worth, here's a list from a post of mine in 2013 related to this topic thread. We still have the same 24 foot Class C and still travel with about the same items - with the exception of some tire repair items and freshwater plumbing repair items that we've added recently for extra insurance during our off-highway travel. We like to as much as possible be "ready for anything" when we're out and about:

- One-person tire changing capability for any tire on the RV on hard or soft surfaces
- Manual or powered tree-across-the-road cutting capability
- Remote area emergency outside contact capability ... extended range cell phone or satellite phone
- Manual or powered low-hanging-limb cutting capability
- Ladder access to the RV's roof
- Roof/window leak repairing capability
- High strength towing strap/chain capabiliy
- Full size shovel
- Leveling capability for worst-case all four corners of the main living space
- Spare parts for any living space item that could be trip-ending if it was to fail (i.e. spare RV water pump, spare propane refrigerator ignition points, spear propane water heater ignition points, etc.)
- Some spare parts for certain high failure rate items of the drive chassis (tow vehicle or motorhome truck chassis)
- Capability for extended time-period air conditioning in extreme heat that may come unexpectedly
- Capability for extended time-period heating in extreme cold that may come unexpectedly
- Fan capability as a backup to the air conditioning
- Plan B backup capability to the primary heating system
- Multiple ways of recharging the RV battery bank (more than one combination of solar/fossil fuel generator/wind turbine/fuel cell/converter/charger/etc.)
- Crutches (i.e. should someone sprain an ankle)
- A remote inspection scope (i.e. for checking some RV part failure/wire short/etc. in a hard to check area)
- Tire inflation capability for a complete inflation in a reasonable length of time of any tire on the RV
- Ground cloth/cover for inspection underneath the RV in dry or wet or muddy conditions
- Heating pad for sprained body parts
- Inside window insulation material for an unexpected long cold spell
- Vacuum cleaner to keep the interior from getting too gritty in windy desert conditions.
- Outside shower for pre-cleaning muddy items
- Positive awning latch to prevent unfurling in high cross-wind conditions when traveling
- Backup cooking capability to the indoor cooktop
- A backup to the RV's refrigerator ... a cold chest using ice from the refrigerator's freezer ... or an electric powered portable chest
- All the emergency medical supplies you can think of and find a place for
- All the tools you can think of and find a place for
- More than one umbrella for outside the RV in the rain or sun .... or worst-case for hiking in the sun for miles if your RV is broken down
- Spare oil/spark plugs/etc. for any generator(s) you might have along
- A way of starting the main drive engine if the chassis battery should fail
- Capability for off-loading the grey tank into the black tank until you can get to a dump station
- A way of getting water into your fresh water tank from any source
- A water filtration system
- An adjustable roof vent near both ends of the living space, with vent covers over the vent lids, so that the interior can still be ventilated in heavy rains and high winds
- Hard copy maps of a whole lot of areas
- A modern GPS unit fully loaded with maps of all of North America.

[Bmach]

Basic hand tools no parts. I can buy as needed. My ac died once on vacation went and bought a freestanding unit.

[nineoaks2004]

Mostly we camp at State parks

I carry a minimal amount of hand tools and spares, mainly fuses and spare light bulbs for the clearance lights and tail lights. I also carry a torque wrench and a small jack, duck,electrical and repair tape and multi-meter. Anything else can usually be found near by or I can do without.

[theoldwizard1]

I made up a zip lock bag full of all different kinds and sizes of fuses for my son-in-law. I hope he remembers where he put them !

When I take a multi-day trip, even to a rental house, I usually take a tool box full including a couple of kinds of tape, zip ties, bailing wire, hose clamps, etc. I gave that to my SIL. I am not certain he even packs it.

[FLY_4_FUN]

LadyRVer wrote:
And, zip ties

I used up dozens of zip ties just cleaning up all the electrical birds nests behind my panels. Not mandatory...but I sure feel better that stuff is secured going down the road.

Daryll

[NanciL]

I can understand the spare fuses and light bulbs, but there is no way I would keep a spare water pump or Ac capacitor.

my "goodie box" with spares, (lots that you didn't mention) must weigh 35 pounds.


jack L

[LadyRVer]

And, zip ties