Can you tow your rv while tarped?

[kamperdog]

Do the running lights have to be visible or just the brake/parking lights?

[Oaklevel]

Tarps would not last long, may come off, in the long run would cost more than?????
Probably wear the edges of the trailer....... Just plain dangerous......... I can't hardly keep a cover on a camper in my yard due to the high winds here, I can't imagine keeping one on in a constant 55-65 mph wind........ let alone the legal aspects.

[mkirsch]

kamperdog wrote:
Fixing it would take a redesign on this one.

What do you mean? I've known several people with Kodiak brand hybrids and they never had any issues with water getting in the front bunk hinge. These are hard-core, every-weekend, all-summer campers so they were out in all sorts of weather.

The problem they did have was after several years of travel, the frame started coming apart around the slide on one of them.

[bikendan]

kamperdog, you would have gotten a lot of good suggestions/fixes if you'd have posted this in the Hybrid forum.
a number of hybrid owners have used painter's tape or duct tape along the frame/hinge/seals on hybrids, when they've had leak issues that haven't been fixed.
using a tarp is overkill and a sketchy way to solve the problem.

[atreis]

IMO, get the bunk end fixed. Imagine what happens to the person behind you if the tarp comes off.

[Passin_Thru]

Yep1 Duct tape, "The Handymans Best Friend!"

[nickthehunter]

I'd use duct tape and simply put tape on the hinge area anytime I was going to be towing in rainy weather, take it off when I got to my destination. Next trip either put some tape on or not depending on the weather forecast. Probably 99% of the time you're not even going to need to put it on. Even if you don't put it on and 3 hours down the road it looks like it might start raining, it'll take you about two minutes to stop and put some on.

[blt2ski]

One COULD get a custom made heavy tarp or canvas front, similar to some cars with bra's per say. Make it so that the water will not get in while towing in the rain, yet make it so that there are openings in the tarp so the lights show thru and you will potentially get a ticket for the lights not being seen. I have seen some canvas fronts to keep the dirt/rocks etc from the rear tires of the TV that cover the lower part of a trailer with snaps etc. No reason why someone could not do something equal for the WHOLE front end. Other than the $$$$ part of the equation.

Or also as mentioned, try to figure out why the water gets thru, fix it...away you go.

Marty

[RAS43]

kamperdog wrote:

Also I'm not sure marker lights have to be seen...we see trucks with tarp covers over the cargo area all the time - no marker lights.

All lights must work and be seen, that is the law everywhere I have driven. The load on a truck can be tarped but the lights of the truck or trailer must not be covered.

[kamperdog]

Fixing it would take a redesign on this one.

[skipnchar]

I think I'd take the option to get the problem with the bunk end fixed instead of trying to work around it but I travel almost ALWAYS when using my trailer so I might feel differently if going only to local campgrounds where I can more or less choose the weather I"ll see.
Good luck / Skip

[BarneyS]

kamperdog wrote:
Will it be able to open and close?

It should be able to. All Eternabond tape is is plastic tape with a very sticky thick back on it. It bends easily around edges or right angles but is hard to conform to a compound bend like a rounded corner. That is what I would try.
Barney

[kamperdog]

Will it be able to open and close?

[Rvpapa]

Why not a strip of Eternabond along the hinge?
Art.

[mowermech]

You will have to check the laws in YOUR state.
Anything somebody in another state says will do you no good at all, unless you plan to drive in that state.
Search the New Jersey statutes for "clearance lights" or "marker lights".
Or, search the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for the same subjects. There is an excellent chance that the New Jersey laws mirror the Federal rules.
Keep in mind that this is quite likely one area where the commercial rules must be followed by non-commercial vehicles.
Here in Montana you CAN be ticketed for inoperative or covered lights, or for the wrong color of light (broken tail light lens showing a bright white light to the rear). That is, you CAN be ticketed; will you be? That depends. Quite often it depends on the mood of the officer!

"Can you tow your rv while tarped?"
Perhaps you CAN, but I certainly would NOT do so!