Go For It! Repair or Replace it Yourself..You Can Do It

[Beentherefixedt]

Consider this post a "Call to Arms" so to speak to encourage anyone to undertake their own RV repairs, modifications and maintenance. I read so many posts here asking if this or that can be taken on by the owner. In most cases it can be with no problem.

Of course I realize that due to age or physical limitations some may not be able to do this. But it doesnt hurt to educate yourself as much as possible to avoid being taken advantage of by RV dealers and repair facilities.

Anyone can do just about anything to their own RV.

There are two electrical systems 12 volt DC and 120 Volt AC.

There is a propane system for the stove, Furnace and the water heater (most units)

Then there is the plumbing system with Two systems interior to that, the onboard system using the water pump and fresh water tank and the outside supply.

These systems are very basic in most cases and familiar to many of us from our houses. Those that may be unfamiliar are still not complicated and can be mastered with reading the manual and doing some minimal online research.

In my case I have done the following on my 34 foot Gulfstream trailer.

Installed all new flooring incl. "floating type" in the bathroom and entry.

Replaced Kitchen sink with larger better (standard household models) SST double sink and faucet

Tore out my bathroom vanity, sink etc and replaced with a new one, Tiled the backsplash and counter and new medicine cabinet/mirror.

Re-wired my pigtail, getting rid of those horrible plastic twist nuts and terminated each wire with ring lugs (marine type with heat shrink), installed a distribution box and power dist. strip.

Replaced the old corroded inline 50 amp fuse in the pigtail with a marine grade 50 amp fuse and water resistant box.

Cut my Power cord off (I had the type that had to be pushed in and out) Added a marine grade Marinco receptacle mounted in a weather proof box wired to a dist. box in my bathroom and installed a new plug on the end of my cord...freeing my cord and making hookup much easier, surer and safer.

Repaired and adjusted my main living area slide

Tore out the living area dinette and sofa, moved some interior storage areas, created a table and chair dining table area and added to recliners essentially reversing the floorplan of the original.

Put down all new commercial grade carpeting in my main slide and living area.

Removed and recovered all of the window surrounds in the main living area.

Replaced both 12 v and 120AC light fixtures in the main living area.

Tore out the upper bunk of my small slide area and added matching cabinets I bought from Home Depot above the lower bunk.

Insulated the complete underside of the trailer as well as all outside storage areas with Owens Corning Pink Foamular insulation covered over with White Plastic version of that commonly used under most RV's.

Removed my Furnace cleaned and re mounted it properly. (It was not installed correctly at the factory so that much of the air didnt make it into the duct system.)

And the biggest job of all...I found some old rot in the floor of my small slide (I bought this trailer used) It was all dry rot. I replaced the slide floor and fit in new framing where necessary. This entailed removing the outside skin and replacing removing the old floor and replacing.

Now none of these were done in a garage and only the slide repair was done at my house. All else has been done on the road.

So you too can do this stuff. HOnestly...give it a try

[drsteve]

Beentherefixedthat wrote:

The point I was trying to make was that in fact you do NOT need to know what you are doing.

Famous last words...

[Beentherefixedt]

wa8yxm wrote:
While I do agree anyone can fix their own RV IF THEY KNOW HOW AND HAVE THE TOOLS.

The point I was trying to make was that in fact you do NOT need to know what you are doing.

These systems (Most of them) are simple and can be mastered by almost anyone with a little research or just diving in.

And the only thing dividing you from the tools is a trip to Home Depot.

And between YouTube, the Manufacturers Help lines as was mentioned above,the folks around you in the RV Park and do not forget your individual manuals of the systems on board (if you are lucky enough to have them) you can find what you need to know.

[goducks10]

I could do most all that as well. But the way these things depreciate it's just not worth dumping more time and money than needed into them unless it's your full time home or at the very least your 6 month snowbird home.
The only way I'd do most of those upgrade mods was if I bought a fixer upper RV.
I will agree most everything is pretty easily fixable by the average guy/gal if you have access to Google and or Youtube.

[Matt_Colie]

I concur with most of the sentiments written here, but I want to add some things that may not have been considered.

Most everybody that writes here has an IQ over 80 and seems to be literate. (That puts you right with anybody you might pay to do the work.) When you consider that any shop work is going to be billed at 120~150$us/hr. That means that you can:
A - Buy all the manuals for everything you can think of.
B - Buy any tools that the job requires.
C - Buy replacement parts online without the dealer markup.

And
- If it doesn't go well, you won't have to pay to have it repaired again.
- If the fault does reoccur, you will now understand what it is and may be able to effect a repair quickly.

Our current rig is 45 years old, and gone some 170+K miles. I do work on it, but not excessively. It is currently put away because I live in Michigan and they spread "fender solvent" all over the roads. In the spring, the first trip will be to a rally with several hundred others from the same plant. I carry a small collection of tools and very few spares.

You can all do this.

Matt

[Veebyes]

Lots of people seem to be afraid to get in there & get their hands dirty.

Water leaks are easy to find. It is where the water is coming out of the pipe.

12V DC works like the water system. It is one way & the battery is the city water source. Always start there, then the fuses/DC circuit breaker panel if lucky enough to have one.

110AC is a little more complex but can be figured out with the help of a multi tester.

Gas leaks: Have liquid soap will find em.

If internet is not always available you can't go wrong investing in a couple really good RV maintenance/repair books. 1 hour of unneeded tech time will pay for them. Look for the fulltime camper in the CG. Here is the guy with the best knowledge & tools. He has had everything that can possibly go wrong happen & has figured it out for himself.

If you ever want to do something more than a weekend warrior like go to Alaska being self sufficient is very helpful. There is no roadside assistance smiling at you in half an hour. Heck, there is not even any phone service for very long stretches of the road.

[pigman1]

Not only can YOU do it, getting help is relatively easy. I don't know about other manufacturers, but Tiffin has an extremely helpful line you can call during normal business hours. A good description of what you are seeing, what works, what doesn't work, and especially what you have examined and what you haven't will get you a good handle on where to start and where to go with your home troubleshooting. If you ask, they will also tell you how to get at the part you need to change and what else you need to disassemble to get at the broken piece. Yes, in many cases you may have to open compartments and crawl into basement areas, get under your rig, get on the roof, or wiggle under the dash. Difficult for those of us who are getting stiff, old and yes, fatter than we were at age 20. However, even if it takes us longer to get something done, we can still do it. I'm 77 years old, and have been maintaining my Class A's since I started RV'ing in 2004. Definitely not as fast as I once was, but I still pull wheels, move tires, replace hydraulic lines, and do the many things necessary to keep 3 successive RV's running for over 230,000 total miles. When my efforts find I cannot do a job, such as windshield replacement, 22.5" wheel balancing, replacing a roof air conditioner, etc, I take the rig to the experts, preferably at the Tiffin plant. As part of my preventative maintenance efforts I spend a considerable time under the rig with a good light and a rag. I use a very extensive checklist. I am consistantly looking for chaffing electrical, air, hydraulic or cooling lines, broken or missing zip ties, small seeps that could progress to major leaks and any other tings that just don't look right. Time consuming?? Sure, but it keeps my rig running like new. I don't have systems awaiting maintenance, or deferred maintenance where something hasn't worked for a long time. My current Allegro Bus has just short of 95,000 miles and is in better shape than when it came from TIffin. Take your time, watch closely when experts work on your rig, ask MANY questions, and try to do it yourself. You really can...

[wa8yxm]

While I do agree anyone can fix their own RV IF THEY KNOW HOW AND HAVE THE TOOLS. and in fact I have done several mods and upgrades and repairs to my house on wheels ... Some folks as they say could not pour water out of a boot with instructions printed on the heal. (I can think of one such but won't name him. Oh. he's not an RVer. far as I know. and not likely to become one).

I'm an old farm boy Studied mechanics and such in school. Electronics in college. Engineering path though I never completed my Batchlors (Do have an associates and a certificate). Have done a lot of jobs including small engine mechanic (The only difference between a chain saw and an 8.1L: Vortec is size. number of cylinders and some electronics (See certificate). That said I don't work on the 8.1 much.. (Old age and lack of tools).

I do sharpen chain saws

But there is not much this old farm boy can't do..

Recently I had someone tell me I fixed their problem and gave me a great comment (Facebook group) ... Well. .. You see.. When it happened to me I got professional advice (I did the work but the pro told me how). That's how I learn a lot of this stuff. Research covers the rest. I got some research to do next week on my car (limited bandwidth now).

[Veebyes]

YouTube is your friend. Even without YouTube RVs are fairly simple beasts & whipping out the credit card & heading for the dealership should not be the first option in repairs.

I came from the boating world. 30 years worth of self taught self maintaining much of it well before YouTube. The last boat was a 32' single diesel with a 6KW genny & all of the electronics expected to be found on a boat that size. Much more complex than the RV so the change to RV was easy.

Everyone should carry the basics in spares, have better than the basics in tools & know how to use them. Saves lots on money & aggravation when you can fix the small stuff yourself.

[jplante4]

I have never considered not carrying my 5 gallon bucket full of assorted nuts, bolts, washers and screws. It weights about 30 lbs, but I don't care.

[toedtoes]

Johno02 wrote:
I agree, even though I am not able to do a lot of things that I would have done i years past. Just not physically able anymore. The problem is that many of our new RV'rs have no idea how anything works, nor can they even conceive of doing any kind of repair themselvs. Many are mentally unable to do anything more than plug in a power cord, and that is pushing the limits. And before anyone jumps, by mentally I do not mean handicapped, only they have never had to do anything for themselves, and have very little common sense. This seems to be much more common these days, and as we age, the young are not getting much smarter. I could go on about this a lot more, but it seems to be of no use.

My grandfather was not mechanically inclined. He was extremely smart, but electrical, plumbing, etc., was done by my grandmother or professionals. My father, on the other hand, was very mechanically inclined and could fix most anything, but he did not have the business skills that my grandfather had.

[toedtoes]

Not everyone gets that type of stuff. While it may seem easy to you, for someone else it's all greek.

I do a lot of my own work, but I have a disability when it comes to measuring. I can measure ten times and still get it wrong. It's not the math, it's something else and I've never been able to overcome it. So, anything that requires measuring and cutting gets done by someone else not me. You can tell me how easy it is to install your own flooring, but it will never be something I'd do myself. By the time I screw up measurements and cuts and then buy more flooring to re-do it, I could have saved money by paying someone else to do it.

[jkwilson]

I own a boat, three vehicles, my 5th wheel, two tractors, a Bobcat, three trailers, two lawn mowers, a tiller, two generators, two water pumps plus a house, pool and farmland. Bad enough to keep all this stuff working, but it would be a killer if I had to pay somebody to do my repairs.

Worst of all is when you hire somebody to fix something you don't want to tackle and they screw it up or can't fix it and you end up having to fix it yourself AND pay to have it fixed.

[Johno02]

I agree, even though I am not able to do a lot of things that I would have done i years past. Just not physically able anymore. The problem is that many of our new RV'rs have no idea how anything works, nor can they even conceive of doing any kind of repair themselvs. Many are mentally unable to do anything more than plug in a power cord, and that is pushing the limits. And before anyone jumps, by mentally I do not mean handicapped, only they have never had to do anything for themselves, and have very little common sense. This seems to be much more common these days, and as we age, the young are not getting much smarter. I could go on about this a lot more, but it seems to be of no use.

[MFL]

wanderingbob wrote:
WOW , theoldwizard1 knew how to spell Ouija Board , I would have had to call my grandma !

Yup...he isn't claiming to be a young wizard. Often times he has some good info. Hope he hangs on a few more years. :B

Time will tell what these new folks know, but seems like everything!

Jerry

[old_guy]

I can do most every thing except the propane work. in saying that I can change out a regulator but not much more. I am not a qualified person when it comes to propane. A guy I know once told me that building a RV was not rocket science and you can pretty much fix any thing on it. I was in the rv service for several years and knew some very good techs but I also saw some of the guys who built these things. that is why we had so much do overs when they came into the lot