RV Covers in the winter

Dick_B wrote:
Sunshield tarp over the roof and part of the sides, front and back. Black side up in the winter. We hold it down with boat fenders half filled with sand. Have for years.

Interesting, any pictures of it tarped for the winter?

Traildust wrote:
When you measure the length do you include the front cap bulge? Ours adds about 2 feet to the length.

The length of the body at it's longest dimension. Some manufacturers such as ADCO say to include the bumper but I never have as I never wrap the cover around the bumper anyway.

I have pretty much been forced into going with a cover by the sun. We live in the high desert of NW Nevada and the sun's rays are intense here all year long and we don't have a indoor place to store it. I am still trying to find the absolute best cover I can and am willing to pay for it. I am a strong believer in, "You Get What You Pay For." Ours is coming up on 6 years with no over and it's really starting to show the effects of the sun and weather. When you measure the length do you include the front cap bulge? Ours adds about 2 feet to the length.
Bill

We have a 26 ft TT.At one time I used a cover but found that the trailer was dirtier when I took the cover off because the rain could penetrate the cover. I now use a 30ft x 20 ft tarp. It keeps the RV clean. But don't try to secure it by the gromets alone. I have 3 2" straps which go completely over and under the camper. I bought the cloth strapping material at our True Value Hardware store.Then you buy the plastic ends and make a strap yourself. I then use rope through the gromets to keep the tarp from flapping.

I used to put my cover on every year .. but as I got older I haven't for years. In the Willamette Valley your blessed with winters/summers which aren't extreme. I park my rig in a spot where it's shaded in the summer and protected from the winds during the winter ... it's a 92 and looks great ... but the looks are because I maintain it not because I cover it.

flyboykuao wrote:
Was yours easy to put on and take off? I am not as strong or limber as I used to be.

Once we "upgraded" to a hybrid, then later to travel trailers which I couldn't store in my heated workshop I would cover each for the winter with a breathable ADCO cover. A couple of winters I did pay for indoor storage but the cost each time forced me return to instead using a cover. The upside was that once removed in the spring the trailer would be as clean as I'd left it in the fall but the primary purpose was to protect all those roof seams and the awning from the constant freeze / melt / freeze cycle as temperatures varied throughout the winter. Anyone who says installing and later removing a cover isn't a PITA is sugar coating - it is a total PITA but IMO necessary if you can't find / afford indoor storage. The key is to first pad any & all sharp corners / edges that can rip the cover fabric - that's the easy part and something anyone can do - but if you're concerned about climbing up on the roof pay a young person in the neighbourhood to do the actual installation. It really takes 2 people anyway, one up on the roof to unroll the cover and drape it over the sides and another on the ground to dress it around the body of the RV - you be that person on the ground. ;)

I keep mine inside all winter and on season when it's not being used (last much longer that way) but prior to that I used an Adco cover and made it fiddle string tight with ratchet straps wrapped all the way around the circumference of the cover. With covers, tight is right, a flapping cover will eat into the filon, mar the finish and eventually tear.

Sunshield tarp over the roof and part of the sides, front and back. Black side up in the winter. We hold it down with boat fenders half filled with sand. Have for years.

The 22 foot range travel trailer was pretty easy to cover. The 31 foot range travel trailer was a bit more challenging. And the 35 footer, I never bothered covering. And the thought of covering the 41 foot 5er now is not even an option to consider.

The longer they get, the heavier and bigger the cover gets. Also, the longer they got, the older I got too (funny how that worked out).

Don't know about your intended usage, but if you cover your camper and then decide a few days later to go somewhere with it, then you have to uncover. If you return home and cover again, then decide to go somewhere in a few days again, you'll have to uncover.

It only takes about 3 times for this to happen and they you will probably be ready to throw the thing away. No, not the camper, .... the cover!

I think to cover or not to cover depends upon how much you plan on using the camper, because putting in on and taking it off, and then putting it on and taking it off, gets very-very-very old very-very-very quick, regardless of how old or young, how stiff or or limber your body is.

Covering is nice, IF you plan on parking it and leaving it sit for some time. If you plan to use it frequently, covering will be a pain in the neck and back and legs real fast! If you are in snow country, covering is not a good thing if you plan on using the camper in the winter. It's horrible dealing with the cover when it laden with snow and ice ... don't ask how I know!

You will want a full cover over your camper, not a tarp that fits only over the top. You will want it pulled as tight as you can get it so nothing can flop in the wind. If it flops, it will rub your paint like sand paper.

To prepare it for installing, you'll want a space large enough you can lay out the cover completely flat with the inside on the ground and you are walking on the top. Then fold one of the sides over the top, then the other side over the top, then both ends, in that order. The entire tarp will be inside out now.

Now fold toward the middle again into 1/4's long way on both sides, then fold everything again. The goal is to get the width short enough you can handle it.

Next, select either the front or the back end of the cover. Yes, they are marked front or back. Start either way, just remember which end you start and end on. Let's say you start rolling from the front. Roll the remaining from the front toward the back. Once in a roll, like a sleeping bag, you are done. It's ready to put on the roof.

On the roof, lay the roll on the back of the camper and then unroll it going toward the front. Now you get it, right!

After it's unrolled, unfold each side until it's flat on the roof. Don't lower any sides until its completely opened up. Then... remember how it was folded? Lower the front end and the back end. This will help begin to hold it in place. Then lower one side and then the other.

Once in place, get down and tie all the ropes tight and snug and say good night to the baby.

In the Spring, do it exactly the same way as you did on the ground, except you'll be on the roof.

One side up, other side up, lay flat upside down. Front end up, back end up, lay flat. Fold each side over toward the middle in 1/4 lengths. Once it's all folded to the size of the storage bag length, then being rolling like a sleeping bag again. Front to back, or back to front. Just remember which way you do it. I always did front to back, so when putting on the roof the next time I started from the back.

After it's rolled up, drop it to the grown, put in it's bag and say ... "Hello Baby!" Did you have a good winter!