RV Covers

[craigandsue]

I am thinking about buying a cover for my 5th wheel to save money on storage rental. Looking for opinions on these covers from people that use them. Thanks

[Padlin]

I wouldn't cover mine if I was going to use it again in 2 or 3 weeks, a month or more I cover. Mine's fairly easy as it's pretty small. Probably couldn't carry the one DutchmanSport would need.

[SC_camper]

I keep ours covered during the off season, July-September and again December-March. More to try to be compliant with the HOA than rv protection. The rv does seam to stay cleaner when stored with cover on. We went through 2 covers on old camper in 10 years, the Addco Designer with tyvek lasted longer than the Aqua Shield.

Our old camper wasnt to bad to put on or take off the cover. Wife on one side with an 8 foot ladder and I on the other side with 6 footer. Roll it out or roll it up, wasnt too bad. Our new camper is taller and sharp edges on roof are harder to get to. Its not to hard if I get up on the roof, which I try not to do. So once camping season begins, it stays uncovered.

Edit to add: make sure the cover doesnt bellow. The membrane on the old camper rolled over the back wall, the cover sliding around on the edge wore through the roof membrane.

[DickOK]

Living in the desert, we keep our 5th wheel Covered. We usually go for 2 or 3 weeks than home for a month then gone again. If the cover is folded correctly it is easy to put on. When folded, it fits in the original box.

[MitchF150]

I only cover it for it's Winter storage. So, I'll cover around Oct and it stays on until May. In between time, I don't cover.

The cover in my pic on the previous page, at that time, was around 10 years old. I retired it this year (2 years later) and have a brand new ADCO AquaShed Designer Series cover waiting to go on come Oct.. Cost me $175 for the 20' size.. I don't have that big of a trailer.. 🙂

If it was physically possible to have a covered car port for mine, I'd have it.. But, the logistics of how I have to park it won't work, so this is my best solution.

Good luck!

Mitch

[Ski_Pro_3]

I have a question;
Considering the time and effort to put on and remove a cover, how often do you do this? Reason being, I take my camper out about once every other week. More in summer than winter, but I use it year round pretty much. I'd be looking at 20+ times climbing up there to put it on and another 20+ times to take it off. It would sort of defeat the purpose of making a getaway when the mood strikes or an invite to take off pops up I would think.
I bought a cover. Used it 2 or 3 times when I thought it was going to be especially bad weather. That was enough for me to consider the risk of getting up and down so much.

[camperforlife]

DutchmenSport wrote:
I use to cover my 2 previous campers (sometimes). First camper I was all "gun-ho!" Climbed up there like I was King Rat and felt proud as a peacock when it was in place. Actually, looking back, I think it was a "show-off" factor more than anything.

Second camper, not so "gun-ho!" any more. It was longer, heavier cover, and more to deal with. Had the camper 8 years and covered religiously the first 4, then realized THIS is really a pain in the "neck!" It takes WORK to do it! I'm sick of work! So, the last 4 year, I didn't cover.

What were the results between the 4 years of covering followed by the 4 years of not covering? Absolutely nothing! Really! When we sold the camper, the roof was still just as clean as it could be. The calking was good as ever, no leaks, no bad spots, and it traded in value pretty well.

I live in Indiana where got down to 20 below zero more winters than not over those 8 years. It had piles of snow on top of it. And then in the summer, it had temperatures of 90 plus degrees with direct sunlight for the entire 8 years. Washed the roof twice a year. Treated it with RV rubber roof protector, and never had a problem.

Current camper is even longer. No way am I covering now. I'm down to washing that roof once a year now, and letting my RV dealership check the roof now. I'm getting too danged old to be climbing around on top of the thing now!

So??? was there any advantage to covering or not covering since I did both? I suppose the answer is found in my next question?

Which is more? Half a dozen of one, or.... 6 of the other?

I don't cover any more. It's just too much work at my age now with bad knees.

Darn it, I was going to buy a cover for the new trailer and ask if you would come over and help put it on.:B

[spoon059]

Carolina Carport. I paid about $2400 for a 31'x18' carport on 10' legs. Don't have to worry about rain, snow, sun, bird droppings etc. Don't have to worry about climbing on the roof to install the cover, don't have to worry about a wet cover.

Easy to back the camper under when we get home and pull the camper out when we leave. Can leave slides, windows, roof vents open without water intrusion or dirt. Camper and adjacent ground are dry if it rains the night before we leave, makes it easier to load without getting muddy.

My friend just bought a camper yesterday. The guy that sold it was paying $120 a month to store UNCOVERED in a storage lot. That is $1440 a year for UNCOVERED storage. My COVERED storage in my yard will cost me less than 2 years of uncovered storage somewhere else.

I've never known someone to buy a fabric cover and use it EVERY SINGLE TIME they are parked. They usually spend the money and are optimistic... but reality settles in rather quickly and the cover is used less and less. It quickly becomes money wasted and an RV uncovered.

[dodge_guy]

Adco covers also uses Tyvek material. They have covers for different areas of the country.

I'm on my 2nd cover. They last about 5 years or more if taken care of and installed properly. I only use mine for winter storage.

[Padlin]

Just don't get the cheap ADCO one, fell apart in less then 2 winters. The Tyvek one lasted about 6. Trying the too expensive Calmark on the new trailer. On all pad as mentioned above and do what you can to minimize billowing from the wind.

I notice a big difference in required rv maintenance when covering vs not.

I'd go with covered storage if any existed around here that allowed access off season.

[MitchF150]

I've posted this many times before on these questions.. 🙂



Park under trees... Cover..

Park in the open spaces... You decide..

Mitch

[DutchmenSport]

I use to cover my 2 previous campers (sometimes). First camper I was all "gun-ho!" Climbed up there like I was King Rat and felt proud as a peacock when it was in place. Actually, looking back, I think it was a "show-off" factor more than anything.

Second camper, not so "gun-ho!" any more. It was longer, heavier cover, and more to deal with. Had the camper 8 years and covered religiously the first 4, then realized THIS is really a pain in the "neck!" It takes WORK to do it! I'm sick of work! So, the last 4 year, I didn't cover.

What were the results between the 4 years of covering followed by the 4 years of not covering? Absolutely nothing! Really! When we sold the camper, the roof was still just as clean as it could be. The calking was good as ever, no leaks, no bad spots, and it traded in value pretty well.

I live in Indiana where got down to 20 below zero more winters than not over those 8 years. It had piles of snow on top of it. And then in the summer, it had temperatures of 90 plus degrees with direct sunlight for the entire 8 years. Washed the roof twice a year. Treated it with RV rubber roof protector, and never had a problem.

Current camper is even longer. No way am I covering now. I'm down to washing that roof once a year now, and letting my RV dealership check the roof now. I'm getting too danged old to be climbing around on top of the thing now!

So??? was there any advantage to covering or not covering since I did both? I suppose the answer is found in my next question?

Which is more? Half a dozen of one, or.... 6 of the other?

I don't cover any more. It's just too much work at my age now with bad knees.

[SoundGuy]

Like most other topics here on the forums you'll have responses from those of us who do cover our rigs and believe it to be advantageous and responses from those who consider it a terrible waste of $$$, claiming RVs are "made to be outdoors". That may be true but regardless water intrusion of any kind is the worst enemy of every RV and unfortunately sealant used to prevent this water intrusion does fail with time and exposure to the elements. I've winter covered every trailer we've owned that wouldn't fit in my garage to help protect the sealant AND the awning from the constant snow melt / refreeze we see here in Ontario during the winter and wouldn't ever consider not using a cover. Our first was an ADCO AquaShed, second that we had for 6 yrs was an ADCO Tyvek, current one (3 yrs so far, no issues) is an ADCO Designer Series Tyvek. The key is the installation - pad any and all sharp corners and strap the cover down so it can't blow around and you should find the RV just as pristine in the spring as it was in the fall when you covered it. 🙂

[starcraft69]

We keep ours under cover at home. It dose take a little bit to cover and uncover but in the whole scheme of things that we do no big deal. Plus for us to be able to keep at home, I have no problem with covering it. What blows me away is all the RV's I see uncovered.

[downtheroad]

You may save money. We tried it and went back to paying for covered storage...
Major pain to pull on and off, to store, and to attempt to not damage stuff like antennas, gutter extensions, etc.

Just our experience. Others may have a more positive one.