How have your trailers held up camping in the mountains?

[OregonTRX4]

My trailer sees some rough gravel forest service type roads but we drive real slow, especially through potholes etc. We also leave our trailer on some land isolated way up a forestry road. My friends trailer is already having mice and we are battling that. What I was wondering is what problems people have run into with repeated exposure to these conditions. Loose screws and bolts? Broken parts? Let me hear your problems. I prefer this to camping in a park. Thanks.

[mlts22]

Huntindog wrote:
That is the way we have always camped. Screws do back out, and staples loosen up. I fix it in such a way that it won't happen again.
At some point I like have done most everything in the way of repairs... A hint: Loctite is your friend. The Harbor Freight brand works well and is affordable enough. Never reinstall a screw with using it.

Which "color"/strength Loctite do you use? In general, I use the blue stuff (removable by hand tools), but some swear by the purple (the weakest of them all), and others use red (removable by heating to 300-400 degrees.)

[Doug33]

With my previous TT, I occasionally found loose screws (not counting the ones in my head). The worst was one of the drawers loosened and came all the way extended on the track, and then the vibration broke one of the tracks loose from the cabinet, then the track bent and the drawer ended up on the floor. It took a while to repair that issue.

The worst is driving over speed bumps either going through small towns, or even in the CGs themselves. I have not taken the new TT over any of the dirt/gravel CG entrance roads with washboard effect. Those conditions are usually worse in the off-peak season. Some of those entrance roads can be a mile or two long!

[rfryer]

Francesca Knowles wrote:

rfryer wrote:

Once in Utah I came into an area just before dawn and missed seeing a huge pothole. I was moving slow but it was one h__ of an impact. It tore the door off my frig and sent food all over the TT. But I was lucky, I was able to repair the hinge easily and go on.

In my opinion, you have to have had at least one refrigerator-blown-open-by-pothole incident in order to qualify for the "I RV on Rough Roads Club". And since you managed to tear your fridge door completely off, I hereby appoint you President!:B

Thank you so much, Francesca, I'm truly honored. But--- does that mean I'm the king of klutzes?:@

[Francesca_Knowl]

ReferDog wrote:
Interstates worst than back rds. I-90 over the Cascades will though most stuff on the floor, worst than I-5 though the SJ valley

:h

I use I-90 a lot, and find it to be very well maintained. Certainly the section near the summit that they're working on right now is a bit rough, but in my mind that's to be expected during construction.

That said:
If you prefer Forest Service roads to I-90, there's an avoid-the-construction bypass that's right up your alley: just get off I-90 at Hyak and take FS 4832.
Full description/directions at this link

Have fun!

[ReferDog]

Interstates worst than back rds. I-90 over the Cascades will though most stuff on the floor, worst than I-5 though the SJ valley

[RedRocket204]

Lowsuv wrote:
Oregon is dry camping heaven

lol

I hope you typed that up intentionally as it was funny. Just moved back to CO a year ago from near Astoria, 9 years there. 🙂

[_DJ_1]

Every once in a while I find a loose screw rolling around on the floor. I toss it in the tool box until I see where it came from. I never have found where one came from yet!!!

[Lowsuv]

Oregon is dry camping heaven
70 % of our usage is without hookups.
much of that is real boondocking .
here is the sales pitch .
we had 3 prior rv's
after considerable research we found the most suitable rig for that was a 21T Komfort brand trailer which we ordered new.
among its qualifications are :
6 inch tall steel frame
shock absorbers
7200 # gvw capacity on the axles , Light weight is about 4700 #
lots of reserve capacity for payload
more ground clearance than our nomad , fleetwood, or beaver.
50 plus 6 fresh , 45 grey , 45 black .
5 skylights, larger windows ,
foam insulation instead of loose fibreglass,
an extra 4-5 " of headroom , day /night shades ,
tub with sliding accordian shower door ,
spare tire under the trailer , cranks down ,
plywood instead of OSB , lots of mirrors ,
30 inch wide door
komfort weighs more than other brands of the same length .
some of that weight has to be due to more structure .
ours has held up well in this gravel road type usage.
my friend tried a lightweight trailer and it virtually disassembled itself .
he was ready to sell it after about 6 years and then his wife Judy rolled the grand cherokee with the trailer solving his problem .
both walked away with minor cuts and abrasions.
the insurance company paid off .
for gravel road camping i have found load range E tires of a larger size works best for the tow vehicle and the TT .

[Francesca_Knowl]

rfryer wrote:

Once in Utah I came into an area just before dawn and missed seeing a huge pothole. I was moving slow but it was one h__ of an impact. It tore the door off my frig and sent food all over the TT. But I was lucky, I was able to repair the hinge easily and go on.

In my opinion, you have to have had at least one refrigerator-blown-open-by-pothole incident in order to qualify for the "I RV on Rough Roads Club". And since you managed to tear your fridge door completely off, I hereby appoint you President!:B

[rfryer]

In my area potholes aren’t much of an issue, but the roads can be very rocky. I have a 1989 Fleetwood Wilderness 16’ that has spent a LOT of time on forest roads and dirt, gravel, and rocky roads. It’s a hero, to the best of my knowledge I’ve had only one screw come loose that secures the backrest on the dinette seat. Also, my spare is mounted on the rear bumper and the weld to the frame broke a couple of years ago. We just rewelded it and added a reinforcement plate. That’s all the damage I can attribute to the TT’s rough use.

Once in Utah I came into an area just before dawn and missed seeing a huge pothole. I was moving slow but it was one h__ of an impact. It tore the door off my frig and sent food all over the TT. But I was lucky, I was able to repair the hinge easily and go on. But I consider that damage due to stupidity on my part, not the result of normal wear and tear. I generally go pretty far back in. When I start getting bounced around in the cab I decide that’s far enough for the TT.

We’ve never had a mouse problem and the DW is always amazed when we clean it out for a trip that there’s no sign of mice or insects getting in. I guess it must be pretty tight.

[Huntindog]

That is the way we have always camped. Screws do back out, and staples loosen up. I fix it in such a way that it won't happen again.
At some point I like have done most everything in the way of repairs... A hint: Loctite is your friend. The Harbor Freight brand works well and is affordable enough. Never reinstall a screw with using it.

[vermilye]

My vote for the roughest roads are also not dirt - Both New Brunswick & Nova Scotia have good primary roads, and do a a good job of patching the potholes on their secondary roads, but they are the "lumpiest" roads I've driven. Some of the dirt roads out west are better!

[Merrykalia]

We prefer state parks over RV resorts, and we travel on lots of dirt and gravel roads. That being said, our roughest roads seem to be some of the interstates in/around large eastern cities!!! (Worcester, Mass; Hartford, CT; Harrisburg, PA; etc.)

The only ill effects have been a few things knocked over. I guess I should have packed a little better.

[Sandia_Man]

We also prefer this type of camping with no ill effects to our rig noted other than normal wear and tear.

[the_bear_II]

We have used our RVs as support for our family's offroad racing efforts. Travel along desert dirt roads for several miles to get to a pit area is common. Just go slow and easy.

Can't point any problems to the offroad travel. Seem to have more problems related to highway travel. Loose screws, refrigerator door hinge break, leaf spring break, stuff falling off of shelves and cabinets.