Tips for use in the winter

[2dedge]

I have a 10.6 bigfoot that I would like to use while snowmobiling this winter. What suggestions do you have for cleaning/maintaining the camper after trips across snow/salt covered roads?

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

LOL! Then there's those of us who simply don't bother. Our vehicles are exposed to salt about 4 months/year - the spring rains rinse the underneath off nicely in April.

I use "Rust Reformer" on any emerging rust; and spray moving parts liberally with silicone spray.

Road salt isn't the only "eater of metal" - I've been reading about communities using "fracking brine" to keep dust down on gravel roads. It makes sense - it's a waste product that's mostly water with a bit of petroleum product mixed in - but it can also contain acids 😞 I let a friend borrow my utility trailer to haul a bunch of kayaks to the upper part of Michigan last summer. Every place where mud splashed on the trailer (as they drove the backroads getting to rivers), it left behind a spot of rust! That trailer gets hauled through salt all winter and has never had that happen!

[HMS_Beagle]

As far as the camper goes, it is made from fiberglass and polyester resin, same as boats that live in salt water 24/7 their entire lives. I would pay attention to the jacks and jack mountings though. What year Bigfoot? older ones have steel jack mounts which can and do rust. Older ones also used galvanized screws to hold the jack mounts on, and to hold the two halves of the shell together (under the vinyl trim strip). These can eventually rust away to nothing, and will be accelerated by salt. Newer ones use SS screws. On my older Bigfoot, I replaced all the galvanized screws with SS, the cost is quite low if you buy them from an industrial supplier (like McMaster-Carr), and it only takes an afternoon.

[free_radical]

2dedge wrote:
I have a 10.6 bigfoot that I would like to use while snowmobiling this winter. What suggestions do you have for cleaning/maintaining the camper after trips across snow/salt covered roads?

I spray Rust check oil on frame and chasis just before each winter and it will protect the metal parts just fine,no matter how much salt gets on it,,
Only when the winters over I wash complete underside..

Only if you have some very solid undercoat on the truck you may want to wash it,,but not using too much pressure as it may blast the undercoating off...

[K_Mac]

I use a small brass tip fitting to get the heavy stuff off then go to the sprinkler. A friend that snowmobiles a lot, mixes his old oil with some diesel and sprays his underbelly before he heads out.

[Reality_Check]

The de-icers are deadly; I ride two, three times a week during the season. Camper is on more often than not, so a good wash on it often is surely a good thing.

But I think the killer is the under carriage. I've walked the steps of a man who's rig lived it's life driving through the salts, and it's brutal.

When I get home, I back up on blocks that I leave out all season. After the entire rig is parked (trailer and truck all get up on the blocks), I run a traveling sprinkler under it. Takes 6 to 8 hours and then shuts it's self off. I've tweaked the spray pattern just a bit, so it hits the entire undercarriage quite well.









The only actual 'extra work' each time, is pulling the hose back down the driveway before I back up and setting the sprinkler back on. Takes a minute or so.

I leave the blocks in the drive; the rear blocks for the truck are set in a hair so the trailer can pass over them. I just weave the trailer past the front blocks when first backing in. I'm sure there's better options out there, but this is the lazy way.

As far as the camper, we don't do anything else special. The WH stays lit throughout the season, there is a small electric heater in the bathroom that stays on low while plugged in. We keep it fully stocked with food minus the fresh produce, etc, that we might want. Because most of our over night trips are focused on sledding, I can go several trips overnight without worrying about dumping or re-filling the water.

Winter camping is the best; parking it just isn't an option for us.

[Old_Days]

Living in Wisconsin the road salt just kills your truck. The truck campers really rust by the back doors and the jacks. I think that if you really want to camp in the winter remove the electric jacks. Just my 2 cents.

[Super_Dave]

As much for you truck than the camper, invest in some Salt Away to rinse the camper and truck, including undercarriage.