RV FAQs - RV Blog by Charlotte RV Center

You could be liable in the event of an accident involving an overloaded vehicle! Not only that, but you could find that your vehicle could be very unstable or unable to brake adequately. These problems can ruin wheel bearing, burn-up the brakes, damage the transmission, overheat the engine, or cause a tire to blow.

• What is trailer frontage size? Measure the width and height of the front wall of the trailer and multiply those numbers together. For example, a pop-up camper (when closed) may be about 6-feet wide and 4-feet high, so 24-square feet. If the car or truck has a limitation of 25-square feet of trailer frontage, then you are OK.

• Why is there a limit on trailer frontage? It is because it takes a lot of power to push the air with the front of a vehicle. Obviously, the vehicle doing the towing pushes some of the wind aside, but the turbulence of the air as it swirls around the back of the vehicle creates aerodynamic drag against the front of the trailer. Add that aerodynamic drag to the amount of wind resistance (more aerodynamic drag) of the portion of the front of the trailer that is not in the theoretical shadow of the towing vehicle, and you have a lot of air to push. Aerodynamic drag increases exponentially with road speed (I know exponentially is a term that you haven’t had to use since math classes years ago), so at highway speeds you will discover that the engine and transmission are working overtime. Overtime is ok, but if you go beyond the trailer front square feet stated by the towing vehicle manufacturer, you could overwork your car or truck to the point of exhaustion, which could mean extremely costly damage to the engine or transmission!

For more information about towing weights, go to www.hitchinfo.com and www.trailerlife.com.

It is important to pay attention to the laws in the various states and provinces that limit the total overall length of vehicles and their trailers. This is an issue if you tow any trailer with large motorhome, or tow a very long trailer with a smaller motorhome. Either way, it is a long total overall length that may be in violation of state laws on some roads that are not part of the national (federally funded) highway system. Roads that are designated “US #” and “I-#” are part of the national highway system and are exempt from vehicle length restriction. The problem comes when you get off of the national roads and are on state and local roads. The most convenient and up-to-date guide is found in the Motor Carrier Atlas by Rand-McNally which is sold in truck stops, or buy it here. The atlas also has useful information that may endanger large vehicles on certain roads, such as low-clearance heights, low weight limits, reduced width limits, and severely steep grades.
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Sometimes your pilot light refuses to light as a result of a bad thermocouple or regulator. If your pilot light goes out or refuses to light, you definitely want to get this checked by a trained professional. Problems with the pilot light can be very dangerous, as a bad pilot light can cause fire damage if it lights with a leak when gas is on. If there are any problems at all with your pilot light, take your RV in to get checked out immediately.

The best way to make sure that your RV doesn’t have pests is to make sure that they never even enter. Any time you are storing your RV for an extended period of time, make sure that you don’t leave any food around that could attract pests. If you can, store your RV in a place away from trees and on top of a concrete slab. Also, check your entire RV for any openings or cracks that pests could go through. If you find any, use some expanding foam to fill them. If you already have pests in your RV, you may want to try some rat poison or traps. Just make sure to keep wither away from any pets you may have. If you can, run your RV frequently to prevent any pests from making a home.

Have you ever wanted to turn your RV into a convertible? Ever needed to get rid of those pesky air conditioning units or satellite dishes? Then just make sure to never remember the clearance height of your RV. But, seriously, you always need to know how tall your RV is. Find out exactly how much clearance your RV has and write it down. Keep it in front of the RV, maybe taped to the dashboard. Just to make sure you get under every bridge or railway you need to get under, add an extra foot to the height of your RV. You can find the height in the manufacturer’s booklet. Make sure that this includes air conditioner height.

A fairly common problem that RV owners have to deal with is the awning. RV owners are prone to either forgetting to put it down or not making sure to lock it before a trip. If you don’t make sure that the awning is locked, it could pop out during travel and get caught or torn off. It’s also recommended to store your awning during a storm. Any winds over 20 miles per hour can potentially damage your awning.

The three main reasons that a tire will blowout is if it is overloaded (too much weight on the RV), under-inflated, or just old. So before you take your RV out after time of storage, you need to make sure that the tires are inflated to the correct factory specifications. You also need to make sure that the weight on your RV when you leave doesn’t overload the weight standards for the tires or the axles. You should have your RV weighed to make sure that you get precise measurements. Just guessing that your RV doesn’t exceed weight standards isn’t enough. You should have your tires replaced every 5-7 years. Contact a RV repair center if you are having problems with your tires.

Sometimes, after a long time of being in service, your LP (Liquefied Petroleum) hose can start to leak. Sometimes the joint can also be fit loosely and leak. Once a year, you should make sure to have your LP hose carefully checked by a professional. In the mean time, you can buy the tools (leak detector solution) yourself to check in the mean time. You want to make sure there are never any leaks with your propane, because that could lead to an explosion around an open flame. Make sure to not light any pilot or burners when checking. If you do find a leak, make sure to get it repaired or replaced as soon as possible.

When you’re driving down the road and make a turn, does your steering wheel stay in the position it was left? If it were working it would return to the neutral position, 12 o’clock. A problem with steering gear linkage, ball joints, or alignment can cause your steering wheel to stay in the position without naturally returning to neutral. This may not seem that bad, but can be quite troublesome. You always need to make sure you have maximum control of your RV at all times. Contact a trained RV professional to get this issue fixed.

Instead of jerking from side to side after hitting a bump, this condition is when it rocks back and forth (like a see-saw). This is most common in shorter motor homes (20-30 feet long). You can usually take care of this problem by getting new shocks or springs. However, sometimes you need to get a new motion control unit.
Contact a trained RV specialist for this.

When you’re driving does your RV seem to coast or list to one side? If it seems to be a problem with your steering, refer to The FAQ on Delayed Steering.  Listing occurs when one side of your RV is lower than the other side. There are other reasons why an RV would coast left or right.  Sometimes it can be caused by improper weight distribution. This is what you may want to check first.  Rearrange the contents of your RV to make sure that there isn’t too much weight on the side that is listing. Worn springs on one side of your RV, worn body mounts, insufficient spring hangers, and bad bushings could also be the cause of the listing.  If you are experiencing this problem, you should contact a trained RV specialist.