With summer finally here, a lot of us who have been sitting still much of the winter are hitting the road, and weekend warriors are getting their RVs ready for vacations and summer camping trips.

RVs are complex machines, and while I am far from a technical person, even I am capable of taking a few steps to make sure our motorhome is in the proper shape for the long miles ahead. It doesn’t take a mechanic or an RV tech to prep an RV for hot weather travel.

It takes just an hour or so to inspect your RV or tow vehicle’s chassis systems, which is time well spent, and can avoid hours sitting on the shoulder of the road waiting for a tow truck to arrive, and even more time spent in a repair shop.

The first step is to check all fluid levels: engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, radiator coolant level, and windshield washer fluid. While you’re in the engine compartment, check your air filter. A dirty air filter can really cut down on your fuel mileage, and make your engine work harder, too. Also, check all of your belts and hoses, as well as hose clamps, for cracks or worn spots that can lead to failure (and expensive repairs) on the road. Spend a few moments looking over your wiring. Is anything frayed or loose? Did critters spend the winter nesting in your engine compartment, gnawing on the wire insulation?

Step two is to check your windshield wiper blades for wear, and then turn them on and be sure both are working properly. Then, check all exterior lights, including headlights, turn signals, emergency flashers, brake lights, and marker lights.

Next, check your starting and house batteries to be sure they are filled with distilled, that all cables are tight, and that there is no corrosion on any connections.

Walk around your RV, looking for any leaks, and if you spot any suspicious spots on the ground, check to see where they came from.

Your tires are next. Check for uneven wear, any cracking or weather checking, and use a good tire pressure gauge to be sure all are properly inflated. I use a PressurePro tire monitoring system to make this chore easier, and to monitor my tires when on the road.

Next, deploy all of your awnings. Are they working properly? Are they worn or frayed? Are the anchor clips on your window awnings secure?

Once you are done outside the RV, go inside and make sure that your air conditioner(s) are working properly. Extend and retract your slide rooms. Do the same with your leveling jacks. Check your refrigerator and water heater for proper operation if the RV has been stored all winter. When things sit for long periods of time, the gremlins seem to go to work on them.

No matter where you live, or where you spent the winter before starting your summer travels, it is always easier and cheaper to get a problem fixed at home than it is when you are broken down on the road.

Now that you have your RV ready for the road, take a minute to check out Bad Nick’s latest blog post, Oops! and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – You can only be strong and useful for the people around you if you honor your needs as much as theirs.

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I spent most of yesterday doing the same thing I’ve been doing all week – working on the new issue of the Gypsy Journal. So I was ready for a break when Al Hesselbart from the RV Hall of Fame Museum stopped over in the afternoon for a visit.

While we were talking, Al mentioned that he wants a website to promote his RV history seminars, which he presents at RV rallies and events nationwide. So once we get the new issue of the paper out, we’ll set down and see if I can design a website that will meet his needs.

If you have not had the opportunity to see Al’s seminar 100 Years of RVs in America, he’ll be at our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally in September. I have sat in on it a couple of times and always learn something new.  

I have always appreciated the odd and unusual when it comes to vehicles, which had led to me owning some really strange rides over the years. Has anybody reading this ever owned a Toyota Stout pickup? It was a boxy looking little truck with a four speed column shift manual transmission.

Another goofy little car I had, back when I was in high school, was a Daffodil, which wasn’t much bigger than a kid’s pedal car, and almost as powerful. (The Stout and Daffodil in these pictures are not the same ones I owned.)

While I enjoyed these unusual vehicles, finding parts for them can be darned hard, and if you have my limited mechanical skills, you’re better off owning something a mechanic has seen before when it comes breakdown time.

That’s why, while they would never work for our lifestyle, we really like the looks of the vintage Winnebago and Itasca mini-motorhomes. Several of them arrived at Elkhart Campground yesterday for a small rally. When Terry and I took our after dinner walk, we stopped and admired some of the neat old rigs, and took a few pictures.

Another interesting old motorhome that arrived yesterday is this Ultra Van, which is powered by a Corvair engine and transaxle. An estimated 370 of these unique RVs were made from the 1960s to 1970, and records show that some 200 are still on the road, many with over 200,000 miles on the odometer. They cruise comfortably at 60 miles per hour, and get about 15 miles per gallon. Pretty cool, huh? I wonder how many of today’s RVs will be able to meet that record for longevity forty years from now?

Thought For The Day – You know you’re getting on in years when the girls at the office start confiding in you.

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