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Annual/semi-annual maintenance/quintennial maintenance?

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Tnedator

RVF Supporter
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
Messages
346
Ok, it just occurred to me that at the end of summer my coach will be five years old. While I'm a lot lower mileage (~7,500 I think, most of that delivery and one trip to Nappanee) than I had hoped would be the case at this point, I still have a fair number of years on it. It is stored in a garage when not in use.

In fall of '21, Newmar was supposed to check the roof and check/tighten all electrical connections. Have to go on faith that was done. At that time, they said due to the amount of off gassing, they recommended replacing my house batteries, so I did, and went with AGM. Chassis batteries haven't been replaced.

Even though I work full time, unless any emergencies come up, I'm planning two 2.5 week trips this year. First, Sarasota/Orlando and then in the summer to Grand Canyon and Vegas. Prior to those, a short trip to NIRVC Nashville for Retrobands and a few other items.

I haven't done much in terms of maintenance during that time. What should I check or start to be more diligent about? With the prices of coaches through the roof, I'm not sure I'm going to replace my Ventana anytime soon, and am hoping to now take 2-4 two plus week trips a year, and work from the road if needed, so I want to make sure I'm doing proper maintenance to avoid leaks and other issues.

Approaching five years, should I consider replacing the serpentine belt or similar items? Chassis batteries? Besides inspections, anything I should be doing on the roof (I have the Britek roof)? Replace wiper blades, or if they still seem to work good consider them good to go?

I keep a spare water pump, oasis pump, Oasis fluid (concentrate version and distilled water), serpentine and one small belt (drawing a blank on what the small belt was) sealed in a food saver bag. Also, a fuel filter and water separator, and Oasis service kit. Any other key parts I should carry?

Any suggestions on what I should inspect/replace now, and then what I should start being more diligent about going forward, would be greatly appreciated. I've recently dropped 100lbs (well, slowly over the last two plus years), so am also a lot more comfortable getting up on the roof to do some of that roof stuff myself.
 
Approaching five years, should I consider replacing the serpentine belt or similar items? Chassis batteries? Besides inspections, anything I should be doing on the roof (I have the Britek roof)? Replace wiper blades, or if they still seem to work good consider them good to go?
I replaced my chassis batteries at 5 years for me, realizing they've probably been in there longer. I had FCCC do mine and it wasn't that expensive. I don't want to ever get into a no start situation, it's going to disrupt travel, etc. so I do this on my cars at 4 years and did the coach at 5. As to belts, I'm no expert but I'd ask for an inspection. In the aviation world a big topic is something called "maintenance induced failures (MIF)" where leaving something alone is typically the better path unless something warrants maintenance. As to the roof, I think from watching a youtuber that does RV inspections (AZ Expert I think is his channel) just inspecting sealant/dicor is what you're after. I would replace the wiper blades as the rubber as you know can and will dry rot but you can test them of course and just see how they work.
 
In the aviation world a big topic is something called "maintenance induced failures (MIF)" where leaving something alone is typically the better path unless something warrants maintenance.
We used to call them “clean and destructs” on older equipment in the Navy. You are correct, sometimes it is better to follow the “if it works don’t mess with it” rule.
 
Perfect example, I had Newmar tighten all my electrical connections, and while torquing connections, they broke an isolator on my transfer switch.
 
Replace serpentine belt and carry a spare.
 
I've done a few videos (RV Squared on youtube) on this topic; much of which is based on other's experiences. Here are the high points, though:

  • AGMs, sadly, show their age after the 5 year mark; and L/As can be even more short-lived. Many have replaced their AGMs at 5 years; 7 being tops (that was me).
  • Steers need to be replaced at 5 years. Not fun, but they "age-out" on RVs that just sit more than drive. For those with tags, steers can be moved to the tags on the larger buses, like Newells.
  • Wiper blades will depend on your environment (storage), but I UV coat them and place a tennis ball under the arms when in storage...I'm good for a couple years.
  • Belts at 5 years, I'm betting should be refreshed; keep your old ones as emergency spares.
Good you carry filters; have had several friends be dead in the water from bad fuel!

The key to success is exercise...for your coach. Get everything that can move to move and keep it moving. LOL
 
Thanks.

I'm actually replacing my steer tires next month and having Retrobands installed at the same time. My flooded cell coach batteries were replaced a little over a year ago when at Newmar, which they recommended based on the amount of off gassing evidence they saw in the battery compartment. While I likely wouldn't have gone with the brand they carry, for convenience, I just had them put in the AGMs they had at the service center so it was one last thing to deal with myself.
 
Ok, having all four slack adjusters on rear two axles replaced, after both driver sides ones have had issues.
Replacing chassis batteries. I told the diesel shop to do it, and they recommended load testing first, and one was just barely in the green, so they agreed replacing made sense, as that one would likely fail in next year or so.

New wiper blades (others were badly dry rotted and didn't realize before heading to NIRVC Nashville a couple weeks ago, fortunately my brother in law had an extra set the same size).

Engine/Gennie/chassis service including changing fuel filter, etc. They said they were going to inspect serpentine, but haven't heard on that yet (not picking up for a few days).

Steer tires replaced a couple weeks ago, and I had retrobands installed. Hopefully, they have their design/install issues behind them, but I'll admit a blowout is one of my biggest concerns, especially with all the travel on windy, shoulderless roads, so felt it was worth the investment.

I'll probably replaced my other six tires in the next year or so, or at minimum get them inspected.

Now I'm double checking my spare parts to make sure I have all key ones. I thought there was a thread on this, but I can't find. Anyone with better memory/searching skills able to point me in the right direction, if not, I'll create another thread.
 

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