Work Out the Bugs with a Pre-season Road Trip

Mid-July, a gorgeous sunny day, and an unhappy camper is pulling their RV in for an unexpected service appointment. We see it every year: the problems surface on the first trip, after the RV has sat all winter.

Take a short trip first

Once you have de-winterized and done the spring maintenance, book a weekend somewhere close to home. Better to find the problem twenty minutes away than four hours into the holiday.

What to test

Appliances and systems. Make sure the fridge and the furnace are both working properly — not just that they start, but that they hold temperature over a couple of days.

The battery. Battery trouble shows up in spring after months of sitting. Camp one night on hookups and one night without, which also tests the 120 volt systems: the on-board battery charger, the power converter, the air conditioner, the microwave, the TVs and the rest of the electronics.

Everything else. Loose awnings, brake concerns and general appliance failures all tend to appear on this trip.

No weekend to spare?

Set up in the yard for a couple of days. That verifies most systems — though the brakes and running gear need actual driving.

If something does go wrong on the road, the RV Care app finds the nearest dealer, and the Route 66 Network covers you in the US.