Mismanaging propane can be an explosive mistake. Don’t let this crucial, but often-overlooked, maintenance item cause your RV trip to go up in flames! We’re doing something a little different this week. By necessity, our videos are usually edited to a reasonable length. If they weren’t, you’d be hanging around with us for hours on …
Even though our RV has eight tires, we follow a somewhat unusual tire rotation schedule, so we only replaced two of them this year. But even with only two new tires, we spent a LOT less on our new Michelins with the FMCA RV Tire Savings Program. For our XZA2 Energy 295/80R22.5 tires, we saved over $100… PER …
It’s Sunday night, September 23, and we decided to do something a little different with our current giveaway. We’ve just triggered the system to randomly select the winner…. on camera! We just uploaded that video (the one above), announcing the winner’s name, so if you entered and want to find out if it was you, …
It’s no secret that we love well-designed RV gear, so we’re excited to announce that one of you will win a Viair 400P-RV air compressor and Viair’s new winterizing kit in our latest RVgeeks Giveaway! You’ve heard us wax poetic about Viair before, but the huge number of 5-star ratings and reviews on Amazon make it …
How do we decide which RV maintenance tasks we’ll do ourselves and which we leave to the pros, and how much does service cost? And what was the potential fire hazard that First Truck Centre uncovered in our last video!? Despite the moniker, “DIY RVer” doesn’t mean we perform every item on our maintenance list ourselves. There …
As a full-timer, how do you establish a relationship with a trusted local RV shop? After all, when you’re nomadic, “local” kind of loses its meaning. But even those of us who don’t have a fixed home base often find ourselves gravitating toward our favorite parts of the world year after year. This provides ample …
RVs have lots of confined spaces. That can make it difficult for us DIY types to see what’s required to get a project done. But we’ve got a couple of tricks up our sleeve that allow us to see into and around many tight spaces. Sometimes, it’s almost like we have actual RV X-Ray vision! …
Even though we’ve been on the road full-time for nearly 15 years, we never stop learning. Since it’s virtually impossible to know everything about every topic, the most valuable tool we keep on board is an open mind. Last year we added a great new piece of (inexpensive) gear to our DIY utility belt: a …
We have a winner in our $1,000+ Tow Bar Giveaway! Was it you? Scroll down to find out! The moniker “DIY RVer” only goes so far. There are definitely some maintenance and repair items we don’t handle ourselves. But one thing’s for sure: when a task is as quick and easy as changing our engine’s …
So we’re kinda excited… pinching ourselves… humbled… and very grateful to all of you. We’re about to hit two big milestones: 25,000,000 video views and 100,000 subscribers! As a big THANK YOU, we’re giving away our most valuable prize ever (a retail value well over $1,000!) in our latest RVgeeks Giveaway. WATCH THE VIDEO FOR …
Should any of us be surprised that conventional wisdom is so often wrong? We’ve all been taught that a flush wand is all we need to clean our RV’s water heater. Water runs clear = clean. NOT! We use a video borescope to take you inside our heater to show the real story. Step by step, we’ll demonstrate our …
When we shared our tip about using baby powder to maintain slide-out seals like new, we didn’t treat the entire upper outside seals because the slide toppers prevented access. Then we figured out this simple trick to overcome that obstacle… without removing the slide toppers! We’re very meticulous about RV maintenance. Okay… you can go …
On June 1st, it was time for one of the most expensive scheduled maintenance items any RVer faces: the replacement of our tires. Of course we’ve known for a while that this day was coming, but it’s still a pretty big credit card invoice to sign. Aside from the cost, we’re really happy to be …
When you’re full-time RVing in many different locations, the seasons often get confused, especially when you’re a snowbird. But somehow it just seems wrong to do Spring Cleaning at any other time of the year than Spring. Taking good care of our RV, both mechanically and cosmetically, involves a long “honey do” list. Even though …
Our RV just turned 10! We took delivery on May 17, 2005, so its birthday present was a new generator fuel filter. Three years ago, our first two Onan generator maintenance videos showed how to change the oil & oil filter, clean the spark arrestor, replace the air filter, flush the cooling system and replace …
We have a confession to make. We’ve been drinking heavily for over a decade. There. We finally said it out loud. It feels good to come clean about our habit of drinking from our RV’s fresh water tank. Please don’t judge. Bottled water is expensive, tough on the environment (plastic bad), uses up valuable storage …
Do RV tires really have to be replaced every 5, 6 or 7 years? How can you tell how old your tires are? How can you make them last as long as possible? Here’s how to get the most life and use out of your RV tires. Unlike car tires, which are usually replaced because …
Most RVs have lots of windows and plenty of mirrors too, so it can take a lot of time to keep them clean. Here’s our trick for cleaning all of the glass in our RV super fast… without any window cleaners of any kind and without wasting a single paper towel. All you’ll need are …
You don’t have to be an RVer for very long to come to the same conclusion we did: breaking camp in the rain kinda sucks, especially if you have slide-outs. Pouring rain is just about the last thing you want to see out your windshield on the morning you’re planning to leave a campground. If …
If you’ve seen our previous 2 videos about flushing RV water heaters, you’ll know we’ve talked quite a bit about anode rods. Generally, Suburban brand water heaters require an anode rod to protect the steel tank from corrosion. The rod is made of a metal that sacrifices itself, so that corrosion will attack the rod …
We picked up our new RV on May 17th, 2005. For its 8th birthday today, we’re going to do a quick exterior cleanup to show you how we keep it looking good between washings. As long as you haven’t driven in the rain since the last time you washed your RV, this quick tip will …
Just about everything attached to the roof of an RV is a potential entry point for water. The TV antenna, vent fans, satellite dish, plumbing vents, solar panel mounts or anything else screwed into, or transitioning through the roof to the interior are places that invite leaks. The main line of defense against water damage …
As a follow-up to our recent video on generator maintenance (Servicing an Onan RV Generator), when we cleaned the spark arrestor and changed the oil, oil filter & air filter, today we’re servicing the cooling system. We flush the cooling system and replace the anti-freeze and radiator pressure cap on our Onan 7.5 kilowatt QuietDiesel …
Of course this video isn’t just for RVers. While there are lots of inexpensive quick-oil-change places around, performing this task ourselves is right in line with our general preference for maintaining all of our own equipment whenever possible. Changing the oil in your toad (that’s “towed” car for you non-RVers) is a quick and …
One downside to moving your house to so many different locations can be the varied and unknown quality of the water available. Many RVs have a rust, scale and sediment filter for all incoming water, plus a charcoal (carbon) filter at the sink and/or ice maker. These all require periodic replacement. Filtering the main incoming …
One of the greatest freedoms we get from RVing is the ability go anywhere, any time, completely self-contained. Our Onan 7.5 kW QuietDiesel RV generator is a key part of that freedom. Proper care and maintenance of the “genny” will lead to a long life of trouble-free operation. Each spring, we service our genset …
Since April 11, 2012 was our 9-year anniversary of full-timing, we though that a video about something really integral to RVing (like towing) was a fitting way to kick off our 10th year on the road. When the arms of your tow bar are feeling kind of “sticky” (requiring a stronger pull to extend …
RV slide-out rooms have both inner and outer seals (I also refer to them as gaskets, but seals is probably the more accurate word). They keep the slides sealed against the elements whether they are extended or retracted. Keeping them working smoothly is a quick and easy once-a-year maintenance item… probably the simplest task on …
Since we’re sometimes pretty serious boondockers (that’s camping without hook-ups for you RV newbies), we want to know the exact levels in all of our holding tanks – fresh water, gray water and black water – and our propane level too.
When parked in one place for a long period of time, it’s important to exercise your RV to keep the engine and other equipment in good working order. When we’re not on the road, we try to take our rig out at least every month or so. We take the opportunity to check the …