First long trip and things I learned

[camper1013]

Well, We are on our longest trip ever, 15 days. I had to come back and work for 3 days, but left the wife and kids at the camper.
Things I have learned.
1. Always check your tires! I found a sidewall bubble on one of the brand new Goodyears. Got it swapped the day before we left.
2. If you hate your mattress and your wife says its fine, give here a few days and you'll be going to get a new one.
3. That RV rating on bike racks is important. Noticed ours was bent down when we stopped at a scale. Had to go buy a new one. Thankfully we didn't loose anything.
4. If you are having your truck serviced before a trip, make sure the shop knows what they are doing. Had a leaking oil cooler replaced 4 days before the trip. When we went to leave the truck gave a low coolant message. The dealership either didn't get enough air out of the system, or didn't fill up the overflow tank properly. Had to stop at the dealer and get more coolant, and then had to take it to a dealer on the road on a Saturday to have it checked again. The low coolant light kept coming on. Thankfully their diesel guy was working and knew how to do it the right way.
5. Always check for leaks when it rains. Found a cracked skylight that wasn't that way when we left home.
6. There is always something to fix or work on. I also discovered that the right side propane regulator isn't working and my wife decided to close the door without undoing the little latch.

On a good note, everyone is having fun and all the fixes are easy.

[Hokensalem]

Wise man told me when we got into RV'ing that you had better know how to do your own repairs. These things break down sitting in your driveway.

[backtrack2015]

I totally agree with the "truck service" item. I try to plan and avoid any work on the truck (by me or anyone else) during the two weeks before any big trip. That gives me a minimum of two weeks to discover any errors while I'm still driving around at home.

[JMCFAN]

This may be a dumb? But we have indicators for water...grey...black...battery.... why not propane....????

[J&G garage]

The grey and black tank indicators will quit working soon enough. They get "stuff" on them and become completely useless. The battery indicator is some cruel joke. If one light goes out you've already over discharged your battery. Get a quality battery monitor like this:

https://www.victronenergy.com/batter.../bmv-712-smart

Propane monitoring can go a couple ways. Your system will automatically switch from an empty tank to the full one. A little indicator on the propane regulator will turn from green to red to indicate the switch has been made. Then the empty tank an be refilled. The other tack is to buy one of the propane level indicators available. Here is just one example:

https://www.campingworld.com/mopeka-...yABEgJSUfD_BwE

[Coheeba]

The only accurate way to measure propane is weight. They make a Bluetooth scale but the gauges are not worth it.

[camper1013]

On the propane issue I had the switch set to the right side and noticed the indicator was red. The tank is full. I reset it and ran the stove to check and it is definitely pulling from the left side tank. My assumption is that the regulator on the right side is bad.

Does anyone know why there is a regulator on that side? The regulator on the left side is after the change over device. Makes no sense why you would even need on on the right side at all. I was thinking about just removing it.

[J&G garage]

The cross over regulator is higher pressure to prevent condensation of the propane in the hose and gumming up the crossover hose. They are all cheap regulators. Carry a spare.

[J&G garage]

The only accurate way to measure propane is weight. They make a Bluetooth scale but the gauges are not worth it.

The hand held ultrasonic gauges seem to be popular also. Ultrasound is proven technology but it has to be applied/used correctly. You can also use the stick on gauge that you pour warm water over. That's pretty fool proof if not a bit of a PITA. Personally I don't see a need for a gauge. When one tank runs dry fill it up.

[bertschb]

Personally I don't see a need for a gauge. When one tank runs dry fill it up.

I do the same thing - and I'm always looking for a reason to buy new gadgets (love them). But in this case, it just doesn't make sense. When the flag shows a tank is empty, I fill it. Pretty simple.