RV Tire Maintenance, What NOT to Bring on an RV Trip and How to Sanitize your RV Freshwater
This week on the RV Podcast:
- RV Tire Maintenance. When do you replace them? How do you maintain them?
- We all have seen the lists on what to bring on an RV Trip. But in the Social Media Buzz segment, we’ll tell you what NOT to bring, the things real RVers say are a total waste of space.
- How to sanitize your RV freshwater system for the new camping season. We’ll give you a concise step by step guide.
- And in Mike and Jen’s storytime, the Tale of the Tape Measure… or how to get off the fence of indecision.
- All this and more coming up in Episode 543 of the RV Podcast
For a video version of the podcast, watch below:
For an audio version, listen through your favorite podcast app or via the player below: We have another giveaway for you. If you travel with pets we’re giving away two prizes:
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Countdown for our Sweepstakes – just a few days left!
We are very happy to work again with WAGGLE. And for this sweepstakes, they are giving away TWO prizes! The first winner gets a Waggle Pet Monitor, which sends alerts to your phone if the temperature inside your RV becomes unsafe for your pet. The second winner gets an RV Mini Cam that lets you check 360-degree video from inside your RV. It has two-way audio and motion tracking so you can visibly monitor the inside of your RV from wherever you are on your phone.
Just go to RVLifestyle.com/sweepstakes to enter.
We’ll announce the winners on April 20, 2025. You can also get a great discount if you don't want to wait and choose to purchase either device. Details at https://rvlifestyle.com/sweepstakes/
RV NEWS OF THE WEEK
Gas Prices Falling — Just in Time to Hit the Road!
Gas prices are coming down even though this is the time of year they usually go up. AAA says the reason is that OPEC is increasing oil production much more than expected. Prices nationwide are $3.22 per gallon currently. Last year at this time they were $3.61.
National Park Service Purge? 1 in 8 Workers Take Trump Admin Offer
An estimated 12.5% of the NPS's workforce took one of the three Trump administration offers to resign or retire early. How this will impact park visitors is not immediately clear, but the National Parks Conservation Association, which is collecting these numbers, says it is greatly concerned.
Grand Design & Winnebago Slammed with Class Action Over ‘Deceptive’ Frames: Owners Demand Justice
The frame flex debate just ratcheted up a notch with a class action lawsuit being filed against Winnebago Industries and Grand Design, claiming the company not only knew the frames were deceptive but marketed them deceptively. The suit is seeking a recall and monetary and punitive damages on behalf of the thousands of owners whose lives were “upended.”
Solo, Spendy, and Still Camping: RV Trends in 2024
Kampgrounds of America, Inc.'s annual Campground & Outdoor Hospitality Report shows campers are spending more – $200 per household per day. The study also found a significant rise in solo travelers, with 1 in 5 taking their first solo trip. And the study found that inflation and the economy were NOT causing people to cancel reservations. Instead, camping, 8-in-10 said they are choosing to camp because of low-cost activities like campfires or hiking in nature.
Back from the Ice: Most Michigan State Campgrounds Reopen, But Not All Are Ready
Most Michigan state campgrounds closed after a devastating ice storm in late March will open on time for the camping season, which is about to begin in earnest. But there are some parks and campgrounds shut down. The Popular Clear Lake State Park near the Pigeon River State Forest will have its opening delayed, along with five nearby state forest campgrounds. Some boat launches and state-run trails in 12 counties are also still closed.
RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK – RV Tire Maintenance
Have you taken a good look at your towable RV tires lately? There’s a difference between motorhome tires and towable tires for trailers and fifth wheels. Now’s the time, as we get ready for the new camping season to check them out..
But what do you look for? Just how do you maintain them? To sort through it all, we recently went to Elkhart, Indiana, and sat down with Brent Giggy, a master tech at Keystone RV.
Listen or watch the full interview with the above players.
SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ – Wendy Bowyer
Wendy Bowyer reports on the hot issues most talked about this past week on social media and our RV Lifestyle Community group.
In our RVLifestyle Community, a private, members only group, we asked recently: What camping or RV purchase ended up being far less useful than initially anticipated?
So many interesting answers here I thought I'd share a few responses.
I'm calling this the What NOT to Buy Top 5.
Here they are in no particular order:
1. Cooking attachments for the Solo Stove. Reason: While the stove is great, never end up cooking on it.
2. An expensive trailer for winter storage. Reason: That cover worked wonders – in attracting mice. Used once and never again.
3. Screen house. Reason: Great idea as a concept but in reality? Not being worth the set up time unless you stay in one spot a long time.
4. Tiki torches, drink holders and other outdoor patio items. Reason: Didn't sit outside long enough to make it worth hauling all these items around.
5. Zero Gravity chairs. Reason: While these chairs are comfortable, they are also heavy, clunky, and hard to pack up and stow.
Again this is from our private group that you really need to check out, if you are not a member at: https://community.rvlifestyle.com
Then in our RVLifestyle Facebook Group, we had a post from Marty that really got people talking.
Marty shared one of his rules for camping and it is: Whenever leaving the RV for any length of time, turn off the water supply at the faucet outside. Marty also turns off the water supply at night when he is sleeping, keeping a few gallons of water in his freshwater tank if he needs it in the middle of the night.
Marty shared this tip because a few weeks ago at an RV park, his neighbor went to the store, and a few hours later, Marty noticed the neighbor was back, pulling things out of his RV like boxes and carpet. Everything was wet. Turns out while this neighbor was gone, one of the water lines broke and flooded the RV. And guess what? He had not turned off the outside water faucet when he stepped away.
More than 320 people responded to this post, and so many knew of other RVers who had similar stories. While this is not something that happens every day, it does happen sometimes. So, bottom line: Why not turn off the outside water faucet when you are not in your RV and take that extra precaution? Marty and many others definitely recommend it.
Then one last tip from our RVLifestyle Facebook Group. This one is from Christina – and this one left me chuckling.
Christina has a stackable washer and dryer in her Fifth Wheel. One day she was doing a small load, was in a hurry, pulled the lint screen out to clean it, started the dryer, realized she forgot to put the lint screen back, stopped the dryer and put it back in, and never thought much more about it.
Until some time later when she was outside her rig and what did she see? Her undies dangling for all to see, lodged in the dryer's vent hole.
The whole incident gave Christina a good laugh so she shared a picture of her drawers hanging from the outside of her rig which leads us to our second tip: When doing laundry in your rig, don't turn the dryer on unless you put that lint screen back!
RV QUESTION OF THE WEEK
QUESTION: What is the best way to sanitize my RV’s plumbing system and gresh water tank? – Dave
ANSWER: Sanitizing your RV’s plumbing system and freshwater tank is essential for safe drinking water and preventing bacterial growth. It is a pretty time-consuming process. Easy to do, but it takes time. So let me boil this down and give you a concise, step-by-step guide to do it effectively:
- Drain the System: Empty the fresh water tank and drain all water from the plumbing by opening faucets, showers, and low-point drains. Turn off the water heater and drain it completely. Put it in bypass mode.
- Prepare Bleach or, if possible, a non-bleach sanitizer solution. If you use bleach, mix 1/4 cup of unscented household bleach per 15 gallons of your tank’s capacity. For example, a 60-gallon tank needs 1 cup of bleach. Dilute the bleach in a gallon of water for easier pouring. If you use a commercial sanitizing solution, follow the directions on the package.
- Fill the Tank: Pour the solution into the fresh water tank, then fill the tank completely with fresh water to ensure proper dilution.
- Run Through Plumbing: Turn on the water pump and open each faucet, shower, and toilet (hot and cold lines) until you smell bleach, ensuring the solution reaches all pipes. Don’t forget exterior showers or washing machine lines.
- Let it sit: Allow the solution to sit overnight or for at least 12 hours to kill the bacteria and mold.
- Drain and Flush: Drain the tank and plumbing system completely. Refill the tank with fresh water and run it through all faucets to flush out residual sanitizing solution. Repeat until no sanitizing smell remains.
- Optional Final Rinse: For sensitive systems or extra caution, add a teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons to the tank, fill, and flush again to neutralize any remaining chlorine.
- Clean Filters and Aerators: Remove and clean faucet aerators and water filters, as they can trap sediment or bacteria.
You will want to do this at least once per camping season or every 6 months if stored.
MIKE & JEN’S STORYTIME
THE TALE OF THE TAPE MEASURE
MIKE: This is one of our favorite illustrations on how fleeting time is. We've told it many times, but right now, I’m thinking about that day in Florida at that RV dealership where we met those two gentlemen. Remember?
JENNIFER: The construction consultant and the younger fellow from Orlando. Both stuck on that fence of indecision.
MIKE: You know, we're far from being RV salesmen. But sometimes, as Jennifer and I meet folks around North America, we feel like ambassadors for the RV Lifestyle.
JENNIFER: Ambassadors with a mission. We do love to push people off fences… fences of indecision.
MIKE: And the best way we've found to do that is by telling the tale of the Tape Measure.
JENNIFER: I'll never forget how you explained it to that 78-year-old gentleman. He'd worked so hard his entire life, built that construction consulting business, nearly lost it all in the Great Recession of the '90s, and then rebuilt it successfully enough to sell it.
MIKE: He wanted that Class B so badly. You could see the longing in his eyes, but he just couldn't make the leap.
JENNIFER: Until you pulled out your tape measure.
MIKE: I asked him to put his fingers on the tape measure at the one-inch mark and then go to 78 inches – representing his life so far. Then I had him think about how long he might live – 90? 95? – and put another finger there.
JENNIFER: The look on his face when he realized how little tape remained between those two points. That's when it clicked for him.
MIKE: I simply asked him how many of those remaining years he thought he'd be healthy enough to travel – 85? 87? And then he really saw it – the tiny space between 78 and his upper health limit. That was his window of opportunity. Right there, measured out in mere inches.
JENNIFER: And that younger fellow who was listening in! He couldn't have been more than 45, thinking he had all the time in the world.
MIKE: His face changed too. He'd been planning to wait a year or two before buying. But suddenly, he was doing his own mental math with that tape measure.
JENNIFER: “Maybe I don't have all that much time to wait, either,” he said.
MIKE: That's when I told them both my favorite question: “What's the worst thing that could happen? You follow your dream and decide it isn't what you wanted, or you suddenly get sick and can't travel anymore. So then you sell the RV. These things hold their value so much that you won't be out that much. There's not a major downside here.”
JENNIFER: And then you told them Nick Schmidt's story.
MIKE: Ah yes, our RV dealer friend, Nick Schmidt. About the customer who bought a Class B RV, took off immediately with his wife, and traveled 10,000 miles in six months without even changing the oil or washing it.
JENNIFER: And then just showed up back at the dealership one day.
MIKE: “That's it… I'm done,” the man told Nick. “We did and saw everything on our bucket list and had the time of our lives.” He asked Nick what he'd give him to buy it back. Nick wrote him a check right then and there, and the man left smiling, saying it was the best investment he ever made.
JENNIFER: That's the beauty of this RV life. It's a dream so many people have, and it's a dream that can come true.
MIKE: It certainly has for us.
JENNIFER: And I bet it will for those two gentlemen we met as well.
MIKE: You know, if there's a moral to our tale of the tape measure, it's this: Life isn't measured in dollars saved or plans perfectly executed. It's measured in the inches of time we have left – and what truly matters is how we choose to spend them.
