Had your rv over 5 years? and what was your last major repair?

[quick83]

Just wondering for those that have had thier rv over five years, are you fixing small things ? What was last major repair? Ie ; LP gas regulators, Toliets, switches, awnings, struts, slide toppers, leaks, refrigerator compartment fuse, wood separation inside, faucet repair, door locks etc.
I mostly do my own work but it seems slot of people who hang on to rv have a lot of repairs to keep up. I know I have. We have had ours 9 seasons so far. This season we had a propane leak and hot water heater switch go bad.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by quick83

Just wondering for those that have had thier rv over five years, are you fixing small things ? What was last major repair? Ie ; LP gas regulators, Toliets, switches, awnings, struts, slide toppers, leaks, refrigerator compartment fuse, wood separation inside, faucet repair, door locks etc.
I mostly do my own work but it seems slot of people who hang on to rv have a lot of repairs to keep up. I know I have. We have had ours 9 seasons so far. This season we had a propane leak and hot water heater switch go bad.

Only major repair since the warranty expired, was replacing the Dometic a/c, back in March of this year. This was on our 2016 PT TracerAir 255 that we bought new, in 2016.

[SeaDog]

The only major repair I have had on my rig was replacing the Microwave which burned up in the first week of ownership. Many things have been changed not due to failure but to my constant need to modify.

[llr]

Anything can happen anytime, I had a propane leak on my Flagstaff from deliver and the dealer "couldn't" fix it.

The only long term I had was a class A bounder, very few issues until about 15 years old then a lot of appliance issues and the roof was bad, I think the roof was partly from me pressure washing it. I still wonder I should have kept it and replaced the appliances and roof.

[ppine]

I buy used RVs. Over the years I have had some issues with furnaces and AC units because of dirt in orifices, and filters. Once the cable on a pop up needed to be replaced. Rubber wears out. Struts wear out. Plastic fades and gets cloudy. Most Rvs are pretty durable if you keep up with them.

[richp]

Despite what seemed to be proper lubrication over the years, I had to replace my suspension system this year. Thought the uneven tire wear was due to a bent axle, which would have been far more costly to repair.



Rich Phillips

[yukongold]

I have had our Minilite for nine plus years (purchased new in summer 2012). Have had three issues of which only one was what I would consider "major".

1. toilet fill valve broke. It was a relatively easy fix (once the water was mopped up and the bathroom dried out). This happened at about the 5 year mark.

2. the CO2/propane detector went bad. Another easy fix once we figured out what the problem was. This happened at about the two year mark.

3. the "major" repair - fixing the floor that had multiple soft spots - due, in my opinion, to a crappy construction technique. I have been told that FR no longer uses this way of building floors except in their very smallest units. I fixed this by (mostly) gutting the interior, overlaying it with 7/16" plywood and 1/8+" stone composite laminate flooring. We noticed this problem around the 3rd or 4th year. By the 6th or 7th year it got so bad that something had to be done.

Everything else has been routine maintenance or minor (I need to tighten those screws up type things) issues. I have made some mods - some of which could be considered "major" - but those were things I wanted to do, not had to do.

[JimBath]

Traded up from fifth wheels to a 2002 Newmar KS 3669 MH, drove it for four years, traded for a 2006 KS 3910 MH and drove it for 13 years. Neither had any major failures. Always had them serviced at their OEM factories e.g., 2002 Freightliner, 2006 Spartan, Cummins for both engines and generators, and of course Newmar in Nappanee, IN for the MH itself. Sure I had to replace small things that broke e.g., exterior plastic knobs, etc. But never replaced any major appliance or system in either. Was a die hard Newmar and Tiffin guy. Downsized due my age and all kids and grandkids were gone to a 2019 FR FR3 30DS. Severe disappointment. After only a year traded again to a 2018 Winnebago Forza 34T and love it almost as well as I did the Newmar's. Why I never looked at Winnies before I know not. Of course Winnie now owns Newmar and Thor owns Tiffin. Hopefully the exceptional quality and customer service for which they were both known will remain exceptional. You get what you pay for.
Now having said that I would never have been able to buy that first Newmar had I simply started out there. I started with tents to tent trailers to truck campers to TT, to fifth wheels to MH. Always traded up as best I could. So my advice for a young couple starting out begin with what you can afford and still have fun traveling, then as things change financially trade up until you get what you want, but start with what you need!. And remember, it is all about having fun!!!

[dieselguy]

After the first year of ownership which about everything on our 2016 Silverback was replaced except the color ... things have smoothed out some. The last couple of years involved replacing most of the slide out seals despite keeping them cleaned and conditioned. The slides are constantly moving just a bit while on the road and either the bulb seals just split here and there or the flap seal wiper itself began to tear away from the mounting rails that the bulb seals cover. We would have had to replace the brakes by now, but I installed disk brakes about 3 years ago and they are doing fine. The brown front cap requires constant buffing, but I'm going to shell out some money to have it repainted which I should have done years ago.

[lckeehne]

Our Sierra 300 RL is 11 years old.
Besides all the normal plastic stuff.
Burned up wheel bearings on one wheel pride hub and then just replace the entire axle. It seems like my water pump is going so replacing that next week. It seems like all the rest of the trailer is in good shape. No repairs on TV microwave, a/c , or water heater awning are still good shape.
I’m counting my blessings.

[PenJoe]

The longest we owned one RV was 13 years. It was a 1977 Trek 22' Class C on a Dodge unibody chassis. It was a customer order purchased at the Chicago RV show for $11,800. We lived in it while building a home, I took the family when I had courses and conventions in Florida, combined business and vacations, did a lot of dry camping, some campground stays and towed an 18' Starcraft cabin cruiser on most trips. In all those years, we did routine maintenance, we had to replace one brake caliper, and the factory installed trailer hitch failed after 10 years use. We never had a leak, never had an appliance failure, never had a mechanical failure other than the caliper. We sold it for nearly what we paid for it. It is probably still on the road. What a great investment while the kids were growing up.

We have had campers prior and since, not with that longevity of ownership, that have treated us well. We did notice that lighter materials in newer models affect the structural rigidity.

[Cold Lake Kid]

I bought a 2013 in 2014 that had been rented out by the dealer, so most of the kinks had been found and fixed otherwise they could not have rented it!! LOL
I did have issues recently, with my oven and a burner not lighting on the stove and the toilet seat cracking. (Fun getting a new one!)
Other than that, only maintenance or stuff I buggered up now.

[RamblerGuy]

We have a 2011 Sunseeker Class C that we purchased new in September, 2010. With 65,000 miles on it and over 700 nights camping, we've never had a major failure. I've dealt with minor ones such as LP regulator, CO/LP alarm going off for no reason, battery interconnect relay, toilet valve replacement, dump valve replacement, etc. No appliance or system has failed. The convertor started to act up so I replaced it before it failed. In addition, the Ford E-450 chassis still has not had a single problem.

[D W]

Major repairs? Basically none. During year 3 had to replace vent covers due to UV disintegration, but that's about it. Along the way there's always need for routine tightening this, adjusting that or resealing a seam. The idea is fix it before it becomes a major problem. Generally, a good preventive maintenance schedule will ward off "major" things. That's why we do it, right?

[Palinduff]

Axle alignment. My previous RV was a KZ Sportmen that I had for 5 years. I had no issues at all with it.

[HONDAMAN174]

My unit is 8 years old now. Most recent issue was water pump but easy to purchase and replace myself. My ac unit needed replacement 2 years indue to running it on too small of extension cord, but covered under warranty. Converter took dump 4 years in and easy to purchase and replace. Then typical stuff like propane regulator and co dectector.

[heavynlori]

Our 2014 this year we:

Second AC added just because

Removed pleated shades and replaced with blackout rollers

Epoxy injection in soft area of floor at end of kitchen island/front of fridge area

Repair tape on junk peeling furniture until we decide what to replace it with

[Life Without Whine]

2013 MicroLite 21FBRS - this past year slide motor fell out of wall (that has no structural integrity so no way to just put that back up)..... thanx to the forum for ideas we were able to create a brace for underneath the motor that is doing really well.

Replaced the awning (after 8.5 yrs of FL sun either out at the campsite or rolled up at home).

Just today brought out a mobile RV tech after hearing some changes with the AC & he was fantastic... gonna wait til it dies now that we are in the cold months & he says he has plenty of units in stock but parts are hard to come by (so $650 to repair 3/4 of aging parts or $1200 to replace with entire new..... )

Heading out monthly and cannot wait for the keys later this month....

[jkoenig24]

My 2014 Dynamax DX3-37RB needed the CO alarm replaced at about 5.5 years after I received it. Dynamax had received said CO alarm and about two months before I received the coach (according to the label on the back) so, I really can't complain (other than it was about $300+ just for the part. I also opted to replace the Smoke Detector at the same time. Just before the five year mark, a fuel injector failed.

[Larry-NC]

There's always small things. One of our trailers is a 2008 Cherokee 39P. We bought it in 2012. DW stepped on one of the floor furnace vents and broke out two ribs. Easy replacement.

The slideout has two 2' x 2' flat skylights of 1/16" (!!) polycarbonate. A pine branch fell through one and they were both quite yellow. Replaced them with 1/8" polycarbonate. Not too expensive, but removal, cleaning, and installation took several hours.

Replaced the converter (not entirely sure it was bad, so I kept the previous one, may box it and use it as a battery charger).

The water pump had been replaced--or maybe just the filter removed--when we got it.

The roof has two soft spots, one where each upper awning bracket was mounted (Designed To Fail). I removed and sold the awning and covered the mounting holes with Eternabond to prevent further damage.

Every year or two another pine branch falls on the roof and puts another tear in the roof membrane--time for another Eternabond patch. Did you know that if a pine cone hits a roof vent that's more than a year old, it will go straight through?

The trailer is permanently sited (under the pine trees). A rubber tire valve stem cracked and the tire leaked. When I tried to fill it, the crack widened most of the way around it. Right now that axle is jacked up. I need to take that wheel off and get a new valve stem installed--hope they will do it on a 2008 tire if I promise not to take it on the road.

I replaced both lavatory faucets. They were completely functional but the plating had worn off and they were unsightly. DW is after me to replace the kitchen sink because (like most RV plastic) the white sink has gone completely yellow.

We don't use the outside switch on the water heater because we know they are underspecified and fail frequently. I installed an inside switch to use instead, but we mostly use propane in it, out of habit.

I replaced the water heater electric element. Not sure if I burned it out when we first got the unit or the former owner did. We must have good water. We are still on the original anode rod, only about 25% gone, after 13 years.

I pressure wash the trailer, including roof, once a year. It doesn't seem to hurt the roof. I should scrub and recoat the roof (EPDM) next year. Not sure what kind of coating to use. From a difficulty standpoint I would much prefer to use a one-part system than a two-part epoxy system, but at this point I don't know much about coatings.

I will cover the other trailer in a separate post.