Do an RV “Shakedown Cruise" before heading out on a lengthy trip. Take a short trip in your new coach and plan to stay out 2 to 3 nights - three is best. Your goal here is to try everything – all the appliances, the holding tanks, TV, satellite system, toilet, jacks, awning, sewer hose, microwave, radio, slides, etc. Test each item several times.

It is much better to find any problems now before you take a long trip. Problems can include equipment not functioning correctly, or you not knowing how to properly operate certain items in the RV. If possible, try to move every day to another campground in a totally different park to force you to practice hooking up and unhooking everything in a strange environment. It’s work but it’s worth it. Plan to drive 20 to 40 miles (30-60 Km) minimum between parks. This will give you plenty of time to jostle everything around that was incorrectly packed.

Weekly RV tips provided by Ronald Jones and Robert Lowe from their book, "All the Stuff You Need to Know About RVing." Ron and Sandy Jones write RV articles and books and present RV-related seminars.
USA: RVStuff.org 800-262-3060
Canada: RV-PartsPlus.com 877-266-5398