The Pioneer Spirit of the Recreational Vehicle and Common RV Repairs
Everyone loves the open road. Americans especially, perhaps it’s because there is a lot of open road to love. This country is very much endowed with an abundance of open roads, highways, back roads, and more. All of these, of course, is surrounded by vast and varied landscapes: from deserts to hills, forests, and mountains. With a vast country spanning 4,000 miles from coast to coast, there is surely a lot to see and what better way to do so than with your very own recreational vehicle, designed to take on miles and show you the adventure of a lifetime. It just so happens that an adventure cannot be had if an RV is not functional or the engine has given in on you. There are plenty of mishaps that can happen to your RV and here at Sergio Lewis Body Shop, we have the equipment and the techs to fix it. So, we thought we’d take a look at some common RV repairs.
How Are These For Statistics?!
Before we do that, let’s look at how much Americans love their recreational vehicles. Did you know that about 1 million Americans live in RVs full time? Look in any small town or city and you are likely to find an RV park complete with showers, mini-libraries, hot tubs, and more, which house an entire community of people living out of their RVs year-round or for months at a time. In fact, the hashtag #vanlife has been used around 6 million times on Instagram. That’s a lot of people posting about their beloved RVs!
Since 2005, RV ownership has grown considerably, from 7.9 million households to over 9 million today. Oh, and you can’t forget the family’s four-legged friend. Over 50% of people traveling in an RV on any given year, take the old pooch with them. Overall, about 11% of American households can say they have an RV as part of the family.
Pioneering the First Motor Homes
And while today’s high-tech wi-fi equipped microwave holding RVs may seem like a whole different kind of adventuring, the origins of the RV go all the way back to the days when Americans ventured out into unexplored lands searching for the new frontier. The original form of RVing was going out on the roads with horse and buggy. It was a way to pioneer, explore, venture out into nature, and leave the doldrum of civilization behind, and it was considered one of the modes of camping. Over the decades, of course, camping was modernized and began upgrading to more sophisticated ways of road living. You might be surprised to know that one of the earliest versions of the RV was coined by Roland and Mary Conklin who named their vehicle the Gypsy Van in 1915. Even then, people were looking for ways to escape the confines and rigors of civilized life and many reports emerged about the couple and just how they had turned an old bus into a very unique motorhome.
Those Conklins were sure trendsetters. By the mid-1920s there was a whole movement of handy Americans who were tinkering around with making their own motorhomes. Americans wanted more! And some of the limitations that these buses had was the fact that you could not disconnect the motor from the home part, which made it difficult to traverse into more rough terrain. So a slightly different version emerged, which gave way to the RV as we think of it today.
Industry statistics seem to indicate that RVs will need some kind of repair by only their second year, and nearly every RV will by the 8th. These vehicles are taking in a lot of mileage and sometimes going through some harsher roads or less-paved roads. Some of the most common repairs needed include:
Engine Troubles: Having trouble starting the engine is often the main culprit to engine troubles. The good news is that it often begins with something small. Maybe you put in the wrong coolant, a bad filter, etc. These small problems can lead to bigger ones, so it’s a good idea to know your vehicle and what it needs. You can avoid some snafus just by ensuring you are giving it the right fluids.
Dead Batteries: The Energizer Bunny can’t help you out on the road, your batteries need to be well-maintained and kept up. When parked in an RV park or storage, you can charge the battery every 7-10 days by leaving the engine running for about an hour.
Overloading the Electrical AC 110-Volt: The internal makeup of an RV means that it is built to operate harmoniously with the appliances that are built into it. It’s one integrated unit, in other words, adding appliances or devices that draw a lot of amp-like hair dryers, coffee makers, etc can drain a lot of power. Although today’s newer models are equipped with far more high tech features that allow for a little bit more leeway on this front.
Tire Blowouts: Ok, this is certainly not any fun. Getting a tire blowout in the middle of your trip is a great way to put a damper on your vacation. A tire repair can cost you a lot of money, so it’s best to keep the tires well checked and maintained.
Get Your RV Repaired by a Trusted Shop
Here at Sergio Lewis Body Shop, we can take care of RV repairs and get you back on the road adventuring in no time.
