Leaving from Storage Yard

[RedHorse1]

Like several of you good folks we don’t bring the 5th to the house when loading but we will park it at the house a day or two when returning.

[Tiguan Tow r]

We live in an apartment and our trailer is in a storage yard. When we go camping we put a few large freezer packs in the fridge ahead of time, even the night before to cool down the fridge. Keep a thermometer in the fridge to monitor temps. The next morning when you go to pack up the trailer, you'll be surprised at how cold the fridge is. If you live close to storage, you can try this out ahead of time to see if it works for you.

[Tunce the traveler]

What I do is fill 3 of these milk containers with water about a week in advance starting with 1/3, freeze 1/3 freeze 1/3 freeze. On the morning I’m leaving I place 1 in the freezer & 2 in the fridge and at the end of a 6-7 hour drive their still frozen. I always leave 1 in the freezer (if I have room) and use it for our day trips to the beach.

[GHen]

Good advice above. We park ours at my parents home for months at a time so we have a place to stay when we come see them. Once the rv has the basics packed, it’s not a big deal take all trip specific items in the Truck and leave from there. I always start the fridge the day before, but it gets to temp in only a few hours. Just don’t put room temp stuff in there like pop or water, get that first load cold at home and take in a cooler.

My biggest concern would be batteries and tire pressure and torque the lug nuts. How are you keeping the battery charged in storage? You could pull the battery and charge it up at home.

[freetime58]

Originally Posted by GHen

Good advice above. We park ours at my parents home for months at a time so we have a place to stay when we come see them. Once the rv has the basics packed, it’s not a big deal take all trip specific items in the Truck and leave from there. I always start the fridge the day before, but it gets to temp in only a few hours. Just don’t put room temp stuff in there like pop or water, get that first load cold at home and take in a cooler.

My biggest concern would be batteries and tire pressure and torque the lug nuts. How are you keeping the battery charged in storage? You could pull the battery and charge it up at home.

No power at storage yard but have two big group 31 AGM's (negligible self-discharge) also have a main battery disconnect switch, torque wrench always in truck and truck has onboard air compressor.....got those bases covered!!!!

[kayakterp]

I also prefer to bring my TT home a couple days before a trip to load, and prep and check maintenance. My driveway has a bit of slope and I do level the TT. The tongue is on 2 concrete blocks and fully extended. I also add a bunch of wood blocks to scissor jacks for stability. It doesn't look pretty but it does work and allows me to stock fridge, pull out slide and walk around in trailer to set it up and prepare everything

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by GHen

Good advice above. We park ours at my parents home for months at a time so we have a place to stay when we come see them. Once the rv has the basics packed, it’s not a big deal take all trip specific items in the Truck and leave from there. I always start the fridge the day before, but it gets to temp in only a few hours. Just don’t put room temp stuff in there like pop or water, get that first load cold at home and take in a cooler.

My biggest concern would be batteries and tire pressure and torque the lug nuts. How are you keeping the battery charged in storage? You could pull the battery and charge it up at home.

I have an 8.3 watt kingpin mounted solar charger hooked up to the batteries. First winter doing this and so far they've maintained the batteries just fine.

[Siamese]

Originally Posted by freetime58

No power at storage yard but have two big group 31 AGM's (negligible self-discharge) also have a main battery disconnect switch, torque wrench always in truck and truck has onboard air compressor.....got those bases covered!!!!

Fine, but will your refrigerator run on propane?

[GHen]

Solar is is the best mod I’ve done on my 5’r, 300 watts on the roof and 4 6volt deep cycle CG batteries.

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

I have an 8.3 watt kingpin mounted solar charger hooked up to the batteries. First winter doing this and so far they've maintained the batteries just fine.

Ditto but mine is a 7.5w solar charger that keeps my battery maintained all summer as I remove it during winter. Amazing little thing. When I get back from a trip all I do is flip the battery disconnect on and plug in the charger. I would recommend anyone who leaves their battery[ies] in their camper while in storage with no power invest in a small solar charger. Quite inexpensive.

[robert9999]

[QUOTE=freetime58;852385]First year storing my unit a short distance away at a storage site (10 minutes drive) instead of at home.......looking for some tips on what works

I store the TT 36 miles away & don’t have the luxury of parking it anywhere near the house nor access to electricity. What I do is pack up the pickup truck with essentials & clothes, drive to the TT the day before so I can pack it up with clothes, towels & will check the tires ( I bought a Walmart battery operated tire inflator for cheap & fill with air if needed.).I have a couple of styrofoam coolers that I fill the day I’m leaving with all the frozen &/or cold foods & leave them inside the TT the day I’m leaving, I will bring the dry foods (coffee, pasta, etc.). I take my battery ,that is always on a trickle charger in my garage , & my 2 20lbs LP gas containers, get them in, turn on the refrigerator but leave it empty until I get to my first stop, in a few hours,. I will check if it’s cold enough to pack the food which usually takes about 6 hours . The styrofoam coolers keep the food cold enough until the Fridge is up to speed, Styrofoam coolers are very light I can store them in the rear bunks. That’s it! I have been doing this for over 3 years without issue.

[Mgkramer963]

Originally Posted by RAurand

The easiest thing to do is if where you live allows you to park in front of your house for 24 hours, go fetch the trailer, run an extension cord from your house to the trailer, (charge batteries) and turn on refrigerator. and start loading. Put stuff in the fridge the next day after it gets cold.

I totally agree. Easier to load at the house. It’s amazing what you remember to pack after you had thought you packed everything!

[Marmot]

Your tires will be about 10 pounds low. Take a compressor and put them back to 65 (?). Check your wheel lugs with a torque wrench (95?).

[Marmot]

I’ve been using two Battery Tender brand 5W solar battery tenders for 4 summers. The car starts right up and the trailer is on 3 red balls after 7 months storage.

[whackynurse]

We store our rig a few miles away. We keep extra clothes in there, linens etc so all we need is the food so we pack our cooler with everything and a box of dry goods run over to pick up the rig the day we leave as our housing does not allow RV parked in front of house. When we return from our trip we take out the clothes/linens wash them and return them when we do the generator run to keep it maintained. Getting ready for the full time thing! When we make camp we put ice blocks in the freezer and fridge to make it cool off faster. I have read some people drive with the propane on..we have not done that not sure yet on the safety.

[berwin]

We keep our Alante stored at a RV storage lot about three miles from the house. Our neighborhood is too small to park it in front of the house and do we really want to advertise to everyone driving by that we are packing up to be gone for an extended period? When we can (based on availability) there is a small RV campground about three miles in the other direction so we crank it up and drive it there the day before heading out. That way our fresh water tank is full of fresh, gray and black are empty, and the refrigerator is running on electricity. We can also fill the propane if needed. If we can't get a spot at the campground, I get up super early on the day of departure and head to the Alante to start the fridge and put milk jugs of ice in it to help with the cool down. Our toad is a Chevy Colorado so everything we haven't already preloaded fits and while the wife is arranging everything inside, I'm hooking up the toad. We store everything in those plastic Sterilite stacking containers you get at Walmart and elsewhere. They stack in the shower when we are not using it.

[freetime58]

Originally Posted by Marmot

Your tires will be about 10 pounds low. Take a compressor and put them back to 65 (?). Check your wheel lugs with a torque wrench (95?).

?????, mine don't lose pressure no matter where the unit is stored.......have you checked for leaks?

[1carguy]

Originally Posted by Tockert

We pick up our RV the day prior to bring to the house to load.
I plug it in to allow fridge to get cool, and the wife loads clothes and such.
Fridge is last. If I want fridge to cool faster, I put it on propane.
I also load some water based on our plan with either a full tank, or partial and how far we have to travel the first night after work.

Todd

Like many others, I also pick it up a couple of days before my trip and park it in front of the house. I hook up power, turn on the frig, load up all of our stuff, check the air pressure in the tires, etc. Not only does it charge the batteries, it "charges" up the family in anticipation of going camping!

[Iraqvet05]

Our storage facility is 15 minutes from our house. For weekend trips, I do not bring the TT home to load because we live on a busy street. I'll go to the TT the day before we leave, install the battery (already charged), fire up the fridge and bring a load to pack in the TT (clothes, towels, toiletries etc.) My wife will go grocery shopping that night then the we pack what's left the next day and head straight to the camper, hook up and and leave from there. I do bring the TT home to unpack and it goes fairly quick when all 4 of us are unpacking.

[Big1]

What kind of solar battery charger you guys using and where are you getting them from?