Detailed maintenance information...?

[WeRJuliian]

We're not new to camping, but relatively new to Jayco.

We bought a 19XUD a few months ago, we've done the first few tentative short stays, now we're planning for our annual 700-miles-each-way Fall trip to the mountains. So, I'm thinking it may be time for a little precautionary maintenance, a dab of grease here and there, a general tightening up and tire-kicking.

Sadly, the Owners Handbook that came with it is.. well, to be blunt, useless.
It says things like "Lubricate such-and-such (if fitted):, but it doesn't say how, what with or how often.

Hence, my question.. does anyone know of a source for an actual service handbook? One that will actually tell me what I need to do, when, and with what... I'm a great believer in preventive maintenance, but I need clues :-)

Thanks
Ian, the clueless man from Scotland

[Grumpy]

Available on AMAZON:

Bob Livingston
RV Repair and Maintenance Manual (RV Repair & Maintenance Manual)

[WeRJuliian]

Thank you... does that give specific information for Jaycos, or is it more general?

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by WeRJuliian

Thank you... does that give specific information for Jaycos, or is it more general?

General. Other than your owner's manual there is nothing JAYCO specific. Only specific info will be from all the various component providers, Coleman, Norcorld, Lippert etc.

[bluie5]

You could do a Google search. There are lots of YouTube videos.

[Rustysocket]

Think of this more like buying a home rather than a car. There really is no one inclusive manual but rather a lot of pamphlets on the components.. and sometimes not even that.

The best thing to do is follow the general guide, and then ask questions here, or somewhere else on how to accomplish the specifics.

It's not ideal.... but none of it is really rocket science either.

[norty1]

If you are a previous owner you already have a leg up on PM'ing an rv.

All manufacturers manuals are generic and as you stated, useless. The mfg's do put out some decent info but some of those are lacking.

As Grumpy says there are books that will help and I have learned a lot from You tube videos. Lippert has a pretty good web site. They are into almost everything on most rv's.
https://www.lci1.com/rv

I you are taking a trip, pay attention to tire condition and pressures. We used to use a laser temp gauge and still carry it since we purchased the TPMS. (Tire pressure Monitor system). As you know tires are put to the test when driving long term so check them visually and monitor the temps at each rest stop.

Check lights each time you hook-up.

A roof inspection may be in order to check for any caulking cracks or ceiling tears.

I'm leaving for a 3 week trip and have been doing the same things these last few days. Found an intermittent tail light bulb yesterday that had been bugging me for a while and found the connections were corroded on the bulb. When I do that, I put a little Dow Corning Compound on the bulb and mating surface to keep down corrosion. I also checked to assure I had some spare fuses. Nothing worse than a blown fuse to spoil a trip.

[ctbailey]

Hi. Welcome to the sport and "art" of RV camping.

Recently while I was on my roof, repairing a leaking winegard bat wing antenna... I came to the realization that RV ownership gets you a front seat to a very odd show: we get to see the slow, painful, and unavoidable demise of the camper.

It's not "if" you get a leak, it's "when."

I don't mean to be negative, I'm just trying to be realistic.

Any RV, a $750,000 diesel pusher or a $9,000 Jayco SLX, will have maintenance needs.

And every camper is different.

slide motors and screws need greasing. Slide seals need to be cleaned to remain supple. Roof seals need reseal annually. Roof penetrations need inspection and reseal every 4 months. Tires, bearings, batteries, hitch, plumbing... the list goes on and on.

You'll have problems with most if not all the systems on modern RVs.

I'll end with this: happy campers need to be either independently wealthy, or be willing to be/get handy.

The good news: the newbie RVer has a great tool that we didn't have back in the day: these forums. BUT I beg folks not to become "dependent" on he forums. We cannot become paralyzed with fear until "we ask the forum." People have successfully been RVing since the 1940's.



Craig Bailey
New Hampshire
Jayflight 32 BHDS
Chevy 2500HD CC