Planning your first RV trip this summer? While hitting the open road in an RV can be an exciting and liberating experience, there are plenty of pitfalls that can turn your dream vacation into a nightmare. Learn seven of the most common mistakes made by RV newbies and pick up some tips on how to avoid them.
- Overpacking
Let’s start with mistakes to avoid before you ever even hit the road. Number one: Overpacking. It can be tempting to pack everything but the kitchen sink for your trip. It’s a home away from home, right? Wrong. Overpacking can make your new home on wheels feel smaller and more cramped than it is.
Two areas where you can save big by packing light are the kitchen and wardrobe. For example, it’s unlikely you’ll need a separate outfit for each day of your trip. Instead, pack layers and pieces that can be worn multiple days. If you’re staying at a campground, there are often laundry services available for a fee.
When it comes to kitchen gadgets the reality is you’ll use far less than you think. Coffee pot? Yes. Air fryer? Sure. The as-seen-on-TV latest find? Probably not. Take the basics and leave the rest.
Your inaugural camping trip will be a good testing ground to see if you find yourself missing that kitchen item you left behind.
Be conscientious when deciding how much food to bring, as well. It’s easy to be ambitious in meal-planning and packing, imagining large pancake breakfasts with bacon and eggs each morning. But in reality, there are days you’ll want to get going and grab a granola bar, cereal or yogurt instead.
- Exceeding Weight Limits
Another danger of overpacking is putting your RV over weight. Which leads to the second mistake you can make before you ever leave the house: Overloading the camper by exceeding weight limits or not distributing the weight properly.
This is more dangerous than simply overpacking clothes. Overloading or poorly distributing weight can create a true road hazard, as it puts the RV out of balance and makes it difficult to control. Additionally, exceeding weight limits causes additional wear and tear on critical components like tires and axles; it can even potentially void your insurance coverage if a tire were to blow and cause a crash.
Overweight or improperly distributed weight on trailers can cause your RV to sway as you travel down the road, creating an unsafe and dangerous driving situation. Be sure to check the GVWR, towing capacity, dry weight and tongue weight of your RV, vehicle and hitch before hitting the road.
- Choosing the Wrong Hitch
Speaking of hitches, part of ensuring the proper weight limits for your RV means shoring up the connection between the vehicle’s chassis and whatever it is towing. That’s why, using the correct hitch for your setup is essential.
A hitch not only ensures a secure connection but also allows for swiveling movements and articulation (like taking turns or backing into that tight campground spot). Trailer hitches are divided into classes, making it easier to match your vehicle’s towing capacity to the specific trailer weight range it can tow.
A weight distribution hitch is necessary for pulling anything over 5,000 pounds, but can add safety and comfort to any size setup. These hitches work as their name implies – they distribute the weight of your payload. This helps keep the truck and trailer in a level alignment, equalizing weight and preventing squat. In turn, the RV is easier to pull and control.
For a more in-depth look at the types of hitches and how they’re used, click here.
- Ignoring Routine Maintenance
Another issue that can cause problems with your tires and the rest of your RV is ignoring routine maintenance.
Common checklist items that can make a big difference in the enjoyment of your trip include inspecting the seams and roof seals, keeping wheel lug nuts tight, ensuring proper tire pressures, checking the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors and keeping batteries fully charged.
For a more comprehensive checklist of RV maintenance to perform before hitting the road, click here.
- Not Securing Cargo
You’re probably antsy to hit the road by now, but there are a few more mistakes to avoid before doing so. The next mistake you can make is to forget to secure items inside the RV before traveling.
Even if you think you’ll be traveling down a straight road, it’s surprising how much items can shift around while traveling. Make sure anything that can be latched, shut inside a cabinet or tied down, actually is. If something on a countertop can’t be affixed or tied down, then move it to a cabinet or wedged between other items that won’t move during travel.
- Failing to Practice Beforehand
Once everything is properly packed, evenly balanced inside the camper, and properly hitched, it’s time to put in a little practice towing.
Towing a camper is not just like driving a car. You suddenly have up to 50-feet of extra length behind you. Every sway, turn and lane-change requires extra vigilance and awareness. Towing an RV when you’re not used to it can be fatiguing, not to mention nearly impossible to park in a back-in site at a campground if you’ve never done it before.
That being said, take some time to practice backing in and out of a driveway or other tight space. Go for a longer drive with some turns. Get accustomed to the feel of driving an RV down the road just as you would your vehicle.
- Choosing the Wrong Campsite
Ready for the open road? So are we! But where to? Some things to consider when deciding on a campground include how long you plan on staying, the distance to the campground and who you’re traveling with.
For example, if you’re staying in one place for a longer period of time, then you may want to spend a little more money to stay at a campground with more robust amenities like on-site laundry, bathroom/shower facilities, full-hookups, a restaurant, activities, etc. If you’re quickly on your way to another location, then you might want to save that money and stay somewhere with less amenities like only water/electric.
Remember that what you could easily drive in a car in a few hours can quickly become many more hours towing an RV. Pace yourself for the drive and consider multiple stops instead of a long haul to a final destination.
If you’re traveling with children, make sure to choose campgrounds that have kid-friendly amenities. For instance, a playground never hurts. Will you be adventuring in the area around the campground, utilizing it only as a basecamp? Or will you be staying at the campground most of the day? These are all things to consider when choosing the correct one.
Even though it sometimes feels like you’ll never make it out of your driveway without the possibility of making a mistake, you will. (And you may even make one or two of these mistakes!) Just be sure to take your time, enjoy the ride and learn from any mishaps that do happen.