n previous articles, we explored how to choose an RV dealer based on their service operations and sales approach. While these are crucial aspects to choosing a dealer, there’s another important factor to consider: how engaged the dealership is in supporting their local community and the RV industry as a whole. A dealership that invests in its community and supports RV-related causes shows a commitment not just to making sales, but to fostering a healthy, vibrant RV lifestyle for everyone.

Engagement with the Local Community: Community engagement can take many forms, and sometimes it’s not directly related to RVs. For instance, many dealerships contribute to local high school sports teams or support charitable events. At Campers Inn RV, for example, we proudly support initiatives like the “Stuff the Bus” event in Jacksonville, Florida, “Toys for Tots” in several locations, “Seats for Soldiers” at local sporting events and “Bikes for Kids” in North Carolina. These contributions aren’t just about writing checks — they’re about being an active participant in making the community a better place.

When a dealership invests back into the community, it shows it isn’t just there to do business, but to be a good neighbor. When choosing a dealer, consider asking about its involvement in local causes — it’s a strong indicator of the dealership’s commitment to more than just profits.

f you own a trailer or fifth wheel, at some point you are going to need to gain access to the area above the underbelly — especially if you have one or more slideouts. You might need to service the dump valves, chase down a water leak or repair shorted wires; in my case, I wanted to dry-lube the rack-and-pinion mechanism for the slides, which required that I have access to the motor and gearbox.

Granted, it’s always possible to cut an access hole in the underbelly material and patch it later with tape, but that rarely works for more than a short period of time.

The solution is to cut-in a trap door — and you can find the right product for this purpose on Amazon. Normally referred to as a “trap flap” in the belly pan used for manufactured homes, the “Mobile Home Belly Bottom Repair Trap Flap” ($12.99) is a woven polyethylene, zippered access panel designed to adhere to the Coroplast or other underbelly material used on modern trailers; it’s 18 x 18 inches square and has a rounded flap that unzips to provide access through the underbelly.

ost RV owners will tell you that Priority One is to always use caution when maneuvering their rigs over rough terrain or unknown places. The goal is to prevent impacts with tree limbs, rocks and other solid debris that goes unnoticed until too late. A vulnerable area is the belly pan, made of flexible material like Coroplast that can be easily cut or ripped from debris kicked up from the roadway or running over a tree stump, for example.

In my case, I cut a 5-inch-long section in the belly pan of my fifth wheel by mistake while working on a project. Yep — anybody can make a mistake.

Trying to fix that cut in the Coroplast with duct tape was futile, and sealing the cut with specialized tape for this purpose was also a no-go due to the rough surface, which was likely designed to help prevent accidental tearing. Nothing I’ve found thus far will stick solidly — for a reasonable length of time — to the underbelly material on my fifth wheel.

acking up an RV, whether it be motorized or towable, can send trepidations down one’s spine — especially those new to the lifestyle. Over time, most owners acclimate to the mechanical process — learning which way to turn the steering wheel and when — but not knowing what’s lurking behind you never goes away. There are classic remedies we wouldn’t suggest doing, like yelling at your other half because he/she misses obstructions or just can’t figure out how to direct the backing process, especially since a better way is to install a back-up camera and monitor the action yourself.

Simple backup systems for motorhomes have been around for a long time. In more recent years, manufacturers have recognized the necessity to eliminate blind spots and reduce back-in collisions with impossible-to-see obstructions and are offering pre-wiring and mounting bracket provisions or complete systems with a monitor as part of the supply starter box for even smaller towables. And for older RVs, the aftermarket is filled with choices.

ulling a trailer or fifth wheel presents inherent challenges that all owners deal with, from watching traffic on the roadways to maneuvering in an RV park. When on the road, drivers must be on the lookout for other vehicles that seem to come out of nowhere in adjacent lanes when passing. Then there’s backing up, especially on the blind side — and let’s not forget obstacles that are out of sight when parking in back-in RV sites, especially if there are a lot of trees or shrubs blocking the view. The ongoing joke about yelling at your co-pilot becomes all too real in difficult situations.

Backup cameras mitigate much of the stress, but what about the sides? Fortunately, backup camera systems can be upgraded with side view cameras — and even better, manufacturers are pre-wiring their trailers and fifth wheels for plug-and-play camera installations, as was the case on my fifth wheel purchased last year. Furrion, a Lippert division (lippert.com), markets camera kits designed specifically for this purpose (although several companies offering backup camera systems can provide adapters for trailers pre-fitted for Furrion components).

ackup cameras have proven to be a valuable tool to counter blind spots while driving or backing into an RV space. Just about all motorhomes have this provision, which is becoming more popular for trailer enthusiasts — with good reason. It can be argued that a view to the back and sides of a trailer or fifth wheel is even more important than for drivers of motorhomes. Recognizing the need to make towing a trailer as safe as possible, Hopkins Towing Solutions has devised an affordable product, the vueSMART backup camera (hopkinstowingsolutions.com), which can be installed in around 30 minutes to an hour.

The key to this system is a unique bracket that has been designed to supplant (temporarily) the center clearance light on the back of the trailer. A monitor for this system is not necessary; the images are transmitted via Wi-Fi to a smart device. There’s no provision for side-view cameras either, but this system was selling at etrailer for only $105 (etrailer.com), so you can’t expect the advanced features packed into the more elaborate systems.

hile there’s no denying that RV manufacturers have made amazing strides in their quest to provide campers with a comfortable traveling home, each is still in the business to succeed — which means that every RV sitting on a dealer’s lot needs to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. Mostly, that means what you’ll find are wood tones — and lots of them, at that. Aesthetically speaking, an RV designer’s palette made up of browns and tans and, more recently, whites, may not convey a specific owner’s personality, but neither are they especially off-putting.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to live with that color scheme forever. It simply means that you need to make some big changes yourself — or find someone to do it for you.

Someone like Tessa Terry. While relatively new to the growing cottage industry of RV renovators, the young mom from Andrews, South Carolina, has operated in a designer’s world for years. “My parents owned a Victorian lampshade company and I’ve worked around a lot of top designers my whole life,” she said. And while that niche provided her an outlet — in the Disney movie “Haunted Mansion,” she created all the lampshades used — it wasn’t until she and her husband, Aaron, began renovating their Victorian house while living in a tiny home that she began to understand the attraction of living in a small space. Since then, she’s customized nearly a dozen RVs as the proprietor of Alchemy RV Renovations (alchemyrvrenovations.com).

anitation systems in any RV are great to have — heck, they are a necessity — but keep in mind that you will likely be hauling around the “stinky stuff” that resides in the holding tanks. Handling the contents always brings sneers from outsiders, but taking care of the sanitation system is not really that bad.

Well, until the stink arrives.

Recently, at the end of one leg of a long trip in hot weather, I opened the entry door to my fifth wheel and was hit with very recognizable “stink” — and knew right away that the air admittance valve (AAV) in the bathroom and/or kitchen sink had seen better days.

Now, most people don’t know — or believe — that gray water can stink worse than black water for a number of reasons, including the fact the most people don’t flush these tanks while dumping; RVs are just not set up that way. Fortunately, the AAV is designed to control sewer gases that end up wofting hrough the P-trap — and it’s a very simply part to replace.

taying cool inside an RV is a prerequisite when traveling in hot weather, but it’s oftentimes easier said than done. While no one wants to endure a hot interior — especially when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep — an RV is essentially a big tube made of fiberglass, metal and glass, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when temperatures inside that tube rise dramatically while it bakes under a hot summer sun.

And, while rooftop air-conditioners are commonplace on RVs today, their inherent design tends to limit effectiveness — especially on triple-digit afternoons. That’s why we’ve tested different add-on aftermarket products designed to maximize the efficiency of stock A/C units; we want to stay cool, too.

One of the newest products to address this situation is the A/C Connect from Kool RV (koolrv.com). The add-on product is claimed to elevate current air-conditioners to their full potential, bringing down the temperatures inside while curtailing some of the noise.

t’s no secret that factory shock absorbers provide only minimal damping of road conditions. Why? Because vehicle manufacturers typically use mass-produced equipment to fulfill this important suspension role — these cylindrical devices that bridge the gap between the frame and axle are designed to limit the stress on the suspension while controlling tire hop and adverse tire wear. Without shocks at every corner, the suspension would react wildly, producing a harsh ride, suspension bottoming and ultimately, an unsafe ride.

Most factory shocks have hydraulic-fluid valving, whereby piston-rod movement is restricted to provide a damping effect between the axle and frame. The movement turns kinetic energy into heat, which is dissipated to allow the shocks to do their job. However, most inexpensive shocks do not dissipate the heat efficiently — and, thus, the movement turns into mediocre suspension control. This configuration has been around virtually forever and, unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before mediocre support turns to virtually no support.