Have you ever considered a rental motorhome for your vacation? If you’ve yet to catch the RV bug, there are plenty of reasons to take your family away in a motorhome or other type of RV. For a start, RV rentalcan take you off the beaten track to beautiful locations far from the nearest motel. Most RVs are more comfortable than an average motel as well (after all, it’s your bedding and towels you’re using), and you never have to check out in a hurry – or lug heavy baggage around. Almost one in twelve families own a motorhome and many of them say the experience has strengthened their family bond.

If you do already own an RV, camper rental gives you the chance to try out a different model or to trial an upgrade before deciding what to buy next. Want to see what all the fuss is about a Damon RV? Take it for a week’s vacation and find out.

If you’re looking to rent a motorhome, you could start with the most popular type – a Class C cabover-style, or alcove motorhome. Most RV rental companies will supply late model year vehicles and all the big brands are usually available: Fleetwood, Damon, Monaco, Winnebago, Holiday Rambler etc.

Perhaps you would like to try a Class A ‘bus-style’, or integrated motorhome, instead.  Most rental motorhome outlets provide vehicles with all the features you would expect as standard: dinette, couches, shower, toilets, heaters, sink, range, microwave, fridge, TVs and DVD units, to name just a few.

Motorhome rentals are not the only RVs available at most rental lots or private camper rental sites. Providing your towing vehicle has the right specifications, you could try out a 5^th wheel or a range of towables, such as tent trailers and toy boxes (for those who want to take their Jet Ski or motocross bike for a vacation too).

Of course, one of the main considerations you need to make before you rent a motorhome is how big it’s going to have to be. If you’re travelling with your partner on a retirement vacation, a compact 19 foot model will be more than adequate. But if you are looking to bring the extended family of seven away, a 39 foot 5^th Wheel might be a better bet. Before you rent an RV, be sure to check out the detailed floorplans that all rental motorhome providers should display. You may be surprised at the extra space that some RVs conjure up, especially if they include slides.

When renting an RV, you will need to produce proof of age and your driver’s license although, in most states, you won’t need to take any special test (though test drive facilities are often provided for you to get familiar with your chosen vehicle).

There are some other important things you will need to consider before you rent an RV. Are you a smoker, do you have a dog that won’t leave your side or are you planning to visit Mexico? Many RV rental lots will not allow you to smoke in their vehicles or travel to Mexico. Pets are sometimes permitted, but usually carry a supplement for the extra cleaning involved.

On the subject of cleaning, camper rental usually requires a deposit against damage or cleaning costs. Make sure you return your RV as you found it to get your deposit charged back.

With more than 400 RV rental outlets nationwide, there is no shortage of options for the full-time RV’er or weekend camper alike.

Now that summer has officially started, it’s time to prep your RV for long trips on the road. If you have been an RV owner for quite some time now, you know that getting your RV ready for summer takes more than just the usual checks. Here are some tips for you to get your RV ready for summer:

Check Under the Hood

If you kept your RV away for the winter, then you must be ready to put in extra work to bring it out from storage. It is very important that you look under the hood to check the engine. By doing this, you can check the oil, coolant, brake fluid and water levels in the engine as well as spot any torn hoses. If you are not confident enough to do this, you can always bring your vehicle to a mechanic…but who needs to spend a lot for a simple check-up? There are DIY instructions for RV engine checkups online you can refer to when carrying this procedure out.

Check What’s On The Outside

As important as checking the engine, you also need to check all the outer systems of your RV. See to it that all your lights are functioning and secure a replacement for busted ones. If you have a rear view camera installed, be sure to also check if it is still operational. Vents and cabinets must also be inspected to clear any nests that insects leave behind.

Checking your tires is imperative. There are air pressure gauges specifically available for RV tires in the market today and if you don’t already have it, it’s best to invest in one. Having a blowout on a trip can be life-threatening so make sure your tires are in tip-top shape.

Don’t Forget the Inside

Batteries should also be checked and maintained. Be careful not to undercharge or overcharge the batteries before setting out.

Secure all the cabinet doors and drawers inside the cabin. You don’t want things falling off while you are on the road. Also, see to it that all the other equipments inside the RV are functional. Clean the airconditioner and double-check the smoke, gas, and carbon monoxide alarms.

Also, inspect all the hoses on board your RV. Water leaks can be destructive and repairs can be quite costly so don’t simply ignore wayward hoses or small leaks.

One of the major concerns of RV owners is the holding tank maintenance. No one wants to live in a stinky RV so see to it that you stock up with basic disinfectant, toilet papers, and cleaning products.

Drive Away!

Upon complete check up of your RV, you can now start packing and get ready for a fun-filled adventure on the road. Be sure to take everything you need without overloading your RV. Remember, the lesser weight, the more mileage you cover.

Right before I decided to start RV’ing, I determined that I needed a “guidebook” of campgrounds, services, dump stations across america, places I could fill up with fresh water, etc.  I was wondering how I should go about finding the information I needed.  I started with a basic atlas.  Quickly I found that the atlas was more vague than I needed.  So I went online and searched Google.  I should have known it already - Google gave me 200,000+ results.  Needless to say I wasn’t about to traverse through them all.   

Thousands of possibilities doesn’t help me; it is too broad. I need it narrowed down into a good overall service directory.  (kinda like the yellowpages is to yor local town).  The answer came like a lot of things – a referral from a friend of mine who has been RV’ing for a while.

I pretty much asked that friend of mine the same question that I asked Google: “RV Guidebook”.  (When I asked him, it was more a structured question in the english language).  So he told me of a book that is the size of a city yellowpages (Like 2 1/2 inches thick!)  This book dictates in detail so much information that echances the life of a recreational-vehicle enthusiast.  The book is non other than the ”Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds & Services Directory“. 

The “Guide” in Guidebook

This guidebook is published every year with updated information essential for every RV’er.  This easy to read information guidebook features:

• Listings of over 12,000 RV parks and campgrounds with a unique rating system
• Information on over 900,000 RV Sites
• Service and repair facilities in every state
• Attractions close to where you are
• Maps of each state in the US
• Tips for RVing
• Temperature guides per season across the US
• Travel Stops
• RV DUMP STATIONS!!! ($5 or less – lots are FREE)
• Volunteer contacts to help you with advice and local travel information in the state/area you are in.
• Fishing license, roadway and towing information per state (and Canada)
• My favorite: Detail on WiFi and Internet access across North America

• And much more! 

Digging into Listings Details

Ok – Let’s get into the State by State RV Park listings.  This is by far one of the most infromational and useful aspects of this directory. 

Let’s first look at a Sample Listing:

This sample shows us a list of 31 possible informational elements per listing.  Each listing is inspected annually by Good Sam inspection teams. 

Let’s go over just a few of the 31 information elements.  I am numbering them just as they are listed in the sample.

1.   Town name:  This is where the campground is located, or the nearest town.  The directory also includes helpful listings of towns within a 30-mile radious of a major metropolitan area.

11. Basic Facilities (FAC): This is where the listing shows if it has restrooms, showers, store, laundry, etc.  A ($) after the facility in the listing indicated an extra charge not included in the rate of stay at the campground /park.

14.  Last Year’s Rates: Rates are listed according to the previous years rate of stay  Rates include any additional fees that may ttypically be found at the site, such as air conditioning, TV service and heating.  Rates are shown as a guideline and for convenience only. This portion of the listing also includes whcih credit cards are accepted at the current facility.

15. Trailer Life’s Rating: Good Sam and trailer life rates each campground / rv park in three categories:

• Completeness of Facilities
• Cleanliness/ Construction of Restrooms and  Showers
• Visual Appearance/Environmental Quality. 

19. Season: Each listing includes opening and closing dates if the park is seasonal.  Otherwise the facility is open all year.

23. Description of Sites: First, the listing indicates the total number of RV spaces to show you the size of the park.  Next, the quantity of sites available to the overnight RV’er and the surface (paved, gravel grass or dirt).  This portion of the listing also includes information on Patios, shaded sites, number of pull thru sites and other kind of special descriptive information.  The last and most important part of this portion of the listing indicates if the site has hookups and what kind they are.  For example, it may show the site has full hookups (Water, Electric, Sewer) and the type of electrical service offered (15,20,30 or 50 amps). 

Final Thoughts …

As you can see there is a Wealth of information listed in this directory.  The sheer thickness of the book is indicitive of the amount of useful information contained within it’s covers! 

Overall, the “Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds & Services Directory” is the Bible of RV Living and is a must have for anyone who owns an RV of any sort – and I hear that Good Sam is offering it for about $10 instead of $25 right now.

For all of you out there with a 1984 Coleman popup tent trailer (any model), I am posting for your enjoyment and needs the actual trailer manual from coleman as well as the original parts catalog.  These documents are EXTREMELY useful when it comes to repairing or modifing your pop-up trailer.

The manual and parts list covers these 1984 Models:

• Pioneer Series
  • Redwood
  • Columbia
  • Newport
  • Cape Cod
  • Jamestown Limited
• Americana Series
  • Colonial
  • Sun Valley
  • Royale
  • Shenadoah
  • Sequoia
  • Williamsburg

Download the Owners Manual:

Download the Parts list:

As I decided to rebuild my pop-up tent trailer for family camping, I thought I should go ahead and paint it as well. I did not want to take it to Maaco or have a professional paint it because I did not want to spend that kind of money. I figured I could do this all myself for a whole lot cheaper. Here is what I did.

First I removed all the canvas off the tent trailer. Since a tent trailer is designed to have the canvas removed, this was a rather simple task. You will also need to decide if you are going to paint the inside of the trailer too. In my case, I did – in fact I tore out the inside completely cause I was planning on doing a complete restore. 

Canvas removal and body preparation

Outside: In order for the paint to look nice and adhere well, you need to remove all the decals, pin-striping etc. After all the decals are removed, you should give the outside a nice light sanding with about 120 grit sandpaper. 

After sanding, give the trailer a nice power wash. This will get all the loose dirt and sandpaper residue (for the original paint & sanding) off. 

Now it is time to mask off the areas of the trailer you don’t want to get painted. I masked off:

• Tires
• Door handle / latch
• Side lights
• Rear lights
• Trailer Tongue

For the parts I didn’t mask off AND didn’t want painted, I removed. for example, I removed the outside freshwater supply inlet and the land line power inlet.

Freshwater Supply Inlet

The Tongue on my Trailer was rusted and a very brownish color – I used this spray I got from Wal-mart that turns rust into black primer. Came out looking real nice.

Ok- now before you go any further, you will need a few items for the painting. Here is what you will need:

•  an HVLP Paint sprayer (I purchased this at Harbor Freight on sale for $17)
• An air compressor (the bigger the better as far as gallons go – but at least a 2 gallon)
• Vaseline
• 1 to 2 Gallons of Oil Based Paint for painting steel (I used BAR-OX Gloss enamel white paint. It is made by Devoe Paint and I purchased it from Neumann Paint and Supply 928-472-9054)
• Paint Thinner

Now it is time to paint. First, make sure you are out in the open so the paint fumes and over spray don’t get on anything you care about. Now start your air compressor going to fill up the air tank. To get the paint ready, fill your HVLP sprayer about 3/4 of the way with the Paint. Now add paint thinner in small doses to make the paint more like water in thickness. This is so you don’t clog up your sprayer. Attach your Paint Hopper to the HVLP sprayer and then attach the sprayer to the Air hose.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Take that Vaseline that I told you to have handy and smear it on all parts of your body that is exposed to the air – Face, hands, ears, neck etc. WHY? Because you are going to get overspray and oil based paint doesn’t come off very easily. Having Vaseline on your skin allows you to just wipe off all the over spray that gets on your body. It is like wearing a paint suit, only cheaper

To spray, start at one end of the trailer and spray about 12 inches away from the surface of the trailer. Continue horizontally about your arms reach. Then let go of the sprayer trigger. And repeat this process back to where you started from. You want even spray stokes back and forth. Do this a total of two times before moving lower on the body. Then move to the area you haven’t painted on that side of the trailer and repeat this process over and over until the whole trailer is painted.

Painted popup trailer

When you are done painting, let it dry for at least 24 hours – then use a buffer and buff your new paint job

I am in the process of writing a series of step by step articles (with pictures!) about my restoration process. If you would like to be notified about that series then subscribe to my blog in the yellow box below.

I did it. I bought a 1982 Jamboree by Fleetwood RV. I have been looking to buy a used motor home for about 5 years now and finally found the one I wanted. The price was right, the layout was outstanding and the timing in my life was amazing. Overall, I have to say, amazing doesn’t even sum up the complete package. And – just like my tent trailer, this RV needed some cosmetic TLC (but not as much as the tent trailer). 
 

On the mechanical items I need I will prolly shop at Auto Zone and Auto Parts Warehouse.

I determined that this Recreational Vehicle could use these inside updates:

• New flooring ( the carpet was nasty – and for camping, I would rather have something easy to clean than high pile carpet)
• Minor cosmetic fixes to cabinet corner bead
• New laminate edge strips for the dinning table and other surface edges around the coach
• A thorough detail cleaning
• A serious cushion shampooing

Outside:

• There were minor cracks in portions of the outside walls. This can be repaired with JB Weld
• The access doors to the outside storage compartments could use replacing
• The awning mounts needed re-enforcing
• A complete re-caulking of seems is also in order

I will be shopping at Walmart, Camping World and Al’s RV for all of my RV replacement parts and materials.

I know what you are thinking at this point. How much did you pay for this?? Well, I picked up this motorhome for about $3,000. I figure I will put about $400 into it for the updates I listed above. All in all, my family is really going to enjoy this.

I am in the process of writing a series of step by step articles (with pictures!) about my restoration process. The first article will be about painting the popup. If you would like to be notified about that series, please click here.

Here is the photo album for you to enjoy. If you have any questions or comments, post them here! 

I purchased this 84 Coleman Columbia popup tent trailer and started rebuilding it a year ago . I have taken a lot of inspiration and ideas from other people’s rebuild projects that I found on the web.

I started this project a year ago and took pictures along the way (See slideshow below). I was a weekend warrior on this project. It was more like 1-2 weekends a month (and usually just Saturdays). I would have to say a rough guess would put total time at 25 full 16 hour days. The time and cost has spanned over 11 months so far.

I’ll lay out the costs here:

• $30 – new paint (it is oil based, farm tractor paint in white from Neumann Paint and Supply 928-472-9054)
• $17 – HVLP paint sprayer (Harbor Freight)
• $16 – floor tiles
• $23 – Cover material for foam (think vinyl from Wal-Mart)
• $129 – New 3″ Foam (H & R Sales in Phoenix – great place, great price – I HIGHLY recommend them.)
• $25 – 2×2′s & 2×4′s for framing of cabinets.
• $60 – New wood cabinet facials. It is an oak veneer over 1/8″ plywood. (Habitat for Humanity store)
• $15 – New plumbing supplies (hose filter washers, hoses, clamps)
• $70 – New Porta Potti 135 RV (Camping World)
• $30 – New pump (Harbor Freight)
• $75 – Electrical supplies (wire, fuse block, DC outlets, battery box
  - I already had the deep cycle battery from my boat, otherwise that is an additional $65 at least.)
• $70 – odds and ends (screws, nails, light bulbs, etc)

Everything else I had collected as donations from friends garages (like the counter top for the galley, the slide rails for the pull out shelf) and from the trailer itself (galley sink, faucet, hinges, etc.)

And Finally…
Total out the door so far $660. And I have yet to do all the neat Modifications, like hanging shelves etc.

I am in the process of writing a series of step by step articles (with pictures!) about my restoration process.  The first article will be about painting the popup.  If you would like to be notified about that series, please click here.

Here is the slideshow: