Wander the West: Tips and care of Camper - Wander the West

I have discovered that a lot of folks on the forum have purchased used campers and the tips of how to care for them have not been passed on. I have added this to our web site under the FAQ page and thought it may be of some help to post it here also. If there is anything else that anyone can think of to add, just let me know.



When you purchase a new camper we go over the care and use of the camper with you. If you have purchased a used one these tips were probably not passed on to you. The pop up section of the camper is the one part that takes some care. If you will do the following, it will last you as long as the camper does. When you have the camper stored, pop it up at least once a month and let it air out. Every six months, wash the outside with simple soap and water and then treat it with 303 Aerospace Protectant.
Here is a link to their website.

http://www.303produc...&Product_ID=428

303 also makes a great cleaner. DO NOT USE Armoural on anything. This will destroy the liner over time if you do. If you follow these steps, your liner will stay in great shape over the years for you.

When you bring the roof down, another tip is to always push in the corners of the liner from the side of the camper every time. The way the liner folds in it may look like the corners are in fine but if you don't get into the habit of pushing them in, they tend to fold in a way that they will rub on the edge just a little and create small holes in the liner. If this happens or has already happened, just give us a call. We can send you some patch material to fix the problem before it becomes a replacement issue.

When you close the clamps that hold the roof down, you should start to feel the tension of the clamp at the half way point of closing. With all the clamps closed and in place you should be able to pull on the roof at each clamp and have a slight movement of about an 1/8" or so. If you over tighten the clamps you can actually bend the roof.

When you put the turnbuckles on that hold the camper on your truck, hand tighten them and then put a stubby screw driver in them and turn them an additional half to full turn and stop. DO NOT over tighten the turnbuckles. This should hold them in place just fine. Check them in about 300 or 400 miles and see if they have loosened up at all. As the camper settles into place the turnbuckles will stay tight.

If you have purchased a used camper, give us a call and we will be happy to go over the tips and tricks to keeping your camper in shape and use of it. Even if you have purchased another brand of camper we are still happy to help out. A few minutes of going over how to care for your camper will save you a lot of headaches and money down the road.

Great addition Ben. Especially the roof clamps and turn buckles. I over tightned the TB's on my old T100 and actually tore a bed weld.

good stuff, thanks ben!

Ben,

Thanks for posting, even though we bought our camper new some reminders are always good.

benburnett said:

Thanks Ben. Followup: when the liner come in as the roof comes down, it tends to be crushed by the ply support that holds the roof up. Is that ok?

Yes that is ok. It is normal and will do it at both ends of the camper.

Stan just threw me a tip on the outside care of the camper. I have seen some folks try to wax it and that just results in a mess with all the little grooves and spaces around the camper.

Stan recommended a product called, Protect All. Here is a link to the website for it. I just picked up a bottle of it myself and will try it out. Will report back after this trip out east as to how well it worked.

http://www.protectall.com/psplg.htm

You can pick it up and Wal-Mart or Camping world. Have to look in the RV department at Wal-Mart though. I went through all the car products and didn't find it. Almost gave up and finally noticed the very small RV products display and there it was.

great info Ben......one question have you used lock tite on the turn buckles and eye bolts to prevent them from coming loose?

I have never used anything on the turnbuckles or eye bolts and have never had one come loose on me. I just drove 3000 miles with a camper and the turnbuckles stayed just fine for me the whole way.

I just drove 3,561 miles with my Cougar camper and the turnbuckles stayed just fine the whole way. (They were "installed" by Marty at the ATC factory.)

Those miles also include about 50 miles of single track "roads" around northern Montana. I even had one bump that caught me by surprises with the read of the truck coming a little air born. :eek: :mad:

Mike