What Are the Most Important Elements of Travel Trailer Repair & Maintenance?

Travel trailers are great fun and a great investment, if you spend a lot of time camping or exploring the wilderness. However, it's important to keep up on trailer repair and maintenance! When a good travel trailer costs tens of thousands of dollars, it's well worth spending a little time and money keeping it in good shape.

Mainline RV & Truck Service are Cleveland's expert trailer repair shop, and we want to help everyone in the area enjoy their trailer for years to come. So, let's go over the most important elements of trailer maintenance that you should know.

When you drive a truck, your trailer is an extension of your truck and needs to be maintained just as carefully as your rig! Trying to drive with a damaged or poorly maintained trailer is just asking for problems. Whenever your trailer is having problems in Ohio, you should make sure to visit a reputable truck and trailer repair shop to keep it running well.

Why is trailer maintenance so important? And what are the most important things to keep an eye on? Here's what you need to know.

The Importance of Trailer Repair and Maintenance in Ohio

There are numerous reasons that you should keep up with maintenance on your trailer. Just to hit the highlights:

·       Safety: A poorly maintained trailer can make your truck harder to drive safely or could even present a true safety hazard - especially when driving on hazardous roads.

·       Fuel efficiency: A well-maintained trailer is going to improve your gas mileage, and that's absolutely critical with gas prices so high.

·       Preventing breakdowns: You're on tight time schedules. The last thing you need is a breakdown affecting your efficiency. Maintaining your trailer keeps the money flowing.

·       Regulations and inspections: A poorly maintained trailer is likely out of compliance with regulations, which could cause you huge problems the next time you're pulled over or inspected.

The Most Important Aspects of Trailer Maintenance

Which parts of your trailer should you pay the most attention to? These are our top choices.

1 - The lights

A properly functioning lighting and signaling system doesn't merely help keep you safe on the road, it's also the law. If your trailer's lights aren't working, you will get pulled over for it.

2 - The tires

Your trailer's tires need to be maintained just as well as those on your truck. Otherwise, you'll lose fuel efficiency, and be at greater risk of blowouts or loss of control on the road.

3 - The brakes

Along with the tires, you should test and maintain your brakes frequently. When you're hauling 40,000 pounds of cargo, you need to know those brakes will work in an emergency.

4 - Lubrication

Without proper lubrication and other fluids, your tires, brakes, and other moving systems will quickly degrade. Always remember to check them when checking your truck's fluids.

How to Ensure Your Travel Trailer is a Happy Camper

There's no regular timetable for many of these elements, just think about how often you use your trailer. The more usage it sees, the more wear-and-tear will take its toll. However, it is important to always give it a thorough inspection before major trips, to ensure it'll be reliable when you're away from civilization.

1. Clean Your Travel Trailer Regularly

Cleaning your travel trailer is about more than aesthetics. A dirty trailer is going to be at higher risk for a lot of problems. In particular, dirt and grime can easily make their way into moving parts and cause rough movement, or even clog them up. Your chances of rust developing will go up as well since the abrasive nature of dirt can wear down anti-rust coatings and other protections.

Fortunately, you can clean a trailer in pretty much the same way as your car or truck. You just need a bucket, hose, detergent, and a fairly soft-bristled brush. Never use stiff bristles, as those could scratch your paint.

Don't forget to clean the interior, especially if you eat inside regularly, Otherwise, that's how you get ants and other pests crawling around your trailer.

2. Maintain Your Lubrication

A trailer has a lot of moving parts, and they all require some type of lubrication or another.

In particular, your trailer ball and hitch should be lubricated before any ride. They generate a lot of friction, and it's vital to ensure they can move smoothly with minimum damage. Otherwise, they could quickly wear out.

In addition, keep an eye on your trailer's joints and axles as well. These also need regular lubrication, to keep your trailer rolling smoothly. We advise checking your trailer's owner’s manual to ensure that you're always using the appropriate grease or oil for each component.

3. Do Regular Light Checks

When you're on the road, it's almost impossible to know whether your trailer's lights are working properly - so they should be checked ahead of time. This is a two-person job. One person is in the cab, working the brakes, turn signals, etc., and someone else is behind the trailer making sure the lights work properly.

If one light fails to activate, odds are the bulb just needs to be replaced. Be sure to replace the bulb with one of the same type - i.e., don't replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs, or vice versa. Each socket and wiring system was engineered to work with a particular type of bulb.

If it's not the bulb, you probably have a wiring problem. This is better handled by an experienced trailer repair service, who have tools for quickly tracking down electrical issues.

4. Always Inspect Your Tires

Tires on trailers and RVs are particularly vulnerable, because of how long these vehicles will often spend sitting around in a garage. So, you should always check the tires before a trip, particularly if it's been a while since the last one.

Check each tire for signs of damage, such as cracks in the sidewall or places where the rubber is bulging outwards. Tires in this condition cannot be safely driven on, particularly offroad. In addition, be sure to check the tread depth on all tires, checking several times around their edge. The depth should never be shallower than 2/32", and even that is quite shallow. Remember, good treads are what maintain grip on the road.

5. Verify the Brake Components

If your travel trailer has a brake system, it needs to be kept in good working order. This is most common on trailers that weigh more than 1,000 pounds. Smaller trailers typically just rely on the towing vehicle for braking.

You should check the pads, springs, drums, and brake shoes for any signs of wear or damage. Also, listen. Brakes that are wearing out will typically have loud metallic scraping or even "shrieking" sounds that alert you to problems.

Of course, if your trailer ever becomes damaged, Mainline Truck & RV Service is here to help! Click here to schedule a service appointment.

If you ever need trailer repair or maintenance in Ohio, Mainline RV Truck & Service has your back. We're known across the state for our expertise and excellent service. Click here for an appointment.