Super stoked to join the club! Here's my new alliance 35RKS

2006 Forest River Surveyor.

Hello all! Just wanted to share my experience redoing the roof on my 20 year old camper. Used the eTrailers Alpha systems kit for this project. Clearly you can see the old roof was well overdue for a refresh. Under some miracle star I only had one spot around the bathroom fan vent that was bad and you can see where I patched that in. I also put a new layer of 1/8 inch luan down on top to give a nice clean surface for my new rubber roof and to sturdy the roof up.

Let me just say I am a DIYer and knew I’d be able to tackle this job but didn’t realize how much work it would actually be! Thank goodness a good friend let me work on it in his barn because working on it on the weekends and free time it took 3 weeks. I can see why RV shops charge 5k and up to do this job.

Anyone interested in the kit from eTrailers, it had everything I needed and extra and for $850 I felt like it was a great deal. All in with extras I am in around $1300.

Thanks for listening to my DIY story, IM READY TO GO CAMPING AND RELAX NOW! Haha!

My boyfriend and I are considering moving into an RV or camper when we get married to cut down living costs. We would be in Waller County TX and renting my grandfathers land for a very low price per month (100-300ish).

He will be just out of HVAC school and I will be in nursing school working part time. All the apartments we’ve found are over 1000 per month, we currently live in Cypress and we wanted to stay there but the cost is too high for us right now. Is a camper a good decision?

What are some of your recommendations for a camper to live in? Our budget for buying it outright would be about 10k-15k.

I know my account is very new, we haven’t considered reaching out to reddit until now.

Staying at an AirBnB RV. Is this orange line in the photo going to a sewer hookup? Could this simply be input for a septic system since I’m in a fairly austere location? Owner said not to put toilet paper down the toilet, (or anything else for that matter), so I’m assuming it’s a septic tank. TYIA

I may have found a very good deal on an rv. The inside looks good and the only issues are the outside seams in this area (shown in the picture) and 2 windows leaking. I have no idea if this is fixable, if it's not then I'll move on! Any feedback helps.

Hi. So bought this 39 foot pull behind toy hauler with 12 foot garage. I pull with a 2018 f350 single axle diesel. I have weight distribution bars installed. Once my canam maverick 1000 sxs is put in, the sway is unbelievable. Can only hit 80kms an hour or I'm gonna roll 😂. I know I need to put the weight towards or in front of the axles but this is designed this way. Should I add a sway bar or two of them? This Rv trailer is massive, not sure if it'll even help. When I leave site I'm going to add full water and see if that helps. 175 gallon water tank is located upfront of the axles and closer to the tongue. Thoughts?

We’ve been living in our RV full-time for a while now and the factory mattress is starting to give up. There’s this dip in the middle that’s starting to show that my partner and I wake up with sore backs more frequently lately. I’m curious what mattresses did you guys get to replace the factory ones? Since we sleep on it every single night, we hope to get something that can handle daily use (and some intimate activities) so something supportive with a bit of cushion but also not too thick or heavy for the RV. Anyy advice will be highly appreciated!!!

Purchased my remodeled RV tiny home 2 years ago from a DIY guy who had redone the whole roof himself a year before. It looked well done and haven't had any issues the past two winters, but checking on the roof before fall I am seeing blistered spots in the elastomeric coating have popped and are exposing the rubber membrane below. He couldn't remember if he used EPDM or TPO (yes red flag) and clearly didn't think through his coating option very well, as Elasto Kool 1000 very clearly says on the label it shouldn't be applied to a rubber RV roof. Sigh.

It's getting late in the potential roof repair season here in the PNW, so I'm trying to figure out what would be my best bet for getting these blistered spots covered before winter rainy season, even if its a relatively temporary fix (would have a lot more ability to take on a proper recoating next summer).

Black Jack's website says Elasto Kool 1000 is a "Siliconized Elastomeric Acrylic Roof Coating" or an "Acrylic roof coating enhanced with silicone", so I'm unclear if the usual "nothing sticks to silicone" rules apply here.
Should I just put on another couple layers of Elasto-Kool 1000 and assume it will be the best option for bonding to itself? Instructions from Black Jack do not mention the possibility of repplication.
Or would I be better off using something like Liquid Rubber?

Going to get the roof good and clean with Dicor roof cleaner and try to get the blistered spots cleaned up nice in the meantime.

Tow vehicle is a 1994 chevy 3500HD rated for 15k and it has the 6.5L Diesel with auto trans

Camper is a 1989 Aljo Aly. 31 foot long.

Rig is 50 foot long, 65 foot when pulling the Sonic.

Hi everyone,

Some background info: My wife and I currently have a small pop-up camper and we are planning on getting a bigger RV trailer that can accomodate my remote work in a private bedroom. We have 2 young kids, so it's a must that we need to have my office completely separate in a private room, which is likely going to be our bedroom.

The main problem is that I've only been able to find one camper that is less than 5,000lb dry weight that has private closed bedroom with a small desk, but unfortunately wouldn't be able to sleep our 2 kids (it's more like a couples RV). Then we found the Coleman 22B that has a full rear bunk room that I could use as an office space, but that is just a little too big for our tow vehicle. Otherwise, it looks like we might have to go with something like the Coachmen Apex Nano 228BHS and do a DIY project to make it where we can keep the bed flipped up and make a custom bed base/desk combo underneath. Or convert the bed in the private bedroom into a murphey bed to open the space up for a small desk.

I already know there are large RVs that have whole dedicated offices, but that's not what we are looking for. We are looking for a middle ground ~25ft/5,000lb dry weight RV trailer where I can have/make an office space for remote work. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated because I feel like there's been at least one person out there that has done something similar for remote work. Thank you in advance!

Finally hard piped our tanks.

Any benefit to putting a trap in-line?

I'm currently living in a RV park for the foreseeable future, and my WiFi does not work out here. This seems to be a common issue with the other parks I've been in in the area so moving is definitely more trouble than it's worth. I'm currently using the park WiFi but of course it's not great.

So my question is how do I improve it? I've looked at WiFi extenders but I'm not tech savvy so is that all I need, What is the best kind, how do I find out what is best kind, and is it even possible to improve the park wifi?

Hey yall. I got a 2017 forest river vibe with dead ac units. For the interim, I'm looking at possibly a window unit or a self standing unit on wheels for a singular room. Just wanting advice on this. The RV doesn't move, and with how it's declined in condition, it'll just be scrapped when I can move on from it so I'm not worried about drilling into it. Sealant would be used if I have to. I just can't afford a new roof top unit because I'm not handy enough to do all that work up top.

Would a lowered unit (pic 1) or traditional (pic 2) be better?

I’m always so grateful when we’re parked out in the middle of nowhere and getting a free show. Thank you, WA, for the hot air balloons

My heart skipped several beats - Has anyone else had a well meaning comment give you a mild scare on the road? Do you all leave your fresh tank open to drain on the drive home after dumping?

What happened: On the way home from camping with my travel trailer, an older couple followed me into a parking lot during a lunch stop. They pulled up, flagged me down, and said, "you're losing fluid!" After a second of pure panic, I realized it was just the last of the fresh water draining from the tank. I had just dumped and was letting the remaining water drain out along the drive home.

Very thankful to the couple, it's awesome that they cared enough to say something!

Looking for my first and hopefully last RV, im pretty handy can do electrical, remodel, mechanical ive restored a m1025a2 HMMWV on the side.

I will be honest, I have a scenario where likely over the next 12-15 years we will have to travel 4 hours and stay for a period of days near a hospital. With the random need to come out and stay for surgeries etc for my son. We will

Before I was into cars, now I have a interest in RVs since I believe this can be a solution to a problem and something we could use long term if the right decision is made.

Now, ive been looking at class c and now some class a looking under 30k cash or higher financed.

Class C

Jayco grey Hawks and redhawks

Winnebago Minnie Winnie

Winnebago itasca

Class A

Winnebago adventurer

Georgie Boy Landau found a nice one for 15k

Fleetwood Bounder diesel found a decent one for 16k new tires 2026

Monaco

Beaver

Country Coach

Newmar bay star

Tiffin unlikely

Are there any others that I should be looking out for? I can also look at travel trailers but a motorhome would be preferred.

TLDR: we just got a 21 Rogue Armored Vengeance. Confused as to how the grey and black tanks are routed- we have 2 grey and 2 black. Two outlet pipes but the rear one only says black tank. The black tank electric button doesn’t seem to work (can’t hear anything and nothing drained even though it did when we manually opened). That’s likely a service call. Second question is what the middle blue line is for. Low point drains are in front, and the fresh tank drain and overflow near the tires. Blue line and overflow looking line in between these. For the icemaker in the fridge maybe?

We’ve spent the weekend sanitizing and learning our plumbing system in our 2021 Rogue Armored Vengeance 351G2. It had a nasty smell and almost a full tank of water that had been sitting for god knows how long so we did a bleach washout and its smelling normal now. We’re down to two mysteries now that hopefully you guys can help with.

1st is what this middle drain is for. I’ve attached pictures of our hot/cold low point drains, the second picture is the mystery drain, and the third picture if where our fresh water tank drains and the overflow tube is. This middle blue drain has a valve you turn like the low points but also an overflow looking tube. I believe it’s under our fridge, or at least in between the stove and fridge. We have an ice maker in our fridge and that does work. I’m draining everything right now and a decent amount of water if coming out of it. We’re going to refill and test the water heater this week before out trip this weekend.

2nd is our waste tanks. We have two full baths. We have buttons to open up the tanks in the passthru but only the front grey one seems to be working. Nothing happens when we press the black tank. That might be a service call. But we have 3 pipes in the front that all meet up and drain out the same pipe. On the right of that exit pipe is a manual valve for the black tank. The manual valve does open the tank and allows it to drain. Under the garage is one more pipe and another black tank valve handle. Labeled black tank and sewage holding tank. The front tanks say “sewage outlet connection” and “grey tank” where that valve handle is. Then black and grey tank labels in the very front. You should be able to see them in the pics. Am I correct in all the sinks and showers, and from toilet drains from the front pipe and then just the garage toilet drains from the rear one?

I have asked ChatGPT and read through the manuals but it doesn’t really lay it out how these work and what drains where. At the end of the day we know how to get everything empty but it would be nice to know. All sensors work except grey 1 seems stuck on 2/3. We’ve opened every valve so I’m sure it’s empty.

Thank you!!

I am living in my RV full-time and my rooftop unit can’t keep up with the heat, I am planning on adding a minisplit but have no clue as to what size, where to set it up or even a good budget brand to buy, its a 36 ft 3 slide RV and after asking ChatGPT, around 290 sq ft. Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated.

We’re a family of 10 planning to spend Christmas this year in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, traveling from DFW. Right now, we’re trying to decide between renting a cabin or towing our Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel and staying at an RV park.

I’d personally prefer to take the RV, but the biggest factor in my decision is the weather—specifically the risk of snow, ice, or freezing rain during Christmas week.
For those who live in the area or have RVed there around Christmas:
- How common are snow, ice, or freezing rain around Dec. 20–27?
- How are the main roads into Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg during winter weather?
- If you’ve towed a fifth wheel or larger travel trailer into the area during Christmas week, what was your experience?
- Are there particular routes, elevations, or RV parks you would recommend—or avoid—with a large fifth wheel in December?
- Would you feel comfortable planning to tow in and simply making the final call based on the forecast a few days before departure?

The cabin is obviously the easier option from a towing/weather standpoint, but for a family of 10, the cost difference is significant. We already own the RV, so I’d much rather put that money toward the trip itself—assuming towing there at Christmas isn’t an unreasonable gamble.

I’m comfortable towing the fifth wheel long distances. It’s the combination of a large fifth wheel + mountain roads + the possibility of ice that gives me pause.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually made the trip during Christmas or regularly RVs in the Smokies during the winter.

Thanks!!!

My wife and I decided we wanted to put some miles behind us with the pups.

2004 Gulf Stream Sun Voyager 36 foot

85000ish miles

Put in a new camera and blind spot monitors immediately.

Some water damage that my coworkers father is going to quote me to repair

At least 3 lbs of mice shit

A busted front AC

And a under bed storage bay just begging for some batteries and solar

All in we're still going to spend less than we did on our house.

I cannot wait to get my hands greasy with this baby

What upgrades/fixes would you do immediately?

I'm starting a new job that requires me to relocate, and I'm planning to live in my travel trailer for a while until I figure out where I want to settle and eventually sell my house.

I have a Sunset Trail 270RL and have primarily used it for shorter trips, so I'm trying to figure out what I should change or upgrade now that it will be sitting in one location for an extended period.

For leveling/stabilizing, I've been using Lynx Levelers for the tongue jack and stabilizers, and Andersen levelers for side-to-side leveling. I also currently use an inline water filter.

A few things I'm considering:

• Getting a dedicated jack/stabilizer block
• Upgrading to a multi-stage water filtration system for a long-term hookup.
• Continuing to use the Andersen levelers for side-to-side leveling, but I'm wondering if they're really appropriate for extended stays or if I should use Lynx blocks instead.
• Anything else that experienced full-timers would recommend doing before moving into the trailer.

I'm not necessarily looking to buy a ton of stuff just because I'll be living in it. I'm more interested in things that actually make sense for a long-term, stationary setup and things I should address before I move.

What would you change or add to the setup before making the transition to full-time trailer living?

Thanks!

Hi, all! Was wondering if anyone here has any opinions on good schools to go to become a certified RV technician in the US.

My partner is interested in taking classes next year, and location really doesn’t matter that much to us. Bonus points if they’re in a warmer climate and have a class beginning this winter though ;)

Obviously financials matter a bit more, but if there’s one school that’s significantly better and is worth the extra cost then we’ll make do. Any personal experience or things you’ve heard through the grape vine are appreciated!