Travel trailer parts.
Travel trailers are a great way of camping, having the luxury of a full kitchen and a soft bed versus the Coleman cooker and the air or thin foam mattress. There are some tricks of the trade with regards to maintenance and the replacement of parts. Also the use of some travel trailer parts or accessories can make camping even more luxurious and exciting. We will put some maintenance tips and some accessories information here.
Maintenance of trailers: Although generally low maintenance in comparison to self propelled camping vehicles, there are a few things to keep an eye on!
Have the trailer parts serviced regularly to keep it roadworthy. The mechanic will check tires, wheel bearing on any faults or wear, will check and test the brakes and grease where necessary. The chassis needs to be checked for corrosion and the tow bar has to be in good condition, especially the brake actuator.
Electrical System.
Most trailers are equipped with a high voltage circuit. When hooked up to power, or with a generator running you have your standard 120 V/240 V (dependent of whee you live it will be 120 or 240V, for convenience we will use the US standard from now: 120V) available just like at home on the powerpoints. The lights, water pump and other 12 V equipment are connected to the house battery that also serves as a buffer when the high voltage is connected. If you need high voltage available when on the road, u can install a Convertor. This is an electronic device converting 12V in 120V. Bear in mind that you need a very powerfull battery bank to serve a higher capacity (over 300W) convertor. Convertors generally come in two versions: standard or pure sinewave. The latter being required if you want to connect sensitive electronic devices. It gives you the alternated power in a quality that is as good or even better than at home.
Some trailers have a 12V connection to the car they are towed with. It will charge during driving. If wired correctly, there will be a VSR (Voltage sensitive relay) or a diode bridge mounted so the campervan cannot empty the car battery and prohibit you from starting the car due to a flat battery.
The house battery should be of a “deep cycle battery”. They are available in 3 types: wet, sealed, and gel accu. The price goes up with the quality. The wet one being the cheapest, but be aware, as the spills of sulfuric acid can cause severe damage to you and your RV. So I would suggest the last one as the safest and best option. Please check before if your charger can handle this type of battery!
The Fridge
Camping fridges are available in different types: they work on LPG, 12V power, or 120V power. As the 120/240V only works when connected to the mains, there are 2 types generally used in caravans: the 3 way fridges who work on “absorption” by heating an outside element. This is the preferred choice of most campers as it gives you the freedom to use it on LPG, 12V or 120V. The other model is a compressor model that normally outperforms the absoption models on cooling, it has the disadvantage though of consuming bit of 12V power. Most campers that run those need to hook up to power every at least 48 hours, unless they have huge battery capacity.
Water Tanks and wastewater tanks.
We advise to get them as big as you can get so they give you the freedom to go and stay without having to look for water or the need to empty your wastewater. Best practice is to always use your own equipment for filling up, and use a water filter to make sure you get clean potable water. There are several eco-friendly products on the market for your grey and wastewater tanks. We especially recommend using the enzyme based ones as they are better for the environment. Always empty grey and black water tanks in approved dump stations to keep up the good name of free camping and our environment.
Towing Capacity
Because with a trailer are working with a separate towing car, it is important to check if your car and the towbar is up to towing the weight of the travel trailer. Important figures:
- Max towing capacity of the towing vehicle: Given by the car manufacturer
- Max fully loaded weight of the trailer: take the empty weight, add weight for water and personal belongings. Generally the manufactured gives you the empty weight, fully loaded weigth (full tanks). You need to estimate the weight of personal items. This is very personal but generally about 100lbs(50kg) will be plenty.
- Max total weight of the combination: this can be determined by law(drivers license) , or car manufacturer.
- Max. tongue or hitch weight: given by car or tow bar manufacturer, this is the max weight or force that can be applied either vertical or horizontally on the tow bar.
Check with your sales agent of the trailer and he will be able to help you with this “technical”stuff.
Travel trailer Awning.
We have found this to be on e of the best inventions ever to put on as travel trailer parts. If its sunny it provides shelter, if it raining it lets you get in and out of the trailer dry!
There are various models available. The wind-out ones are the easiest and fastest to set up, but can be very wind sensitive. We would recommend them if you are planning to move around a lot and stay for short amounts of time at the same spot. If you are setting up camp somewhere for a while and then explore the neighborhood by car, a tent type attachment is a lot sturdier. Anyway if you are expecting adverse, windy weather: secure your belonging or don’t set up the awning or tent as it can cause a lot of damage as we experienced ourselves!