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RV
Manual We are developing an online Manual so that you may enjoy your RV to it's fullest. This is a work in progress and is subject to change at any given time. It is also a generic peace of work and is meant only as a general guide, it should not be taken as absolute fact. Each RV is distinct and individual in it's own right, do not take anything written here literally as it may or may not apply to the exact RV you will be using. Some information provided in these pages are only suggestions. Please read Your RV page as we have more helpful information.
Driving any vehicle safely is the responsibility of the driver. Driving a 10+ ton rig can be done with safety after you get proper education and a little experience. Physical size or stature is not important; but health, alertness, mature judgment, dexterity, driving experience and common sense are. There is a reason that professional drivers of trucks and buses are required to get appropriate initial training, licensing and continued training. That reason is to reduce the risks related to driving heavy vehicles on our highway and byways. As you know, RV'ers are not required to get any special license or any training, but in my opinion, they should. This is not because I like more Government involvement in our lives. It's because it is unsafe for an inexperienced driver to just jump into a 10+ ton RV and start driving. We should all get the proper drivers education and experience to be a safe RV driver. We should also actively improve our skills. Since in one form or another RV'ers take their home with them, weight is a significant problem. Manufacturers try to build RV's to fill our every need and desire, but there is a problem! Most RV's are overweight. This weight causes premature equipment failure causing that dreaded highway breakdown, or to cause the driver to get out of control and cause an accident. GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rate) is the maximum the design of the RV can weigh. GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rate) is the maximum the design of the RV plus anything towed or carried can weigh. Many people think that manufacturers design into RV's a lot of over capacity, sometimes called a safety factor. They do not because that costs money and makes their product less competitive. If an accident happens, and the overweight of a vehicle is shown to be the cause, law enforcement write tickets, insurance companies don't pay claims, and lawyers start writing letters and filing law suits. Why take the risk of being overweight? It is dangerous. Don't let your ego get you into this kind of trouble by thinking: I never drive fast, my truck can handle any fifth wheel, I put an extra transmission cooler on my truck so I can tow more, etc. There is a new rationalization for each driver and each situation. If your equipment is not rated to do what you really want to do, then please find a way to get it matched up for safe and legal driving. If your truck is under rated for your fifth wheel, then either get a bigger truck or a smaller fifth wheel. If your motorhome is rated to tow 1500 lb. and your dingy weighs 3000 lb. then get a braking system for you dingy. RV'ers should do everything in our power to be responsible. Make sure your hitch is rated to tow your trailer, or your fifth wheel hitch is rated to tow your fifth wheel, etc. Hand Positions on the Steering Wheel Without an air-bag, the 10-2 o'clock hand position is the most maneuverable. With an airbag, keep your hands low, at 8 & 4 o'clock. If the air bag should deploy, it will do so with such force that it will throw your hands and arms back into your face if they are resting high on the wheel. At the 8 & 4 position, your hands will be tossed back at your sides. When you turn the wheel, use a "push-pull" method, ie. one hand pulls, the other pushes. Do not use the "flat palm" method. Have your seat at least 12 inches from the steering wheel, again to minimize air bag danger. Set your flat mirrors so that you can see the trailer in the first one inch of the mirror, with the rest of the mirror being reserved for your view backwards and to the sides. Because the driver is on the left, the view from the left mirror is much better than the view from the right side mirror. Adjusting the mirrors properly will improve the safety of the ones traveling in the motorhome. Okay, now you're ready to go. It's time to take it out on the road. But even before you drive it the first time, measure it from the ground to the top of the highest point on the roof -- often the air conditioner. Then measure its width -- how wide -- outside mirror to mirror. Made a 3x5 card with these measurements on them, and take it along for quick reference. Please read our Height & Width page for more information. Once your ready, first adjust your mirrors. Then have someone walk around your RV, and find out where your "blind spots" are -- because that's where the small car will be. When you first start driving, go first to a big empty parking lot. Put up some water jugs or boxes and experiment with how close you are to them. Practice making right turns -- see how close you can come without hitting them. Learn how to make that turn so your rear wheels easily clear the turn -- but not so widely another little car could sneak into the vacant space. Do some maximum starts. This tells you what the maximum your RV can do to merge safely. You may find you need more clear space before you attempt to merge. Practice backing. It's an acquired skill, but it can be done. Know the turning radius -- again by practice. If you must, do it w/the two party system. Practice communicating! Use finite signs. If solo, stop & go look. Always leave enough space in front of you as front turning space. If you're backing a trailer, move your hand to the bottom of the steering wheel. If you want the back of the trailer to go left, turn the bottom of the steering wheel to the left; if you want to turn the back of the trailer to the right, turn the bottom of the steering wheel to the right. Getting a 10+ ton rig up to speed safely takes practice. Having tested the operating condition of the parking and service brakes you can now practice your starting skills. This practice should happen on a road or street where the risks of accidents can be minimized. Look for a flat back road where you can do several maximum acceleration sequences. This will help you judge the space that is required to safely merge into traffic. Next find an incline where you can stop the rig and apply the parking brakes. Practice uphill starts both driving forward and in reverse. Proper release of the parking brake in conjunction with the gear shift, clutch if used and accelerator will allow you to start the rig safely without equipment failure. The average driver has less than 50% of his attention span devoted to the actual process of driving. The more you can increase your attention span, the more safely you can drive. Your focal point should be down the road, not under the front of the rig. Watch far enough ahead to anticipate obstacles. Make focal point on the road far enough out so that you're not constantly making tiny steering corrections -- which are essentially unnecessary. You will find that this technique also keeps you more alert. Stopping should also be practiced on traffic free side roads or empty parking lots. Perform maximum braking stops from various speeds so that you will be able to judge how your rig will perform when you need to stop. This may seem like it will tear up or wear out your rig, but you will be happy you did this when you really have to perform a panic braking operation. Air brakes can take getting used to, since they have an additional 1 second response time that is not present in hydraulic braking systems. The pedal on an air brake is much softer than on a hydraulic brake because it is an air valve not a push rod in a hydraulic cylinder. Practice is the only way you can be safe using air brakes. With rigs weighing 20,000 lb. and more, braking technique is very important. An exhaust brake enhances both gas and diesel engines ability to help with the braking process by turning the engine into a compressor and using that horsepower to help slow the rig. They are especially important descending long and steep grades. ABS only works in panic stops. If you hit the brakes, and then let up, the ABS will be neutralized for around 15 additional seconds -- too slowly to make any difference in an emergency. Use gears wherever possible. If speed increases 5 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds, you need next lower gear. Do so by braking gently to get you into next lower gear. Watch your cruise control when climbing -- it is advisable not to use it on steep grades. Allow more time to brake, change lanes and enter a busy highway, since bigger vehicles take more time to accelerate and slow down. Please read our Brakes page for more information. Judging Road Conditions and Signage Scanning is a skill necessary to drive any vehicle. Your scanning should include all the information that will allow you to judge how fast to be traveling. Traffic signs give you good information about the road ahead. You should heed that advice. Surface traction is sometimes difficult to judge while driving. Conditions like "black ice" are hard to detect. An outside thermometer, $12 at JCWhitney, can give you a continuous temperature reading near the front bumper. One model of thermometer gives an audible and visual alarm when the temperature approaches freezing. Knowing this temperature will warn you of black ice conditions that happen at close to 32 degrees F. It is also very difficult to install and remove chains as well as coping with the temperatures that accompany snow. Please read our Traveler Page for weather information. Practice backing. It's an acquired skill, but it can be done. Know the turning radius -- again by practice. If you must, do it w/the two party system. Practice communicating! Use finite signs. If solo, stop & go look. Always leave enough space in front of you as front turning space. If you're backing a trailer, move your hand to the bottom of the steering wheel. If you want the back of the trailer to go left, turn the bottom of the steering wheel to the left; if you want to turn the back of the trailer to the right, turn the bottom of the steering wheel to the right. Backing up should be avoided if at all possible since there are many blind spots around your rig. School Bus drivers are trained to never need to back up because of the limited visibility around the bus and kids present most of the time. School Bus drivers are required to have a guide assist them when backing up is absolutely necessary. Even in traffic, leave enough room in front of you, so you can go forward if the car in front becomes disabled. This is especially true for motorhomes with a vehicle in tow. When you have to back up without assistance, I recommend getting out and going back to look just to be sure it is safe to do so, even if you are blocking traffic. Most RV parks try to give you a left side (driver's side) backup for parking. This is because it's far easier to see where your trailer is going if you're backing up to the left. But you *always* need someone to provide guidance and direction, because you simply cannot see all that you need to whenever you're backing. If you can't see the person directing you in your mirror, the simple rule is... STOP. Wait 'til you can. If another person is not available, the driver should inspect the area behind the vehicle. By evaluating the situation before backing, drivers can avoid surprises and accidents. Driving a vehicle with air brakes is very different than driving a vehicle with vacuum assisted hydraulic brakes. I recommend anyone driving a vehicle with air brakes should get some training. I have found that the local school bus trainers are willing to give this training after working hours for a nominal expense. The art of defensive driving is developing a couple of skills to help you not get into accidents. The first technique is to learn how to be defensively "offensive", and telegraph your intentions to other drivers. You can't be timid in today's traffic, especially near large cities and at high traffic times. Turn signals should be used with purpose to help let others know your intentions. You can also do this by being in an appropriate position within your lane before any maneuver. For example when turning right, do not leave enough room between your vehicle and the side of the road for some aggressive automobile driver to get into. This will always prevent the squeeze in your blind spots. Driving on the freeway always look far enough ahead so that you can use all the room available to you to get your rig into the safest lane. The second skill has to do with anticipating the worst thing or things that other drivers might do and be prepared to respond appropriately. Many drivers do not signal lane change intention because they think you might cut them off if they do, So especially in heavy traffic be ever alert to this possibility. In situations where you have three possible lanes and there a lot of exits and the traffic is heavy, try driving with the flow and in the center lane. This allows you the most flexibility when maneuvering to avoid problems. Keep
a consistent speed. Pull over to let faster traffic pass whenever possible. When
you are passing a slower vehicle, back off enough so that, when traffic permits,
you can accelerate before pulling out into the passing lane. Trucks are often restricted to the two right lanes. If you decide to drive in the middle lane, be aware that you are preventing any 18 wheeler from passing you. Again, be considerate, and use the far right hand lane if you are traveling slowly. Plan the route accurately and schedule the arrival to avoid commuter traffic. It is possible to drive through Los Angeles from Riverside to Ventura in about one hour, but it has to be done at 3 am. It takes about 2+ hours to do that drive at 10 am or 2 PM, but it takes 4+ hours to do it at 7am or 4 PM. Sinse we are not on schedules, we should leave the freeways in large cities during commuter hours to the commuters. It just takes a lot less effort and causes a lot less stress on the driver and copilot if you schedule to avoid high traffic times. When you have to drive in large cities on the side streets, you need to have very good maps and do a lot of planning so as not to get lost or drive into an area that will put you at great personal risk. The GPS Navigation systems are most helpful in these times and the good ones will guide you with verbal instructions for every turn and never get you lost or on the wrong or a dead end street. Even if you happen to make a wrong turn, the good navigation systems immediately plan a new route to get you to the street address you have chosen. This is a problem that occurs only at night — overdriving your lights. Use your high-beams except when there is a vehicle ahead within at least 500 feet, or an oncoming vehicle within 500 feet. It may take longer for you to see a hazard at night. You probably won’t see it until your lights illuminate it, and most likely it’ll be within 200 to 300 feet. 55 MPH may then not be a safe speed at which to drive. 40 MPH may well be more appropriate for nighttime travel. The sort of hazard that may present itself could easily be one or more deer, elk, or other animal that feeds after dark and before dawn. Who wants to drive at night anyway I’m usually parked in some RV park or campground by about 5 PM and asleep by 10 PM. We’re RVers, remember We’re not supposed to be in a hurry. Getting a rig situated in tight campgrounds is one of the biggest challenges we face because everyone is watching. Tight turns and mud holes are typical especially in some of the smaller campgrounds. Maneuvering the RV should be practiced in a large empty parking lot using traffic cones or small cardboard boxes to simulate roads and camp sites. Once you have mastered using the mirrors to judge where the wheels are on the parking lot, then you are prepared to try in actual campgrounds. It is always preferable to park during the daylight but there will be a time when you have to do it at night. A remote control flood light helps, docking lights help, strong backup lights help, and a copilot on channel 13 of a hand held CB helps if you have practiced giving and receiving verbal directions. Go "that" way doesn't help much if you can't see the finger pointing where that way is. Go right is also a confusing direction unless both or you know which way is right. Likely you'll need to change seat adjustment to accommodate the current driver. Same for mirror adjustment.
Truck Category. Each state has a different category for “truck”. If you are towing a dinghy, you will often be considered a truck, and must abide by the truck laws and posted speed limit. Please read our Towing Laws page for more information. Around Motorcycles Operators of other types of motor vehicles must be ever alert for motorcycles. They are everywhere, especially during the late spring, summer, and early fall seasons, on every road, highway, and trail there is. Driving a bit slower than the speed limit is not a bad idea. It gives a driver more time to look around - no, not look at the scenery - but look at things that may be around, like other vehicles. Being aware of what's in the vicinity of your vehicle may be just the thing that prevents injury or death, and none of us wants to responsible for something like that. Here are a few simple guidelines which may help
Hooking Up and Disconnecting a Towed Vehicle Connecting and disconnecting the vehicle in tow is very important to do correctly. There are many accidents caused by inattention to detail that can wind up with a loose towed vehicle or serious accident. Learn how the hitches, tow bars, etc whatever you are using really works and the correct way to connect and disconnect them. Keep your head about yourself when you are doing this so that you are not injured on a towed vehicle that was not properly braked or blocked. Please read our Towing a Vehicle (Dinghy-Toad) page for more information. Anticipating and Handling Emergency Medical, Vehicle, and Accident Situations Emergency situations just happen to us sometimes. Being ready and practiced will help you minimize the bad things that just happen. Contact your local Red Cross and take First Aid and CPR training. Get a local fireman to train you on the proper use of a fire extinguisher. Have a real good First Aid Kit in the rig where you can get at it quickly. Check your propane system frequently with a pressure test so that you won't encounter that fire cause. Keep the rig free of debris and combustible material. Install an additional Fire Extinguisher in the bedroom, in the towed vehicle, and one accessible from the outside of the rig. Periodically check the charge status of each extinguisher and replace or recharge as required. Periodically test your smoke detector and replace the battery once per year. First of all, don't panic! When you come upon an, accident and there are two of you, one should manage the accident scene and the other should contact Emergency Services using a Cell Phone, the CB, or driving to a pay phone. The one managing the scene should know the most about first aid and go through the steps you have been trained to perform. Use all the resources available, like other motorists to manage traffic. Be calm and do all you can safely to minimize the damage and injury. Please read our Safety & RVs page for more information.
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