Six RV Upgrades You’ll Want to Make IMMEDIATELY
If you just bought a new RV you’ll want to watch this video. We’ve got six upgrades you need to make right away to ensure your comfort and safety.
Stop sleeping on a hard mattress! Our thanks to Brooklyn Bedding for offering the RV Miles community 20% off their purchase. Visit https://rvmattress.com/rvmiles and use promo code RVMILES at checkout.
Oxygenics showerhead: https://amzn.to/38Lvl6B
Some great fire extinguishers: https://amzn.to/3xuhwUG
Maxxair fan: https://amzn.to/3Obrnoa
Did we miss an item? Let us know in the comments what you would add to this list.
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0:00 Introduction
0:33 FIRE EXTINGUISHER
2:26 MATTRESS
4:30 VENT FAN
5:09 BATTERIES
6:57 TRAILER TIRES
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Hey Folks! Welcome to another RV lifie-focused video from your friends at RV Miles. So many of you are bringing home new RVs and getting ready for the camping season, so we thought it was time to share what we believe are the SIX UPGRADES you should make asap. If you can already tell your mattress is going to be an issue, then our timing is perfect. Check out https:RVMattress.com/RVMILES and use promo code RVMILES to save 20% off your purchase. We've also got a complete list of camping/RV items in our Amazon store at https://Amazon.com/shop/rvmiles. We'll see you on the next video! – Jason and Abby
Good tips. Let's talk tires. Had china bombs on my 32 foot trailer. Was into my 3rd yr of travel and they looked fine (no cracks or anything). We were 50 miles from our campground and WHAM! Front right blowout. Took out all the trim on that side. AAA came out and changed the tire and we were on the way, 20 miles from the campground WHAM! Rear left blowout and lost the trim on that side too. Had to wait for AAA tire truck to bring a replacement tire (our spare was being used for the first blowout). Upon returning home my good insurance took care of all of the damages and I went with a full set of Goodyear Endurance. They even tow better! PLUS, I am now a proud member of the two-spare club (one on camper and one tire/rim riding in back of truck)! Happy travels y'all! PS, changed out that mattress too!
You have to buy a decent RV Motor home to get through as many in a hurry drop it by being taken by Sellers? plus expect to pay High money's?if do you do not have the profession with lots of skill?
Time is very important with lots of PATIENTS AND TEAR DOWNS loosing money on expensive parts. Remember less skill more time and payments that most can not afford. Colder climates mean insulation and air condistioning is extreamly important for Higher Climates for an RV will Heat up like an OVEN in very warm Temperature. Sun will bake the inside of an RV Just the same as an Automobile and why so many Infent Deaths is the most horrible terrifieing experience.
Planning to exchange the mattress before our first trip 🙂 Hubby being a long haul truck for nearly 30 years, pre-trip is word. Fall 24 Mi snowbirds 🙂
Not all chargers that are standard in RV's will correctly charge Lithium, very important
"Pressure" really isn't what makes shower good or bad, beyond simply having enough. Think about it this way: I can spray you with a power washer with enough pressure to cut skin, but it won't wash a wide area or really move that much water over a particular area. Flow rate is more important for showers. That is, how many GPM can the shower deliver. Of course, a high flow shower isn't necessarily good when you are dealing with holding tanks. That said, your recommended shower head could be great.
Great list. Well done.
Trailer tires aka China bombs that come with trailers definitely needs to be replaced.
We just bought a 99 Class A, 34 foot. I negotiated 4 (of 6) new tires with the deal. Waiting for a new mattress, our oxygenics shower head, and some little odds and ends. One thing we just did was change out every little incandescent bulb to a new LED. Replaced all 20 of them for $16. They won’t get nearly as hot, and use 10 times less energy to run.
I’m checking the fire extinguishers, and upgrading the fan for sure after this video. Next on our list is a rechargeable Li Iron Battery that we can recharge with a folding solar panel, a car battery, or a standard plug. Included a 30 amp plug so we can plug right into the existing wiring, and my husband can run his cpap all night in places where generators aren’t permitted. Thanks!!
I would also upgrade the suspension on your travel trailer. The factory shackles are a 1/4 inch thick with plastic bushings, you can upgrade to 1/2 inch shackles with wet bolts and brass bushings.
Also upgrade the Equalizer for a better ride and much safer than the factory garbage on most trailers.
It's also important to note that any fire extinguisher less than 10 lb is not going to do much for you. Even a 10-pounder has but a few seconds of charge in it. Less than that, and you better be deadly accurate with your aim the first time.
Nice suggestions for RV mods. We've incorporated a few in our trailer.
Great content kee up the good work
We upgrade to a Brooklyn bedding mattress, best mattress by far! Pricey but worth it.
Ya say you are 74" tall and dont notice your mattress going from 76" to 72"? Mmmmmkay
I too have done many of the upgrades you mentioned. Great info. My Arctic Fox came with Fantastic Fans, however I upgraded the bedroom fan to a top shelf model with remote. Comes in handy, no more kneeling on the bed. Took the cheaper FF and changed out the cheap fart fan in the bathroom. Very much appreciated. Also, installing 12V strip LED lighting inside the cabinets and closets is very inexpensive and easy to do.
Why not just get a condo in Saint Petersburg Florida!
Regarding the quality and safety of trailer tires, I agree 100%. I replace my tires including the spare every 4 years regardles of the wear condition. I am in to my 2nd set of Carlisle load range D tires. I also recommend that the valve stems be replaced with high pressure stems (rated up to 100 psi). Not the standard 65 psi stems.
Yep, month after purchase mattress out new memory foam, replaced batteries with interstate, shower head and hose junk replaced with stainless flex and a top of the line shower head
You are absolutely right. The Brooklyn Bedding Wanderlust Mattress is awesome. I bought ours directly from Brooklyn Bedding. Great Mattress.
Allswell hybrid queen mattresses at Walmart are beyond amazing, come compressed and are only $230.
Any suggestions for a replacement mattress for a folding short queen? We recently purchased a new travel trailer that has a murphy bed that folds up into the space. I'm having difficulty finding a potential replacement and I have the sinking feeling we're going to be stuck with it and just trying to find a topper that we can use for extra cushioning.
Helpful !
China bombs!!! (Cheap tires)
DELETE the standard suspension components and upgrade to Lippert Road Armor Suspension Equalizers, brass bushings (instead of nylon) and wet bolts (with Zerk Fittings). I just ordered my upgrade kit off Amazon for just over $500 and it WILL make a great improvement on the RV's suspension and how it handles over bumpy uneven roads. It will also reduce or eliminate 'chucking'. You can even add shocks if you wanna go all the way. Also ordered a great mattress topper (but will eventually get a Select Comfort RV mattress)….we've upgraded the shower as well. Upgrading the TV that came with the RV ("Connex")…just so many things. Added slide out toppers. We're also going to upgrade the CHINA BOMBS to Goodyear Endurance. I installed a Tyremate TPMS but when we upgrade the tires I get a more integrated system. I installed my own Rearview/Backup camera system as well (FURRION 7" 3 camera system)….just lots of things to do….
Oh call those crappy "Castle Rock" tires what they are… CHINA BOMBS!
They haven't figured out to vulcanize rubber well.
I changed my locks immediately! I’ve heard stories of how the cheaper units use the same locks that are keyed to same key that can open 75% of other camper’s storage and doors. Does “CH751” sound familiar?
#1 tires, #2 mattress, #3 on demand water heator!
What a bunch BS. After spending a fortune on the POS, you need to spend yet more to even use it even on very basic level. No thanks. I ‘m not that stupid. Sorry you were.
I've had great success with the Maxxis 8008 tire. Up to Alaska & back….no worries.
Any recommendation for a good travel trailer cover? I have to store mine outside under trees in a wet climate. Also, I need a slide out topper, recommendation. Are they hard to diy install?
I replaced my mattress with a full thickness memory foam mattress. It’s so much more comfortable. I just got a new travel trailer (geo-pro 19FBS) and I saved my mattress to transfer into it. I also just got an oxygenics shower head because my shower has a lot less pressure than my rpod shower head did when on city water.
Never occurred to me to replace that fire extinguisher. I’ll do that, thank you! I also didn’t know about the different kinds.
Thanks for the great information.
My wife and I are planning to retire into an RV soon, so your tips will come in very handy. For every one of your six tips, you state that the hack is for people who use their rigs frequently. We will be living in ours, so I think that counts, Eh?
Suggestion: disclose just how bad those mattress in a bag solutions smell. Despite the fact that it's a bit harder to maneuver putting in the trailer when it comes time to do so. Mattresses should always be opened outside vocs to avoid the RV smelling possible health implications and difficulty sleeping with the odor
#1: Sell your RV and buy a van so that you can actually travel to places instead of sitting on pavement the rest of your life.
my Jayco 224bh came with the goodyear tires. thank you Jayco. we did add a mattress topper. the battery upgrade for the 4 or 5 times a year we camp, seems to steep for now. if it could run the A/C i would do it.
I know this is RV but popped up from our searches. As we age thinking better to get a driving RV than a trailer but…
Our wolf pup came with a mattress basically a few cheap springs and cardboard? We refused it, left it there for them to trash. We needed one 5" shorter. Looked all over at camping mattresses. Though we'd just take out the small hollow headboard thing or just let it bend up at one end. Then went to a discount bed place. They had real brands. Prices were great. We started asking about the camping size and the lady said, oh we can send it out to be cut down. Only $80 added to the price of our great Simmons. So I think the lower discount store knows the repair people because they probably take seconds and send things out to get fixed. And you couldnt even tell it was cut. They open up and resize the material and binding. There was also a mattress maker that sold their own beds when my kid was young. They let my kids peek in factory door to watch. Super cheap, super great beds. If you find one of those im sure you can order exact size. ok Just info. Wolf pup is crap though. Best thing is the all enclosed floor, then they build on top. No critters but thoings falling off from day one. All outside trim, decals, inside wall vinyl. I was thinking to get those vaccume hinges as all open up and no way to stay up. But I think Im just going to change hinges to the side. Right now its a bathroom at end of our acre lot when sewing in my workshop and I store extra upcycle clothing that I remake. We made a real RV trailer spot for it in the yard. At prices of new I think its still better to upgrade more. We did only pay $12,000 but is there no expectation of quality unless you pay the price of a house?!
Mattress ☆ extinguisher ☆ tires☆ Batteries are next
Good video. I've done new mattresses, higher quality steps because those cheap slide outs were so weak. Tires are next. Gonna look into the max air fans. Thanks for the video.
The first thing we did was replace the thin mattress with a memory foam mattress.
If your batteries are in a vented enclosure or on the outside (travel trailers). Dual 6 volts is the way to go, only slightly more $ than a 12 volt with more than double the power. Just add distilled water periodically and they will last for years.
A Hengs Vortex 2 is a no fuss replacement that is also much cheaper. I just did this on our TT, the hardest part was getting the junk fan motor off – drilled the rivets out so added a few minutes. No need to mess with the seals on the roof made this a simple upgrade. Yes the MaxxAir and Fantastic are better – but also more expensive and a little more work to install.
I can 100% support the Goodyear Endurance tires. I replace the Goodyears on my old trailer with the Endurance (a newer version of what was on originally, but I can't remember the name). An excellent tire. They are the next thing going on the new trailer.
We did the mattress upgrade too. The OG lasted about a month and it started killing our backs. Upgrade to a high quality foam (RV King) and couldn't be happier.
Super video and SPOT ON! We've got a pretty high end toy hauler and we've done most of these upgrades except the mattress. I'll get that taken care of today. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe!
I d suggest adding the faucets to the list too. Mine has just cheapo plastic ones.
This year we updated several items in our travel trailer. Much cheaper than buying a new one which have far less upgrades we have already placed on our trailer over the 12 years we have owned it. We changed over to the lithium battery and added additional solar panels. We upgraded the inventor as well. We also switched out the old propane frig to the newer 110 frig. Love the extra spaced. However, on our first trip with all the upgrades, we found the battery died sometime during the night. We were not camping under direct sun so we were told by the installer we shouldn't camp under shade. Really? So to solve this, we have to bring a generator to add that extra charge to the battery. And we are looking at adding one more battery. $1100. We usually always dry camp (boondocking) as we like the wide open spaces you can get on BLM land or some of the older camp grounds. Tires – oh yes – we have learned to buy the better graded tires, however we have found around 4 years of age it is time to swap them all out. Thanks for the tips – nice to know we are ahead of the crowd on our upgrades.
Thanks for the video. Just bought my first trailer, and I cannot wait for it to be ready to pick up.
Yes, we purchased a new memory foam 10" mattress. Also got 2 clip-on fans from Walmart. I will be adding those extra fire extinguishers. Thanks!