FMVSS 209, Seat Belt Assemblies, specifies requirements for seat belt assemblies used in passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), trucks, and buses. The installation requirements for motorhomes must pass government testing/installation requirements. They’re no more or less safe than cars/trucks. See this PDF:https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/tp-209-08_tag.pdf
Which is safer? There’s no hard and fast data for an objective comparison. Everything is subjective and swayed by personal opinion. Most class A motorhomes are above the weight limit where crash tests are required. The fear is that things in the house become deadly projectiles no matter how secure you are in seatbelts/whatnot. But, […]
The safety topic is such a muddy one with very strong opinions on either side – the responses range from polite to “wow, I can’t believe they said that”. So, which is safer? A truck pulling a trailer or a motorhome? Most motorhomes aren’t crash tested but their seatbelt positions must pass FMVSS 209 certification. […]
If you can plug it into a regular household plug in your house, you can use it in the camper. The main difference from a house is you have 2 legs of 200 amps of power available. In an RV, you either have 2 legs of 50 amp power or 1 leg of 30 amp […]
Your battery powers the 12v system when you’re not plugged into shore power/generator. When you are plugged in, your battery supports your converter (makes 12v from 120v) and that converter acts as your battery charger. On Most of the Time You basically want to leave the battery disconnect in the ON/connected position when the camper […]
When you buy a new or used RV, you should do a complete walk-through to make sure all of the systems are working. We often call it a “Pre-Delivery Inspection” (PDI). Dealers often call it a walk-thru. Here is a checklist (not mine) for a walk-thru to ensure all systems work and there aren’t leak […]
A lot of people just say to put the money into the bank that you would have spent on it and be your own warranty company. It’s not bad advice as the warranty companies wouldn’t stay in business if they paid out more than they brought in. The gamble works for them. That said, if […]
RVers are pretty evenly split between driving with propane on and not driving with propane on. Often the discussion gets highly contentious. The concern is that in the event of a propane leak (hose gets broken in some way) that there’s the potential for a fire/explosion if a spark is involved. The counter to that […]
A tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) is the answer. More times than not, a “blowout” isn’t. It’s a flat that was run until the tire comes apart and beats the snot out of the camper around it. Yes, sudden losses of air (aka blowouts) happen and same with losing tread on a tire that continues […]
This is a long one, please bear with me to the end and do the homework. “What can I tow?” seems like a simple question but honestly the answer gets complex pretty quick. It’s basically adhering to a the least of the maximums when looking at all of the ratings on the tow vehicle. It […]
