09/06/10

Never simply pour antifreeze into your RV fresh water tank to run it to the pump. Even when the tank is drained there remains a gallon or so of water in the bottom of the tank and this water mixes with the antifreeze and lessens its protection level. Also the antifreeze will be very difficult to flush out in the Spring and will taint the water taste for a long, long time!

Disconnect the water inlet side of the pump and introduce the antifreeze at this point. A pump winterizing kit makes this easy to do with the flip of a valve.

RV Tire Overload Tip

Overloading the tires on your RV is probably the number one leading cause of tire failure. Poor weight distribution and taking advantage of all of the storage space offered on today's RV's result in tire overloads. The only way to find out is to have the fully loaded RV and / or tow vehicle weighed on platform scales.

Load the vehicle with everything you plan to take on a trip including passengers, cargo, fuel, full fresh water and propane tanks. If you tow something behind the RV take it to the scales with you. The problem is that it is quite possible to weigh the RV and not exceed the GVWR, GAWR or GCWR, but you could be exceeding the tire ratings. This is why you MUST weigh each axle end separately to determine if tire ratings are exceeded and if the loaded weight is properly distributed.

This tip contributed by Mark Polk at RV Education 101
See RV Tires for more!