How to Install Starlink Gen 3 in an RV? Use the Speedmount!

How do you install Starlink Gen 3 on an RV roof? This question plagued me until I found the Speedmount made by Trio Flatmout. It is a simple yet durable frame system that flush mounts the Starlink Gen 3 dish onto your RV roof. There’s no risk of the dish flying off while driving or getting snagged on low hanging branches while parking or being stolen from where it’s placed on the ground.

Being part-time RVers, we wanted our investment in Starlink to provide not only an RV internet solution when we’re on the road but a home internet solution when we’re living in our house. With a little creativity, we found a slick way to do that.

Links to the various cables, extenders, and other gear we used in our installation are listed at the bottom of this article.

Starlink Gen3 RV Installation with Speedmount by Tio Flatmout

Our Starlink Gen 3 Dish is installed permanently on our RV roof with a Speedmount from Trio Flatmount.

There is a learning curve with Starlink, and if you haven’t paid any attention to it over the years, like I hadn’t, it takes a while to sort it all out.

Many RVers are using the first or second generations of Starlink, and those systems are completely different than the new Gen 3 that was released in December 2023. So, YouTube videos, blog posts and forum discussions about those older systems are not only unhelpful but can be very confusing. This page explains a simple way to set up Starlink Gen 3 on an RV and use it for Home Internet too.

Since we installed Starlink on our RV a few months ago, we’ve had internet access everywhere in our travels.

Not only have we had internet everywhere we’ve camped, we’ve also used our Starlink RV setup while driving to navigate through the Rockies using Google Maps on our iPad with a wifi connection to our Starlink router mounted in the trailer. This was awesome because there was no cell signal anywhere on these roads.

In addition, for four straight weeks we camped in remote parts of the Colorado Rocky Mountains where there was no cell signal from any carrier. Our Verizon and AT&T hotspots were useless the whole time.

As icing on the cake, when we return home from our RV travels we will continue to use our RV Starlink installation as our Home internet solution when our trailer is parked next to our house!

Rather than installing a Starlink dish on the roof of our house, we’ll use the dish on the roof of the RV while the trailer is parked next to the house, and we’ll connect it to a Starlink router located inside the house with a permanently installed Starlink cable that comes out of the house to the RV parking area.

So, how do you install Starlink Gen3 in an RV?

Let’s start with what Starlink offers as far as equipment and service goes.

Currently the Starlink equipment comes in three sizes: a very big and expensive “Performance” dish and associated gear for professional and commercial users, a large dish and router combo aimed at residential users and a smaller dish/router aimed at people traveling around.

Most RVers and residential users opt for the mid-size or small-size system. The mid-sized residential-oriented dish can access more satellites than the smaller travel dish, so it may get better or faster service. However, the smaller dish is more compact for smaller vehicles like cars, trucks and vans.

There are also two types of service: Residential and Roaming. The Residential service assumes the Starlink equipment is installed at a fixed address. The Roaming service assumes the Starlink equipment will move from one location to another and can even be used while in transit at up to 100 mph.

We wanted to use Starlink both in our RV while traveling and also at our house when we are living at home. This way, we wouldn’t have to start and stop the service. We’d have Starlink every day all day no matter where we were as long as we were in close proximity to the Starlink equipment in the RV.

So, we purchased the mid-size residential dish and router (not the smaller RV gear) and signed up for the Roaming monthly service plan. We installed the Starlink dish on the RV roof to use it in the RV while traveling. When we are at home and the RV is parked next to the house, we swap Starlink cables and it becomes our home internet service.

Starlink Dish and Router General Layout

We can connect the Starlink dish on the RV roof either to a router inside the RV when we’re on the road
or to a router inside our house when we’re living at home.

For part-time travelers like ourselves, this makes a lot of sense. We pay the higher monthly roaming Starlink fee every month but get to use the Starlink equipment every day no matter whether we’re at home or on the road. We have no need for another internet service plan except as a backup.

We had been using our Verizon and AT&T hotspots for our home internet for the last five years because Verizon is extremely fast at our house. Surprisingly, it’s faster than any other internet service providers in our remote area. We still have the Verizona hotspot but have reduced the amount of data on our plan to the bare minimum because we’ll only need it if there’s a glitch with Starlink’s global service—which there was last week—or if the dish can’t connect to the Starlink satellites for some other reason (which hasn’t happened yet).

What’s In the Starlink Gen 3 Box?

We were surprised to find only five items in the Starlink box:

—Starlink Gen 3 dish (or “antenna”)
—50’ Starlink Gen 3 cable to go from the dish to the router
—Starlink Gen 3 router
—Router Power supply
—5’ A/C power cord to go from the router’s power supply to a 120 volt wall outlet

Starlink Gen3 components out of the box.jpg

There are just five items in the Starlink box: Dish, Starlink cable, Router, Power Supply and Power cable.
They are arranged here in the approximate way they get connected…!

We were also surprised that the only instructions were nearly wordless technical drawings and Starlink’s very poorly rated tech support via online ticket submissions. Yikes! Fortunately, instructions weren’t really needed.

Another surprise was that the online Starlink Store for additional equipment isn’t “open” to customers to look at or shop in until they activate their account. So, researching alternate parts (like longer or shorter cables) wasn’t possible until we activated our account.

Lastly, when we did set up our account, Starlink examined our credit card credentials more thoroughly than any other vendor we’ve ever dealt with. They didn’t like our phone number because it was a Skype number (Voice over IP) and not an actual cell phone number from a cellular carrier. So, our payment was declined. When we contacted our credit card company to sort out a solution, they were shocked that a vendor would go that deep before accepting a customer’s payment.

I guess it’s all part of the futuristic Starlink mystique.

Basic Starlink Gen 3 Setup

Before trying to set up the Starlink gear on our RV, we played with it for a few weeks on the floor and in the back yard at our house! This gave us a sense of how it all works and it was easy and fun to do. We highly recommend you do that too, at least for a few hours if not a few weeks!

As soon as you activate the equipment, the clock starts ticking for your service plan. You have 30 days to return everything and get your money back. So, we wanted to make sure Starlink was better than our old Verizon 5G MiFi hotspot at our house before we got into any kind of permanent installation.

The setup of the basic Starlink Gen 3 gear is a cinch, although a simple diagram like the one below would have been helpful!

Starlink Gen 3 Basic Layout out of the box

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The Starlink Gen 3 dish is very roughly 15 inches x 24 inches x 1.5 inches tall (a few inches taller when the “kickstand” is extended so the dish can sit on a slight angle).

The 50’ long weatherproof Starlink Gen 3 cable that connects the dish to the router has identical connectors at each end. These connectors are similar to RJ-45 ethernet connectors but don’t have the little plastic clip on them. You simply shove the connector into the receptacle very firmly until it clicks or pull it out using some finger strength.

I found I had to stand the dish on one end and put some real force on the connector to push it all the way into the dish’s receiver so it would “click” and make a full connection. Pulling it out feels really weird because you have to give it a very strong pull.

Starlink offers only two sizes of their Starlink cables, 50’ and 150’. 50’ was fine for our needs. if you need a different length, you can get different length Starlink Gen 3 cables from third party vendors on Amazon and elsewhere.

The Starlink Router connects to the router’s power supply. This power supply is then plugged into a standard wall outlet using the power cord that comes with the Starlink gear.

The 50’ Starlink Gen 3 cable carries power on it as well as the data signal. So, only one cable goes to a wall outlet, and that is the router’s power cable. You turn the Starlink dish on and off by plugging or unplugging the router’s power cable in the wall outlet. There’s no power switch for the dish.

After connecting everything and plugging it in, we carried the Starlink dish outside and set it on the ground. We downloaded the Starlink app to our iPad and used it to connect directly to the dish. Various screens came up as the dish was located and activated. After about 10 minutes or so the router found the satellites it needed in the sky, and we were able to log into Starlink from our laptops and get on the internet.

We ran some tests using the independent website https://speedtest.net. Starlink provides their own test site but we preferred to use the same one we’ve always used since there’s no potential bias towards one service or another.

At first the speeds seemed slow. However, we kept checking every so often for the next hour, and soon the speeds totally blew our minds!

Where the Verizon Mifi 5G hotspot had typically gotten speeds of about 25-35 Mbps for downloads and 15-25 Mbps for uploads, with Starlink we were seeing speeds as high as 360 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload.

Of course, all of these speeds, both cell based and satellite based, are largely due to where our house is located and how many people are using the various services at the time of the test. Also, the remote server that the testing software selects for its speed test also makes a difference, as it might be a faster or slower server and it may be experiencing a lot of traffic or it may not. So, from one test to the next we sometimes saw very different speeds. However, we rarely saw download speeds slower than about 180 Mbps or upload speeds slower than 15 Mbps.

Over the years, as we’ve traveled with the Verizon 5G Mifi hotspot in very remote areas where we got 1 to 2 bars of service, we’ve generally seen download speeds of less than 10 Mbps and upload speeds around 3 or 4.

In addition, we learned that Latency Speeds are actually as important or even more important than the download and upload speeds. Latency speed has to do with response time and ultimately affects how long it takes to load a website. Our Verizon hotspot’s latency speeds were typically about 120ms to 150ms. However, the Starlink latency speeds were around 30ms to 40ms!

The real test, of course, was to go to some of our favorite websites and see how they loaded. When we did that, all we could say was, “WOW!”

Besides websites loading much faster, we also saw big improvements with our Apple Mail interface to Gmail and Hotmail. With the Verizon Mifi hotspot we had often been unable to view the photos people sent us. We’d have to double click each one individually to see it or download them all and look at them using the MacOS Preview app. What a pain. With Starlink, the photos were visible on Apple Mail before we could blink.

Although it took over 30 minutes for the Starlink dish to get up and running 100% the very first time, it took just a few minutes each morning after that.

So, we turned off the Verizon 5G Mifi Jetpack and put it in a drawer!!

We were still using Starlink with the dish lying on the ground in the back yard, however. So, now we had to figure out what equipment we needed to get the Starlink dish permanently mounted on the RV roof and also be able to switch between using it from inside the RV while traveling and using while it inside the house when we were at home.

Figuring this out took a while, and hopefully our notes below will save you a lot of time and research!

Starlink Gen 3 RV Mounting Options

Like solar power, Starlink installations are highly customized and are unique for each RV. With the older generations of Starlink most people set the dish on the ground.

Placing it on the ground or on a stand is a perfectly viable way to go. However, it’s a pain if you travel for long periods (or full-time) and have to set up the dish each time you set up camp.

An RVer has placed the Starlink Gen 3 dish on the ground in front of his truck

We saw this Starlnk Gen 3 setup at a campground. The dish is on its kickstand in front of a truck

An RVer put the Starlink Gen 3 dish on a stand in front of their trailer

Here an RVer has placed the dish on a stand away from the trailer and trees. We’ve found as long as the dish has a view of the sky directly above it, Starlink works just fine, even if there are tall trees close by.

Starlink makes a $10 mount for the dish called the Mobility Mount that is okay for use on slower moving vehicles. However, it is better suited to a boat than an RV, and the top recommended speed is something like 40-50 mph. We purchased a Mobility Mount but quickly realized it wasn’t what we wanted on our RV roof!

Starlink Gen 3 itself is rated for vehicles moving up to 100 mph, so why not use a mounting system that is also rated for 100 mph?

The Speedmount from Trio Flatmount

Trio Flatmount makes a fabulous mounting system rated for 100 mph called the Speedmount (you can see the details about it on their website here).

The Trio Flatmount Speedmount makes it possible for the Starlink dish to sit flush on the RV roof, screwed down in four corners. It is essentially a “frame” for the dish with a lip that encloses the edges of the Starlink dish and holds it snugly in place. The frame gets screwed onto the RV roof in the same way solar panels do, and those screws require liberal amounts of weatherproofing Dicor just like solar panels do.

Using this mounting system, not only can the RV travel at highway speeds without risk of the dish flying off but the dish is also protected from snagging on low hanging tree branches and being pried off the roof when you’re maneuvering into a tight campsite. Also, being permanently mounted on the roof, out of sight and out of mind, it’s extremely unlikely anyone will steal it. And if they did, they’d still need to get a router and remove your name from the service contract and put it in their name.

We read about other mounting systems, but when one fellow described arriving somewhere and discovering his Starlink dish was no longer with him, we saw the value in using Trio Flatmount’s rugged and solid Speedmount mounting system. It is an expensive mounting system, but it is well tested and highly rated. There are some Speedmount knockoffs on eBay, but the reviews were mixed and we didn’t trust them.

Starlink Gen 3 Kickstand – The Basis for Many RV Mounting Systems

One caveat for RVers considering other mounting options is to examine how the mounting system actually attaches the dish to the roof.

The bottom side of the Starlink Gen 3 dish has a “kickstand” that can be opened up so the dish sits at an angle to the sky rather than flat.

Starlink Gen 3 Dish back side (underneath)

On the bottom of the dish there’s a “kickstand” that folds out. In this pic it is folded in.

Starlink Gen3 Dish underneath showing kickstand open

Here the kickstand is opened up so the dish can be flipped over and set up on a slight incline.

During our “testing” phase before we installed the dish on the RV roof, we set up the router and its power supply on the floor next to a sliding glass door and ran the 50’ Starlink Cable through that door to the back yard. Every morning we carried the dish and its connected Starlink cable out into the back yard and plugged in the router, and every evening we brought the gear back inside and unplugged the router.

As a side note, we found the speeds were identical whether the dish was set up on the kickstand or lay flat on the ground So, after a few days of setting it up on its kickstand, we simply laid the dish directly the ground and didn’t bother with the kickstand.

Some mounting systems rely on the clip that attaches the kickstand to the back of the Starlink dish to connect the dish to the mount. Starlink’s Mobility Mount works this way. The kickstand clip is strong, but a mount of this kind is not nearly as secure as a frame that encloses the four sides of the dish and is screwed onto the roof in four corners. It was this kickstand clip that gave way for the poor fellow who arrived at his destination to find he no longer had his Starlink Gen 3 dish on his RV roof!

How to Install Starlink Gen 3 on an RV roof using the Trio Flatmount Speedmount

To install the Starlink dish in the Trio Flatmount Speedmount, the first step is to remove the kickstand from the Starlink dish all together. A firm tug pulls the kickstand out.

Starlink Gen3 Dish how to remove kickstand

The kickstand is removed from the back of the dish by giving it a strong tug.

Starlink Gen3 kickstand removed

With the kickstand removed, you can clearly see the hole where the Starlink cable plugs into the dish.

The Speedmount is a white plastic frame made up of four corner pieces that get screwed together. The lip of these frame pieces fits around the edges of the Starlink dish, and the four pieces are then drawn together as the four corners of the frame are screwed in using the supplied screws and Allen wrench.

The outer edges of the dish are completely enclosed by the lip on the surrounding frame and the frame is screwed directly onto the RV roof.

Easy!

Trio Flatmount Speedmount Starlink Gen3 Mounting Bracket

The Speedmount is made up of four corner pieces that get screwed together to make a frame around the Starlink dish. A different set of four screws (not supplied) goes through the four outer corner holes to screw the frame onto the RV roof.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount Corner Bracket

The lip that secures the edges of the Starlink dish is fairly deep. In this image you can also see two of the weep holes along the top of the lip that allow rain water to drain off of the dish.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount hardware and allen wrench

Four machine screws and an Allen wrench are supplied for screwing the frame together.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount Installation

The Allen wrench is used to tighten the screws and create the frame.
Again, the weep holes for draining off rain water are clearly visible along the top of the lip.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount Starlink Gen3 Mounting system installation

The upper (outer) screw holes are the ones used to mount the Speedmount onto the RV roof.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount Starlink Gen3 Mounting Bracket

Here the four golden screws we’ll use to mount the Speedmount on the roof are set into their respective holes.

Swapping Starlink Cables Between RV and House Routers

It was easy to see how the four pieces of the Speedmount would go together and enclose the dish and then get screwed onto the roof. However, as noted above, our plan wasn’t to use Starlink only in our trailer. We also wanted to use it as our home internet solution when the trailer was parked next to the house.

In order to do this, we planned to switch between using a Starlink Gen 3 router installed inside the RV and using a Starlink Gen 3 router installed inside the house. We would simply change which Starlink cable was connected to the dish depending on whether the RV was parked next to the house or was out on the road somewhere taking us on an RV travel adventure.

One very short cable would go between the dish and the router inside the rig (a 6’ third party Starlink Gen 3 cable was the shortest I could find) and another long cable (the 50’ cable that came with the kit from Starlink) would go between the dish on the RV roof and the router inside the house.

We weren’t sure if we’d carry the router and power supply back and forth between the RV and the house when we switched between living in the RV and living in the house, or if we’d have two separate routers/power supplies installed permanently in each location.

Whether we employed one router/power supply or two, I wanted the switch to be easy to do and I needed the cable connections on the RV roof to be 100% weatherproof.

However, the problem with my cable-swapping idea was that the Starlink cable connection is on the bottom underneath the Starlink dish. Once the dish was permanently mounted on the trailer’s roof, we wouldn’t be able to access the bottom of the dish any more. So, we wouldn’t be able to plug and unplug the Starlink cable from the dish and switch between the RV router and the house router as I wished.

Taking a tip from this video, we purchased a pair of waterproof cable extenders. The idea was that the cable extender would lie outside the dish on the trailer roof, and whenever we took the RV traveling or came home and parked it, we could unscrew the cable extender and change which Starlink cable was plugged into it. This way, the dish could remain in place on the roof and the cable swap would take place outside the dish and not underneath it.

Starlink Gen3 Waterproof Cable Extender

This waterproof cable extender would allow us to swap cable connections to the Starlink dish.

These waterproof cable extenders are very rugged. Unfortunately, they were about 15 inches too short to go from the receptacle on the back of the Starlink dish through the cutout on the bottom of Trio Flatmount Speedmount to an accessible spot outside the Speedmount frame where we could do our cable swaps.

So, I connected two of them together to make a longer extension. The first connector sits underneath the dish and the second sits outside the end of the dish where I can reach it to switch cables. Not totally ideal, and there was some extra expense for the extra extender, but it works just fine.

Perhaps a longer version of this high quality waterproof cable extender will eventually be available. I did find a cheap one on eBay but it didn’t look rugged enough to me. Fortunately, this setup has worked just fine for us with no degradation in speed.

Starlnk Gen3 with Trio Flatmount Speedmount bracket and two cable extenders

I used two cable extenders connected together to get to the exterior of the Speedmount frame. This photo shows that two together is long enough but I don’t have the full waterproof pair of connectors screwed together. Installation pics further down show the two extenders properly connected under the dish.

It turned out that I actually needed a third cable extender because one full extender (two halves) was used underneath the dish and half of a second extender was used to reach the outside of the dish. Then I needed two more halves, one for each of the two Starlink cables.

The 50’ House Router Cable coming from the interior of the house would have half of a cable extender on the RV roof end of it. Likewise, the 6’ RV Router Cable coming through the RV roof from the router down below would have half of a cable extender on the roof end as well. This way, either cable extender half could be screwed onto the cable that came out from under the dish on the RV roof.

Starlink Gen 3 Dish and Router Layout for RV and Home Internet

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Starlnk Gen 3 with Trio Flatmount Speedmount bracket and two waterproof cable extenders

Here you can see a pair of cable extenders screwed together. There’s another pair underneath the dish. To swap cables, unscrew the visible pair of extenders and screw in the extender from the other cable (not shown).

Mounting the Trio Flatmount Speedmount and Starlink Dish on the RV Roof!

Now that we had an idea of our basic layout and the cable swapping technique, we needed to figure out where to place the Starlink router in the RV and how to run the Starlink cable from the RV roof down to the RV interior.

We wanted to mount the Starlink router securely on a wall inside the RV, and the most solid vertical surface in the rig turned out to be the end of the upper kitchen cabinets. This panel was solid wood that could support screws and hold the weight of the router and power supply as we drove around on rutted dirt roads in search of campsites. The other walls were ultra thin wallboard.

Another advantage of this spot is there’s a 120 volt wall outlet on the ceiling right there.

How

The most solid vertical surface in the rig was the end of the kitchen cabinets which is solid wood.
A 120 volt wall outlet is on the ceiling just a foot away
The cup hooks at the bottom are for holding bunches of bananas or bags of avocados!

As for running a cable from the RV roof to the interior, we considered using an existing hole in the roof but there weren’t any good ones. A propane refrigerator vent opening would be ideal. But our trailer came with a 12 volt electric fridge, so no such opening existed. No other options seemed viable, although we did consider the Wineguard antenna opening for a while. In the end, we decided to drill a hole in the roof and snake a short Starlink cable down through it.

Up on the trailer roof, we estimated the location of the router on the end of the kitchen cabinets from the locations of the trailer windows and then positioned the Starlink dish in its Trio Flatmount Speedmount on the roof.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount RV installation for Starlink Gen3

The Speedmount will be installed right about here.

After marking the locations of the Speedmount screw holes on the roof, Mark placed a large dollop of Dicor on each screw hole on the Speedmount and then placed another large dollop of Dicor on the trailer roof where the screws would screw in.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount RV installation for Starlink Gen3 Placing Dicor with caulk gun

Mark put a dollop of Dicor in each screw hole on the bottom of the Speedmount. Note that the cable extender junction that will sit underneath the dish has both halves screwed together in this pic.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount RV installation for Starlink Gen3 Placing Dicor with caulk gun

Mark also put a large dollop of Dicor on the roof in the four screw locations.
The cable extender that sits beneath the dish is more clearly visible here.

Then he screwed in all four screws.

Trio Flatmount Speedmount RV installation for Starlink Gen3 Screwing it onto the RV roof

The last step was to screw in each of the four screws to attach the Speedmount to the RV roof.
Note the weep holes along the edges for draining rain water off the dish.

The mounting screws did not come with the Speedmount. Mark used some long self-tapping screws from his collection.

Mounting Screws to install Starlink Gen3 dish on RV roof using Trio Flatmount Speedmount

He used these long self-tapping screws (they did not come with the Speedmount).

After the four screws were screwed in, Mark put one final enormous dollop of Dicor on top of each screw head.

Installing the Starlink Gen 3 Cable from the Roof to the Interior

Inside the trailer, we estimated the location of the dish on the roof and Mark drilled a pilot hole for the Starlink cable run and then used a hole saw to make a grommet-sized hole in the ceiling. We purchased a white grommet to dress up the hole in the ceiling.

How to install Starlink Gen3 on an RV running the Starlink cable from the roof to the router

Mark drills a pilot hole in the ceiling.

How to install Starlink Gen3 on an RV running the Starlink cable from the roof to the router you need a holesaw to cut a hole in the RV roof

Then he expands the size of the hole with a hole saw.

Up on the roof, he drilled another hole for the Starlink cable to go through. The connector on the end of the Starlink cable doesn’t come off, so the hole had to be big enough for the RJ-45 style connector which is a bit bigger than the cable itself. Then he snaked the 6’ Starlink cable from the roof down into the interior of the trailer. A 3’ Starlink cable would have been preferable but I couldn’t find anything shorter than 6’.

How to install Starlink Gen3 on an RV roof use a hole saw to cut a hole in the RV roof

Mark drilled a hole in the roof large enough for the Starlink RJ-45 style connector end to fit through.

Starlink Gen3 RV installation the hole in the RV roof has been made

Next step is to snake the cable down through the roof into the interior of the RV.

This new hole had to be weather sealed and we used Dicor for that. In order to keep the Dicor from oozing through the hole and not sealing properly, Mark took a thick piece of plastic from an old lunch meat container, cut out a small square piece and then used a hole punch to punch a hole in it. This was the exact diameter of the Starlink cable!

Install Starlink Gen3 in an RV - Prepare waterproofing for cable run from RV roof to interior

Mark used a hole punch to put a hole in a thick piece of plastic that would support the oozing Dicor.

Then he cut a slit in the side so the cable could go through it.

Waterproofing protection support for Dicor on Starlink cable run from the RV roof to the router in the interior

He slit the side of the plastic piece to slide the cable through.

With the Starlink cable snaked down through the roof into the interior of the trailer, Mark cleaned the area of the roof around the hole and placed the plastic piece into a bed of Dicor on the roof. Then he squeezed a bunch more Dicor on top of it and around the cable. This made a good waterproof seal around the Starlink cable and the hole. We’ve been in quite a few huge downpours and some short hailstorms and so far so good.

Starlink Gen3 installation in an RV prepare the roof for Dicor waterproofing

Mark cleaned the roof material around the hole with rubbing alcohol so the Dicor would adhere to it.

Starlink Gen 3 cable goes through RV roof with plastic protector and Dicor waterproofing

Then he put a bunch of Dicor around the hole and pressed the plastic piece into it.

Starlink Gen3 cable goes through RV roof with plastic protector and thick layer if Dicor

Additional Dicor on top will prevent any leaks around the hole and cable.

Next, we connected half of one of the cable extenders to the end of the 6’ Starlink cable and screwed it onto the cable extender coming out from under the Starlink dish. This is the junction where we will swap between the 6’ RV Router Cable and the 50’ House Router Cable.

Starlink Gen3 waterproof cable extender for RV roof

Both the 6′ Starlink cable (for the RV) and the 50′ Starlink cable (for the house) have half of a cable extender on the end so they can be screwed into the cable extender coming out from under the Starlink dish.

Starlink Gen 3 Dish installed on RV roof with Trio Flatmount Speedmount with removable Starlink cable

The dish remains in place at all times. In this pic the dish is connected to the cable that goes to the Router inside the RV. When we use the router in the house instead of the one in the RV, the cable end coming up through the RV roof is disconnected and encased in a waterproof protective cover. Then the 50′ cable that comes through the exterior wall of the house (from the router inside) will be brought up the exterior wall of the RV to connect to the dish on the RV roof. When we’re using the RV router, the unused 50′ House Router cable remains coiled by the exterior wall of the house with a waterproof protective cover on the cable end.

Back down inside the RV, Mark used a Starlink cable sized grommet to dress up the messy hole in the ceiling.

Starlink Gen3 Router installation in an RV - use white grommet for hole in ceiling

This grommet tidies up the hole in the ceiling.

RV Starlink Gen3 installation - Use a grommet for the hole in the ceiling

The grommet gives the installation a finished look.

Installing the Starlink router inside the RV

Taking another tip from this video, we purchased a Starlink Gen 3 router wall mount kit and Mark screwed it to the end of the kitchen cabinets. This wall mount kit supports both the router and its power supply.

RV installation of Starlink Gen3 - Install a wall mount for the router inside the RV

The wall mount bracket supports both the router and its power supply. The power cable plugs into a 120 volt outlet on the ceiling and the extra cable is coiled onto a rubberized cup hook.

There was quite a bit of extra Starlink cable and there was also quite a bit of extra cable between the router and its power supply. So, we put a large rubberized cup hook next to the router and coiled all the cable on it.

The router’s power supply plugs into a wall outlet on the ceiling. This outlet was originally intended for a TV but we don’t watch TV, so it’s unused and in a perfect location.

Starlink Gen 3 Router and Power supply mounted inside an RV

The Starlink router and power supply are firmly mounted to the end of our RV kitchen cabinets and have stayed in place despite driving over some insanely rocky, rutted and potholed dirt roads.

We can turn Starlink on and off by plugging and unplugging the router from the ceiling outlet. However, since we dry camp nearly 100% of the time, we keep the Starlink router plugged into the ceiling outlet all the time and power the Starlink system on and off by turning the RV’s inverter on and off.

Generally, we turn on the inverter in the morning and keep it on all day unless we go out somewhere or won’t be needing a/c power for a while. We turn the inverter off at night and Starlink (both dish and router) gets turned off with it.

Setting Up the House Starlink Cable for Our Return Home

Our house used to have a satellite dish for TV and internet service, and the coax cable for it was still on the outside of the house and still ran into the interior of the house through a hole in the exterior wall.

We pulled the now-unused coax cable out from the interior of the house through that hole in the exterior wall and snaked the 50’ Starlink cable through the hole in its place. We used black rubber grommets to seal the hole in the exterior wall and dress up the interior wall hole. We used a liberal amount of silicone on the outside to ensure it was weatherproof.

We only need about 8’ of the Starlink cable inside the house to reach the router in there. The router sits on a shelf and its power supply is positioned next to it — no wall mounting needed. Outside the house, the other 42’ of the Starlink cable extends a short distance to the base of the trailer then goes up the exterior RV wall and over to the Starlink dish on the RV roof with a few feet to spare. So, when that cable is not in use (while we’re out traveling in the RV) it gets coiled and hung on the house’s hose bib outside to wait until our return.

Because the end of the 50’ Starlink cable is exposed to the elements while it’s hanging on the hose bib and we’re out traveling, we put a silicone weatherproof protective cover on it just like the one that goes on the cable that’s on the RV roof when it’s not in use. We don’t totally trust these little waterproof silicone hoods, so we also wrapped the entire end of the cable tightly in thick plastic and taped it.

50' Standard Starlink Gen3 cable on exterior of house ready for connection to Gen3 dish on parked RV

The Starlink cable that connects to the router inside the house is coiled up and hung on a hose bib when not in use. The cable end has a waterproof protective cap and is also wrapped in plastic and taped.

When we get home and park the RV next to the house, we’ll bring the 50′ House Router cable up to the RV roof and screw the end into the cable extender that sticks out from underneath the Starlink dish. The dish will be mounted nice and high in the air (on the RV roof rather than the house roof) and the router will be on a shelf in a bedroom facing the rest of the interior of the house (we’ve tested this and the speeds are great).

We’re very happy with this simple solution that gives us Starlink both at home and on the road.

How Does Starlink Gen 3 Perform in an RV?

Starlink Gen 3 is awesome! Just turn on the inverter and we’ve got fast internet wherever we take our trailer.

How Long Does it Take Starlink Gen 3 to Boot Up?

At most, it takes 5 minutes or so for it to get up and running in the morning. We’re always busy with breakfast and other morning activities anyway, so we don’t even notice the time it takes to boot.

Even when we change locations, we haven’t found that the time lag is more than a few minutes for Starlink to find its satellites and start providing service. Perhaps the longest time has been about 6 or 7 minutes.

How Does Starlink Gen 3 Work When Driving?

We’ve been astonished to be able to use Starlink as we tow the trailer. We turn on the inverter in the trailer and keep it on as we’re driving. Sitting in the truck, my laptop and iPad can connect to the Starlink router in the trailer very easily and I have full internet access at fast speeds anywhere Mark drives.

How Does Starlink Gen 3 Work with Trees and Other Obstructions?

We’ve had no trouble with trees and other obstructions. As long as the dish can see the sky straight above it, it can find the satellites it needs. This is very different than the older Gen 1 and Gen 2 versions of Starlink that required positioning the dish either manually or using the dish’s internal motor.

RV camping in the forest but Starlink still works great!

We had internet download speeds of over 350 Mbps and upload speeds of over 35 Mbps in this spot.
See next pic below!

Speedtest.net results when camped among tall pine trees

Speedtest.net test results on a Thursday morning in the heavily treed campsite pictured above.

Starlink provides an Obstruction Detection system in their app, but we don’t use the app since we don’t have a cell phone and we don’t bother using the iPad very much except for navigation purposes. So, we’ve never tried the Obstruction Detection software.

We’ve been astonished to camp surrounded by tall pine trees and not have any negative impact on our internet service. We’ve been camping among trees a lot more this year than ever before, not on purpose but just because of where we’ve traveled, and Starlink has been great. We did have about 3 minutes of trouble in one heavily treed setting where we were living in full shade all day, but we used Starlink there for a total of maybe 10 hours, so that little blip was not a big deal.

Since we live on solar power, we prefer not to camp in the deep woods anyway. In general, the impact of shade from nearby trees has been far more noticeable on our solar panels this year than on the Starlink dish. (The solar panels have performed really well too, thank goodness!).

How Does Starlink Handle Rain and Storms?

We saw a video of an early version of the Speedmount where the RVer complained that rain pooled on the Starlink dish and it lost its signal until he dried it off. He recommended installing it at an angle.

The Trio Flatmount designers have fixed this issue on the Speedmount and now have weep holes along all four edges of the frame so rain can drain off the dish. We have sat through (way too many) huge rainstorms this summer, several lasting quite a few hours, and we’ve snuggled up inside the rig and used the internet throughout. We have not lost the signal during a storm, and although we haven’t climbed up on the roof to check it, we assume all the rain water has drained out of the weep holes as designed or it wouldn’t have worked during the storms!

Our Speedmount is installed at about a 2 or 3 degree angle because our RV roof isn’t 100% flat. But it is an extremely shallow angle so the weep holes are doing the draining as designed more so than the angle of the Speedmount installation.

Would We Recommend Starlink for an RV?

Yes, 100%. And we’d recommend using the Trio Flatmount Speedmount to install it securely and permanently on your RV roof too.

If you are a part-time RVer like we are now, we’d also recommend swapping between using it for internet access at home as well as on the road the way we are doing.

Of course, if you have a superior or cheaper home internet solution, then this won’t make sense. But if you are like us and your home internet options are limited and expensive, then you can’t beat Starlink even at the higher prices you’ll be paying for the Roaming service during the months when you are living at home.

We envy our neighbors who use Starlink with their much cheaper cost for the Residential equipment (same equipment we have) and cheaper Residential monthly service fee. But we think the flexibility of being able to take Starlink with us wherever our RV wants to go, even if it’s just on a long weekend RV trip close to home, is well worth the extra cost.

When and How to Buy Starlink?

In an effort to expand their customer base, Starlink offers every customer a special promo link they can share with friends to get them to sign up. This link gives the friend a free month of service and also gives the existing customer a free month of service too. A win-win!

Unfortunately, although we had friends who’d encouraged us about Starlink for two years, when we finally pulled the trigger we had no idea they had a special link that could have helped both us and them. So, we didn’t win and neither did they. Darn!

However, if you want to get a free month of service and don’t have a friend with a special link, this is ours and we’d love for you to use it. It takes you to the Residential landing page, but just click the “Roam” button to see the current Roaming equipment and service options.

Get a Free Month of Starlink Service!

If you use this link, please let us know, and thank you very much for the free month of service…we hope you enjoy yours! Once you’ve signed up, you can spread the joy through your own link and/or send friends back to this page for our Starlink RV installation tips!

If you aren’t in a rush to get Starlink, keep an eye on their promotions. When we signed up, the Roaming equipment cost dropped from $499 to $349 and the Roaming monthly cost was $165/month. A week later the new promo was FREE equipment for Residential users who committed to 12 months of Residential service at $120/month. Since we were about to head out on our RV travels for the summer, we sure didn’t want to commit to 12 months of staying at home, but that was a sweet deal for folks who didn’t want to take their Starlink dish on the road!!!

These promo deals change all the time…

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Is Forest River a Good RV? Well Built? Here’s Our Experience

When we told a friend we’d just bought a 2024 Forest River travel trailer (an Arctic Wolf 17CB), he excitedly forwarded us an email he’d received from Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, that told the story of their acquisition of Forest River.

Forest River sounded like a very special company. Obviously we’d made a great choice with this trailer!

But when we told another friend about our purchase, he exclaimed in horror, “I can’t believe you bought a Forest River! Don’t you know those things are junk? The fresh water tanks fall out of them as you’re driving down the road!”

So, which is it? Are Forest River RVs any good? Are they well made? Are they worth the money?

Here’s our experience with our brand new rig.

Is Forest River a good RV band? Are Forest River trailers well made?

Are Forest River RVs Well Built? Here are our thoughts!

2024 Forest River Alpha Wolf 17CB travel trailer

Our trailer purchase was unique because we bought a brand new never used trailer from a private owner. He’d traded in his $200k motorhome for the cheapest trailer on an RV dealership lot so he could get his cash out of his motorhome. Then he immediately put his new little trailer up for sale.

When we bought this trailer, we paid a fraction of what a brand new unit would have cost because we didn’t get it from a dealership and the seller really wanted to unload it.

However, because he hadn’t ever intended to use the trailer himself, he skipped doing a thorough and detailed Buyer Walkthrough and simply towed it home.

When he showed it to us, it was apparent he’d never done more than poke his head inside. It had sat on the dealer lot for a few months and prospective customers had looked at it, but other than that typical dealer lot exposure before he bought it, it was the same as it had been the day it left the factory.

So, we got to see in depth what a brand new trailer fresh off the Forest River production line is like when it lands at an RV dealership.

Here’s what we experienced in the first five months of use:

1) Fresh Water Tank Can’t Be Filled

Responsible: Forest River Assembly Line Workers

The first day we had the trailer, Mark put a hose into the gravity fill fresh water intake so he could fill the fresh water tank and test the plumbing systems. Instantly, the water spurted back out at him and soaked him completely.

Fresh water intake on a Forest River RV 2

When Mark put a water hose in this fresh water intake, water gushed all over him!

It turned out the fresh water intake hose didn’t go downhill to the tank the way a gravity fill hose should. Instead, it looped upwards for a foot or so and then back down before going to the fresh water tank. The water from the hose in Mark’s hand couldn’t go uphill, so it spurted back out all over him.

Fresh water intake hose bad installation on a Forest River RV

The white fresh water intake hose goes up for about a foot from the basement and loops over all the other hoses in the bottom of the vanity before going back down below the flooring to the tank.

Obviously, a properly installed fresh water intake hose goes downhill or horizontally all the way from the intake to the tank and doesn’t go uphill at all.

Was this improper installation due to bad training or incompetence? Why didn’t Quality Control catch this incredibly obvious problem?

The intake hose is located below a rat’s nest of water hoses and other things under the bathroom vanity, and it’s very hard to reach, so it was not an easy repair.

It took Mark nearly a day of work to troubleshoot the problem and then fix it. He cut about a foot off the intake hose line and rerouted it to lie below all the other hoses and lines, making sure it had a downward or horizontal slope the whole way to the tank.

Forest River RV removing excess hose ion the fresh water intake line

Mark cut off about a foot of the fresh water intake hose so it would lie flat along the trailer floor.

Forest River RV fresh water intake line rerouted so it can work properly

He re-routed the fresh water intake hose underneath the rat’s nest of other hoses instead of on top of it.

2) None of the electrical outlets worked

Responsible: Forest River Assembly Line Workers

The second day we had the trailer, Mark hooked the trailer up to shore power and plugged his electric razor into a wall outlet to see if the outlet worked. Nope!

It turned out NOT ONE of the wall outlets worked!

This was because they were all wired to the GFI outlet in the bathroom, and that outlet had been wired backwards. The Hot went to the Load rather than the Line.

Forest River RV GFI outlet was wired backwards at the factory

This GFI outlet in the bathroom was wired backwards, so none of the electrical outlets in the trailer worked!

Wow! Had the installer been trained to wire GFI outlets backwards? Or did s/he forget how it’s done? Or was it sabotage by an disgruntled employee? How many RVs did that employee wire backwards? Has that employee learned how to do it correctly yet?

Clearly, Quality Control never bothered to plug something into an electrical outlet in this trailer!

That problem took another few hours for Mark to troubleshoot and fix.

3) Slide-out Adjusted Incorrectly

Responsible: Forest River Assembly Line Workers

Next, we opened the single slide-out for the first time, and just as it finished opening we heard a loud crunch/thud as it jerked into place. Oh dear!

The single slide-out on the trailer uses an Accu-Slide Cable Actuated system that consists of pulleys and chains mounted to the wall above the slide-out behind the fascia board.

Slide-out needs adjusting on a Forest River travel trailer

The Accu-Slide mechanism is behind the fascia board at the top of the slide-out.

The two pulleys move horizontally along the wall parallel to the road in the direction of travel while the slide-out itself moves in and out perpendicular to that. It is considered very ingenious, or even genius.

Accu-Slide adjustment on a Forest River travel trailer

Chains with pulleys move horizontally to move the slide in and out.

However, it must be adjusted very precisely. On the outside of the slide-out the cables should have about 1/2 inch to an inch of play in them. Instead, one cable was sagging by two inches and the other was banjo-string-taught.

Clearly, Forest River didn’t adjust the slide-out mechanisms on this trailer before it was shipped to the deal. The Accu-Slide mechanism was fastened to the wall and that was it.

After some research and studying a slew of videos, Mark figured out how to adjust this Accu-Slide cable mechanism.

He did 3 complete adjustments and spent the better part of two days studying, adjusting, testing and sorting it all out until he could repeatedly bring the slide in and out and retain the correct tension on each exterior cable. It is now adjusted properly and it goes in and out with just a small clunk when it reaches the full Out position.

AccuSlide adjustment on a Forest River RV

Adjusting this Accu-Slide mechanism was not easy and took three full repeats of the process to be 100%.

4) Camco Shower Wand Leaked

Responsible: Camco

Mark then turned on the water in the shower to test it. The shower wand leaked like crazy all over everything. He tried to fix it to no avail. So we bought a replacement.

Oxygenics shower wand leaking

When Mark first turned on the shower the shower wand leaked all over the place and couldn’t be repaired so he bought a replacement.

5) Outdoor Shower Leaked

Responsible: Lippert Components

Next up was the outdoor shower which also turned out to have a leak which Mark fixed.

Leaky Outdoor Shower Wand on a brand new Forest River travel trailer RV

When it was first turned on, the outdoor shower leaked all over the place too.
Forunately, it was repairable.

6) The tankless “instant” hot water is useless unless you have a Sewer Hookup

Reponsible: Forest River Designers

With the basic electrical and plumbing systems finally functional, we took our first weeklong shakedown cruise to a campground at Lake Pleasant, Arizona, that had electrical and water hookups as well as nice bathrooms (just in case!). Our site didn’t have a sewer hookup.

One of the two funky things about this new trailer is it doesn’t have a hot water tank (the other is that it has a 12 volt electric refrigerator). Instead, it has a tankless on-demand “instant” hot water heater.

Rather than heating up a tankful of water before taking a shower or washing dishes, this system heats the water as it flows through the pipe into the sink or shower when you turn on the hot water faucet.

All of our previous RVs had hot water tanks (Fleetwood popup tent trailer, Fleetwood travel trailer, Hitchhiker fifth wheel, Arctic Fox truck camper, Genesis Supreme toy hauler) and they worked just fine.

Tankless hot water heater on a Forest River travel trailer RV

The Forest River Alpha Wolf travel trailers come with a tankless “instant” hot water heater

Unfortunately, we immediately discovered that the tankless “instant” hot water heater is more accurately described as a tankless “eventually” hot water heater. It is anything but instant! A lot of fresh water has to pass through the tankless hot water heater before it gets hot.

The shower, which is right next to the heater, wastes 2 gallons of fresh water as you wait for the hot water to arrive. The kitchen sink which is about 12 feet away from the heater wastes 5 gallons of water.

That’s 9 gallons a day of wasted water for two people taking showers and doing one load of dishes! Never mind washing your face or hands in hot water at other times during the day!

Worse, if you want consistently hot water to flow, you can’t turn the faucet off at all while showering or washing dishes. If you do, you’ll have to waste the same amount of water all over again when you turn the faucet back on.

Ultimately, the tankless hot water heater sends massive amounts of clean fresh water down the sewer drain, either into the RV park’s plumbing system if you have a sewer hookup or into the RV’s gray tank if you don’t.

So, without a sewer hookup, you fill up the gray tank in no time! And that’s what we experienced.

What’s even more unsettling is that when you’re dry camping, every PINT of fresh water you carry is precious and you don’t waste any. So putting all that good fresh water down the gray tank drain is a colossal waste.

In our over 3 thousands nights of boondocking we developed a simple system for heating and using hot water with our hot water tank. We’d heat the water in the tank for 15 minutes once a day which was sufficient for showers and dishes. In all our rigs the water in the hot water tank stayed hot or warm most of the day.

Before showering, we’d put a small sauce pan in the shower and capture the first quart of water that had been sitting in the pipe between the shower and the hot water tank and was still cold. Later on, we’d heat this water on the stove and put it in the sink for dishes. We’d turn the tap to hot (which flowed cold at first) and fill the sink the rest of the way. As we rinsed the dishes, the water in the tap would be warm and then become hot. Super Easy!

Unfortunately, because of the tankless “eventually” hot water heater, we stopped using hot water all together after the first day of that first shakedown cruise. Ugh!!

But what to do longer term with this new trailer? We certainly weren’t going to travel only to campgrounds that had showers!!

Workaround: ShowerMiser Hot Water Heater Product Saves the Day

Replacing this tankless hot water heater with a tank-based system would have been very difficult due to space constraints.

Fortunately, we found a workaround product that Mark installed when we got home, and we both absolutely love it. It’s a ShowerMiser and we’ll be describing the installation and how it works in a future blog post. It’s a simple concept but tricky installation. Fortunately, some RV brands are now installing them at the factory.

The only problem is that it works for just one faucet. So, we have it on the shower but nowhere else. This means we can take hot showers but we don’t have running hot water anywhere else in the rig.

ShowerMiser installation on a Forest River travel trailer RV

Installing a ShowerMiser has made it possible to take a shower in our trailer!
But we can’t use hot water at either the bathroom or kitchen sink or at the outdoor shower.

We’d love to install a second ShowerMiser for the kitchen sink and a third one at the bathroom vanity and a fourth one at the outdoor shower so we could have hot water at each of those faucets. But the installations in those locations are prohibitively difficult.

So, we’ll just travel and live with hot water in the shower but nowhere else. We’re okay with it, but what a huge step backwards from every rig we’ve ever owned, including our 2005 popup tent trailer!

In our opinion, any RV with a tankless hot water system MUST HAVE a factory installed ShowerMiser at each faucet that has a hot water tap if it is to perform equivalently to an RV with a hot water heater.

Even for RVers who stay strictly at RV parks with full hookups, just imagine if every RV in the park had a tankless hot water heater. The amount of the park’s fresh water supply that would be going straight into their sewer would be significant.

For now, we have nice hot showers and we heat water in a sauce pan on the stove for dishes. We rinse our dishes in cold water (yucky in the wintertime) and we have no hot water at the bathroom vanity or the outdoor shower.

That’s pretty primitive living for a brand new 2024 RV!

7) Gray Water Dump Hose Handle Fell Off

Responsible: Forest River Assembly Line Workers

At the end of this trip Mark went to dump the gray water tank at the RV dump station and discovered the handle for the gray tank was gone! We’d towed the trailer over a hundred miles, so it must have fallen off while driving. We bought a new one and Mark used Loctite to screw it on securely. While he was at it, he put Loctite on the black tank handle too.

Looking for silver linings in all this frustration, the original two wastewater tank handles were both black but the new gray tank handle is gray. So now the black tank handle is black and the gray tank handle is gray — easy to distinguish!

Black and Gray water handles on a Forest River travel trailer

The Gray tank handle fell off. We replaced it with a Gray colored handled to color code the two tanks.

8) Nowhere to store a dripping wet RV Sewer Hose

Responsible: Forest River Designers

The rear bumper is presumably designed to hold an RV sewer hose. However, it is too small to hold a modern RV sewer hose with a flange on the end for attaching it to the waste tank valve.

Also, the endcaps on this too-small bumper have a tendency to fall out of the ends. So, Mark used a self-tapping sheet metal screw to hold the endcaps in place.

RV dump hose bumper on a Forest River travel trailer RV

This bumper is too small to hold a sewer hose and the endcaps fall off while driving.
So Mark screwed each one in place.

9) Massive Water Leaks in the Basement

Responsible: Lippert Components, Inc.

Now that we could use hot water in the trailer, we went on our Second Shakedown Cruise for 5 days at Canyon Lake Marina RV Park near Phoenix. This campground had electric and water hookups but no sewer hookups, so we could test the ShowerMiser.

Before we even tried the ShowerMiser at the campground, Mark filled the fresh water tank because we planned to run off the tank and refill it from the water hookup if necessary.

Suddenly, a puddle of water began to grow on the ground right by the tankless hot water heater. Mark took the cover off, and the basement compartment where the heater was installed was full of water.

After sopping up the mess, he discovered that as long as we had the water pump turned on or were connected to city water, the water heater would flood the floor under the vanity with water. If we turned off the water pump or disconnected from city water the leak stopped.

So… we camped for 3 nights and 2 days without using any water in the rig at all except what we’d brought in drinking water containers. We’d turn the water pump on very briefly to flush the toilet and that was it for water use. We used paper plates and brushed our teeth with bottled water. It was awkward and dirty living for a fancy new RV.

We ended up canceling our final 2 nights at the RV park. Why spend good money on a park when you can’t even rinse out your coffee cup without causing a flood in the bathroom? The campground had a strict no refund policy but we persuaded them to bend the rules a smidge due to our mechanical failure.

The tankless hot water heater is a Lippert product, and once we got home, Mark tried working with Lippert’s Tech Support on the phone. However, after several phone calls and submitting multiple photos of the problem area, he was getting nowhere.

So, we called a local mobile RV tech who got it fixed in a few hours. The problem was two cracked O-rings deep inside the heater. They were impossible to reach without removing the hot water heater from the rig all together.

$220 later along with two perfectly sized O-rings that Mark had in his collection, we could now turn on the water pump or connect to city water and not have water leaks fill the basement with water. Yay!

The RV tech commented that when he’d worked at an RV dealership, they would have replaced the whole hot water heater rather than troubleshoot the problem and find the broken o-rings inside. They would have done this whether the trailer was under warranty or not, and it would have been a very expensive repair.

10) Insufficient Solar Power

Responsible: Forest River Designers

Now that we’d fixed the huge water leak in the hot water heater, we returned to Canyon Lake for our third Shakedown cruise to use the last 2 days of the reservation we’d canceled and then move on to camp at one of our favorite places, Roosevelt Lake, which is all dry camping with no hookups.

This trip went well.

At Roosevelt Lake we used the Honda Generator because the 200 watts of factory installed solar power on the roof wasn’t enough to boondock for more than 24 hours at a time due to the 10 cubic-foot 12 volt refrigerator.

200 Watt factory installed solar power system on a Forest River travel trailer RV

The 200 watts of factory installed solar power are enough to keep the refrigerator working while underway but not enough to live on AND use the fridge for more than a day.

We knew that ahead of time and were pleasantly surprised that using the generator for two hours or so a day gave us plenty of power and supplemented the small solar power system very well.

When we returned home we installed a large solar power system which gave us all the power we need to boondock indefinitely and will describe that installation in a future blog post.

11) Three Water Leaks in the Bathroom

Responsible: Forest River Designers

Now that we were fully set up for dry camping, we took our 4th Shakedown Cruise and spent 8 days at one of our favorite spots, a dry camping campground called Bonito Campground outside Flagstaff Arizona. This is where had a wonderful surprise visit by a pair of camels and a guy wearing a Civil War officer’s uniform!!

We wanted to test the solar power system to see if it was sufficient for our off-grid RV lifestyle with that big electric fridge. It worked beautifully even though the panels were shaded for about 3 hours a day. It was late May, a few weeks from the summer solstice, so the days were long and the sun was high in the sky — ideal for solar power.

However, after washing our hands and doing a few dishes on the first day when we got to the campground, we noticed the water pump was “grunting” periodically when no water was running.

We listened to this for a while and determined it wasn’t just the elevation change (3,000’ to 7,500’). It was a water leak somewhere.

It actually turned out to be 3 water leaks!! Each one was at a junction between two water hoses under the bathroom vanity and below the shower.

Forest River uses pex cinch clamp rings to connect water lines together and some of the water lines are joined in places that are impossible to reach after the appliances have been installed.

When RVs are built, all the wiring, plumbing and conduit runs are put in place first before the appliances are installed, so it is common for important things to be in places you can’t reach without extraordinary effort.

If the designers planned ahead for repairs and used higher quality fittings, leaks would be less common and would be easier to fix. Our beloved sailboat had two stainless steel hose clamps on every water pipe junction. You don’t want water leaks when you’re in the middle of the ocean!

The first two leaks were fairly accessible and Mark fixed them within an hour. The third leak was underneath the shower stall in the far back corner. Worse, it was behind the shower drain tube, virtually out of sight and out of reach.

Somehow Mark managed to get his arm under the drain tube and replace the fitting with a hose clamp. But when he tightened it, it began to twist and became impossible to tighten completely.

Shower leak under the shower pan on a Forest River travel trailer RV

The leak under the shower pan was below the far back corner. Mark had to squeeze his hand underneath the drain pipe and then blindly feel for the broken connector, replace it and tighten it. No small feat!

So, because he couldn’t tighten it all the way while were out camping, we had a slow leak throughout that shakedown cruise. For a full week we turned on the water pump only when we needed water and turned it off immediately to avoid getting a pool of water under the shower pan. After turning off the water pump, we’d “burp” one of the faucets to make sure there was no pressure on the leaky fitting. This was an inconvenience, but we lived with it.

When we got home Mark put another hour or two into fixing that water leak. He came up with a creative way to make an extension rod that could reach the fitting and fortunately was able to tighten it. So far it seems to be holding. Yay!

12) Entry Stairs Don’t Work on Unlevel Ground

Responsible: Lippert Designers

This trailer came with fold-down entry steps that are now found on most trailers. While these are much more solid underfoot than the older style flip-out stairs of yesteryear, they require some forethought when parking.

There are three stairs on our step system and they stick out enough from the trailer that you have to ensure there’s space by the trailer for them to touch down. When we were camping at Bonito Campground we were in a very narrow site and there was about a one foot drop right in the spot where the stair supports needed to be. We had to stack several blocks under the feet in order to set up the stairs. Ironically, we moved campsites after a few days and had the exact same problem in the second campsite!

They also rattle a lot while traveling. We’ve tried wedging things in to make them stop wiggling but haven’t found the right solution yet.

Lippert Solid Step RV Entry Stairs on Uneven Ground - Yikes!

The stairs could not reach the ground and required several blocks stacked up the feet.

Smaller problems and inconveniences

Responsible: Forest River Designers and Assembly Line Installers

Those were the major problems the trailer has had in its first four trips. However, there were lots of other little things that cropped up too.

– Not enough Dicor was used on the roof skylight installation and there were some big rain water leaks waiting to happen. Mark went over everything on the roof and added a big dollop of Dicor wherever needed

— Forest River has begun leaving certain items off their new trailers. This trailer did not come with a dump hose, a TV or a ladder to the roof even though it has a walk-on roof.

There is a sticker on an interior wall indicating that’s where to hang a TV. There is also a backing plate on the back exterior of the trailer for installing a roof access ladder which Lippert makes.

We bought a dump hose. We don’t watch TV. We’re making do with a household extension ladder at home and taking a telescoping ladder with us on the road. I sure miss the ladder on the back that is permanently attached and is so easy to climb at a moment’s notice.

— The water pump is installed in such a way underneath the rat’s nest of hoses below the vanity that it makes a massive racket whenever it runs. We haven’t yet decided how to dampen the noise.

— All four trailer tires and the spare were low on air. This is to be expected on a unit that sat on the dealer lot for a long time but during a Buyer Walkthrough it is worth insisting the tires be pumped up to spec.

— All the wheel lugs were loose. Again, if the trailer were new from a dealer they should be tightened before you tow it off the lot.

So… Does Forest River Build Quality RVs?

With all the catastrophic failures, it would be easy to call our trailer a lemon, but in reality I think it’s a pretty typical trailer.

I suspect that every Indiana-made RV brand arrives at the dealerships with similar types of problems, and we’ve had plenty of experts who are “in the know” tell us that is the case.

One quipped, “If it’s 80% functional, then it’s ready to ship to the dealer.” So, that’s the goal: 80% operational.

While we were going through all of this, a friend of ours who has a new Airstream told us his trailer was in the shop at that very moment for warranty repairs. Even though his rig probably cost two or three times what ours did, he’d experienced much the same misery.

Crazier still, he had a friend with a new Tiffin motorhome who’d also gone through the wringer with ridiculous numbers of stupid problems even though that motorhome probably cost three times what his Airstream did.

So, the kind of quality we all might hope for when buying a new RV is completely missing across many brands, no matter what the price point.

All the responsibility for getting the unavoidable repairs taken care of falls on the Buyer/Owner, and the best time to get them done is while you’re still a Buyer and not yet an Owner!

When doing a Buyer Walkthrough on a new rig at a dealership, it’s a good idea to insist you see water successfully going into the fresh water tank, make sure the black and gray water handles are attached securely, verify all the electrical outlets work, heat a mug of water in the microwave, put a thermometer in the fridge, test all the faucets and shower wands plus the hot water system, air conditioner, furnace, stove burners, etc., not to mention verifying everything on the roof and the windows are sufficiently sealed from the elements.

The dealership may want to hustle you out the door, but until you sign the papers and transform from a Buyer into an Owner, all the power is in your hands. After that you have to take your turn in line for service and live without your rig while it’s in the shop or tackle the repairs yourself.

Why Are RVs Built So Poorly?

I think it boils down to two things.

1) Speed vs Quality

We’ve toured many RV factories (Fleetwood, Northwood Arctic Fox, KZ Durango, Keystone Raptor, Jayco Highland Ridge, Thor Heartland, NuWa Hitchhiker) and we were told time and again that the trailers are built in 2.5 to 3 days. That’s pretty quick for throwing together a rolling house, and each factory was very proud of their speed.

So, the goal is speed, and assembly line workers (and perhaps the Quality Control inspectors and repair people) are measured by how fast they complete their jobs, not by how well their jobs are done.

We’ve also toured two super high end custom manufacturers (Space Craft and Luxe) as well as a tiny tear drop trailer manufacturer (Escapod) and a tiny travel trailer factory (Casita), and those factory environments were completely different.

Their whole focus was on quality, not speed of manufacture. Things like wiring and plumbing lines were proudly shown off for their tidiness and organization, and at Casita we watched a trailer standing under a torrent of water being tested for water leaks. However, trailers at those first two top-of-the-line brands take weeks to build and they exceed most RVers’ budgets.

And even being super high end, we spoke with customers at both of those plants who’d returned to the factory for warranty repairs. They each had a long list too. Apparently, no RV is immune to that!

2) RV Manufacturers are not RVers

I think the other primary reason RVs are built so poorly is that the manufacturing executives are not RVers themselves.

When I wrote for Trailer Life Magazine, I published three different articles surveying all the toy haulers, full-time quality and weekender quality fifth wheel trailers that were on the market at the time. As part of my research for those articles, we met with executives at several well known RV manufacturers while we were in Indiana.

As a lark, I asked each executive we met, “So what kind of RV do you have?’

I expected they might own the brand they sell so they would know their own product line on an intimate level. Or perhaps they’d own a competitor’s brand for market research purposes. Or perhaps, like NuWa (Hitchhiker) used to do, the company had a few of their own products available for employees to use. They could take these rigs out on weekends for fun and also educate themselves and come home with valuable feedback.

However, only one executive out of half a dozen we met in person and another dozen I spoke to on the phone currently owned an RV…or had ever owned an RV for that matter!

The most common answers I got from these RV executives were:

“My wife doesn’t like RVing.”
“We prefer flying to distant vacation destinations because we don’t have time to drive there.”
“We go overseas (or to the tropics) for all our vacations.”

This explains a lot about the failures in the RV manufacturing industry.

One wonderful exception to all this was an RV designer I corresponded with who worked on the Forest River Cherokee brand (which is the brand our Alpha Wolf is part of).

He was not a top flight executive in the corporate ranks but was the designer of a small toy hauler that I thought was a particularly clever layout. I asked him what kind of RV he owned, and he said he owned that trailer! So, he not only designed it but he went camping with it too.

No wonder it was such a great design!

RV Manufacturers are “Assemblers” more than “Manufacturers”

In the end, RVs are complicated little rolling homes and RV manufacturers are more “assemblers” than true “manufacturers.”

RV manufacturers install a bunch of products made by other companies into a rolling box. The walls, ceilings, ductwork, wiring and plumbing are their purview, but all the appliances and systems we rely on in the RV life are made by third parties.

Interestingly, in most cases, the “other companies” are actually just “one company,” that is, Lippert Components, Inc. Just about everything in an RV, from trailer frames to windows and doors to kitchen and bathroom appliances to climate control systems to entry stairs and toy hauler ramp doors, is made by Lippert.

There are other component manufacturers out there, but Lippert’s products are always cheaper and generally not as good. So, more often than not, RV designers choose Lippert’s products over the competition to save on costs.

Also, if a new company creates a clever new product, Lippert frequently buys the company out and suddenly every RV has one. Then they find shortcuts and material/component alternatives to make the product cheaper to produce.

Lippert can be very aggressive with pushing their products as well. One executive told us they deeply discount their products when sold in bundles, so if the manufacturer wants a specific item, it’s often most cost effective to take the whole bundle even if there are products in the bundle they’d rather not use.

I asked an executive of an RV component company that has all the skills and manufacturing capability to build superior trailer frames why they didn’t get into that business. He said it would be impossible to compete against Lippert which virtually owns the trailer frame market (with a few notable exceptions).

We saw first-hand the strong arm tactics Lippert uses in the industry when we attended a horse trailer dealership owner’s gathering in Oklahoma. A Lippert rep was demonstrating a new landing leg system for horse trailers to a group of dealership owners. One fellow in a cowboy hat said with a casual drawl, “That will never fly with my customers. They wouldn’t like that one bit!” The young and eager rep’s response was, with a laugh, “Just shove it down their throats!”

Fortunately for the deep pocketed buyer, higher end RVs are typically built with fewer Lippert components and the highest end fully custom RVs openly eschew Lippert products all together.

So, to a large extent, all brands of mass market RVs are essentially the same because they are just assemblies of identical components. The difference could be the care with which the components are installed, but if every company measures its assembly line workers by how fast they do the job-because time is money-then they’ll all have the same problems with quality.

Years ago, we traded in our “lower end” year-old Fleetwood travel trailer for a “higher end” Hitchhiker fifth wheel that cost over twice as much.

We were astonished to look around the interior of our new rig and realize that almost all the appliances were the exact same models as the ones we’d had in our cheaper trailer.

So, Are Forest River RVs Well Built?

Given all this, I think the answer is a resounding, “No.”

However, from what we’ve seen at the RV factories, RV dealerships and in talking to other RVers, Forest River trailers aren’t significantly worse…or better…than the competition. No matter how much money you spend on an RV, failures of some kind are pretty much guaranteed.

The bottom line is that if you like traveling by RV, then dealing with failures is just part of the picture. And if you can’t afford a fully custom RV, then generally shoddy construction is to be expected, with few exceptions.

However, people like ourselves who love RVing will continue buying and owning these poorly built mass market rigs because, well, RVing is a great way to travel and explore! And for us, in the end, the fun outweighs the hassle (and Mark can fix almost everything)!

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Quick Release Pull Pins for Fifth Wheel Landing Jacks – YES!

One of the very first upgrades we did to our 2022 Genesis Supreme toy hauler was to install quick release pull pins for the fifth wheel landing jacks. Our full-time Hitchhiker fifth wheel trailer had come with this kind of landing jack pin installed at the factory, so we assumed it was standard for all fifth wheels with electric landing jacks. Not so! And what a difference they make!

Quick Release Pull-Pins for Fifth Wheel Landing Jacks Installation

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Our Genesis Supreme toy hauler came with goofy D-ring pins that were clumsy and fussy and added a frustrating and unnecessary step to hitching and unhitching our rig.

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These pins were slow and frustrating to use!

After messing with these things two or three times, I got online and started hunting for the really nice quick release spring loaded pins we were accustomed to, hoping that they were something we could get our hands on. They were! We got ours HERE.

Tools and parts needed to install Fifth Wheel Landing Jack quick release pull pin

The quick release pull pins (left two) and the tools necessary to install them (right two). Not much to it!

We put a bottle jack under the front of the fifth wheel to support the trailer while we removed the silly pins that had come with it and replaced them with the quick release pull pins. You can also hitch the fifth wheel to the truck and work on the legs that way instead. However, the bottle jack worked just fine.

Bottle jack supports fifth wheel trailer for landing jack quick release pull-pin installation

We supported the front of the fifth wheel trailer with a bottle jack.

Fifth Wheel Landing Jack D-ring Pin 2

We removed the D-ring.

The hardest part of installing the quick release pull pins on the landing jacks is simply lining up the two pieces. They fit on either side of the landing leg like a clamshell with two long bolts holding them in place.

Make sure the handle is on the outside of the fifth wheel where you’ll be grabbing it.

Installing fifth wheel landing jack quick release pull pin

One half of the quick release pull pin.

Installing quick release pull pin for fifth wheel landing jack

Both halves of the quick release pull pin with long bolts that will hold them in place.

We used Loctite to make sure the bolts wouldn’t unscrew and walk back out.

Using Loctite to install fifth wheel landing jack quick release pull pin

We applied a little Loctite.

Then we tightened the bolts.

Installation of quick release pull pin for fifth wheel landing jack

Getting the bolts started.

Installation of fifth wheel landing jack quick release pull pin

Tightening the bolts down.

And there it was — a fabulous new quick release pull pin on our fifth wheel landing jack.

Installation of quick release pull pin for fifth wheel landing jack=k

Ready to go!

We installed the other quick release pull pin on the other landing jack and sighed a huge sigh of relief. These things are so much easier to use!

To hitch up: Simply raise the electric landing legs with the Retract button. Once the jacks are in their fully retracted position, pull out the spring loaded handle and slide the lower portion of the leg upwards into the upper portion. Then release the spring loaded handle to latch it in place.

To unhitch: Pull the quick release pull pin’s spring loaded handle and let the leg drop all the way down so the foot is on the ground. Then raise the leg slightly until the spring loaded handle snaps into place through the hole in the lower leg.

Fifth Wheel Landing Jack D-ring Pin

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And that’s it! We purchased this quick release pull pin for our 33’ 15,000 lb. GVWR trailer, but there are others available> too.

Hitching and unhitching a fifth wheel trailer can be stressful enough as it is. For us, having a super simple mechanism for getting the landing jacks in position is an important stress reliever. It was an inexpensive upgrade, but has made a huge difference.

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How to Replace Electric Fifth Wheel Landing Legs – Easy DIY!

Have you ever wondered how in the world to replace electric fifth wheel landing legs? Well, it turns it’s a surprisingly easy DIY project! We’ve done it twice now, once on our full-timing Hitchhiker fifth wheel 10 years ago, and again on our current Genesis Supreme Toy Hauler a few weeks ago. Yikes!

How to Replace Electric Fifth Wheel Landing Legs

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At the end of our RV trip to Colorado last summer, our 2022 Genesis Supreme toy hauler fifth wheel landing legs started acting up when we were getting ready to hook up and leave one day. Our fifth wheel landing legs are electric, not hydraulic, and they are driven by two separate motors, one for each leg.

Suddenly, the driver’s side leg started making a clicking sound as we raised the front of the trailer to hitch up. The sound was coming from the gear box which is driven by the landing leg motor. The gears were slipping for some reason.



The Reese Goose Box was a GAME CHANGER for us. We got the bed of our truck back (yay!) and hitching/unhitching is easy.

Check out our review: HERE!



We were able to get hitched up despite the slipping gears, and we stayed hitched up all the way from Lake Granby in Colorado, to our home in Arizona. We didn’t unhitch once the whole way!

When we got home, Mark removed the landing leg from the trailer to do some investigating. With the trailer hitched to and supported by the truck, it was easy to remove the driver’s side landing leg to check it out.

When you remove the top cap from the leg, you should be able to turn the shaft on the side of the leg by hand. However, he could barely turn it. Something was binding and making the leg very stiff to retract or extend.

We weren’t sure just how stiff this gear should be, though. So, just to verify whether the gear on this leg was unusually stiff, he removed the passenger side leg and repeated the process. On that side the leg was butter smooth and he could easily turn the shaft by hand.

10 years prior, we’d had a similar problem on our 2007 Hitchhiker fifth wheel. However, that fifth wheel had had only one motor to drive both landing legs — not a very rugged frame design.

We’d been pleased when we bought the Genesis Supreme that it had a dedicated motor for each leg. Nevertheless, here we were again! Argh!!

The Hitchhiker landing leg motor was made by Venture Manufacturing in Ohio. So, when those landing legs failed, Mark purchased a replacement landing leg kit from them. He installed it while we were boondocking in the Arizona desert. We never had any trouble with our landing legs after that.

Mark called Venture Manufacturing again this time to see if they could help us with the binding landing leg on our new toy hauler.

He was delighted to speak to the same customer service rep as he had 10 years prior, Sue Haller. She asked him for some details about the landing legs on our toy hauler. It turned out that they were made by a Chinese knock-off company.

Once he heard that, he decided to replace both landing legs, gear boxes and motors with parts made by Venture Manufacturing. These come in a kit.

The installation was surprisingly simple and the new parts are super smooth. We now feel confident in our trailer’s landing legs as we get ready for our next adventure.

Venture Manufacturing Fifth Wheel Landing Leg Replacement Kit

All the parts that are in the Venture Manufacturing replacement landing leg kit.

Having a good quality socket set in your RV is important. Check out what other tools we keep in our RV basement and in our truck here: Basic RV Tool Kit - Essential Tools & Supplies for RVers



 

Here are the basic steps for replacing the landing legs on a fifth wheel trailer:

  1. With the trailer hitched to the truck, run the landing legs all the way up.
  2. Turn off the battery disconnect switch
  3. Pull the spring pin and drop the lower legs and foot all the way out and set them aside
  4.  
    Do these next steps for each landing leg:

  5. Cut the positive and negative wires to the landing leg motor
  6. Remove the 8mm bolt from the lower gearbox shaft and slide the plastic collar off
  7. Remove the two 10mm bolts (11 and 5 o’clock position) from the motor and slide the motor off the shaft
  8. Slide the gearbox assembly off the motor shaft.
  9. Remove the two 9/16” nuts and bolts holding the leg onto the “U” channel
  10. Spread the “U” channel slightly to slide the leg out.

To install the new landing leg assembly, simply follow the above steps in reverse order!

Here are some pics from our installation:

How to replace Fifth Wheel Landing Leg - Venture Manufacturing Lower Leg

Remove the lower leg section to be able to drop the upper leg assembly out from trailer.

How to replace fifth wheel landing leg - Venture Manufacturing leg view From Outside

Looking in from the outside: The landing leg and gearbox.

How to replace Fifth Wheel Landing Leg - Venture Manufacturing Plastic anchor

To remove the gearbox just remove this screw and slide the plastic piece off the shaft. The gearbox will slide off next.

How to replace fifth wheel landing leg - Venture Manufacturing leg view From inside

Motor & gearbox removed.



If your fifth wheel has electric landing jacks but didn't come with Quick Release Pull Pins, they'll make you're life easier and they're super easy to install!

 
 
How to replace Fifth Wheel Landing Leg Upper Bolt

To remove the upper portion of the leg, remove the upper leg 9/16″ nut.

How to replace Fifth Wheel Landing Leg - Venture Manufacturing Lower Bolt

Remove lower 9/16″ nut. You may need to spread the “U” channel a bit to slide upper portion of the leg out.

How to replace fifh wheel landing legs - Looking from inside

Ta Da! New motor and gearbox attached.

All done! To install the replacement fifth wheel landing legs, do these steps in reverse order.

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CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Downs – SO EASY!

Trying to tie down an ATV, side-by-side or boat on a trailer for safe towing can be a real pain in the neck! Fortunately, we’ve discovered the CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Downs which are a total game changer for us.

CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Down System is SO EASY!

Easy to install and a cinch to use, the CargoBuckle retractable ratchet straps revolutionized our tie-down process!

For the past six years, we have towed our Polaris RZR 900 side-by-side in three towing arrangements:

  1. On a flatbed trailer behind our fifth wheel in a “double tow” arrangement (also known as a “triple tow”)
  2. On a flatbed trailer behind our dually truck (with and without our truck camper)
  3. Inside our Genesis Supreme toy hauler.

 

TRADITIONAL TIE-DOWN RATCHET STRAPS – NOT GOOD!

Using traditional tie-down ratchet straps, we found it was nearly impossible to keep the straps fully tightened as we drove. We’d have to stop after an hour or so to tighten the straps, and then we’d stop to check them every hour or so after that if the trip was long. More often than not, they’d have loosened again and we’d have to re-tighten them.

Also, the setup on our flatbed trailer had some sharp corners and awkward angles that the tie-down straps had to cross in order to secure the side-by-side onto the trailer. This caused the straps to sever completely multiple times. We bought at least three sets of ratchet straps in just a few months of towing our side-by-side!

Needless to say, all of this was very annoying, and also made us quite uneasy when we were underway!

Triple tow Fifth wheel and flatbed trailer with side-by-side double-tow arrangement

Traveling with The Train, we got a LOT of chucking in the caboose…!

Tow Polaris RZR 900 XC EPS Edition on utility trailer-min

Mark used traditional ratchet straps at first.

 

CARGOBUCKLE RETRACTABLE RATCHET STRAPS – WHAT A GREAT CONCEPT!

Cargo Buckle Retractable Ratchet Strap secures a side-by-side onto a flatbed trailer

CargoBuckle G3 Retractable Ratchet Tie-down permanently mounted on a flatbed trailer.

Mark did some research and found a product called the CargoBuckle Retractable Rachet Tie-Down System that mounted permanently to the flatbed trailer, one for each corner of the side-by-side.

In order to tie down the side-by-side, you simply pulled out each strap and hooked it onto a tie-down location on the RZR and ratcheted it tight. To unload the side-by-side, you simply released the tension on each strap to unhook and then let it retract. Easy peasy!

Mounting the straps on the utility trailer eliminated the need to tie everything down from scratch each time we secured the RZR to the trailer. Instead, the strap was right there where we needed it. All we had to do was pull it out!

CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Down system for permanent instsallation

CargoBuckle G3 (2″ strap).

This is a super slick concept and it completely revolutionized our tie-down process. Now we could tie the RZR down in just a few minutes by pulling out each strap, hooking it onto the RZR and ratcheting it tight. Even better, the straps never loosened underway, so we never had to stop to tighten them or worry that they might come loose as we drove.

Cargo Buckle Retractable Ratchet Straps for front of a side-by-side on a flatbed trailer

The front of our RZR is tied down with two CargoBuckle retractable ratchet straps mounted on the front of the flatbed trailer.

Two CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Straps secure the back end of a side-by-side on a flatbed trailer

The back of our RZR is tied down with two CargoBuckle retractable ratchet straps mounted on the rear sides of the flatbed trailer.

It was just a matter of a few minutes to get the RZR off the trailer too. All we had to do was release each ratchet handle, unhook the strap from the side-by-side and let the strap retract. Best of all, we didn’t have to deal with long messy tie-down straps or stow them anywhere.

We loved this whole concept so much that when we bought our fifth wheel toy hauler we got another set! In addition, we got an S-hook Adapter to bolt onto each CargoBuckle so we could hook the CargoBuckles into the D-rings rather than bolting them permanently to the garage floor.

CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet TIe-Down System for a toy hauler

The CargoBuckle G3 ratchet strap is bolted to an S-adapter hook for removable installations like the D-rings on a toy hauler floor.

Besides providing a very secure tie-down as we drive, these straps are work with that we don’t hesitate to unload the RZR to go exploring for an while and then load it back into the toy hauler and carry on. This is ideal for seeking out boondocking locations down unfamiliar dirt roads.

 

FLATBED TRAILER CARGOBUCKLE INSTALLATION:

Our first CargoBuckle installation on our flatbed trailer was straight forward.

We aligned each of the retractable straps so there was a straight line between the CargoBuckle and the tie-down point on the RZR. Then we drilled a hole in the frame of the trailer for each strap and bolted the CargoBuckle onto the trailer frame. Done!

We angled the CargoBuckles slightly to ensure the straps wouldn’t cross over anything sharp that could make them chafe through. And that was it!

Use an awl before drilling a hole in the side of a flatbed trailer

First we made a starter hole in the flatbed trailer frame with a center punch.

Before drilling into a flatbed trailer frame spread 3-in-one oil on the drill bit

Then we lubed a small drill bit with 3-in-1 oil to keep the metal cool while drilling.

Drill a hole in the frame of a flatbed trailer before mounting CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Straps

Then we drilled a pilot hole.

We then selected larger and larger drill bits and repeated the lubrication/drilling process until the hole was big enough to fit the bolt.

Bolt the CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Strap onto the frame of a flatbed trailer

Once the hole was drilled, we bolted the CargoBuckle ratchet strap onto the flatbed trailer frame.

Cargo Buckle Retractable Ratchet Strap secures a side-by-side onto a flatbed trailer

One down, three to go!

 

FLATBED TRAILER CARGOBUCKLE TIE-DOWN PROCEDURE:

Securing the RZR to the flatbed trailer was now just a matter of extending each retracted strap and placing its hook in the tie-down point on the RZR and then ratcheting the strap until it was tight. Once all four straps were hooked up and tightened, the RZR was fully loaded and ready to go.

Unloading the RZR was equally easy. We released the tension on each strap, removed the hook from the RZR and retracted the strap into the CargoBuckle on the trailer.

We didn’t even have to mess with coiling and storing any long straps because they retracted out of sight on the side of the trailer!

CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Strap tie downs for a side-by-side

We positioned the front CargoBuckles close together to absorb the most severe shocks which is front-to-back.

The straps are 2 inches wide and are made of the same material as a car seatbelt. The ratcheting and releasing mechanisms are very smooth.

We’ve towed our flatbed trailer behind our truck, both with and without our pickup camper, for about 1,000 miles with no trouble whatsoever!

 

TOY HAULER INSTALLATION:

Polaris RZR side-by-side with Genesis Supreme Toy Hauler

Buddy checks out our toy hauler as the RZR waits patiently to be loaded.

The garage floor on our Genesis Supreme toy hauler has D-rings mounted on the floor (bolted to the frame) that are intended for tying down whatever toys you bring along in your travels — ATV, side-by-side, motorcycles, etc.

With an open box floor plan like ours, our garage is also our living room (yes, the RZR travels in our living space!) and the D-rings are right in the middle of our living room floor! So, the permanently mounted CargoBuckle retractable ratchet straps weren’t suitable.

Fortunately, the manufacturer of CargoBuckles, IMMI (Indiana Mills Manufacturing Inc.), makes S-Hook Adapter Straps specifically for situations where the CargoBuckles can’t be permanently mounted.

The S-Hook Adapter Straps gets bolted onto the CargoBuckle (G3) creating a single unit that has an open hook at one end, a locking hook on the other end and a ratchet mechanism in the middle.

Attaching the S-hook adapter strap to a Cargo Buckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Down System for a toy hauler installation

The CargoBuckle G3 ratchet strap is bolted to an S-hook adapter so it can be hooked to a D-ring in the toy hauler floor.

Bolting the pieces together took no time at all and gave us four ratchet straps to hook into the D-rings in the garage floor and clip onto the tie-down locations on the RZR. The D-rings are not positioned symmetrically in our toy hauler.  However, we found four that worked well for tying down the RZR, two in the front and two in the back.

CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Downs for use in a toy hauler with D-rings on the floor

All four CargoBuckle ratchet straps have S-hooks attached for use in our toy hauler.

 

TOY HAULER CARGOBUCKLE TIE-DOWN PROCEDURE:

When loading the side-by-side, we simply hook the CargoBuckle S-hook onto the D-ring in the toy hauler floor, extend the strap so it can reach the tie-down location on the RZR and clip the CargoBuckle hook onto it. We do this for all four contact points on the side-by-side.

When unloading, we release the tension in each CargoBuckle, unclip it from the side-by-side and unhook the S-hook from the D-ring in the floor. We stow our CargoBuckles on the floor by the toy hauler ramp door along with the rubber mats we place under the RZR wheels to protect the flooring as we travel.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

We have towed our RZR using the CargoBuckle retractable ratchet tie-downs 10,000 miles so far. We’ve set up camp in 64 different campsites and loaded and unloaded the side-by-side each time. In addition, we’ve loaded and unloaded the RZR dozens of other times for scouting and exploring while in transit.

Loading and unloading the RZR has been a sheer delight, and the whole setup has been rock solid in the garage and has never loosened once.

Tightening a CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Strap

Tightening the CargoBuckle at the rear of the side-by-side in the toy hauler.

Tightening a Cargo Buckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-Down

Ratcheting the rear of the RZR in the toy hauler.

Perhaps the most impressive testament to the security of this tie-down system was our 94 mile drive between Shiprock and Gallup, New Mexico, on US-491 in 2023. If you can avoid this highway, please do! It is loaded with shallow dips you can’t see as you drive but that sent our entire rig flying any time we were going faster than 50 mph.

When we finally got to our destination, we were astonished to find that the RZR hadn’t budged and the CargoBuckles were all still completely secure. However, the Lifetime cooler that we keep tied down in the back of the RZR was another story, Even though it was tightly secured on the side-by-side, it jumped clear out of the RZR on one of those flying dips.  When we opened the toy hauler ramp door, we found it dangling off the back end of the side-by-side!

Back end of a Polaris RZR side-by-side is tied down in a toy hauler using CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Straps

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If you have to tie down anything in your travels, whether it’s a side-by-side, ATV, motorcycle or boat, no matter what kind of trailer you’re tying it down to, your life be a whole lot easier if you use CargoBuckle Retractable Ratchet Tie-downs!

These clever retractable straps transformed our whole attitude towards bringing our fun little RZR along on our adventures!

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RV Keyless Entry Door Lock Problems? Try this quick fix!

Do you have one of those groovy RV keyless entry door locks on your rig? Our Genesis Supreme toy hauler came with one, and we weren’t sure we’d like it until we started using it. Then we loved it! But after a while it started having problems and acting up.

RV Keyless Entry Door Lock Repair & Quick Fix

The way these keyless entry door locks work is you punch in a secret code on the keypad and then it sings a little jingle. When you are unlocking the door, the notes in the tune ascend to a higher pitch. When you are locking it, the notes descend to a lower pitch. Kinda makes sense for opening and locking the door. Sing up and it opens, sing down and it locks.

One day when we went to unlock the door, the tune wasn’t so friendly — it made a nasty noise with two notes. Right after the nasty tune it made the sound of locking the door…but we were unlocking it!

RV keyless entry door lock

An RV keyless entry door lock is awesome — until it starts acting up!

For the next few months, every time we locked or unlocked the door we heard the nasty error message tune followed by the opposite sound for what we were doing. Unlocking the door gave the sound of locking the door, and locking it gave the sound of unlocking the door.

Every time we locked and unlocked the rig, we each thought, “We’ve gotta look up these weird sounds in the manual!” But we never did. The door still locked and unlocked, it just made weird noises. We lived with it.

RV keyless entry door lock

You enter the code and then press the “lock” or “unlock” button. It’s magic!

RV Keyless entry door lock

Finally, the other day, Mark decided enough was enough, and he opened up the battery compartment on the back side of the keyless entry keypad (on the inside of the entry door).

Back of RV keyless entry door lock

The battery compartment is accessed by removing these two screws.

The problem was immediately obvious: the batteries had leaked battery juice all over the place and they were dying a slow death.

Insides of an RV keyless entry door lock

Mark removed the cover and saw dried white fluid from the batteries.

Leaky Duracell AA batteries from an RV keyless entry door lock

The batteries were covered with yuck.

He cleaned out the little compartment that holds the batteries, put in a new set of four AA batteries, and POOF! The RV keyless entry door lock worked like a charm. No error code tune, and the locking and unlocking sounds matched what we were doing.

Duracell AA Batteries

So, if you have an RV keyless entry door lock on your rig, and it starts making unexpected sounds when you lock and unlock the door, you might need new batteries. Take the cover off the keypad and check them out. And keep some spare AA batteries on hand!

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We had battery problems on our sailboat in Mexico too:

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RV Solar Upgrade with Renogy and Go Power – QUICK & CHEAP!

We recently did an RV solar upgrade project that proved to be quick, easy and cheap. We spent just $480 to jump from 190 watts of power to 570 watts, more than enough for our boondocking off-the-grid RV lifestyle. PLUS it took less than three hours to install. What a great bang for the buck!

RV Solar Upgrade - CHEAP & EASY with Go Power + Renogy

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Our Genesis Supreme 28CRT fifth wheel toy hauler came with a small factory-installed Go Power RV solar power system that included a single 190 watt solar panel, a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter and a 30 amp PWM solar charge controller connected to four dealer-installed Group 24 12-volt wet cell batteries with a capacity of 280 amp-hours.

Factory-installed RV solar power systems like this one are now a common option on many new RVs, and Go Power (a subsidiary of Dometic) is often the brand that RV manufacturers use.

Although none of the components in the system are “best of breed,” the Go Power system worked fine for us as we boondocked every night for four months last summer. As the months wore on towards the Fall (and away from the summer solistice), however, the batteries struggled more and more each day to reach full charge. In the last few weeks in late August and September they never did.

Fortunately, the Go Power 30 amp solar charge controller that came with this system can handle up to 600 watts of solar panels, so an RV solar upgrade was possible without replacing the charge controller!

As we contemplated doing an RV solar upgrade all last summer, the debate was: do we ditch the whole factory installed system and replace it with top of the line components or do we simply add some more panels to the existing system?

 

How much solar power do you really need when you live in an RV?

Answering that question is really important because it’s incredibly easy to end up installing a far bigger and fancier system than you actually need after hearing people discussing their mammoth systems around the campfire.

Just because a friend has a huge system doesn’t mean it will make sense for you to break the bank to install one too!

How big an RV solar power system you need depends entirely on how much power you use in your day-to-day RV lifestyle and how often your boondock.

We boondock every night, but we don’t use much power. Also, since we are now seasonal travelers instead of the full-timers as we used to be, we travel primarily in the summertime when the sun is high in the sky at a good angle for the solar panels and the days are long, allowing the solar panels to work for a few extra hours.

Our primary power use is our two laptops (which we use a lot), the water pump, and the interior lights for an hour at night (we go to bed early). We don’t watch TV and we rarely use the microwave or hair dryer.

Running the air conditioning on battery power is not possible for any but the most massive RV solar power charging systems and battery banks, so it’s not part of the equation for most people. We rely on the generator for running our a/c.

With our traveling lifestyle of minimal power use, we happily lived on 480 watts and 555 watts in our trailer and sailboat respectivlely for 13 years. That was plenty of power for us except in the dead of winter when the sun was low in the sky (poor angle to the solar panels) and the days were short.

RV solar panel installation using Go Power and Renogy panels

Our toy hauler had one factory installed solar panel (center).
An easy RV solar upgrade with two more panels tripled our battery charging capacity!

When we did those installations in 2008 and 2010, they were considered to be sizable for a boat or an RV. Seeing a rig with 1,000 watts on the roof in those days made everyone’s head turn while they mouthed the word, “WOW!”

However, by today’s standards, we had small systems on both our RV and sailboat! The third owner of our boat Groovy upgraded the solar panels to 930 total watts instead of the original 555 watts.

Last year, we met a full-timing family who had 3,500 watts of solar power on the roof of their 44′ toy hauler. They also had two huge Victron solar charge controllers (the panels were wired in two separate arrays) and they had a massive bank of lithium-ion batteries in the basement.

They could run their air conditioning on battery power all day and they had a full-size residential refrigerator to boot. They liked to keep their TV on all day long and the kids spent hours watching videos on their iPads. The kids also did homework on their laptops and everyone in the family had had phones and laptops to charge. They also had several internet access devices that gave them a total of 500 GB of data each month. They used it all and sometimes fell a little short by month’s end!

So, the size of the system you need depends entirely on how you live your RV lifestyle.

We knew when we bought our toy hauler last year that 190 watts wouldn’t be enough for us long term, but we didn’t have time to fuss with and do an RV solar upgrade before starting our summer journey. We were also curious to see how it performed right from the factory.

The solar charge controller is a lower end PWM unit (Pulse Width Modulation) rather an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) type of controller that eeks out more power from the panels. We wondered if the system would work at all. We were pleasantly surprised that it worked quite well and did the job all summer long, although our batteries did get down to 11.9 or 12.0 volts on quite a few colder mornings at summer’s end, much lower than we’ve ever seen our house batteries before.

Go Power 30 amp PWM solar charge controller

Go Power 30 amp PWM solar charge controller mounted on a wall inside the rig.

Ultimately, we decided the simplest and most stress-free RV solar upgrade we could do would be to add more solar panels and leave all the other components alone.

RV Solar Upgrade – Adding New Solar Panels – Wired in Parallel or in Series?

The Go Power solar panel that came with the rig is a 12 volt 190 watt panel. Although the Go Power 30 amp solar charge controller can handle 600 watts of power coming from the panels, it is unable to operate on anything but 12 volts. Fancier charge controllers can work with the panels at 24, 36 or 48 volts and then step down the voltage to 12 volts to charge the batteries.

This limitation meant we didn’t have the option of using 24 volt panels which are generally cheaper per watt. Also, it meant that the new panels would have to be wired in parallel with the existing panel to keep them all at 12 volts rather than having the option of wiring them in series because it would put the solar array at 36 volts.

As a side note, even though we didn’t have a choice in this case, the decision whether to wire the solar panels in parallel versus in series is a matter of how much shade the panels might encounter and how long the cable runs will be versus the guage of the wire.

When solar panels are wired in series, if one panel gets shaded, all the panels reduce their power output dramatically. Also, the voltage of the panels is cumulative while the current stays the same. That is, three 12-volt panels will be at 36 volts but the current running in the wires will be the nominal current of a single panel, for instance, 10 amps.

When solar panels are wired in parallel, if one panel gets shaded, the others continue to produce power at their normal rate. So, in a three panel array, if one panel drops out you still get 2/3 of the power because the other two panels are still working. Also, the voltage of the panels remains the same but the current is cumulative. That is, three 12-volt panels will be at 12 volts but the current will be additive, or 30 amps.

The more current there is in a wire, the shorter that wire has to be before some of the current dissipates as heat, leaving you less current for charging the batteries. A heavier guage wire will retain more current over a longer distance, but it is harder to work with during the installation and it is more expensive.

For reference, we wired the panels on our old full-timing fifth in series, and that worked fine because we almost always parked in full sun and rarely had any kind of shade on the panels. However, we wired the panels on our sailboat in parallel because the mast and boom cast a huge moving shadow across the panels as the boat swung at anchor, so one or another of the panels was frequently knocked out of the system.

New Solar Panels – What Size?

Whether the panels were wired in series or in parallel, any new panels we added to our system would produce the same watts as the existing panel: 190 watts. Even if the new panels were bigger than 190 watts, they would match the lower wattage of the existing panel.

There weren’t many 190 watt 12 volt panels available, except the same model Go Power panel we already had on the roof, and their panel is very expensive.

Go Power 190 watt solar expansion kit

Instead, we got two Renogy 200 watt 12 volt panels, and these seem to be good quality. Because the new panels will drop down to 190 watts to match the existing panel in the system, this RV solar upgrade will give us 570 watts of total power (3 x 190).

570 watts is more than either our boat or our full-time trailer, so it should be more than enough!

Renogy 200 watt solar panel

As for the batteries, we don’t have room for more batteries, and the existing batteries haven’t died yet (to my surprise!). So, we’ve decided to hold off on swapping out the batteries until another season.

 

RV Solar Upgrade: Installation

The total cost of the solar power upgrade was about $480 which included:

The tools required to do this RV solar upgrade project were:

The installation was straight forward.

On the back of each panel — both the existing one on the roof and the two new ones — there is a junction box with two 10 AWG leads (positive and negative). They are about 18 inches long and have MC4 connectors on the ends.

Renogy solar panel junction box and MC4 connectors

Most solar panels have a junction box and short leads with MC4 connectors on the ends, one positive and one negative.

On the existing solar panel, the MC4 connectors at the ends of these cables were connected to two other cables that ran from the roof of the RV down to the solar charge controller inside the rig.

All of this cabling was invisible as you looked at the face of the solar panel on the roof because it was all underneath it. Also, beneath the solar panel, there were two holes in the roof where the cables went into the interior of the rig down to the solar charge controller.

Renogy solar panel MC4 wires and junction box

Most solar panels have a junction box and two leads with MC4 connectors on the ends.

Here is a rough diagram showing the solar panel with its junction box and two 10 AWG cables with their MC4 connectors. These connectors are attached to two MC4 connectors on the ends of a long length of 10 AWG cable that goes through a hole in the roof (the blue circle) down to the solar charge controller in the interior of the rig (not shown).

The holes in the roof are actually under the panel, but this drawing shows the holes being above the panel so the diagram isn’t too messy!

Diagram of single solar panel with MC4 connectors on an RV roof

Our factory installed solar panel had two leads, positive and negative, that attached to wires coming up through the roof from the charge controller inside the rig. The holes in the roof (blue circles) are actually located under the panel.

We purchased two 3-to-1 branch adapters that would make it super easy to wire the three panels in parallel. The adapters look like bird feet with three toes (one for each solar panel), and a leg that would attach to the cable that went through the roof into the rig.

One adapter would be connected to the positive side of the system and one would be connected to the negative side. That is, all three positive leads, one from each panel, would connect to the three toes on one bird foot (the “positive” 3-to-1 branch connector) and all three negative leads, one from each panel, would connect to the three toes on the other bird foot (the “negative” 3-to-1 branch connector).

We also bought two 6′ lengths of 10 AWG cable with MC4 connectors pre-installedat each end. These were essentially extension cables that would connect to the MC4 connectors on the cables coming up through the roof from the charge controller down in the rig.

They were color coded, so the red one would connect to the positive cable coming up through the roof and the black one would connect to the negative cable coming up from the charge controller.

Fortunately, Genesis Supreme had labeled the cables coming up from the charge controller so we could tell which one was positive and which was negative.

MC4 solar panel wire connectors for an RV installation

We got two 3-to-1 branch connector (“bird feet”) and one 6′ pair of 10 AWG cables with MC4 connectors pre-installed on the ends.

Here is a rough diagram showing the layout of the cables. As in the previous diagram, the two blue circles are the holes in the roof which are actually located beneath the original solar panel in the middle. However, for simplicity in showing how the cables connect, the “holes in the roof” are located above the panels in this diagram and the 6′ extension cables are really short!

Diagram of RV solar power upgrade from 1 panel to 3 panels in parallel

Our 2 new panels would be wired in parallel with the existing panel, connecting all the positives together on one 3-to-1 branch connector and all the negatives on the other. The extension cables would connect to the wires coming up through the holes in the roof (blue circles). Note that the holes in the roof are actually under the center panel and the 6′ extension cables are drawn super short.

Our mission was to :

  1. Lift the existing solar panel so we could access the cabling underneath
  2. Disconnect the MC4 connectors on the panel’s leads from the MC4 connectors on the cables that come up from the solar charge controller in the rig
  3. Reconnect the cables coming from the charge controller to the new 6′ “extension” cables
  4. Connect the “extension” cables to the legs of the 3-to-1 branch connectors which would designate one as “positive” and one as “negative”
  5. Connect each panel’s positive cable to the “positive” 3-to-1 branch connectors
  6. Connect each panel’s negative cable to the “negative” 3-to-1 branch connectors

All of this would be done by snapping the MC4 connectors together, simply inserting one end into the other and pressing it together. So easy!

There’s a special tool for disconnecting MC4 connectors, but you can also disconnect them with your fingers by keeping the tab on one side depressed as you pull the two pieces apart.

Connecting MC4 connectors in an RV solar panel installation

MC4 connectors snap together.

To get at the cables under the existing Go power solar panel, Mark removed the hardened sealant that was covering each of the mounting brackets. He used a screwdriver but a narrow and rigid putty knife would work too.

Removing a Go Power solar panel from an RV roof

First step was to lift up the existing panel which required removing the sealant on the mounting bracket screws and then unscrewing the screws.

Then he unscrewed each of the screws holding the mounting brackets in place.

We bought a wonderful cordless power screwdriver last year that we BOTH absolutely LOVE! It makes screwing and unscrewing things infinitely easier than doing it by hand, and it’s much less bulky than a cordless drill.

Ryobi cordless screwdriver
Removing a Go Power solar panel from an RV roof

Unscrewing the screws.
The cordless screwdriver is one of our favorite tools!

He unscrewed all four feet and then lifted up one side to get at the cables underneath.

Changing the wiring under a Go Power solar panel under an RV roof

Working under the existing solar panel.

A positive (red) and negative (black) cable came up through the roof from the interior of the rig where they were connected to the solar charge controller and were connected directly to the solar panel. Mark disconnected each cable from the solar panel and then reconnected them to the two 6′ extension cables we had purchased.

Changing the wiring under a solar panel on an RV roof

The positive and negative extension cables go between the 3-to-1 branch connectors and the cables coming up through the roof from the charge controller inside the rig.

Then he connected the extension cables to the “legs” of each of the two 3-to-1 MC4 branch connectors (bird feet) and connected the solar panel’s negative and positve leads to the “toes” of the 3-to-1 branch connectors.

RV solar panel MC4 connector wiring on an RV roof

The original panel (black leads going to the middle “toes”) and the solar charge controller (red and black extension cables going to the “legs”) are now wired into the 3-to-1 branch connectors. We ran into the rig to verify everything looked okay and we saw the float voltage of 13.5 volts on the charge controller display.

Next, we needed to get the two new Renogy solar panels onto the roof of the RV, place them on either side of the existing panel, and then connect their positive and negative leads to the positive and negative 3-to-1 branch connectors.

Before that, though, we needed to figure out how to get the panels up onto the roof which is 13.5 feet in the air! We opened the patio of the toy hauler and put a ladder on it. This was much more secure than carrying a heavy solar panel one handed up the ladder attached to the side of the rig!

Ladder roof access on a toy hauler RV patio

The most solid way to get the panels up to the roof was to put a ladder on the patio!

Lifting a solar panel onto an RV roof

Here comes the first one!

Once we got both panels up on the roof, we attached the MC4 connectors on the two new panels’ leads to the outer “toes” of the two 3-to-1 branch connectors, positive to positive and negative to negative.

Now all three panels were completely wired up in parallel.

Three solar panels wired with MC4 connectors on an RV roof

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The next step was to mount the solar panels on the roof.

The roof is just wide enough (it’s an 8.5′ “widebody” trailer) that we could place the three panels side by side, leaving enough space between them so we could walk beyond them to the far end of the rig.

First Mark screwed the original Go Power panel’s mounting brackets back into the roof.

Then we used the Renogy mounting Z brackets to mount the new Renogy solar panels. The Renogy mounting brackets came with very handy hex head self-tapping screws.

Self-tapping screws for installing a Renogy solar panel on an RV roof

Self-tapping screws. So easy!

Then Mark used a scratch awl to make a starter hole for the self-tapping screws. Pounding a nail in a little ways would have worked too.

Mounting an RV solar panel on the roof

Mark made a starter hole for the screws with a scratch awl.

Then he used a cordless drill with a hex head bit to screw them in all the way.

RV solar panel installation- attaching the solar panels to the roof

The mounting Z brackets got screwed into the roof.

Solar panel mounting brackets screw directly into the RV roof

Done.

Last of all, he used Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant in a caulk gun to cover all the screws and seal all the edges of the mounting brackets. This will ensure that no water can find its way through the roof!

Sealing the holes in an RV roof after mounting a solar panel

Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant seals the whole mounting bracket so water can’t leak in.

Dicor Lap Sealant on a solar panel mounting bracket

After the Dicor Lap Sealant had leveled out, it completely surrounded and covered the mounting bracket

Ta da! The finished product looked great!

RV solar upgrade cheap and easy with Go Power and Renogy

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I couldn’t believe how easy this project turned out to be. Of course, the hardest parts were already done for us: running the cables from the roof down into the interior of the rig, wiring up the solar charge controller and wiring up the inverter. All we had to do was add two more panels and wire them up with the handy MC4 connectors.

If you have purchased a rig that has a “starter” solar power system like the Go Power system on our toy hauler, it’s not difficult to upgrade it like we did so you have the maximum amount of solar panel wattage that the charge controller can accept.

One thing to consider before buying any solar gear, especially from an online retailer, is to buy each piece individually rather than in a big kit. The problem with a kit is that if one item in the kit doesn’t work and needs to be returned, online retailers, like Amazon, may require you to return the entire kit. If the failed element is a solar panel and you’ve already installed the other panels in the kit and they are working fine, it may be a hassle to get approval to return just the one broken panel. I’ve read of cases where the entire system had to be dismantled and reboxed and sent back. For that reason, we opted to buy each piece separately just in case.

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Further reading…

SOLAR POWER OVERVIEW and TUTORIAL

BATTERIES and BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEMS

LIVING ON 12 VOLTS

ARTICLES ABOUT OUR GENESIS SUPREME TOY HAULER

REFERENCES

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More of our Latest Posts are in the MENU.   New to this site? Visit RVers Start Here to find where we keep all the good stuff. Also check out our COOL NEW GEAR STORE!! *** CLICK HERE *** to see it!

Demco 21K Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Review and Installation

When we sold our Hitchhiker fifth wheel, which had been home-sweet-home for twelve of the thirteen years of our full-time RV adventure, we thought we’d never own a fifth wheel trailer again. So, we let our fifth wheel hitch go with the trailer as part of the sale.

Oops! Never say “Never!”

After trying Truck Camper Vacation Life for a year, we realized we wanted a bigger RV, and we purchased a 2022 Genesis Supreme 28CRT fifth wheel toy hauler for extended travels and shorter getaways.

Suddenly, we needed a hitch so we could tow our new trailer home from the seller’s storage lot! Enter the Demco Recon 21k Fifth Wheel Hitch!

Demco 21K Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Review and Installation

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This is a detailed article. Here are shortcut links to each section:

Demco Recon 21k Hitch

We’ve owned two fifth wheel hitches over the years. The first was a Pullrite traditional fifth wheel hitch that was installed permanently on rails mounted under the bed of our 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 single rear wheel truck. This rail-mounted hitch design had been an industry standard for fifth wheel hitches for many years. We used it for 7 years.

Our second hitch was a B&W Ram OEM fifth wheel hitch. This new style hitch used the Dodge Ram OEM factory installed pucks that came with our 2016 Ram 3500 dually to mount the hitch to the truck bed. The four corners of the hitch base were secured into the four pucks by turning each puck handle a quarter turn. The hitch could be removed from the truck just as easily simply by turning the four puck handles, a game changer! We used that hitch for 5 years.

We loved being able to install and remove the B&W hitch at a moment’s notice, even though it had a big, beefy base that was a little bit of a challenge for one person to manage alone. So, when we went hitch shopping, we wanted our new hitch to be equally mobile but a bit lighter, if at all possible.

01 771 Genesis Supreme 28CRT toy hauler towed by Ram 3500 dually truck with Demco 21K Recon fifth wheel hitch

Our first stop on our 16 week maiden voyage!

One of the shortcomings of any OEM puck system fifth wheel hitch is that the three diesel pickup manufacturers, Ford, GM and Dodge, have all designed their own unique footprints for the placement of their pucks in their pickup beds. This means that an OEM hitch designed for a Ram truck will not work in a Chevy or Ford and vice versa.

As we contemplated which hitch to get for our new toy hauler, we knew that there might come a day fairly soon when we would want to replace our current truck. Of course, that may never happen, especially given the weird state of the car and truck market today, but it has been on our minds for a while.

So, our hitch requirements boiled down to these two:

  1. Could be easily installed in or removed from the bed of any brand or age of truck
  2. Would be comprised of components light and small enough for one person to maneuver alone

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch – A Gooseneck Ball Mounted Hitch!

We discovered that the Demco 21k Recon fifth wheel hitch is mounted on a gooseneck ball in a gooseneck receiver in the truck bed. Gooseneck receivers come standard with all OEM puck systems and can also be installed as an after-market addition in any truck that doesn’t have an OEM puck system.

The beauty of this hitch design is that the Demco 21k Recon fifth wheel hitch can be used in any brand or age of truck. This took care of Requirement #1 in our new hitch wish list!

Like the OEM puck system fifth wheel hitches, the Demco 21k Recon fifth wheel hitch is installed in two basic parts: a base that installs onto a gooseneck ball mounted in the gooseneck receiver in the pickup bed, and a hitch head which mounts onto the base and latches onto the kingpin of the fifth wheel trailer.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Base

The Base unit for the Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch

The hitch head can be further broken down into two parts: the actual hitch head itself and a center column that inserts into the base. These two parts can be installed and removed separately, which adds a step to the process but keeps each individual part quite lightweight. Or they can be handled as a single and slightly heavier unit.

Upright Centerl Column Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch

The Center Column (or “Upright”) that supports the hitch head.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Head

The hitch head for the Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel

I called Demco to talk to a salesperson about the hitch and get some details about the sizes and weights of the individual components.

And I was absolutely floored when an operator answered the phone on the second ring and immediately transferred me to a salesman who picked right up and greeted me warmly.

How often does THAT happen nowadays?

We were delighted to find that the total weight of the hitch and the weights and physical dimensions of the individual components were slightly less than other manufacturers’ OEM puck based hitches. That took care of Requirement #2 in our hitch wish list!

But back to that phone call… In a fifth wheel towing setup, the fifth wheel hitch is one of the most important pieces of equipment to ensure you get down the road safely. For us, it is reassuring to have the company behind the product be easy to reach by phone without having to listen to endless lists of menu selections, punch in endless numbers and wind up leaving a voicemail in some unmonitored voicemail box anyway. In the RV industry today, most brands are owned by massive umbrella corporations. It is rare to find an independent manufacturer that is not a subsidiary of a massive corporation.

Demco Recon 21k Fifth Wheel Hitch Specifications:

  • Rated to tow a 21,000 lb. trailer. Our toy hauler has a GVWR of 15,000 lbs which is well within the limit.
  • Mounts onto a standard 4″ tall 2 5/16 gooseneck ball.
  • Total Hitch Weight: 134 lbs.

The component weights are:

  • Head Weight: 35.75 lbs.
  • Center Column Weight: 20 lbs.
  • Base Weight: 78.25 lbs.

If the Center Column and Base remain connected as a single unit, the weights of the two components are:

  • Head Weight: 35.75 lbs.
  • Center Column + Base Weight: 98.25 lbs

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Installation

The installation proved to be straight forward. As mentioned above, the hitch has three main components:

  1. The Base which is installed on a gooseneck ball in the truck bed
  2. The Center Column which slides into the Base and sets the overall height of the hitch
  3. The Head which mounts on the Center Column and whose jaw latches onto the trailer’s kingpin.

The parts included the following:

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Base and Base Parts

The Base, the Center Column Upright and some pins.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Head Handle and Parts

The Head, hitch handle and bolt, and a blue urethane pivot bumper.


Tools Required for Installation

Installing the Base

The gooseneck coupler (or socket) on the underside of the Base slips over the gooseneck ball in the bed of the truck.

If you flip over the Base, you can see that the coupler is slilghtly offest from the center of the Base. The coupler location is offset to accommodate the Center Column which stands directly in the center of the Base (for balanced support) and holds the Hitch Head.

Demco 21K Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch underside of the Base

On the underside of the Base you can see the gooseneck ball socket is offset from center.

When the hitch is installed in the truck bed, the gooseneck ball coupler is positioned towards the cab of the truck.

The Base is secured to the gooseneck ball in the truck bed by sliding the Coupler Pin through the hole in the square column at the bottom of the Base. By tightening the Top Coupler Bolt nut on the top of the Base to 30 ft-lbs, the Coupler Pin is cinched up against the Base, clamping the Base and gooseneck ball together into the bed of the truck. A very clever design!

Before getting to that step, however, the Top Coupler Bolt on the Base was loosened so the gooseneck ball coupler would slide over the gooseneck ball easily. We did this before placing the hitch in the truck bed.

Unbolt collar Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

The Bolt Retainer Assembly was removed and the Top Coupler Bolt was loosened so the hitch Base could slip over the gooseneck ball in the truck bed.

Remove bolt retainer assembly Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

The Bolt Lock Plate was removed.

The Top Coupler Bolt was loosened.

Then the Base was placed in the bed of the truck with the Gooseneck Ball Coupler sliding over the Gooseneck ball. As you can see, when the hitch is removed from the truck, the entire bed of the truck is open except for the small bump of the gooseneck ball. You can haul things in the truck or just drive around peacefully without a fifth wheel hitch clanking around in the back (especially helpful when driving on rutted dirt roads)!

Pickup truck bed with gooseneck ball

The gooseneck ball was ready and waiting in the pickup bed.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Base in Truck Bed

The hitch Base was mounted onto the gooseneck ball. The footprint of the Base is contained well inside the four OEM pucks which makes it both lighter and less awkward to maneuver than a larger OEM fifth wheel hitch base.

In order to secure the Base into the bed of the truck, the Coupler Pin was inserted into the Coupler Hole on the Base below the round head of the gooseneck ball. Then the nut on the Top Coupler Bolt was tightened to 30 ft-lbs using a torque wrench and 15/16 socket.

Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch Ready for torque

The Top Coupler Bolt cinches the Coupler Pin under the Gooseneck Ball up against the Base frame, securing the hitch Base onto the ball.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Top bolt

The Top Coupler Bolt is tightened to 30 ft-lbs.

The Bolt Lock Plate was placed over the Top Coupler Bolt head and then tightened the adjacent 1/4″ bolt with a 7/16 socket. The Bolt Retainer assembly blocks the Top Coupler Bolt from turning.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Notched Bolt Lock Plate

The Bolt Lock Plate slides over the Top Coupler Bolt and is held in place with a 1/4 inch bolt to prevent the Top Coupler Bolt from unscrewing.

Notched bolt lock plate aligns correctly flipped over

The Bolt Lock Plate goes over the Top Coupler Bolt.

Notched bolt lock plate with two bolts

The Bolt Retainer Assembly was secured using a 7/16 socket on the 1/4 inch bolt.

Installing the Center Column

Next, the Center Column was placed into the square opening in the Base.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Inserting Center Column in the Base

The Center Column was placed in the square opening in the Base.

The Center Column can be positioned at one of three different heights that are 1 1/4 inches apart. The height of the Center Column determines the vertical distance between the bottom of the fifth wheel overhang and the top of the truck box. Demco recommends that this distance should be about 6 inches.

The middle height looked like it would be the best choice, so we placed the Cross Pin through the center hole in the Center Column. The Cross Pin was secured with an R-clip.

Hitch head height Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

The Cross Pin is inserted in the middle hole in the Center Column

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Cotter Pin

An R-clip secures the other end of the Cross Pin.

Two set screws hold the Center Column in place in the Base. Using a 3/4 inch 12 point socket, the set screws were tightened to Demco’s recommended spec of 100 ft-lbs of torque. Then the jam nuts were tightened using a 15/16 inch deep well socket.

12 point socket Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

The two set screws holding the Center Column in place were tightened to 100 ft-lbs with a 3/4 inch 12 point socket. The jam nuts were tightened with a 15/16/ deep well socket.

721 Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Torque to 100 ft-lbs

The Set Screws were tightened to 100 ft-lbs with a torque wrench.

Installing the Head

Flipping the head over, the blue Urethane Pivot Bumper was placed on the bottom of the Head. This quiets the hitch when you aren’t towing.

Dampening bumper for hitch head 27 721 Hitch head pin Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

To minimize noise when not towing, a urethane pivot bumper dampens the movement of the hitch head.

Dampening bumper for hitch head Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

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Then the Head was placed onto the Base, and a 1 inch Pin was slid through it to hold it in place. The 1″ Pin was secured with a Lynch Pin.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch Installing the Center Column

The hitch Head was set onto the Base.

Hitch head pin Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

A 1″ pin held it in place.

Demco 21k Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch D-Ring on Center Column

The 1″ pin was secured by a Lynch Pin.

Then the Hitch Handle was assembled. A Safety Lock Pin held the handle in place while the bolt was tightened. A light coat of White Lithium Grease was applied between the Safety Lock Pin hole and the handle housing.

Hitch handle Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

The Safety Lock Pin held the handle open so the bolt on the handle could be tightened.

Lube hitch handle Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch

A light coat of White Lithium Grease lubricated the hitch handle.

That was it!

Genesis Supreme 28CRT Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel towed using a Demco 21K Recon Fifth Wheel Hitch

Ready for new travel adventures!

Hitching and Unhitching

There are many different mechanisms used for locking a fifth wheel hitch’s jaws around a kingpin. The jaws of the Demco Recon hitch wrap completely around the kingpin. This 360 degree wrap makes a very tight seal around the kingpin and helps reduce chucking when towing, which we loved.

Demco 21K 5th Wheel Hitch has a wraparound locking jaw

The Demco 21K Recon fifth wheel hitch has a very tight wrap-around jaw that minimizes chucking.

However, the hitch’s tight wrap-around jaw also makes the process of hitching and unhitching a little bit more finicky.

Demco provides two brief videos that show the process of hitching up and unhitching (“coupling and uncoupling”) in action (click here and here).

These are well worth watching to get a feeling for the relative positions of the hitch head and the king pin. The videos are for Demco’s rail mounted fifth wheel hitch, but the positioning of the components is identical to the Demco 21k Recon gooseneck ball hitch.

Demco also recommends using wheel chocks for both hitching and unhitching operations. We weren’t accustomed to using wheel chocks, but we found they made a huge difference in easing the fifth wheel’s king pin into and out of the Demco hitch while preventing the trailer from rolling slightly.

RV wheel chocks

Wheel chocks are recommended when hitching and unhitching with this hitch.

The Demco 21K Recon hitch also requires that the fifth wheel’s landing jacks be lowered slightly below where they would be with other hitches.

We found that as we were hitching up, the trailer king pin’s lube plate needed to be positioned slightly lower than the hitch plate. The truck would squat a bit once the trailer was hitched up. Eyeballing across the lube plate and hitch head, the lube plate needed to be coming at the hitch about halfway up the little lip on the edge of the hitch head.

When unhitching, there needed to be just a slight hairline crack of light showing between the king pin’s lube plate and the hitch plate. Since our truck has a factory installed auto-leveling system, we’ve found we need to wait until the truck bed has completely stopped raising or lowering and then see if a hairline crack of light is visible betwen the lube plate and the hitch plate.

For unhitching, Demco provides a Safety Lock Pin to hold the hitch handle open until the truck has pulled out completely. We found we needed to use this Lock Pin whenever we unhitched or the handle would close on its own before the truck had pulled out completely.

Demco 21K 5th wheel hitch with handle open for unhitching

The Safety Lock Pin holds the hitch handle open while unhitching.

We also stabilized our Rota-Flex pin box with an Andersen Rota-Flex lockout kit as Demco recommended. Because both the Rota-Flex pin box and the Demco hitch are mobile in multiple directions, the two can end up working against each other. One will move in one direction and then the other will compensate for that motion in a counterproductive way. The Anderson Rota-Flex lockout kit prevents the pin box from moving at all, allowing the Demco hitch to make all the movements necessary to hitch up or unhitch.

After using the Anderson Rota-Flex lockout kit for a few thousands miles during our trip, we removed it and found that we didn’t really need it. So, if your trailer has a Rota-Flex king pin, you might try using the Demco hitch without the lockout kit first and purchase the lockout kit only if you are having trouble hitch and unhitching.

Towing

Underway, we have found that when suddenly accelerating or braking hard, or turning a sharp corner or starting a steep climb or descent, the hitch sometimes clunks loudly as it adjusts to the change in motion.

However, although we’ve taken the trailer over some very rough terrain and deeply pot-holed dirt roads, we’ve found the motion of the trailer has been surprisingly smooth. This absence of chucking is due to the very tight fit of the wraparound jaws encircling the king pin and is a wonderful feature.

After about 1,000 miles of towing, the shaft of the Center Column began to wobblie slightly. Interestingly, the set screws hadn’t come loose by unscrewing themselves because the two jam nuts were still tight. Probably the set screws had worn away a little metal on the shaft from all the jiggling as we went down the road. We didn’t have our torque wrench with us, so Mark tightened the two set screws as hard as he could and they never loosened again.

After 4,000 miles of towing, we noticed that the hitch base had twisted very slightly in the truck bed, about 5 degrees of rotation. This was due to the hitch being secured to the truck in just one location in the center, by compression on the gooseneck ball, rather than being connected in four corners like an OEM or traditional hitch. With the hitch slightly twisted in the truck bed, it was harder to slide the king pin in and out of the jaws while hitching and unhitching. We straightened the hitch and tightened it down again and it hasn’t twisted since.

One of our readers left a comment below suggesting that we try putting a rubber horse mat (sold at farm and feed stores) in the bed of the truck under the hitch with a hole in it for the gooseneck ball. This would provide some friction that might prevent rotation and would also protect the bed of the truck.

Demco 21K Recon 5th Wheel Hitch rotated in the bed of the truck

After 4,000 miles of towing we noticed the hitch had rotated slightly in the truck bed. We realigned and retightened the hitch and it hasn’t rotated again.

Portability

The three components of this hitch are slightly lighter than some of the OEM puck system hitch counterparts, and the Base has a smaller footprint too, so it is less awkward to load into and unload from the truck bed than other hitch bases.

Mark can lift the Base in and out of the truck easily by himself. Of course, it is even easier with a second pair of hands and I happily jump in to help! The other two components, the Center Column and Head, are easily lifted and maneuvered by one person, even me.

That said, if you choose to keep the Center Column attached to the Base after the initial installation, which saves you from loosening and re-tightening the two set screw bolts on the Base to torque spec, then two people may be required to lift that Base/Center Column combined unit in and out of the truck.

Overall Impressions

The three great benefits of the Demco 21k Recon fifth wheel hitch are that it is:

  • Compatible with any pickup truck
  • Easily installed and removed by one person
  • Almost free of chucking when towing

The process of hitching and unhitching is a little different than with other fifth wheel hitches but is easily mastered (it took us a while to realize we had been doing it wrong!). The hitch also required two small adjustments after we had used it for a few thousand miles, but our adjustments have held since we made them.

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Truck Camper and Small RV Storage Tips!

We’ve been taking our new-to-us truck camper on short jaunts this summer. These “shakedown” cruises are helping us figure out the ins and outs of traveling in a truly tiny home, and we’ve learned a lot about living large in a very small space.

In the process, we’ve come up with some storage ideas that we’d like to share.

Truck Camper and Small RV Storage Tips

Northwood Manufacturing did a great job with creating large storage spaces throughout our 2005 Arctic Fox 860 camper. There is a full height closet, two shirt closets, huge bins on either side of the bed that can hold lots of clothes and good sized storage spaces under the dinette seats, not to mention several cabinets and a sliding pantry.

However, creating storage spaces for small things like keys, glasses, flashlights, pocket knifes, pens, pads, small tools, etc., are projects they leave up to us RVers. And it’s been fun to get creative!

The first thing we noticed on our maiden voyage was that all our small stuff kept ending up in a huge pile on top of the dinette table. Nothing makes a small space feel really cluttered than having a single horizontal space piled high with stuff.

So, we mounted a few different types of storage spaces for small items on the walls.

As a reminder of what our camper looks like inside, here are pics of the interior so you can see the bigger picture of where each storage item wound up.

Arctic Fox 860 truck camper kitchen

The kitchen needed a few extra goodies to increase the storage sapce

2005 Arctic Fox 860 Truck Camper interior

The dinette also got some simple upgrades to keep the dining table clutter-free.

For starters, we put a spice rack on the wall next to the range hood right below the microwave’s swinging door but high enough to be out of the heat of the flames on the range. This is handy for all those things I like to have “right there” for cooking.

Spice rack on RV camper wall

A spice rack near the range makes cooking essentials easy to reach.

There is very little counter space, and I found that a second spice rack under the window helped get things like dish soap up off the counter so other things could be tucked underneath as needed.

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The towel rack was already in place, whether from the manufacturer or the previous owner, I don’t know. I added another towel rack for a dish cloth.

Spice rack on RV camper kitchen wall

Wire spice racks proved useful in the kitchen and elsewhere! A towel rack for the dish cloth helps it dry fast and keeps it off the faucet.

We like bananas and when we lived in our fifth wheel we had a banana hook for hanging banana bunches that we used a lot. So, we put a ceiling hook (also called a “swag hook” for hanging plants) in between the range hood and the kitchen light. It is screwed directly into the bottom of the cabinet. We may put a second one on the other side of the light too. In that position it would be further from the heat from the range burners.

We’ve found in both the fiver and the truck camper that the bananas actually stay on the hook while we’re in transit, even on bumpy dirt roads, and this helps keep them from bruising as we move from place to place.

Truck camper storage upgrades banana hook

Bananas bruise so easily we like to hang them up on a ceiling hook!

Although we rarely used a toaster in our fifth wheel, we’ve been enjoying having one in our sticks-and-bricks life and we wanted to have one in this camper too. Toasters and other small kitchen appliances are bulky and awkward, and I almost gave up on finding a home for it.

However, there’s a large cabinet over the sink that has just one shelf in it, and if I could get a second shelf in there it would be perfect for the toaster. After tossing a few ideas around for installing a shelf in that cabinet, I found a standalone shelf unit that fits perfectly. The dishware is stored underneath and the toaster fits on top. I take the toaster down and put it in the sink when we travel, but while we’re camping it is wonderful to store it out of the way and be able access it easily when we want to use it.

Standalone shelf for kitchen cabinet in truck camper

The big kitchen cabinet needed a second shelf. Building one in would be a good idea too, but I like this standalone shelf unit.

We’ve always had key hooks over our entry door, so we put two sets of four hooks over the door.

Key hooks on RV camper wall

Our many keys and glasses all need a home of their own and these key hooks work well.

After a few trips, we realized that these 8 hooks weren’t enough. Between the keys to the camper, the truck and the RZR plus multiple pairs of sunglasses (light ones and dark ones), multiple pairs of reading glasses (strong and weak) and various hats, we decided to add two more strips of 7 hooks each going right across the wall so there would be plenty of room for all those things.

There is almost no space between this rear wall of the camper and the slide-out wall as it slides in and out. So, all the things on the hooks have to be put elsewhere when we travel, but the hooks themselves fit just fine and it sure is convenient while we’re camping to have a home for all those items.

Key hooks inside RV camper

A long row of key hooks gives us lots of hanging options, and although we have to remove the items to move the slide-out, the strips of hooks themselves don’t interfere with the slide-out movement.

One of our earliest outings was a trip to visit our friends Ann and Phil who were camping nearby in the woods.

Phil and Ann have been living in RVs for over three decades and are a wealth of knowledge. They travel in both a “winter home” that is a beautifully appointed Alpenlite fifth wheel and a “summer home” which is a smaller, really well laid out and more maneuverable Class C. Phil spent his working years as diesel mechanic and mobile RV mechanic and he has an incredible shop built onto the back of his Freightliner that is a sight to behold. He and Ann ran an RV park for many years, and Ann is full of great ideas for ways to make life in an RV comfy and cozy.

During our visit they had two great suggestions for us. The first was to use a product called Alien Tape to mount lighter things on the walls of the RV. This is a double sided tape that has a stronger stickiness than any tape we’ve seen before, and it doesn’t ruin the walls when you remove it.

We used this tape to mount the key hooks and it was a snap. Later, when we mounted a clock and then decided we didn’t like the location, all it took was a good strong twist and the Alien Tape came off of the wall and also came off the clock and didn’t leave a mark or a stain behind.

Key hooks and Alien Tape for mountain inside RV camper

Alien Tape makes it a cinch to hang things on the walls — and remove them too!

We also wanted a bigger storage area for things like sunscreen, moisturizer, bug spray, wallets, flashlights, etc., right by the door. I found two cloth hanging baskets that fit perfectly in the space next to the bathroom sliding door — his and hers!

Hanging wall storage baskets on walls inside RV

These hanging baskets are good for slightly bigger items including wallets, moisturizer, sunscreen and flashlights that we want by the door.

You can also see the side-view of these baskets in the previous photos of the keyhooks.

The tricky thing with finding places to mount mini-shelves and storage areas on the walls is that we didn’t want to bump into them as we moved about and we didn’t want them to obstruct the movement of the slide-out as it went in and out.

The bare walls in the dinette were begging to be useful. Those walls aren’t near the slide-out movement, but we did have to worry about banging our heads on anything we put there if we leaned back in our seats.

Empty wall in RV dinette

This wall could definitely help increase our storage.

Empty wall inside RV truck camper dinette

So could this one!

They turned out to be the perfect places for more spice racks to hold things like our two-way radios, current book we’re reading, iPad, etc

We put one on each wall. Both were mounted high enough so if we threw our heads back they wouldn’t hit the racks.

Spice rack for storage in RV truck camper dinette

The spice rack can hold pocket knives, a book or two, an iPad and other goodes.

Spice rack doubles as a shelf for extra storage in a truck camper

The movement of the slide-out wouldn’t impact this space at all but we did have to place the spice rack high enough so we wouldn’t hit our heads on it if we leaned back in our seats.

We both enjoy reading magazines, especially if we’re camping in a place with no internet (which happened quite a bit this summer!).

There is a big open wall space next to the refrigerator that could definitely hold something. However, the slide-out comes in along this wall, so there is only about an inch of depth, just enough for a magazine or very thin book but not enough for a solid plastic wall filing system.

I found a fabric magazine rack designed to hold manila folders for school teachers, and it works perfectly. I put a manila folder in each pocket to keep the pockets from sagging. Mark used extra screws and washers on either side to hold the whole thing flat against the wall.

Hanging wall magazine storage in RV truck camper

We like to read magazines and this fabric magazine rack is nearly flush to the wall which makes it ideal for avoiding the slide-out wall as it moves in and out. It holds plenty of magazines!

We’ve always had a big struggle with shoe storage. We like to have a variety of shoes — a pair of running shoes, hiking boots, slippers and slip-on shoes/sandals for each of us — so the pile of footwear by the door is huge no matter where we live.

There is a tiny space between the step in front of the dinette and the back wall of the camper where I squeezed in a single tier shoe rack.

This shoe rack comes unassembled as a bunch of rods and shelf supports with holes in them for the rods. The smallest model I could find was a five tier unit, so I took the rods and shelf supports for just one level for the camper and built a separate four tier unit to use in our home.

Shoe rack inside RV truck camper doorway

Our shoe chaos was solved with one tier of a multi-tier shoe rack.

It doesn’t hold absolutely all our footwear, but the thin and flexible slippers and slip-ons can be shoved behind the dinette seat. The main thing was to get the clunky boots and shoes out of the way so we aren’t tripping over them each time we go in and out of the camper.

Shoe rack inside truck camper RV

Now the big clunky shoes and boots are out of the way.

There is just one drawer in the whole camper, right next to the range, and it is so narrow it has just a single divider inside. I use it for silverware on one side and cooking utensils on the other. I hadn’t really thought about how to get more drawers into the camper, but our friend Ann showed us an absolutely fabulous product that she is using in her Class C to hold her silverware. It is an “Under desk drawer.”

Under desk drawer storage in a truck camper

The Under desk drawer (or “add-a-drawer”) is a single unit that gets hung under the desk or table with double-sticky tape, Alien Tape or screws.

The whole sliding mechanism of the drawer is built into one unit, and you mount the drawer under the table using either the stick-on tabs they provide or Alien Tape (or screws if you wish). I bought two drawers that fit perfectly on either side of our dinette table — his and hers again! Surprisingly, they are shallow enough that our knees don’t hit when we slide on and off the settees getting in and out of the dinette.

Under desk drawer storage in a truck camper

Two fit side by side just right and our knees don’t hit them!

Each drawer comes with a small sliding compartment so you can separate smaller and larger items if you wish (or you can remove it). These drawers are great for small tools and hardware as well as pads, pens, scissors and other office goodies.

Under desk drawer storage in a truck camper

These can be used for paper, pens and other office items or for small tools and hardware or even for silverware or cooking utensils.

Under desk drawer storage in a truck camper

I just love these — thank you, Annie, for your wonderful tip!

Well, that’s it for now. If you’ve got a small RV like ours, I hope these tips help you make the most of your space, and if you’ve got other cool space saving ideas please share them in the comments below!

Oh goodness, there’s Buddy under the covers. He took a nap throughout this whole post!

Puppy sleeps happily in truck camper RV bed

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After I took this pic, he opened one eye and said, “If you aren’t going to talk about Lizard Hunting or Rabbit Chasing then I’ll just keep snoozing under the covers.”

Happy campers

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More tips and anecdotes from our Life On The Road and At Sea:

Honda EU2200i Generator Review + Oil Change and Maintenance Tips

We have been loving the heck out of our Honda EU2200i generator for the last seven months and have already put about 150 hours on it. We live in our RV off the grid on solar power 24/7, and we rely on the sun for 98% of our power needs. However, in the last few months we have experienced an extraordinary amount of wildfire smoke and rain in our RV travels, and that trusty old orb in the sky was nowhere to be seen for weeks on end.

Honda EU2200i generator RV camping

Honda EU2200i generator

Why A Honda EU2200i generator?

In the past we have used a generator only for a few days in mid-winter when the days are really short and storms blow in for a week at a time, limiting the amount of power our solar panels could produce, or for just a few days in mid-summer when the interior temp of our trailer shoots into the 90s and we run our air conditioner to cool down.

Honda EU2200i Generator back side-min

The back side of the Honda EU2200i generator.

When we decided to get one of Honda’s new and easily carried 2200 watt generators in early May, we didn’t think we’d put it to use right away. We were headed to the cool mountains for a month or so, and we doubted we’d need our air conditioner.

But our longer range plans were to go to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and hang out along Lake Superior where we knew we’d be camping in shady spots under tall trees.

Honda EU2200i portable generator RV camping top view 1-min

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Honda EU2200i portable generator RV camping top view 2-min

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Honda EU2200i generator RV camping outlets side view-min

The “business end” of the Honda EU2200i generator

Honda EU2200i generator RV camping exhaust side view-min

The exhaust end

Ironically, within a few weeks of getting our new 2200 watt Honda generator, wildfire smoke filled the mountain air, obscuring the sun and preventing our solar panels from being as effective as usual.

The wildfire smoke was followed by weeks-long rain storms for the next few months as we traveled from the mountain states to Lake Superior. Oh my, were we happy it was so easy to set up our new little generator to keep our batteries nicely charged despite the dark skies.

RV camping in a fifth wheel trailer under stormy skies-min

Solar power is great until a storm like this sweeps in!

At one point we had to ask ourselves if we had inadvertently done a rain dance by getting this new generator!

Just like how one of us always get really sick whenever we put a new bottle of Nyquil in our medicine chest, we wondered if the deluge of smoke and rains came because we now had an easy access generator that could power our lives on a moment’s notice!

Fifth wheel RV camping with Honda EU2200i generator-min

When storms blew in we got the generator out — and it was easy!

The Honda EU2200i is light and easy to Carry!

The Honda EU2200i generator is a new and improved version of the much beloved Honda 2000i generator that has been powering the lives of RVers for many years. If you wander through the desert in Quartzsite, Arizona, in January, you’ll see the popular red generators outside of many RVs.

It weights just 46.5 lbs., holds just under a gallon of gas and delivers 2,200 watts of peak surge power and 1,800 watts of continuous power.

We have had a Yamaha 2400i generator with us since we started full-time RVing eleven years ago, and although it is a great generator, it is unwieldy to store, maneuver and set up. Too often we have looked at each other and said, “We really should get the generator out,” only to decide against it because neither of us felt like going through the hassle.

However, the light little Honda EU2200i generator has proven to be so darn easy to grab and set up that we often end up running it in circumstances where we wouldn’t have before.

For the moment, it is living in the back of our truck right next to the bigger generator. Either one of us can pick it up with one hand and lift it out of the truck, even while gingerly stepping around the fifth wheel hitch and the rest of the obstacle course in the bed of our truck. Not so with its big brother.

Starting the Honda EU2200i generator!

We like to start the Honda EU2200i generator without having it plugged into the RV so it can get a little warmed up before we put any loads on it. The shore power cord is plugged into the trailer, but we don’t plug the other end into the generator until the generator is actually humming along.

Since our trailer is a 50 amp trailer and the generator outlets are 15 amps, we use two adapters plus the shore power cord to get between the 15 amp female outlets on the generator and the male 50 amp outlet on our trailer:

We keep these two adapters on hand because it gives us the flexibility to connect the RV’s shorepower outlet to either a 15 amp power source or a 30 amp power source. However, you can also go directly from the 50 amp outlet on the RV to the 15 amp outlet on the generator and skip dragging out the heavy shore power cord by using a 15 amp Male to 50 amp Male adapter.

To start the Honda EU2200i generator there are three easy steps:

  • 1. Open the gas cap vent so a vacuum doesn’t build up inside the tank
  • 2. Close the choke (move the switch to the right)
  • 3. Set the generator switch to ON

Then pull the pull start cable and away you go.

Gas cap vent on Honda EU2200i generator-min

First point the gray dial to “On” to vent the gas cap.
Mark painted the “On” and “Off” labels to make them easier to see.

Honda EU2200i Generator front side-min

Then close the choke and set the generator switch to “On.” Now you’re ready to pull the start cord.

Starting the Honda EU2200i portable generator-min

Instant power!

Shortly after the generator roars to life, slowly open the choke (move the switch to the left).

We like to position the generator so the exhaust goes away from the trailer. If there are other people camped in the vicinity, we also like to place it somewhere in our campsite that it is as far from their campsite as possible so we don’t annoy them when we run it.

If it is raining out, we put it under one of the slide-outs so it doesn’t get wet.

Sometimes these locations are not optimal for pulling the start cord and getting the generator going (especially crawling under a slide-out!). But this little Honda generator is so light it is easy to maneuver it to wherever we want to place it, even after it is running.

RV camping in a fifth wheel trailer with Honda EU2200i generator-min

All set up and purring away.

RV camping with a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Buddy jumps for joy!

Using Eco Throttle for Greater Efficiency and Less Noise

One of the really nifty features on the Honda EU2200i generator is the Eco Throttle. This is located on the “business end” of the generator in the upper left corner.

Turning it on lowers the RPMs of the generator so it doesn’t use as much gas and runs more quietly.

If we are going to run the generator for a number of hours primarily to charge the batteries and do other things that put just a small load on the generator like using our laptops, running the lights at night, or watching a movie on TV, we keep the Eco throttle turned on.

We tested the generator to see how long it would run if we filled the 0.95 gallon gas tank before it ran out of gas. We had it in Eco mode and used our laptops and other small things while it was running.

It ran for 9.5 hours!

We don’t usually run the generator for nearly that long.

As I’ve described in our article about what happens when you run solar power and shore power simultaneously, the best time for solar powered RVs to run a generator is in the morning hours. This helps get the batteries sufficiently charged so they can easily reach their charging (Absorb) voltage under solar power alone once the generator is turned off. This gives them more daylight hours to complete the Absorb stage before the sun goes down.

Outlets and switches Honda EU2200i Generator-min

The Eco Throttle switch allows the generator to run more efficiently and quietly when loads are light.

Eco mode is our default with this generator, both to save gas and to hear the generator’s quiet purr instead of its louder roar. In Eco mode it is as quiet as our Yamaha 2400i generator, but when it is not in Eco mode it is a little louder.

If you suddenly place a big load on the generator when it is in Eco mode, it will temporarily go into higher RPMs to provide the required power.

If we turn on the toaster while in Eco mode (our toaster is an 800 watt model), we can hear the generator rev up while the toaster is making toast. As soon as the toast pops up, the generator idles back down. If we do the same thing in non-Eco mode, the generator is already humming along at a fast pace, and it doesn’t need much of a surge to operate the toaster.

Honda EU2200i Generator for RV battery charging-min

We camped under thick canopies of trees in the rain in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

If the generator is in Eco mode and we use the microwave (ours is an 1100 watt model), the generator has a slight lag time as it first senses the heavy load and then revs up to provide the necessary power.

There is an audible drop in tone and dimming of the lights on the microwave for a second or two before the generator roars to meet the challenge. We’re not sure this momentary dip in power is good for the microwave, so if we plan to use it we prefer to have the generator running in non-Eco mode first.

Can it power an RV air conditioner?

We have a 15,000 BTU air conditioner on our 36′ fifth wheel trailer. With some coaxing (i.e., warming up the generator, then turning on the Coleman air conditioner’s fan and finally turning on the air conditioner itself), our Yamaha 2400i generator can handle the air conditioner’s initial power surge and run it for hours on end without a hitch.

We were hoping the much lighter and smaller Honda EU2200i might be able to run it too. However, the generator’s 2200 watts max power is not quite enough to handle the surge when the air conditioner starts. It is likely it could power a 13,500 btu air conditioner (standard on smaller RVs) just fine.

The Honda EU2200i generator is designed to work in parallel with a twin generator and connector cables, giving you 4,400 watts of peak power, more than enough to run a 15k BTU air conditioner. You can probably run the microwave at the same time with that kind of juice! The wonderful thing about this setup is that the two generators are a lot smaller than one big 4.4kw generator would be.

Honda EU2200i and EU2200ic Companion Generator Parallel Combo Kit-min

Honda EU2200i + EU2200ic Companion Generator Parallel Combo Kit with covers for each.

Putting Gas in the Honda EU2200i Generator

The hardest part about putting gas in a generator is fiddling with the child-proof, spill-proof, idiot-proof gas can. Government regulators have obviously never used a gas can in their lives, and we’re quite sure a lot more gas has been spilled on our precious environment because of the newfangled user-unfriendly spouts than ever was spilled using the trusty old gas can spouts of days gone by.

Putting the spout on a plastic gas can-min

Good luck with the gas can spout!

Putting gas in a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Easy access on the top of the generator for gassing it up.

We’ve been adding Seafoam Motor Treatment to the gas in the generator. This fuel stabilizer cleans the carburetor, keeps the engine clean, and we find it makes it easier to start.

If you’re looking for affordable parts or tools to keep your generator in top condition, you can check out this parts geek coupon code for discounts on various items. It’s always handy to save while ensuring your gear stays in great shape!

When we cruised Mexico in our sailboat, we used it in the outboard motor for our dinghy and were very pleased with the results.

Honda EU2200i Generator Maintenance Tips – Changing the Oil

Changing the oil on the Honda EU2200i generator is a snap. First find a pleasant place to do it. Mark likes to elevate the generator onto some kind of platform so it is easy to drain the old oil out of the bottom.

As always, Buddy likes to supervise.

Changing the oil in a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Changing the oil doesn’t take long, but doing it in a pretty place makes it more fun.

You’ll need the following:

  • A flat head screwdriver
  • A sealable 14 oz. or larger container for the old oil
  • A quart of SAE 10W-30 oil
  • Rags to clean up drips and wipe your hands
  • Optional: Rubber gloves

The first step is to unscrew the single screw that holds the front panel on the front of the generator and remove the panel so you have full access to the heart of the machine.

Opening a Honda EU2200i Generator to change the oil-min

Access the heart of the generator via the side panel on the front.

Opening a Honda EU2200i Generator to change the oil-min

Once it’s unscrewed, the side panel lifts off easily.

To check or change the oil, simply unscrew the dipstick in the lower left corner.

If you are just checking the oil, make sure the oil level fills the spout and is clear. Honda recomments changing it every six months or 100 hours of use (keep track of the hours of use in a log book).

Inside a Honda EU2200i Portable Generator-min

The dipstick is in the lower left corner.

Check the oil with the dipstick on a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Unscrew the dipstick to check the oil and/or to change it.

When changing the oil, hold a container of some kind below the spout.

Any container that can hold 14 ounces of liquid is fine. Or you can drain the oil into an oil drain pan and then, after the new oil has been put into the generator, pour the old oil into the container that held the new oil.

In the case pictured here, Mark used an old plastic peanut jar with a screw top lid.

Drain the oil from a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Drain the oil into an easily sealed container that holds at least 14 ounces.

To get all the oil out, tip the generator slightly towards you.

Drain all the oil from a Honda EU2200i portable Generator-min

Tip the generator towards you to get out every last drop.

The Honda EU2200i generator uses SAE 10W-30 oil.

Honda EU2200i Generator uses SAE 10W-30 oil-min

The generator uses SAE 10W-30 oil

Once the old oil is completely drained out, pour the new oil in.

Change the oil on a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Pour the new oil in

The oil reserve is properly filled when the oil comes right to the edge (with the generator sitting level). Once it’s full, screw the dipstick back in and tidy up any drips with the rags.

Oil change on a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

The oil is full when it is level with the spout

The generator takes 14 ounces of oil and, of course, oil is sold in 32 ounce bottles. You can save the last two ounces for other odd jobs around your RV in one of these classic oil cans. Grandpa will be proud!

Honda EU2200i Generator Maintenance Tips – Cleaning / Replacing the Air Filters

Since the front panel of the generator is off, now is a good time to inspect the air filters. To access the air filters, unscrew the screw holding the access panel in place.

Inside a Honda EU2200i Portable Generator-min

The air filters are in the upper right area of the front of the generator

Open air filter compartment on a Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Remove the air filter cover

There are two small air filters inside. Each one is a small piece of foam. If they’re dusty and dirty you can clean and re-oil them. If they are brittle and have started to fall apart, you can replace them with Honda’s air filter replacement kit.

Air filter on a Honda EU2200i portable Generator-min

There are two air filters inside, one above and one below

Honda EU2200i Generator Air filter-min

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Honda EU2200i portable generator Air filter-min

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Honda EU2200i Generator Maintenance Tips – Inspecting / Replacing the Spark Plug

Once the front panel on the generator is buttoned up again, this is a good time to check the spark plug.

The Honda EU2200i generator’s spark plug is located in a small compartment on the top next to the handle. The cover slides off easily.

Open spark plug compartment Honda EU2200i portable generator-min

The spark plug has its own compartment on the top of the generator

Inside, the spark plug is covered by a spark plug cap. Simply pull the cap off to reveal the spark plug underneath.

Spark plug compartment Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Pull off the spark plug cap to reveal the spark plug underneath

To remove the spark plub, use a 5/8″ spark plug socket and ratchet plus 3/8″ drive extension. The spark plug is quite close to the generator handle, so a 5//8″ spark plug socket with an integral 3/8″ drive on a swivel extension could be very handy.

Remove spark plug from Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Use a 5/8″ socket and extension to remove the spark plug

The spark plug is the NGK CR5HSB.

Honda EU2200i Generator spark plug-min

NGK CR5HSB spark plug

Inspect it with a spark plug gap tool. The gap should be 0.24 to 0.28 inches which is equivalent to 0.6 to 0.7 mm.

Check spark plug gap with feeler guage on Honda EU2200i portable Generator-min

The spark plug gap should be between 0.24 and 0.28 inches (0.6 to 0.7 mm)

Before placing the spark plug back in the generator, spread a thin layer of high temperature anti-seize lubricant on the spark plug threads.

Apply anti-seize lubricant to spark plug for Honda EU2200i Generator-min

Apply a thin layer of high temp anti-seize lubricant to the threads

Anti-seize lubricant applied to Honda EU2200i Generator spark plug-min

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And that’s it!

Honda EU2200i Generator charges batteries while RV camping-min

Happy campers!

If you are looking for a lightweight generator that can run for many hours on end and power all of the appliances in your RV that require less than 2200 watts to operate (in our case, this is everything except our 15k BTU air conditioner), the new Honda EU2200i generator is a great choice.

Hopefully if you buy one, you won’t inadvertently inspire the rain gods to dump weeks of rain on you like we did!!

Note added March 24, 2019 – 200,000 Honda 2200i units have been recalled for a leak in the fuel valve. You can schedule a free repair at a Honda authorized dealer. There is more detailed info from Honda about the specific units affected at this link.

Where to buy the Honda EU2200i generator and accessories:

RV Power Adapters and Dogbones:

Generator Maintenance Goodies:

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