RV Cover Class A

[gmoreno]

Hey Everyone:

I'm considering covering my 35' Class A (gas) this winter (I live around the Boston area...lots of snow). I'll also winterize the unit. Are all Class A covers created equal? What should I look for when purchasing a cover? Is it necessary to even cover the rig during the winter? (I'll cover the tires). I'll fire-up the rig and the generator from time to time to keep componetries in check.

Also, I'll park the rig on my asphalt driveway. Do I need to elevate the tires or rest the tires on some Pressure Treated wood? I may also consider storing the rig in an area on my property where there is grass. Any considerations or things to look out for if I store the rig in the grassy area?

In all, the rig will be lifeless from about late November to April....bummer. Wish I lived in the south somewhere so I can keep on RV'ing!

Thanks for your advice,

G. Robert

[wolfe10]

Can't give advice on the cover, but will suggest that you ONLY fire up the engine if you can drive it a minimum of 30 highway miles. Unless the OIL, not just coolant get up to operating temperature, you are doing more harm than good to start the engine. And when running the generator, make sure it is under at least 50% load.

It is better for tires to be on wood or plastic than on other surfaces. I would not use pressure treated wood-- no idea what chemical reactions may occur.

On pavement is much better than on grass-- grass will expose the underbody to a lot more moisture.

Brett

[gmoreno]

Can't give advice on the cover, but will suggest that you ONLY fire up the engine if you can drive it a minimum of 30 highway miles. Unless the OIL, not just coolant get up to operating temperature, you are doing more harm than good to start the engine. And when running the generator, make sure it is under at least 50% load.

It is better for tires to be on wood or plastic than on other surfaces. I would not use pressure treated wood-- no idea what chemical reactions may occur.

On pavement is much better than on grass-- grass will expose the underbody to a lot more moisture.

Brett

Thanks for the input. Waiting to read a reply concerning an RV cover and whether or not it is necessary.

[mikev]

Hi,

I considered a cover but after reading a great deal on these and other sites decided to look for covered storage. We live up in Northern Ontario and get pretty tough conditions too. I eventually found an airport that stores just about anything in big old WW2 type hangers. Before I drive it there-about 2 hours- I do the following, a full inside out cleaning, wipe all our cabinets with my wife's favorite furniture polish, do a full exterior wax job, wipe all vinyl surfaces with Aerospace 303, lube all the slide and door gaskets, lube the slide mechanisms, then winterize the water systems- I fill all lines with RV antifreeze plus a little in all the tanks. Next do a full grease job, change the engine oil, add fuel stabilizer and change the fuel filters-also checking all other fluids and checking/replacing the engine air filter . Service the generator, oil, fuel filter etc.

When I arrive at the hanger I put sheets of plywood under the wheels and inflate the tires to the maximum posted on the tires plus 5psi extra- in my case 125psi. Then I dump all the suspension and system air, jack the coach up with my on board system (on blocks to reduce the extended portion of the jacks) until most of the weight is off the wheels-when the slight bulge is gone from the bottom of the wheels-and wipe the exposed portions of the jack shafts with the appropriate hydraulic jack fluid. Also cover the wheels with my vinyl Campingworld covers. Go in and cover all the windows on the inside (I use green garbage bags) to block any errant light or prying eyes, open all the roof vents a crack-we have the external Maxxair covers, plug/cover all the sink and shower drains, put saran wrap over the toilet bowl-stops evaporation of the antifreeze and reduces smells- pull the batteries and lock her up for 5 months or so. The storage and fuel to get there runs around $800 but the piece of mind knowing my coach will be in a relatively dark, dry location is worth the extra money.

So far my spring pick up has been uneventful. Install the batteries, the engine has fired up beautifully and all systems have been good-all servicing has already been done so it's RVing we go, and since we only put 3k to 5k miles on each summer the servicing covers the full season.

Like Brett said I don't start it in that time frame because I don't want to drive it in winter conditions if I can avoid it. Taking out the batteries allows me to charge them up over the winter a few times, good time to clean out the compartment and burnish all the connections. One thing I did was get a brother label maker and identify every battery connection. First I made a laminated diagram of the batteries from overhead and taped it into the compartment, then each cable or wire was labelled to the proper location. The Coach(house) batteries were labelled 1H, 2H etc, the engine (Chassis) batteries were labelled 1C, 2C etc. All negative connections are an odd number 1H,3C etc and all positive connections are even numbers 2H,4C etc. I will attempt to add a picture and a .pdf to this reply. Hope this is of some use.

Finding storage is not for everyone but I'm hoping this will extend the life of our paint, roof and tires.

I realize this is not a discussion about covers but thought i would throw this out in case you or anyone else might have use of any of it. Unfortunately winter is coming sooner than we all would like, especially for those of us not yet retired. I have been picking up bits and pieces from many of these threads. Always looking for more so if anyone has something to add.....

Good luck on your choice of cover/storage method.

RV Battery Connections.pdf

[TravelnLight]

My 2 cents on covers. Lived in central New Hampshire during the eighties and had at that time a '37 Coachmen Class A. Parked on cement with 2x6 pressure treated wood under each wheel including the tag. Tried a full cover the first year and what a mess in the Spring all kinds of black streaks etc. Cleaning took days and was labor intensive...after that no more cover! Used to go up on the roof after a snowstorm and take the snow off with a push broom. No more problems with the finish. In Florida I bought a rain cover for the harley 'cause it was outside under the porch one block from the ocean. Had all kinds of moisture retention problems with the cover on. Finally ditched the cover and rinsed as needed with a hose. Believe it or not salt will get under a cover. I say try a winter without one before you make up your mind.

[gmoreno]

Thanks everyone for your two cents worth about covering my rig over the winter. A big thanks to Mike for the great check-off list of what he does to winterize his rig. Very useful information.

So I won'y buy a cover, I'll cover only the tires, I may still park the rig on a grassy area in my yard (tires off of the grass), fire up the engine and run the generator and weather permitting, cruise in the rig for 50 miles or so.

On just a slightly different topic, the Class A MH we have was our very first purchase...never camped in our lives before...much less traveled. Happened to stay in Hilton Head at Outdoor Resorts on Arrow Street. WOW! WOW! WOW! and a KOW-A-BUNGA!!! What a really nice place....though we felt that we were the step-child of RVs at this place..Newmars...Foretravels...Prevosts...! What a really, clean, nice place. Everything was paved and just fantastically immaculate!

Why aren't there any places like that here in the Northeast?

[TravelnLight]

Thanks everyone for your two cents worth about covering my rig over the winter. A big thanks to Mike for the great check-off list of what he does to winterize his rig. Very useful information.

So I won'y buy a cover, I'll cover only the tires, I may still park the rig on a grassy area in my yard (tires off of the grass), fire up the engine and run the generator and weather permitting, cruise in the rig for 50 miles or so.

On just a slightly different topic, the Class A MH we have was our very first purchase...never camped in our lives before...much less traveled. Happened to stay in Hilton Head at Outdoor Resorts on Arrow Street. WOW! WOW! WOW! and a KOW-A-BUNGA!!! What a really nice place....though we felt that we were the step-child of RVs at this place..Newmars...Foretravels...Prevosts...! What a really, clean, nice place. Everything was paved and just fantastically immaculate!

Why aren't there any places like that here in the Northeast?

We were in Boston last summer stayed here and loved it. There is something for everybody here.Normandy Farms Foxboro MA

[z3jab1]

I Had a 37 foot class A and purchased a cover from CW , it was parked in Minn. for all winter next to the house where it was exposed to the north wind.

The problems I had were 1). With lots of windy days the cover did move around (even with lots of tie downs)the corners and other areas did get some paint damage, also with lots of snow and melting it seemed to storage much more ice on top then it did without. Do not take it off until all ice and snow are gone, because it sticks to the top and is heavy.

If you can solve the wind damage I think its a good idea.

[gmoreno]

Did you encounter black streaks and such when you had your cover? Did the wind damage your paint job because of buffering?

Thanks,

Robert

I Had a 37 foot class A and purchased a cover from CW , it was parked in Minn. for all winter next to the house where it was exposed to the north wind. The problems I had were 1). With lots of windy days the cover did move around (even with lots of tie downs)the corners and other areas did get some paint damage, also with lots of snow and melting it seemed to storge much more ice on top then it did without. Do not take it off until all ice and snow are gone, because it sticks to the top and is heavy. If you can solve the wind damage I think its a good idea.

[Larry196]

I have a 34 footer and covered one season. The resulting wind damage of not only the RV but to the cover caused me to throw away the cover and next season I just had a good coat of roof sealer, and a good coat of wax before I winterized.

I counted bungy cords that I had bought just to tie down the cover and I have about 23 that survived.

I will follow suite this winter,seal and wax.

Next chance you get peer over the fence of any storage yard and count how many have covers.

[JFellerer]

Thanks for all the information. I planned on buying a cover this weekend from CW for my 36' footer. Will now follow advice of you all. Hopefully, we won't have the snow and ice you experienced in Minn. here in Gerogia. I will seal the roof, wash and wax and winterize the water system, park on grass with weight lifted from tires. Great advice, thanks.

[John503]

I bought a cover from CW a few years ago thinking I could use it instead of a stand alone shelter. I had the pole barn but it needed to be modified because of the height of the Monaco and I was to lazy to do the mods. I acutally got the cover out of the box, realized how freaking heavy it was and decided on the spot to modify the shelter. The cover has never been used, still in the box it came in. I have a friend that wants the cover, but he may not be a friend any longer if I let him have it. IMO the covers not worth the cost or the trouble to use. John 2006 Monaco

[rrlowther]

Well, it looks like I'm the odd man out. We park our coach at home. In order to do so we had to take out a tree in order to put the new drive way in. At the front of the drive way is a pine tree. Sap is constantly coming out of it. We thought about taking the pine tree out too. But I have things for trees. I like them.

So we bought a cover from CW as well. It has pull straps built into it that go under the coach and on the front and back. Zippers allow for access to the coach without having to take the cover off. (Course we put our cover on at night just ahead of a storm, so naturally we put it on backwards!)...

We get pretty high winds here in Denver from time to time and I've noticed that the cover does bellow a little bit but for the most part it's remained secure. Meaning the cover does get caught by the wind a little bit but it's not slapping against the outside of the coach.

I read a post recently that suggested getting a large trash can with a lid (a new one), when we uncover the coach we just put the trash can in front of the coach and walk the cover off from the bank and right into the trash can. It's stored for the summer and when we need it we just pull it up at the front and walk it down the roof of the coach.

Just my two cents worth.

[jmsherman]

I used a cover on my 40 ft. unit for two years. I almost got blown off the roof putting it on. Now have a 43 ft unit and as soon as all work done a couple of us will put it on!

[campcop]

I have considered getting a cover but we live in Southern New Mexico where the wind is an almost daily occurrence, especially in the spring and with the dust around here I was afraid of the paint damage that has been alluded to here.......after reading these posts, I will forgo a cover and just wax a little extra

[five]

The best option is covered storage with power. I found a boat dealer with about five RV spaces, that's where my MH is parked. Since it has very reliable power, I normally do not winterize, but place trouble lights with 60w bulbs scattered around (W/D, water pump, Aqua Hot, back of refrig, etc). Also, I run the wheels up on wood to keep them off the concrete.

[danddferr]

An RVer who was in the tire business told me that wheels on asphalt is the big concern. The natural oils from your tires can interact with the asphalt. Concrete or grass should not bother the tires. For what it's worth I live in the Northeast and I don't use a cover. Brush off the heavy snow, give it a good cleaning and hit it with NuFinish when I winterize it. It's an 08 and some people think it's new.

Dan

[gmoreno]

Hey Everyone:

So I did end up covering my rig, 2010 35' Class A. I used a CAMCO Tyvek style of covering that I purchased from camping world. And wouldn't you know it, we didn't get nearly the snow that we received last year (2010 -2011) here in the Boston area. In fact, least amount of snow on record for the 2011-2012 winter year. Since I parked my rig in an area on my property that was near some tall pine trees, I used the cover to protect the rig from pine needles and sap falling onto the rig. As for protecting the tires, I rested the rig on PT wood, 2x8 for all the tires. The RV cover draped over all the tires, so I did not use my tire covers. It didn't seem as windy this past winter either, so I have not noticed any chaffing of paint on the mirrors or anywhere else on the RV. Some black streaks (partial full body paint on my rig), but nothing a little 409 and elbo grease can't handle.

So I guess the jury is back from deliberation and I think I would cover the rig again and - you know - rinse, lather and repeat; meaning I would store the rig in the same manner as I did this past winter season.

Thanks everyone!

Rob

[cfamrace49]

We live in WI and bought a Tyvek cover last year for ours. We do store it on a gravel area under some trees, wood under tires, wheel covers as well. We do complete winterizing and polishing before storing. It does get windy here, but we put straps connected to each other all the way across and under the middle, besides the built in straps. We did not have any damage from the cover and it kept the debris off the roof. Also note ours was not covered before we bought it, and it had damage to the plastic covers on top---we had to replace most all of the vent covers, air covers, etc due to being brittle. It also protects the outside from the sun beating down and fading decals, etc. We will continue to cover for winter.