The best investments we made in an RV

RVs come in lots of shapes, sizes, and models. When our kids were young, we had a pop-up trailer we used to whisk them away from the city and enjoy some simple luxuries while camping. 

After about five years with that, we upgraded to a hybrid, bumper-pull, travel trailer. It had hard sides and fold-out beds, providing a small footprint with enough living and sleeping space for our family of seven. We made a lot of memories in that RV before selling it when the kids reached their teen years and didn’t want to go camping with us anymore.

Once our kids became adults and moved out of the house, we sold it and moved into the 2018 Jayco Pinnacle 37MDQS we’ve been living in for the past six years. Here are four key investments we made in this rig. 

1. RV driving school

Bob and I both got good at driving and backing up the 24-foot-long, 9-foot-high travel trailer. Would we do as well with a 42-foot-long, 13-foot-high fifth wheel? Just thinking about it gave us anxiety.

To give us the best chance at success, we registered for RV Driving School. The organization has instructors across the country in areas popular for RVing.

Instructor Jordy met us at the dealer lot the day we picked up our fifth wheel. We wanted him to drive the RV off the lot, but that wasn’t how the training worked. He talked us through exiting with the monstrosity behind our truck. Then he loaded into the truck and went with us to a vacant parking lot. There, he had us take turns doing maneuvers with the trailer in both forward and reverse. 

After doing that for a while, we went to lunch. Then we took the rig out on the road for some real-life training under Jordy’s guidance. I quickly learned that driving the fifth wheel can be fun. You just have to take wide corners and be mindful of low-hanging branches. We spent six to eight hours with Jordy that day.

The next morning, we met Jordy again and took him with us to a mall parking lot. There, he set up cones and took us through a variety of drills to back up the rig. After our time was up, I didn’t feel super confident in my ability to back up the trailer, although I did feel positive about my ability to drive it forward. Thankfully, Bob felt pretty good about backing up. We’re super glad we invested in the training. 

2. Buying used

New RVs look shiny and nice — and come with a huge price tag as a result. Buying new usually includes a warranty, which can be a big plus. But is the total cost really worth it? 
For us, buying used made much more sense for a number of reasons. Since we had planned to do a lot of traveling with our rig, we didn’t want to have to make multiple trips to a dealership to work out the kinks. Instead, we left that to the previous owner. 

Sure, we’ve had to make a few repairs to our rig, but that comes with the territory, just as it does for homeowners. 

3. Separate office space

When we bought our RV, we planned for me to work full time and Bob to quit his government job. For the best results with this arrangement, I wanted to have an office space with a door I could close at the end of the workday for work-life balance. 

The Jayco midbunk model we bought works perfectly for that. It has a room in the middle of the unit that came with a desk and a door. That’s made it convenient for me to concentrate on work while freeing Bob to research, make phone calls, cook, watch TV, and play video games without us being in each other’s way.

4. Upgraded tires

Manufactured in 2018, our fifth wheel came with four Load Range E tires. With a capacity of 3,750 pounds each (15,000 altogether), the tires weren’t really equipped to handle a rig that can weigh up to 18,000 pounds. We quickly learned this in our second year of travel, when we experienced four flat tires. 

The next time we purchased tires for the rig, we upgraded to Load Range G tires, which are equipped to handle 4,400 pounds each (17,600 altogether). They’re a much better fit for our coach, and we haven’t had any problems since upgrading. 

Modern rigs on the market today typically come with Load Range H tires, which can take 4,800 pounds each (19,200 altogether). 

As full-time RVers, everything we own is literally riding on our tires, so having them equipped for the load they carry is paramount. 

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