RV Seasonal Maintenance – Wax, Caulk and More

by Jerry Neal | Jun 13, 2020

There are several forms of maintenance that should be considered for your RV. There are tasks that should be considered yearly as well as RV seasonal maintenance. I place tasks in RV seasonal maintenance that should occur in 2 to 3 year increments. This time period isn’t exact and depends on the environment and how an RV is stored. For those that live in harsh climates with no storage option, these tasks may need to be performed sooner, in milder climates and covered storage option, a more extended timeframe.

Waxing an RV

We haven’t waxed our RV in several years. The gel coat had lost its luster. It needed a good coat of wax to not only improve the looks of the 5th wheel, but to protect the finish from cracking and deterioration. It can help protect decals, but in our case, we have one decal that is showing signs of heavy cracking.

There are a wide variety of waxes that can be used on an RV with good results. We prefer using Meguiar’s Premium Marine Wax. This wax is designed to withstand the harsh environments experienced by water crafts and holds up well for RV use as well. The formula offers long-lasting polymer protection and incredible deep gloss to fiberglass and gel coat surfaces. It removes light oxidation, fine scratches and swirls, and works well with by hand or variable speed polisher.

We cover the steps of applying wax in the video below.

Caulking an RV

Caulking found on the edges of the roof, corners, and seams of an RV offers an important form of protection against rain. Exposed to the sun and weather, caulking can crack and fall off allowing water to enter the RV. This can cause rot and delamination. An inspection yearly and caulking takes little time, is not expensive and can save many thousands of dollars in repairs.

Not all caulks are the same and are designed for various purposes. Do not use caulks designed for home applications such as silicone or latex. We prefer using Dicor Lap Sealant. This is an industry standard and can be purchased in colors to match your existing caulk. A little goes a long way and a very thin bead is usually all that is required.

Inspecting Marker and Break Lights

We have a habit of checking our lights after we hook up the 5th wheel to the truck to ensure the markers, break and turn signal lights are operational. But for our RV seasonal maintenance, we check the covers looking for cracks and damage. These are not expensive and damage units should be replaced. This year, we found a break light that had a large crack and would have fallen off with a small bump along the road. Easy Amazon search found an exact replacement.

RV Tire Inspection

We are religious when it comes to inspecting and maintaining the tires on our RV. We always perform a quick RV tire inspection before leaving a destination checking for damage and tire pressure. A blow out is dangerous and can cause substantial damage to the RV. I know, we’ve had two blown outs and hope we never have another.

As part of our RV seasonal maintenance, we perform a very close inspection of our tires. We look for belt separation, cracking in the side walls and along the tire bead and most of all, inspect the tread for damage. This go around, we discovered a tire that had a pyramid rock where the point had entered the tread, cut into the tire and damaged the steel belts. It would have been only a matter of time before the rock continued to cut into the tire, belt separation and a tire exploding in the middle of a trip.

We share additional details for the replacement in the video below.

In addition to this seasonal maintenance, we have listed a number of tasks below that should be performed yearly. They’re simple, low cost, and very important in maintaining your RV.