Develop a "pack down list" of things to do
BEFORE you hit the road!
Every rig is different and you will need to make a RV Pack Down Checklist. This RV Tear Down Checklist will take a lot of the stress off you in the beginning of your RVing life. Making the list ahead of time while you are drinking coffee at the kitchen table is the way to go!
You don’t want to forget to do or pack away any important things before you get back on the road. Leaving behind your expensive pressure regulator on the water spigot of your previous campground is a bad way to start out your stay at the new one.
Another fun calamity for your RV neighbors to watch is: Forgetting to put down your bat wing TV antenna or better yet, unplugging from the power pedestal! Don’t be one of those folks! Use you personalized Motorhome RV Pack Down List until it becomes second nature.
Make a list that makes sense to both of you!
Most travelers quickly develop routines preparing to travel. Those traveling as a team divide up “who does what.” In the beginning, I think it is best for each person to become an expert at all of their jobs. Of course eventually, you need to teach eachother what the other has learned, and what the best techniques are that you have learned. You both need to do these jobs long enough that you can actually TEACH your travel partner effectively when the time comes! Take your time to get it right so you are passing on to your travel partner your best ideas.
In our particular situation, Sue prepares all of the inside items and the interior changes that need to be made for travel day. I (Mark) take care of all of the outside preparation that needs to happen.
Travel preparations INSIDE our 2014 Newmar Dutch Star model 4369 Motorhome.
RV Pack Down INSIDE our Motorhome.
The video episodes at the bottom of this page go into much greater detail in all the things that we do to get ready for traveling. Using the photo above, I will just hit a few of highlights, listed in no particular order.
1-Seat belt our “loose” swinging rocker recliners in place in case of an accident scenario.
2-Remove kitchen table “leaves” and fully retract for slide clearance.
3-Set travel day “snacks” on forward recliner for easy access. Position water & coffee in cup holders. Position sunglasses, iPods, iPhones, iPad, RV Garmin, TPMS, masks, sanitizer, etc. Finding this stuff and opening drawers becomes tough OR impossible once we close up!
4-Make sure all windows are shut and latched. Raise night & day shades. Lower the main front passenger entry door bug screen for much better driver visibility.
5-Push to snap shut all cabinet drawers throughout the coach. Flip shower seat down, hang the shower sprayer down, fill shower floor area with plants from house, shut the glass door and LOCK IT.
6-Roll up carpet runner section in front of refrigerator and bedroom.
7-Arrange food items and containers in refrigerator to be stable and add tension rod barriers. Make sure to “Lock” the refrigerator doors.
8-Stack a ton of items on the bed that prevent closing the slides. Store fire escape board on bed.
9-Lay down our 21″ iMac desktop computer face down on the desk rubber mat. Store the desk chair on the bed BEFORE closing any slides.
10-Sweep the tile floors to prevent the slide support rollers from crushing any debris and stones into the tile floor surface. Lay down on the tile the plastic roller protection sheets where the rollers run across the floor.
11-Put loose dishes and foodstuffs away. Store loose counter top items in each of the two sink wells. We leave our large major appliance items on the counter. This is NOT inherently safe or smart in an accident.
You will have to decide for yourself if you want to pack away all the similar counter stuff you might have. We would be doing this 30 or 40 times a year! We have chosen not to.
11A-Our Keurig Coffee Maker is actually MANDATORY EQUIPMENT while driving on the road, and cannot be stored!
11B-The other MUST STAY item would be our Breville Toaster Oven. It is used many times at a moments notice, and would be a pain to retrieve when needed.
11C-The only items we really could decide to pack away before each departure, are the Vitamix, Omega Juicer and Breville Toaster Oven. Believe it or not, these items are used daily!
11D-Our Instant Pot is stored behind the recliners because it is NOT used daily, and is heavy.
12-Make sure the A/C units, furnace, printer and water pump are OFF.
13-Make sure electric range is OFF, buttons are locked and the cover over the electric burners is on. (The switches can be switched on easily by mistake.)
14-Make a garbage run?
15-Obviously this list isn’t even remotely comprehensive. That’s why we made a few videos to show a lot more!
Travel preparations OUTSIDE our 2014 Newmar Dutch Star model 4369 Motorhome.
Even though Sue is in 2 of the above 3 pictures, trust me, I have plenty to do! Above you can see how nicely our 21″ desktop computer screen lays down. That photo shows how tight walking around is in the rig when the slides are brought in. Here is another incomplete list that will just give you some idea of the jobs at hand. The videos at the end of this article are much more comprehensive.
RV Pack Down OUTSIDE our Motorhome.
A-Turn on TPMS System. Tire sensors need about one half hour to get signals from all 12 tires. Adjust tire pressures if needed. (This step is actually best performed the day PRIOR to travel.)
B-Fresh water tank “MAY” need additional water depending on the travel agenda you are going to be doing. Plan ahead. It takes us 30 minutes or more to fill our empty 105 gallon water tank.
C-All fresh water hoses, filters, regulators and water softeners need to be disconnected, drained and stowed.
D-Black & Grey tanks need to be dumped. Black water hoses and equipment need to be disconnect and stowed.
E-Stray exposed hydraulic leveling jack cylinder exposed shafts with WD-40.
F-Remove tire covers, stow step extension and door mat stone sweeper.
G-Remove Magna Shades from all 4 front windows.
H-Start coach diesel engine to air up the suspension air bags. Retract hydraulic leveling jacks.
I-Bring in the coach slides. (NEWMAR full wall slide coaches need to be at ride height on the chassis airbags BEFORE you bring them in.) Bring in the awning. Make sure the TV antenna is cranked down flat.
J-Make sure barbeque grill, chairs, fire pit and clam screen shelter are all packed away.
K-DISCONNECT ELECTRIC FROM THE POWER PEDESTAL. Disconnect the cable TV connection.
L-Store Hughes Autoformer and Hughes PowereWatchdog (Your Surge Protection EMS). Watch our latest video on Ultimate RV Surge Protection Electrical Management System & Hughes Autoformer Voltage Boosting-EP277
M-Pull the Honda Odyssey around the back of rig and heat up the transmission fluid.
N-Hook up Blue Ox Tow bar.
O-Check out the video episodes shown below for a much more detailed look at this process!
P-Don’t forget the pets and your travel partner!
"BONUS" tip about the importance of a TPMS
(Tire Pressure Monitoring System.)
One time, our TPMS System told us we had a flat tire that we didn’t even know we had while stationary in a parking lot!
I shudder to think of the consequences of what would have happened if we had jumped onto the Atlanta Freeway during rush hour like that. We were only 1 mile away, and had ants in our pants to get to our Cypress Trail RV Resort stay in Fort Myers, FL.
Sue & I were in Atlanta at National Indoor RV Center. The coach was being moved every few days while it was being worked on. Sometime during our 21 day stay at this facility, our tire went flat, except we didn’t know that! I may have picked up a nail while on the way TO the facility.
The flat was on the drivers side INBOARD drive tire. There is so much support from the other 5 tires back there that everything looked fine. The coach DROVE fine at the low speeds in the shop parking lot!
The tires are SO big and SO heavy and SO hard, without a tire pressure reading, you literally can’t tell if its got air in it or not!
The night before we were finally done and getting ready to leave, I turned on the TPMS, and one of the sensors said it was zero pressure. I went out to look and feel the EXACT tire the monitor told me to look at. It was hard as a rock, and looked new.
Since it was raining and freezing while I was out inspecting it, I was prone to think the sensor was bogus & the tire was fine. I got out my trusty ViAir 450P-RV air compressor and low and behold I had ZERO psi!
That sensor saved us from a possible disaster. It also gave us a “heads up” to start calling roadside assistance, and to rearrange a campground reservation we were going to miss.
Now, we routinely check the tires in very early morning or late afternoon when the sun is OFF the tires a day or two prior to leaving. I suggest you adopt a similar program, and PLEASE get a TPMS system!
Disclosure: Please note this post may contain affiliate links. This means – at no additional cost to you – we earn a commission if you make a purchase using our links. We only link to products and companies we use and recommend. The income goes toward supporting the free content on this site and community.
5 Responses
We enjoy watch your videos and have hope to run into you on the road. We would like to know more about your tow. What year? What model?
We tow a 2013 Honda Odyssey. E-XL.
Folks should always refer to the free, online PDF documents, that the Family Motorcoach Association compiles (The Dingy Towing Guides) listing all the approved cars and trucks by model and year, that you can pull behind a motorhome. Additionally, it proves notes on any added preparation needed before towing can start for the day. https://www.fmca.com/motorhome/videos/player/24/38
I would probably NOT RECOMMEND pulling a Honda Odyssey. We are taking a chance,….we have a lot of money on the line with the faceplate mod and Air Force 1 Braking Mod. We paid top dollar to get an extremely low mileage 2013 EX-L, (about 23k miles) so the transmission was in as good a shape as possible. Are you willing to risk this like we have?
We corresponded with someone on irv2.com in June of 2017 that was pulling a 5 speed Honda 2013 Odyssey for over 25k miles. This prompted us to “go for it!” He has since (about 1 year ago, had a trans failure.) He maintains he thinks it was NOT related to towing it. He liked his Honda enough he put a rebuilt trans in! We love our Honda and will do the same if we have an issue. WE CHANGE THE TRANS FLUID every year!
We needed to pull a garage for our expensive bikes! After many conversations, WE DECIDED TO TAKE A CHANCE, AND PULL ONE AS WELL. We tow a 2013 EX-L Honda Odyssey. This is the latest year model (2013), and highest trim level (EX-L) model you can THEORETICALLY tow. Honda DOES NOT recommend towing it. Yes, I know, you are not supposed to tow it! Honda decided it wasn’t worth the warranty claims of damaged Odyssey transmissions when NOT shifted into neutral following the EXACT instructions they provided way back in 2004.
(YOU MUST SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL FROM DRIVE ONLY, NOT FROM REVERSE!)
They gave up on the Odyssey towing public, because of this Odyssey peculiarity and said you can’t do it. I corresponded with a few other brave souls that had over 20,000 miles towed on their Odysseys before I was man enough to do it.
We have PULLED it about 55,000 miles since June of 2017, and we have DRIVEN it 75,000 miles. SO FAR, SO GOOD.
The 2013 Honda Odyssey Touring was a 6 speed, and CAN NOT be towed. In 2014, EVERYTHING went to 6 speed. You can search for the Honda Vin number decoder on the internet to make certain your Honda is a 5 speed to see if you would be OK. Any other years you would want to buy, you would want to research the internet and vin # to make sure you are not buying another 6 speed! We liked our (2) 2015 6 speed Honda Odysseys so much, that we sold them to get our (1) 2013 5-speed Odyssey. We are Full Time, and just need one car now. YOU DO NOT NEED ANY ADDED LUBE PUMPS!
THIS IS THE TOWING PROCEDURE WE USE,…….EASY AS PIE,…..
It has been simplified, directly from the 2004 Honda Odyssey towing instructions, which is the last year they “allowed” towing. The “PV1A Transmission” is the ONLY Honda Odyssey Automatic transmission you can tow, IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS from Honda back in 2004 when they allowed the PV1A to be towed. It MUST be this 5-speed transmission. I left in a lot of the Honda legal jargon at the end just for your info.
• Start the engine and get it to operating temperature. (I am usually still packing something up.)
• Press on the brake pedal. Shift the lever through all the positions (P,R,N,D,2,1).
• Then shift up from 1, 2, Shift to D, then to N. DO NOT GO INTO REVERSE! Let the engine run for at least three minutes, then turn off engine. THIS IS THE KEY, AND THE ABSOLUTE ISSUE THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED. SHIFTING TO NEUTRAL FROM REVERSE WILL SET YOU UP FOR PROBLEMS, AND/OR TRANSMISSION FAILURE. How many times you can do it wrong, I don’t know. I am absolutely vigilant on this procedure. You must shift to neutral from DRIVE.
• Make sure parking brake is OFF.
• Leave the ignition switch in ACCESSORY (1) so the steering wheel does not lock. Make sure the radio and any items plugged into the accessory power sockets are turned off, so you do not run down the battery. (Our tow electric cord has a trickle charger line to keep the battery from going dead. We have an SMI Air Force One brake system,…….Honda is around 4,600 lbs. loaded.)
If you travel more than 8 hours in one day (including stopping time), you must stop and repeat the above procedures.
NOTICE:
The steering system can be damaged if the steering wheel is locked. Always leave the key in the ACCESSORY (1) position to prevent damage to the steering system when towing behind another vehicle.
CAUTION:
Severe automatic transmission damage will occur if the car is shifted from reverse to neutral and then towed with the drive wheels on the ground.
NOTICE:
Improper towing preparation will damage the transmission. Follow the above procedure exactly. If you cannot shift the transmission or start the engine, your vehicle must be on a flatbed truck or trailer.
If you tow a Honda/Acura vehicle with automatic transmission, the fluid must be changed every two years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Although experience has shown that the Honda/Acura transmission and powertrain are capable of being “motorhome towed”, America Honda does not assume responsibility for any vehicle damage or liabilities incurred due to the towing device, towing vehicle, lighting hookup, or other towing equipment or towing procedures; any responsibility for these items is assumed by the owner/operator.
If you have additional questions, please call American Honda Motor Co. Inc. (National Consumer Affairs) at 800-999-1009.
Good luck,…..as I said,…….I would think it is not a good, sound, financial idea,……although we are taking the chance!
Hello,
We truly enjoy your videos. We are renting a class A and planning to purchase one when we retire. As I think about building our checklist, I was hoping you might be willing to share yours to help me think through this.
Thank you,
Dave & Pat.
Hi Mark and Sue,
Absolutely love your videos and Sue… My husband and I have learned so much!
We just bought it first RV, a 2016 Tiffin Phaeton 36 GH. You mention plastic roller protection sheets for where the rollers run across the floor. Could you please share where to get these?
Thanks so much!
We bought them directly from the Newmar parts department. They are a thin, black, hard plastic. I did NOT see anything available on line that is similar. The Lippert Company ones are for Carpeting, and I am GUESSING would be too thick. We had to get a sticky backed rubberized tape for the bottoms to help keep them in place during installation. That DID NOT prove good enough, and we bent up and ruined (2) of the (7) we bought. There are (7) roller lanes. We have learned it is impossible to expect any more than (4) of the roller lanes to contact our plastic sheets. The best trick a subscriber (thank you Allen & Sheila) told us about using the plastic roller guides is this: Duct tape the leading end down every time you use them so they get set on correctly right from the beginning. That is the absolute ticket!