Spare Parts?

[Joint Venture II]

Been following this forum for a few months and as we are on a 4 1/2 month trip around the country visiting kids and grandkids I have been thinking of crucial spare parts I might consider carrying. Parked at my daughter's home I needed to raise the front of the Monty about 12" to get level. I noticed the motor got pretty warm and got me to thinking about a spare. Are there any particular "spares" that is wise to carry? My thinking comes from many years of cruising in our boat on the Inside Passage of the BC coast where spare parts can be very crucial to have aboard. Presently I carry a spare fresh water pump but nothing else other then misc. screws, bolts, tapes and bulbs. Any thoughts here?

[Daryles]

We broke a leaf spring. I now carry a spare and Shackle bolts/nuts.
Having a spare hydraulic motor would be very expensive. Knowing how to do it manually with a drill is important. Lots of YouTube videos showing how to do this.
Wheel bearings and tool.
Left and right brake assembies.
2x4 always useful
Wire splices and wire.

[Lee-CI]

Fairly good discussion on this subject here as well.... Took me a while to find it though.

https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...ht=spare+parts


Good luck - hope this helps you out.

[jimcol]

Whatever you choose to carry something else will break. With few exceptions like a spare water pump and wet bolts, we choose to source as needed.

[jsb5717]

I do carry a lot of tools and spare screws, bolts, etc. I also have a spare propane regulator, furnace tune up parts, power converter, water pump for the truck (replaced the alternator and thermostat last year).

[mlh]

Whatever you carry will probably not be what you need. Almost all of these parts are available on line tomorrow so why try to carry a lot of stuff you will never need.
Carry the basic tools, sockets, ratchets, wrenches a hammer, pliers this sort of things so you can fix the simple things and order the things on your camper or truck that break that you can fix or replace. If you need special tools go buy them. They are available every where.
Lynwood

[team bradfield]

wet bolts, I seem to lose one on every trip out west, I-80 can be rough in areas, I check them on every stop. Its odd, I've owned 5 fifth wheels never had to deal with them on previous rigs, just this one

[DutchmenSport]

I guess the "need" to carry spare parts all depends upon where you are planning on traveling and how available parts are in that geographical part of the world you may find yourself in.

I've had a few things fail and break in the past, but have always been within a reasonable driving distance to get the necessary parts. For example, the last actual failure was the grey water drain pipe from the bathroom. It started leaking. I had all the necessary tools, but no spare plumbing parts. But, 20 miles from where we were camped was a Lowe's Home Improvement store that sold the black ABS pipe, fittings, and glue. I had the knives, saws, and all the tools to do the job. I wasn't sure of what all I'd need or how difficult it would be, so I purchased several additional connection joints for the pipe and some rubber boots, 45 degree elbows and 90 degree elbows. Once the job was done, I had several items left over, never used, plus another 5 feet of pipe, that is still in the back of my pick-up truck. The remaining parts are back home in my garage now.

I would have never anticipated a drain pipe leak. And that is the problem. You can carry enough spare parts with you to build a new camper. But the one item that you really need at the time you need it, will be the one item you don't have. It's Murphey's law!

So, stockpiling a bunch of stuff for the (what if) scenarios could cost you a lot of money, and take a lot of space in your camper so something you may never, ever use.

The best thing you can do is do preventative maintenance when the mother ship is dry docked in your drive way at home. Constant vigilant attention to the little details of your camper while sitting in your drive way will pay off when you are on the road and away. Nothing can predict a specific part failure at any time. They always happen unexpectedly, at an inconvenient time, and always cause frustration. And it's always a part or something you don't carry with you.

The only RV parts I carry in my Montana are extra slide cables. In 4 years, I've had 3 broken cables. This is something that WILL happen again. I purchased the tools to cut, crimp, and fix myself so I can do it when at a campground now. As I'm writing this manuscript, I currently am at an Ohio State Park and I do currently have a frayed slide cable I'm limping along. If I can make it back home without breaking, I'll fix it at home. But, if it breaks where I'm at right now, I'll go ahead and replace it.

So, in your case, if you have a known item in your camper that has failed in the past, or you know is highly subject to failure or breakdown, that item is the only spare part I'd keep on hand.

Everything else can be purchased while on the road. No problem. Again ... that depends upon where you are traveling and camping too.

[DadsHemi]

I carry all kinds of stuff, extra wheel bearings and seals, by accident I have an extra brake assembly, drills, bits, various electrical items, jack, compressor and all kinds of screws, fasters, grease, lubes. Two extra Propane tanks, hose, regulator, various roof repair items. I’m not one to hire repair people as they just don’t meet my expectations. I do need to add a couple of wet bolts and a leaf spring.

[Joint Venture II]

Lots of good information and I want to thank everyone for their input. Besides Trekwood for some of the Montana parts, are their other sites I can find the parts at? Does Keystone sell parts to owners or are we stuck going to dealers only?

[DadsHemi]

Amazon has misc parts, my axels are Dexter so I go to there website for parts. Just do a google search, I seam to go to Trekwood for parts I just can’t find. I have order a few things from Lippert for hydronic parts.

[dieselguy]

I carry lots of extra parts that really don't take up that much space. I too am not one to "hire" someone else to fix my issues as the few times I've had to ... the results were disappointing. Serpentine belt, fuel and oil filters, antifreeze, oil, brake fluid, and fuses for the truck. For the fiver ... spare rotor (disk brakes), brake pads, wheel bearings, races, seals, valve stems, valve stem cores, tire plugs. Dinosaur board for fridge, electric heating element for fridge, spare coil for hot water heater valve, misc shark bite fittings, clamps, fuses, assortment of bolts/nuts, eternabond tape. It is a lot of stuff, but most are small and don't take up hardly any storage space, plus I have them on hand and don't have to go limping 15-30 miles to the nearest Lowe's or O'Reillys.

[sourdough]

The list could be endless or include nothing. I try to carry the things that will either shut me down right now or be hard to find. Bearings and seals, no longer carry brake part replacements as I have discs, butyl tape, all kinds of fuses, spare breaker, spare switch for the Suburban water heater, spare thermostat, vinyl trim insert, sealants, eternabond, bolts/nuts, shark bite fittings, 6' of pex tubing, spare LP regulators- dual stage and high pressure along with LP tank pigtails...and a lot more. Everytime something breaks it seems the only way to get it is order it and wait 3 days to 2 weeks...I'm just not that patient.

[Camp CA]

Originally Posted by Joint Venture II

..........Are there any particular "spares" that is wise to carry?.......

No need for spares, other than small screws and fuses, on the trailer, unlike my powerboat, because failures are rare in my expereince and spare parts are readily available.

[dfb]

I carry a a spare gear for the gear pack. spare Gearbox for the cable bedroom slide.. spare bolts for the Ram x bar... Spare Tire, a rivet gun and rivets and abs glue..inch and pound torque wrenches..

[Ttman]

Our camper is a 2002, I carry lots of spare parts, tool, air compressor, electric crimps, spare water heater element, screws, etc. I can’t carry everything but I try to have at least common problem parts, or best case scenario multi-use items that I could rig it to get by. By way of how I fill my holding tank I have a spare water pump. I carry one spare shackle and bolt set, etc. from when I upgraded to heavy duty shackles and wet bolts because one shackle had broken. I want to be as prepared for a temp/permanent fix that happens on a Saturday at 6:00pm after everything is closed, so our trip isn’t ruined, or maybe be able to help someone else. In particular, the plumbing fittings so I can repair or plug a water line and keep the rest of the camper operational. Your PEX-A is probably clear 1/2” pex and is not the same as the red and blue pex new campers have, so you can’t just go buy those at big box stores. I got my spare plumbing twist on T’s, 90’s, shut off, plugs, etc. from United RV out of TX.

You can’t carry everything, but you should have some things, whats right and wrong is all about what makes you feel like you have prepared as best you could without having to pull a second service trailer full of items.

[Doug Brown]

I have been doing this for over 12 years. I find the best way to keep from breaking down is careful inspections at home before leaving. If I find something suspect I change it. I feel the only spare part you really need to carry is an extra wheelbearings Kit I have never had a wheel bearing go bad Except when I owned a boat.. I time my tires out I don’t wear them out. If I had to raise my rig 12 inches, I would start by using blocks. I now have over 130,000 miles on my Montana mountaineer 285RLD. I just bought a new arctic fox 29-5T.

[Tom0329]

I carry an impact wrench hydraulic jack fuses sockets to get the the wheels off. A plugin electric dril and a cutoff Allen key with right angal drive to run the hyrolic pump. A set off Allen key to open an close the valves to get the sides in an jacks up. I also carry a chain in case I would need to chain up an axcel.

[jsmitfl]

Water heater check valve is something I carry. Spare fuses, plumbing fittings and a couple ft of pex pipe, and a roll of roof repair tape.

[mtheo]

I’m now thinking of carrying a set of leaf springs, in the last year have had one break on each side and both took a 5 hr drive each time to purchase a replacement.
PS, I have a heavy 6 leaf spring if any body needs one. I work in a pinch, replaced it when I got home with a correct one.