Winter travel

[Mit]

Hello, we are considering taking our new motorhome to Florida from Ohio in late December for two weeks. Any opinions on driving your motorhomes in the Winter months? Ours is already winterized so we won't be using the water. My concern is getting salt on the undercarriage.

[HMCSW]

Originally Posted by Mit

Hello, we are considering taking our new motorhome to Florida from Ohio in late December for two weeks. Any opinions on driving your motorhomes in the Winter months? Ours is already winterized so we won't be using the water. My concern is getting salt on the undercarriage.

No problem as long as you have the ability to wait out any big weather along to way. Interstates are kept clear. Plenty of salt in the air in Florida and power washers. We go from Washington to AZ and California in January plenty of snow and elevation roads at 4,200 feet. We do have to carry chains by law from November to April. We carry Tiresocks and have only used them once: they worked great.

[Travelin' Texans]

If your worried about salt on your MH don't go to Florida, there's as much in the air as you'll likely drive thru on the way.
A few years ago while in Florida we bought folding bicycles at an rv show after our 3 month visit they looked 20 years old all rusted up.

[Vibeman]

If you drive on salted roads, wet or dry, you will get salt on the undercarriage and the salt will accelerate rusting. There are undercoating products that claim to protect from this. I don’t feel it is practical for me since I only make one trip south from Michigan per year on potentially salted roads. The bare metal parts of my 3 year old chassis now have surface rust, it doesn’t look good but I don’t see it very often so I accept it. There is one thing I do to try to reduce the rusting. As soon as I get to Texas in January I rinse the entire under carriage. I bought a small circular garden sprinkler, attached a 4’ length of 3/4” PVC to the inlet and one small caster wheel to the bottom. With water supply hose attached to the PVC I can roll the sprinkler head all around beneath the coach (we park on a full concrete slab) and do a pretty good rinsing. Not perfect but I believe it helps a lot. I also use the hose only to squirt all wheel wells directly. I also open the hood and spray everywhere I can.

[Pete'sMH]

Do you drive a car in the winter? Why would you have more concerns for one chassis over another? These are work truck chassis’ and they’ll be fine. You can wash it off or drive on a rainy day to dissolve the accumulated salt. Besides, driving to Florida for the winter is pretty much what you bought this for!!

[Jimbo56]

If you’re really concerned, go to harbor freight and buy 10 cases of undercoating spray. Mask up and goggle up and spray the underside of the coach. The 10 cases is just a guesstimate. Personally, Once in Florida, I’d just spray it underneath with a waterhose ( or hose pipe as some in NC refer to it as).

[RACarvalho]

Originally Posted by Mit

Hello, we are considering taking our new motorhome to Florida from Ohio in late December for two weeks. Any opinions on driving your motorhomes in the Winter months? Ours is already winterized so we won't be using the water. My concern is getting salt on the undercarriage.

Living in Indiana we did that several times, no issues other than the regular caution when driving in ice conditions.
We usually have the MH winterized but leave home with the fresh water tank full of water.
During the overnight (Usually in Nashville) We de-winterize so we can use the MH during the rest of the trip...
Coming back the same thing in reverse but sometimes, if the weather is fair in Indiana , we winterize again at home.

[16ACE27]

Your brand new MH already has more rust underneath it than any of my Florida vehicles have accumulated in 10+ years. My 2008 Siverado which I sold last year still looked like new underneath. My F53 chassis MH? Not so much.

[Gusti]

Hi,

I suggest to use a spray-stuff to insulate all your connectors under your coach. 3M made something very good !

Good luck !

[k.maslowski@comcast.net]

Find a truck wash (Blue Beacon) they can do a under wash for you $$.

[Dhill]

Winter driving and Winter use of motorhome. I'm curious about opinions from those who drive and use their motorhomes during winter months and in the mountains. I have an ARIA 2023 3901. I just bought this coach this year, but used to drive a Class A gas coach many years ago. We took our children snow skiing every year to Taos, South Tahoe, Breckenridge, etc. We drove from Texas, stayed in an RV Camping ground and drove to the Ski Resort to ski in all kinds of conditions. I never winterized the coach but kept the heat on the entire time. We used our water and sewer as needed. Sometimes in the morning when we would wake, the values to dump the black or gray water would be frozen, but after an hour or so, they would be ok. Never froze and busted because we had the heat on. I have never used chains, etc. So I use my coach in the winter the same as I do in the summer, but I use precautions to make sure the pipes etc. are not exposed without some heat, etc. I did this for over 10 years and over a dozen ski resorts. So maybe others don't feel comfortable doing this. please respond with your experience and thanks for your comments..

[Judge]

I have seen a couple pictures of undercarriages where coaches were driven through road salt and not immediately rinsed off. There is a lot exposed electrical, untreated metal used to fabricate different items and hydraulic connections that can really tske a beating. The amount and pace of the corrosion was pretty amazing.

If there was any chace I’d be running into road salt, there is no way I would I’d be taking that route. If I did hit road salt, I would be hitting the first car wash that would fit the coach and climing under there to wash everything immediately.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Judge

I have seen a couple pictures of undercarriages where coaches were driven through road salt and not immediately rinsed off. There is a lot exposed electrical, untreated metal used to fabricate different items and hydraulic connections that can really tske a beating. The amount and pace of the corrosion was pretty amazing.

If there was any chace I’d be running into road salt, there is no way I would I’d be taking that route. If I did hit road salt, I would be hitting the first car wash that would fit the coach and climing under there to wash everything immediately.

Blue Beacon has undercarriage with Salt Away service at select locations.

[HMCSW]

We have a 3401 Aria and use it year round. We live in Southwest Washington about an hour from an RV park on Mount Hood. The water source has heat elements wrapped around. We use our propane heater and oil filed space heaters which work great for when the temp is below 45. We don’t have much salt use our here. Mostly cinder. Tips up!!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Blue Beacon has undercarriage with Salt Away service at select locations.

That is good to know.

I have Salt Away that I use for my boat because of salt water. I would definitely be carrying it with me if I ever thought about traveling winter roads.