ATC Toy Hauler Maintenance Tips

by Steve Johnson April 19, 2019

This ATC Toy Hauler tip was sponsored by…

Toppers and Trailers Plus, a full service ATC dealership, repair, and upgrade center, with locations in Mankato, MN and Le Seuer, MN. Visit them online at: https://www.toppersandtrailersplus.com/

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Spring is the perfect time to inspect your ATC toy hauler and see what kind of maintenance needs to be performed. Your toy hauler is a big investment, but you can save time and money by starting that maintenance now rather than when you want to be out camping. Don’t wait for summer to arrive! Check out some tips on how to successfully maintain your toy hauler!

1. Tighten Your Toy Hauler’s Wheel Lug Nuts and Check Tire Pressure

Before any camping trip, make sure to tighten your toy hauler’s wheel lug nuts and measure tire pressure to ensure your safety on the road. Your toy hauler’s wheel lug nuts may have loosened up at during previous travel or while in storage. Driving with loose lug nuts is dangerous and could lead to losing a wheel on the road. In addition, checking your toy hauler’s tire pressure is important because overinflated tires may explode, damaging your toy hauler, and possibly causing an accident. Underinflated tires are also dangerous, creating control problems and generating more resistance on the road, which effects your gas mileage. Tire pressure changes as temperature increases and decreases, so if your toy hauler has been sitting all winter, your tire pressure will have significantly dropped creating an unsafe and fuel inefficient ride.

2. Check Your Toy Hauler’s Batteries

No one wants a dead battery during your camping trip. Batteries tend to last around 3-5 years, and some batteries are maintenance free! Make sure to check your batteries performance and keep it fully charged. ATC toy haulers can have solar panels installed on the roof of their trailers, which helps ensure your batteries are charged. Toppers and Trailers Plus can help you with any custom additions, such as solar panels, for your ATC toy hauler.

3. Keep Your ATC Toy Hauler’s Brakes Maintained

Keeping your toy hauler’s brakes maintained helps ensure your safety on the road as well as other drivers. Maintain the wheel bearings and make sure that they are nice and lubricated throughout the summer. In addition, make sure your brakes still have enough material left on them to avoid obstacles during your trip.

4. Keep Your ATC Toy Hauler’s Awning Maintained

Sometimes you may not think your awning is a part of your toy hauler that needs maintenance. Out of sight out of mind once you retract it? Nope! Keeping your awning clean prevents mold and mildew from building up on the fabric. Make sure to clean off your awning after every trip or debris can get caught and tear the fabric. Tears in your awning’s fabric can be costly to repair (some up to $600). Replacing the awning, itself, is even more expensive ranging from $1,300 – $1,400. Avoid spending all that extra money with a simple cleaning of your toy hauler’s awning.

5. Make Sure the Electrical Connection from Your Toy Hauler to Your Tow Vehicle is Working

The connection from your toy hauler to your tow-vehicle is of critical importance to your safety. This is what transmits your electrical signal from your tow vehicle to your toy hauler, turning on your toy hauler’s brake lights when you hit the brake pedal in your vehicle. This electrical connection gives you and your toy hauler safety when driving on the road both during the day and at night. Another benefit of the electrical connection is that while you’re driving, your tow-vehicle is charging your toy hauler’s battery through the charge circuit. Ultimately, your electrical connection makes sure your toy hauler has good brake activation, a fully charged battery, and makes sure all your lighting is working. If problems arise in your electrical connection, Toppers and Trailers Plus has a full-service shop that will help fix any issues that may happen.

Preventative maintenance will take some of the worry off your shoulders. By following these simple tips, you can help increase the life of your toy hauler and save yourself time and money by avoiding costly repairs. Summer is your time, so spend it doing what you want not trying to fix your toy hauler.