Storing an RV in the San Gabriel Valley Off Season

What storage actually threatens in this climate

Most storage advice written for RVs assumes a hard freeze. In the San Gabriel Valley that is not the main threat, and following a northern checklist produces a coach that is well protected against something that will not happen while being wide open to the things that will.

The real risks here are sun, rodents and standing water. Sun degrades the roof, the sealant, the gelcoat, the tires and every piece of exterior plastic on the coach, and it does it continuously whether the coach is being used or not. A coach parked for eight months in an open lot ages more than one that spent those months being driven and parked in different places.

Rodents are the second problem and the one that produces the most expensive surprises. A stored coach is a warm, quiet, undisturbed structure with soft insulation in it, which is exactly what a rodent is looking for as nights cool off.

Standing water is the third. Southern California rain arrives in a few concentrated events, and a coach parked on a slight slope with a blocked drain or a sagging cover collects water in places it was never designed to hold it.

Roof and seals before anything goes into storage

Storage is the worst time for an open seam, because nobody is inside the coach to notice a stain. A leak that would be caught in a weekend of use runs unattended through an entire wet season.

So the roof inspection happens before the coach is parked, not after. Every bead gets checked from a low angle for released edges, every penetration gets checked, and anything questionable gets resealed before the coach sits.

Clean the roof properly first. Debris left on a membrane holds moisture against it, and organic material breaks down into something that stains and then something that degrades. On a coach parked under trees this is the single highest value hour of storage prep.

Check the drains and any scupper at the roof edge. Blocked drainage turns a normal storm into a pond, and a pond on a roof finds its way through the first bead that is not perfect.

Covered storage, a cover, or neither

Covered storage is the best option in this climate by a clear margin. It removes the ultraviolet load from the roof, the sealant and the gelcoat all at once, and it keeps rain off surfaces that only need to stay dry.

A fitted cover is the next best thing, with conditions. It has to be a breathable cover made for the coach, it has to be fitted tightly, and it has to be checked after wind. A cover that flaps against a sidewall for a season will abrade the finish more thoroughly than a year of sun would.

A tarp is worse than nothing on a long parking. It traps moisture underneath, it holds grit against the surface, and it flaps. We see more finish damage caused by tarps than prevented by them.

If none of those is available, orientation helps. Park so the side with the most graphics or the most valuable finish faces north, and rotate the coach between seasons if the lot allows it.

Keeping rodents out of a parked coach

Rodents get in low and they get in through gaps that look far too small. The work is finding and closing entries, not baiting after the fact.

• Every plumbing and wiring pass through in the underbelly, sealed with a material that does not simply get chewed
• The propane compartment and any compartment with an exterior vent
• Gaps around slide out mechanisms where the room passes through the wall
• The area behind the refrigerator vent and around the water heater
• The step well and any opening around the entry door frame
• Any tear in the underbelly covering, which is an open door regardless of what else you seal
• Food and anything with a scent removed entirely, including sealed dry goods

Slides, awnings and what position to leave them in

Awnings go in and stay in. There is no version of this where leaving an awning out through a storage period ends well, and Santa Ana season arrives while nobody is watching the coach.

Slide position is the question owners argue about. The practical answer for a coach stored outdoors in this climate is rooms in. A retracted room has its seals in their designed position, it presents no horizontal surface for water and debris to collect on, and it removes the slide topper from the equation entirely.

The counter argument is that a compressed bulb seal can take a set over a long period. That is real, but it is a smaller problem than a season of water sitting on an extended room and a topper. On a coach stored under cover the calculation changes, and rooms out with the seals relaxed is defensible.

Either way, treat the seals before the coach sits. A conditioner suited to the seal material keeps the rubber pliable and reduces how much of a set it takes, and it takes minutes to apply.

Tires, jacks and how the coach sits while parked

How a coach carries its own weight for months matters. Tires flat spot, sidewalls degrade under ultraviolet exposure, and the suspension sits at one point in its travel the entire time.

Cover the tires. Ultraviolet exposure on sidewalls is the main reason RV tires age out long before they wear out, and covers are inexpensive compared with a set of tires. If the coach can be moved a short distance occasionally, that helps with flat spotting.

Level the coach and use the jacks properly rather than parking on a slope and leaving it. A coach stored out of level puts a permanent twist into a structure that was designed to be square, and on a long storage that shows up as doors and slides that no longer fit when it comes back out.

Put something under the jack feet on asphalt. In a West Covina summer, asphalt softens and a jack foot sinks, which slowly takes the coach out of the level it was parked in.

Checking on it, and the shop visit that follows storage

The most useful visit is not in spring. It is a few days after the first significant storm of the season, because that is when a marginal seal will have shown itself and there is still time to deal with it before three more storms follow.

Look inside as well as outside on that visit. Ceiling corners, the top of the wall on the awning side, the area under each window and the floor by the entry door are where water shows up first. Bring a flashlight and use your nose, because a musty smell arrives before a stain does.

When the coach comes out of storage for the season, that is the natural moment to book any body, sealant or delamination work you have been deferring. Spring and early summer are the busiest weeks of the year for RV shops in Southern California, and an appointment made in advance is worth a great deal.

We are in Yorba Linda, about thirty to forty five minutes from West Covina on the 10 or the 60 west to the 57 south, then the 91 east to Imperial Highway. We do not offer mobile service, so the coach comes to the shop. Call (949) 799-3387 if a storage check turned up water inside and you want it looked at before the next storm.