Grants Pass RV and Auto Repair

Photo from the Henderson’s Line-Up Website Welcome to April!  For this month’s blog, we’re looking back at some of our favorite videos from the past 12 months at Henderson’s Line-Up! We’d like to remind you that our YouTube channel is under SuperSteer and we hope you’ll like what you see and subscribe to our channel if you’d like more content! Customers during COVID Rich talks with a couple about their 2004 Holiday Rambler, and how upgrades and replacements at Henderson's Line-Up took the rock out of their roll! Secrets to Safer and Happier Driving This hilarious video starts by showing off some of the great new advances in 2020 for stability, before getting into safety and happier driving in your RV!   Why you should NEVER do the "Cheap Handling Fix" on your Motor Home Eric explains about a popular 'fix' we're hearing about that actually damages the sway bar instead of improving it's control over ... read more

Even though the month of July is actually the annual National Brake Month, at Henderson’s Line-Up, we think October is the month you should be thinking about brake repair the most. We don’t really need to tell you how important your brakes are to your RV. We know you understand that you need stopping power with a vehicle as large and heavy as yours. So we’re offering you three specific reasons why you should get your brakes inspected in October. For starters? Halloween is coming up, and kids will likely be out in great numbers trick-or-treating this year.  Short drives through your neighborhood can find kids running across your path. A large recreational vehicle needs stopping power to keep the kids in your community safe! With the holiday season fast approaching, getting your brakes inspected in October means you can rest easy in the coming months that your RV will be safer to drive in cold weather driving conditions, such as icy roads and snow drifts. If a p ... read more

Have you seen all the vehicles that are towed behind a motorhome as you’re rolling down the highway? For those of us living the #RVLifestyle, we call those dinghy vehicles or towed vehicles.  There are many pros to towing a dinghy vehicle, but there are several cons as well. The team at Henderson’s Line-Up and SuperSteer wants to share some of these pros and cons of towing a dinghy vehicle so you can be fully aware of your towing options.   Pros to towing a dinghy vehicle When you feel like taking a quick trip to the store or want to navigate a narrow road, having a towed vehicle is a great choice. You can just hop in and go! Also, a towed vehicle allows you to drive through town without exposing your recreational vehicle. Not all small towns have streets wide enough that you can comfortably navigate your RV. When you tow your own vehicle, you don’t have to worry about renting a car, calling a taxi, or hiring a Lyft driver. In an emergency situation w ... read more

Photo by Spaylia on Unsplash   Have you ever been traveling in your RV and you’ve hit bad weather? It can be scary and dangerous, can’t it? At Henderson’s Line-Up, we have some helpful ideas to keep you, your RV, and all of your travel companions safe when bad weather strikes your RV. Monitor the weather. Anytime you drive a motor home or trailer, you should get a daily weather report. Utilize the NOAA weather app on your phone to keep track of weather patterns along your route. Be sure to keep your phone charged so you don’t miss out on important updates. Tornadoes. In the event of a tornado, you will need to take action immediately. Develop a disaster plan for you and your family. Never try to outrun a tor ... read more

Are you ready to prep your RV for the season? When you begin moving into your RV and remember the clutter that got to you, it is time to think about what you can do differently this year. If you don't want to make the same organizational mistakes as last year, it is essential to start by sitting down to make an inventory list of items you have. Once you see what is in your RV, you can take a hard look at quantities. Pairing down is one of the best ways to create extra space. Do you really need 12 drinking cups on board? Take a good look at your layout and decide on a home for everything. Creating a home spot for all things small and large will help you maintain organization, even things like your fly swatter, and your keys need a designated home spot. Developing a routine is imperative to keeping things clean, organized, and in its place. Setting up a weekly deep cleaning and a light daily cleaning routine will keep your space feeling fresh, and everything will make its way back ... read more

  How to Keep the Dark Away After the Sun Sets    Nighttime driving can be tricky in an RV, especially with poor lighting. RV’s often weigh well over 7,500 lbs; The last thing any driver of a large RV needs at night is poor lighting showing the way. In addition to asking the Lord to guide our way, it is best to take the time to head into your local RV repair shop before leaving on a trip, as they are an excellent resource for common lighting issues, spare lamps, and more.   Burned out light bulbs can happen to anyone at any time. With your daily driver, you can usually head down to any auto parts store to pick up an in-stock lamp. They are relatively easy to install in a short amount of time. With a motorhome, this experience can be quite different. Replacement lamps may not be readily available or as easy to install. It is best to order and keep on hand a couple of back up lamps just-in-case. If it is challenging tracking down the right type of lamp for ... read more

RV rallies are a great place to learn all sorts of skills that make the RVing experience all the better.  Rallies offer many opportunities to learn the ins and outs of RVing as well as provide access to vendors and the newest products and advancements available on the market.  Seminars:   Most large RV rallies will present on RV related topics such as driving, safety, cleaning, cooking, maintenance, resorts, and much more.  These are especially helpful if new to the RV community or even for the casual RVer. When attending a seminar you’ll want to check and be sure that it isn’t a product demo (infomercial). Do your research and spend your time wisely! Maintenance:  RV maintenance is often offered by RV manufacturers and related companies at most rallies.  RV companies bring technicians and basic replacement parts to rallies as a complementary service to bring in more event-goers.  Depending on the rally, RV Technicians will perform ba ... read more

It’s December, and for many of us living the RV lifestyle, you’re probably getting ready to park it for the Winter season. This begs the question:  How do you winterize and maintain your RV?  If you are new to owning a motor home or fifth wheel, there are many steps you need to take to winterize and maintain your vehicle so it’ll be in good shape by the time we reach Spring. Here is a shortlist of the items you need to take care of for proper storage maintenance:   You need to blow the lines out to get rid of all the water.  Drain the water out of the water heater. Get an annual inspection because water leaks can cause a lot of damage. Put antifreeze in there so your lines don’t freeze. Prep the exterior and make sure your roof is well sealed to prevent water leaks. If possible, store your camper inside in a climate-controlled building. Or, you should cover it with a tarp if outside.  Wherever you store it, make sure the area is ... read more

“Pay me now or pay me later” -- Mr. Goodwrench   I asked people, “If you were going to buy a house on the side of a mountain, would you want to know what the foundation was?”   Purchasing an R.V. can be likely the most expensive purchase you make outside of your house. Quite often I ask folks if they paid more money for their R.V. than their first house? Hands shoot up everywhere. So, I ask about the second house, the third house; again, hands go up. The point is made that purchasing an R.V. is a substantial investment.     I ask people “How many of you test drove your motorhome, pulled your 5th wheel or hauled your camper?” Maybe a quarter of the hands go up and that is a generous estimate! If they did drive or pull it, it was on a nice preselected route by the salesman. It was most likely not with truck passing, road construction, windy conditions, truck ruts and various bumps, bridge transitions, etc. these are rea ... read more

The weight of a motorhome, or perhaps more importantly, how it is distributed, is something a lot of RVers don’t think about. We know that motorhomes are large and heavy, and drive much differently from the passenger cars and trucks we’re more accustomed to.  But there’s more to consider. Virtually no two motorhomes built on the same chassis have the same weight distribution, and may be loaded differently. We see a lot of side to side discrepancies due to slide outs, washer/driers, generator placement, and other factors. I can recall many times weight ratios have been off. When we first got started at Henderson’s Line-Up, I remember working on a GM P32 chassis that drove great and the customer was happy. The next day, we worked on the same chassis for a well and pump service company, and it didn’t turn out so well. We wondered, why? Two of the exact same chassis, yet each had different results. We hate unmet expectations! And that’s when we rea ... read more