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Originally Posted by MatthewS
We will be traveling to Grand Canyon in the winter months for a few days. Do you need to winterize before going or is that feature for storage only? Any tips with traveling in winter with 6,000 elevation are helpful. thank you in advance.
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My tip is pretty simple... Don't do it!
It's one thing to be already set up in a location when sub-freezing temps roll in... when you've had time to prepare, insulate & heat your spaces, install skirting, etc. But it's another when you purposely decide to travel into those conditions.
That said... if you absolutely have to for some reason... then it all comes down to what temps your can expect during travel & your arrival.
If you expect to the temps to be below freezing during any portion of your travel... then yes... winterize the rig's plumbing before departure. During a trip in those conditions, you'll have no way of heating the space inside the rig... and thus, no way of keeping the pipes warm. So any water in them will probably freeze, expand, and burst the plumbing if the pipes & hot water tank aren't empty.
Of course, that only deals with the travel portion. Upon arrival, if you will remain in conditions where the temps will regularly go below freezing, and you intend on using the plumbing... you will need to take steps to ensure that things stay warm enough then too. Depending on how you plan on setting up, that could mean installing skirting to keep the underside the rig warmer (for your holding tanks)... using a headed water hose from the campground tap into your rig... placing a heater into the basement area to keep the pipes warm... etc.
There's lots of other little things to consider too, but far too many to go into here w/o knowing the particulars of your situation (sealing all air gaps in the rig, furnace use vs electric heaters, etc).
Bottom line... I sure wouldn't want to do it, but that's your call.
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