First time RV owners - 2004 Minnie Winnie 24F

[Alan Mc]

Good day. Thank you for letting me join this form. This is my first RV. A 2004 Winnie 24f. I know nothing about RVs and purchased from someone without much info. Any helpful comments or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Sun_Seeker]

Grab a coffee, beer, whatever...and get yer crammin' glasses on...and within two weeks, on this site, you'll be a flamin' expert on everything RV'in! Seriously...great information...use the SEARCH for keywords of interest...and basically browse the thread titles that takes a hold of your interest...!

[be happy]

Welcome, one thing I have learned over the years is do not be afraid to ask questions. Folks will always be around for help.

Dig into your rig and use it, the more you are out the more you will learn.

[Kg0gp]

Start by staying in it in your driveway, learn how things work etc, and ask questions, we're all happy to help...enjoy

[Rmedad]

Congratulations on joining the wonderful (most of the time) world of RV travel! If the great owners manuals that WBGO provides with all their RVs were not in your Winnie, highly recommend heading to the Winnebago website and downloading them.

As others suggested, sit in your driveway and operate all your systems and use the manuals for ref. Then head for a nearby campground to familiarize yourself with all that's involved with checking in and hooking up.

If you get stuck, confused, or can't find the answer, give a shout out to the great folks here for help. Be as specific as possible in your questions so others can better offer pertinent responses.

Enjoy your RV!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Sun_Seeker

Grab a coffee, beer, whatever...and get yer crammin' glasses on...and within two weeks, on this site, you'll be a flamin' expert on everything RV'in! Seriously...great information...use the SEARCH for keywords of interest...and basically browse the thread titles that takes a hold of your interest...!

I've found that the "powered by Google" search block at the top of the page works better than the search function on the tool bar. Keep in mind than most issues aren't unique to a particular model so don't be too narrow in your exploration.

[jcurtisis]

Welcome! I’ve learned quite a lot from the sage advice gleaned off of the many learned RV masters on this site. Be sure to ask questions starting with your rig year and model, and be specific. Even better is to post your question on the forum that is more appropriate to the question.
Hopefully you have the RV product manual. If not, get it and read it. Really. 90% of my questions were answered by the manual.
Before camping, critical items to check: age & condition of tires (suggest you get the EEZ tire pressure monitoring system or equivalent) / engine oil / condition of batteries (house and chassis). Make yourself a check list of what to do before moving the rig and use it each time (!!). You don’t want to be “that guy” who is driving with the awning out or dragging your power cable on the ground behind you or ripping out the poop hose.
As to learning: ya gotta “get out there”. We did baby steps. As we have the ability to have full hookups at our house, that was the first step: camping I the front yard. If you don’t have that luxury, then locate the closest RV park to home and go there for a weekend. Run everything / put it through its paces.
Things to buy (not sure what you have): Progressive Dynamics EMS (“surge protector) - I got the kind that is wired into the rig vice portable/ cheap tire covers and spray them with “309” UV protectant / a decent waterproof exterior cover for your chassis windows / a cheap oversized emergency blanket (the thin Mylar stuff) to shield the interior chassis from the house (makes heat / cooling management so much more easy). Also Buy: a set of tools in a handy container / a flashlight that you strap to your head / a cheap jacket you don’t mind getting grimy / a small mat for accessing undercarriage things / get a more expensive poop hose (ya don’t want that to leak!) at least 20’ long (I have a Rhino) - make sure it comes with end caps (!!), also need the 90 degree elbow connector that is clear plastic and the screw-in connector for the sewer opening / long rubber gloves / a new 20’ water hose with in- line pressure reducer (they are small & cheap). I also carry jumper cables, leather gloves and a big handheld flashlight.

[Morich]

This is the main site for most Winnie:
https://winnebagoind.com/product-res...ct-information
From there you will need to drill down to get to the specific model Brave, Navion, and then 24F but once there you can find tons of info from pictures to diagrams of where things are located and even down to where the wires for different items run through the unit. Be aware that options matter and you may not have all the options shown on the diagrams. But you CAN look at lots of info and read through the owners manuals.
Depending on your interest and what level of work you want to do, you may want to print off some of the basic things like where the waterlines go?
Good luck and come back with any questions as this is always a new project when we switch and the first is the hardest.
Simple things are different in RV. Things like knowing to wait for the fire to light in the furnace can be a real headscratcher until you get used to how things sound/act/ react when you try to use them, so take it slow and be ready for some questions!

[Saoirsem]

Similar story for us, we are on our first overnight about 12 miles from home. Forgot blankets [only a problem for my husband] but we have dogs Still trying to figure out how to get some of the electricity inside, but have the the major stuff.

Good luck, enjoy