Ask The RV Engineer

RV education is an industry constantly in flux. Where do you get your information? If you’re looking for the best credible RV education resources, then this page is for you. It’s my honest opinion about which publications are worth reading (and a few that aren’t). Even though I’m an RV design engineer and RV technician, I am constantly learning and refreshing my library of knowledge. These are some of the sources that I learn from.

RV Education: Best Magazines and Newsletters

RV Travel

Fair warning: I’m not an objective 3rd party observer. I have my own column at RV Travel! But I do like the publication a lot. It’s a smorgasbord of insider info from RV technicians, engineers, influencers, full-timers, and technical instructors. The readership community is very active, and as a writer, I love hearing and learning from my readers.

There are many other largescale RV consumer and industry magazines. Some other publishers include:

To be honest, I can’t recommend one publication over the other. I’ve read something from all of them at one point or the other. I’m personally partial to independent publishers who are upfront about how they make money, and I prefer the subscription model over the affiliate marketing model. I’m a bit partial to the publications from RV Clubs, like Escapees and the FMCA.

RV Education: Industry Publications

RV Education: Top Technical Writers

Mike Sokol’s RV Electricity

Mike Sokol has been a mainstay in RV electrical education since 2010. He’s the founder of the “No-Shock Zone” and GoGreenRV. You’ll find his content published across many websites, but today, he’s most active on his RV Electricity Substack.

Chris Dougherty’s The RV PHD

Chris Dougherty was a technical editor for many RV consumer publications, such as Trailer Life and Motorhome, RV Enthusiast Magazine and RVTravel.com. Recently, he launched his own personal brand and Substack as The RV PHD, following in the footsteps of the deceased Gary Bunzer. He focuses on technical consumer education and combatting all the misinformation of the YouTube age.

Mark Polk’s RV Education 101

Mark Polk has been teaching people about RVs (almost) longer than I’ve been alive. He breaks down RV ownership and RV maintenance into easy-to-understand modules. You can find his content at RV Education 101 and RV University.

Dave Solberg’s RV Repair Club

Dave is another contributing writer to RV Travel, and he’s the managing editor of RV Repair Club, which publishes video and written content to serve DIY RV owners.

RV Education: Best YouTube Channels

Darren Koepp’s My RV Works

In the last few years, Darren Koepp has become the patron saint of RV technicians. He publishes long-form video content focusing on appliance troubleshooting and diagnostics on his YouTube channel, and additional information is available through a Patreon subscription.

The NRVTA

The National RV Training Academy publishes quite a bit of free YouTube content on maintenance and DIY repairs, including their ever-popular Tech Tip Tuesday. This is one of my alma maters, by the way.

James’ AZ Expert

James is the best one-handed RV technician from the Southwest (that’s an inside joke, by the way). His AZ Expert YouTube channel includes a lot of information about roofing, slides, and major rebuilds.

Robert Pepper’s L2SFBC

This is one of my more recent finds, and as a degreed mechanical engineer, I love it! The L2SFBC YouTube channel is a rose among thorns when it comes to safe, accurate towing and driving information.

There are other credible, worthwhile RV YouTube channels. Here are a few channels I’ve watched, enjoyed, and subscribed to:

RV Education: In-Person and Online

If you’re looking for a more formal learning environment, there is no shortage of options! RV trade shows usually have an impressive roster of seminars. Most of these seminars are free, and I highly recommend them.

If you’re looking for more in-depth, in-person training, here are a few options:

In-Person RV Courses

  • FMCA Academy offers a 2.5-day RV Basics workshop, conveniently scheduled right before each FMCA International Convention & RV Expo.
  • The NRVTA, located in Texas, offers a 1-week in-person training course for RVers who want to fix 80% of the problems on their rig. This course is
  • Escapees offers their ever-popular 3-day RVers Boot Camp.

Online RV Courses

RV Driving Courses

If you’re nervous about getting behind the wheel, these expert drivers will set you straight. Here are some of the most popular options:

What About RV Influencers?

You might be wondering why I’m not listing some of the more well-known RV blogs and channels like Morton’s on the Move, The RV Geeks, RVBlogger, We’re the Russos, Drivin’ and Vibin’, Changing Lanes, etc. I have nothing against RV lifestyle and influencer blogs; in fact, I’m a regular reader of several. But I’ve also seen how sites can outgrow their founders. They change owners, hire writers, experiment with AI, and get in bed with their favorite advertisers. This can drastically change the tone, target, and quality of their content. If you love RVs, I encourage you to follow your favorite RVers! – just be aware that you’re following a brand, not just a person.

What About Other RV Travel Blogs?

There is, quite frankly, a grotesque amount of generic RV and camping websites. I keep a list of RV blogs I stumble across while researching, and it’s well into the hundreds. RV accessories, you see, are big business, and RV owners are serious readers. That’s a magical temptation many content creators can’t resist. These RV blogs are all pretty similar: “Hi! I’m Joseph Smith, and I love RVs, and I want to freely share what I’ve learned.” The content is a 50/50 split of review posts and FAQ response posts, because the review posts – which usually link back to Amazon products – are the money makers. I have no issues with a blog making money, but 95% of these blogs are based on snatching organic search traffic and quickly converting them into an affiliate customer. The posts are the bait; you are the fish. They are content mills that scrape and regurgitate information harvested from around the web, often with the help of AI writing software. As you can tell, I’m not a fan, and I spend a lot of time on this blog fixing what they screw up.

What About Ask The RV Engineer?

So where do I fit into all this cacophony?

I published my first article on March 28, 2021. I’ve made some money through this website, mostly through programmatic display advertising, although I’m fairly sure I would have made a better hourly profit running a lemonade stand!

I’m not an influencer; I’m not a blogger. I’m a degree’d engineer and a certified RV technician who owns and operates my own successful service business. Though I am experienced, I am not omniscient! As I write in my journal column, The RV Engineer Goes to Tech School, “As I look back on my first season as a mobile repair technician, I am struck by how little prepared I was for “the opposite side of the tracks.” I am always, always learning, sometimes via the school of hard knocks.

In this blog, I stick to the semi-technical side of things. It’s not for everybody, and that’s OK. I enjoy nerding out on the physics of weight distribution hitches and the vaporization rate of propane. When I write, I not only teach; I learn. AskTheRVEngineer.com is for DIY RVers, plain and simple. It’s about how RVs work, and sometimes why they don’t. Welcome in!