Camper trailer maintenance log: what to record and when

A camper trailer maintenance log needs four things in it, and only four: a fixed identifiers page you never rewrite, a service record against the intervals your running-gear maker actually publishes, a running list of repairs and parts, and a folder of certificates other people will demand. Everything else is decoration. The reason to keep it is not tidiness — it is that AL-KO requires warranty claims to arrive with “any relevant documentation (such as maintenance records)”, Jayco warns that failing to service and maintain the trailer “may result in repairs under the Jayco warranty being declined or voiding the Jayco warranty”, Queensland will not let a used camper trailer change hands without a gas compliance certificate less than three months old, and in Victoria a light trailer never needs a roadworthy certificate at all — so nothing external ever forces you to look.

This is desk research from manufacturers’ published service documents and Australian state regulators, written for light trailers with an aggregate trailer mass of 4.5 tonnes or less. Where your own manual, compliance plate or state regulator says something different, that wins. It is not legal advice.

Why a camper trailer maintenance log is worth the effort

Warranty claims are documentary

The parts under a camper trailer usually carry their own warranties, separate from the trailer’s. Jayco lists AL-KO suspension components, tyres, batteries, the fridge, the air conditioner and the hot water service among components “separately warranted by their individual manufacturer or importer”, each with its own terms in the owner’s packet. That means a bearing failure can involve three sets of paperwork at once.

AL-KO’s electric braked axles carry 12 months or 20,000 km from date of purchase, whichever comes first, and its claims procedure is explicit: contact the dealer within seven days, and the claim “must be accompanied by (a) proof of purchase; (b) full details of the alleged defect; and (c) any relevant documentation (such as maintenance records)”. The warranty does not apply where the defect arose from the customer’s failure to maintain the product in accordance with AL-KO’s instructions. AL-KO’s warranty is also not transferable if you sell during the period, and Jayco’s five-year structural warranty is available only to the original purchaser — worth noting before you buy secondhand on the strength of “still under warranty”.

The ACCC’s position on consumer guarantees is the plain-language version: a business “is entitled to ask consumers to provide some form of proof of purchase, such as a receipt”. A log with the invoice numbers in it answers that question in seconds.

Almost nothing forces a light trailer to be inspected

The obligation is continuous but the checking is not. In NSW, a vehicle “must be suitable for safe use (roadworthy) and meet the standards required by law” to be registered, and police can issue a defect notice that suspends the registration if it is not repaired by the due date. What triggers an actual inspection varies enormously by state:

State	What forces an inspection	What it covers
NSW	eSafety check (pink slip) for most light vehicles more than 5 years old before registration renewal	Trailers and caravans with ATM of 4.5 t or less, including those with breakaway brakes but not air or vacuum breakaway systems; report valid 6 months; Authorised Inspection Scheme stations only
Queensland	Safety certificate on transfer of registration, transfer into Queensland, or re-registering	Trailers including caravans with ATM between 750 kg and 4,500 kg; valid 2 months or 2,000 km from a private seller, 3 months or 1,000 km from a dealer, one transfer only
Victoria	Nothing	“You won’t need a roadworthy certificate for… a light trailer (with an aggregate trailer mass of 4.5 tonnes or less)”

Check your own state’s regulator, because these three do not generalise. But in most of the country, between the day you buy a camper trailer and the day you sell it, the only person inspecting the running gear on a schedule is you or the workshop you book. The log is the record that this happened.

The clock runs even when the trailer doesn’t

Every schedule below is expressed as kilometres or months, whichever comes first, and Jayco says the quiet part out loud: “Even if your RV has not been used for some time, we still recommend regular servicing to ensure components are in good working order.” A camper trailer that does 3,000 km a year still reaches its 12-month service. Without a written next-due date, the trailer that sits behind the shed quietly falls three years behind.

Page one: the identifiers you write once

The first page of the log never changes, and it saves a phone call every time something goes wrong. Jayco notes that the chassis number “is Jayco’s primary identifier for our records management and warranty” and that you will be asked for it whenever you present the trailer for servicing or repairs. Record:

• Chassis number and VIN, and where they are stamped or welded on your trailer.
• The compliance plate figures, which Jayco describes as including tare weight, tow ball weight, tyre size and pressures, ATM and GTM. Cruisemaster adds the reason these matter beyond towing: the suspension “has been selected according to the vehicle manufacturers recommended Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM)… It is important that these figures are not exceeded.” Your real weights belong beside them — see the four-reading weighing method.
• Running gear: axle and suspension brand and model, brake type and size, coupling model, whether the brakes are over-run or electric, and whether a breakaway system is fitted. The Northern Territory’s light trailer bulletin sets the bands: no brakes required under 750 kg GTM for a single-axle trailer, brakes on at least one axle up to 2,000 kg GTM, and over 2,000 kg GTM brakes on all wheels with a breakaway system.
• Wheels and tyres: stud pattern, rim type, the wheel nut torque figure you have been given, tyre size, load and speed rating, and the DOT date code of every tyre including the spare.
• Serial numbers for the fridge, water heater, battery, charger, solar regulator and any gas appliance — the separately warranted list.

Camper trailer service intervals worth writing into the log

Three Australian manufacturers publish schedules for the parts under a typical camper trailer. They agree more than they disagree, and where they differ it is because they are describing different hardware. Use your own maker’s numbers; these show the shape.

Interval	AL-KO electric braked axles	Cruisemaster suspension	Jayco RVs
Daily / each trip	Test brakes function; inflate tyres to specification	Daily visual inspections recommended for off-road and abnormal conditions	—
Run-in	Wheel nuts every 100 km for first 400 km; brake clean and adjust between first 300 and 1,000 km	Wheel nuts at 100 km; bearing play check and brake adjustment at 1,000 km	First service at first 1,000 km or 3 months
5,000 km or 6 months	Wheel nut torque; inspect rims for dents, damage or out of round	Torque suspension and shock mounting bolts; grease hinge bushes	—
6 months or 10,000 km	—	Wheel bearings dismantled, inspected, lubricated with Castrol LMX grease or equivalent, replaced if necessary	—
10,000 km or 12 months	Brake de-dust, lining wear and adjust; brake magnets; wheel bearings and cups inspect and lubricate; hub/drum; seals; brake linings; park brake	Shock absorber inspection; brake service; wheel alignment	Annual service; rotate all wheels including the spare; check the entire roof lifting system
20,000 km or 2 years	Third scheduled service	Inspect bushes; check brake mounting bolt tightness	Two-year service

Two footnotes matter more than the table. Cruisemaster states that its periods “are based on normal road usage. For off-road and abnormal conditions maintenance intervals will need to be more frequent” — which is the condition most camper trailers are bought for. And AL-KO is blunt that these are “service functions, not warranty items”: you pay for them, and Jayco confirms “the cost of servicing your RV is not covered by our warranty”.

Wheel nuts get their own line because every maker treats them differently from everything else. Jayco specifies 150 Nm on alloy rims and asks for the tension to be checked “every 100 km for the first 400 km… and then after every wheel change, every 1000km or every six months whichever comes first”. AL-KO declines to publish a number at all, saying nuts “should be tightened to the torque specified by the wheel manufacturer” and to ask your trailer supplier. Cruisemaster publishes maximum stud torques — 200 N.m for a 1/2” UNF Grade 8 stud, 155 N.m for M12x1.5 class 10.9 — then warns that settings “will need to be reduced depending on wheel rim design and type”. So the figure goes on page one of your log, sourced and dated, and the log records the figure you actually used.

Record measurements, not ticks

A tick tells you a job happened. A number tells you whether the next one can wait. The entries worth a figure:

Item	What to write down	Why it is useful next time
Wheel nuts	Torque figure used and date	Distinguishes “checked” from “checked at the right number”
Brake adjustment	Result of the spin test — AL-KO’s target is the wheel turning 3/4 to 1 revolution freely	Lets you feel drift before it becomes a dragging brake
Wheel bearings	Play found, grease used, whether bearings were replaced or refitted	Bearings replaced in sets have a known age
Brake linings and magnets	Thickness or wear observed	Two readings give a wear rate you can plan around
Shock absorbers	Leaks seen; Cruisemaster says movement should stop within 3 to 4 applications when the trailer is rocked, and slight oil misting is normal	Separates a real leak from a normal one
Tyres	Pressures used, tread depth, DOT date code per position	Feeds the age decision below and the tyre-pressure routine
Breakaway system	Date and result of the battery test	AL-KO states its electric brakes “require a minimum of 6 volts for a period of 15 minutes to meet ADR 38/05 emergency brake requirements” and that the system must be maintained to achieve that supply
Batteries and charging	Rested voltage, charge source, install date	Pairs with the numbers in the 12V basics guide
Moisture and seals	Result of the moisture test and any resealing	Jayco puts a moisture test and external seals on every annual service

Tyre age deserves its own line because the log is the only place the answer lives. Toyo Tires Australia recommends that tyres 10 years old from the date of manufacture “are replaced or removed from service regardless of the remaining tread depth or appearance”, and cites JATMA guidance that all tyres be inspected after five years of service by a qualified tyre service person. The date is in the last four digits of the DOT code — week, then year, so 3718 is the 37th week of 2018. Write those codes down once, including the spare, and you will never again be squinting at a sidewall in a servo driveway.

Certificates and documents that belong with the log

These are the entries someone else will ask for, and several of them cannot be reconstructed later.

Document	Who issues it	When it matters
Gas compliance certificate	Licensed gas installer	Queensland requires a certificate at installation with a copy given to the owner of a new vehicle, and that a seller give the new owner a certificate less than three months old when a used camper trailer or caravan is sold
Gas system defect notice	The person who found the non-compliance	Queensland requires a copy be given to the owner; keep it with the record of the repair that cleared it
Appliance manuals and warranties	Manufacturers	Queensland’s gas guideline says owners “should ensure they receive a copy of all gas appliance and equipment installation, service and user manuals as part of the vehicle document package”
Service invoices and stamped service pages	Workshop or dealer	AL-KO’s printed schedule has a date, dealer stamp and signature line for each service from 300–1,000 km through to 50,000 km or 60 months; Jayco’s pages record the servicer, date, signature and the next service due “at the earlier of” a date and a kilometre reading
Safety certificate or eSafety check	Authorised inspection station	Required on sale or renewal in some states; the report also tells a buyer what an independent inspector saw
Proof of purchase	Seller	The ACCC notes a business may ask for proof of purchase such as a receipt before a repair, replacement or refund

Gas work is not owner-serviceable in any state: Queensland requires an appropriate gas work licence for any gas work, and NSW requires LP gasfitting to be done by, or under the immediate supervision of, a qualified person, to AS/NZS 5601.2:2020. What the log records is who did it, when, and where the certificate is filed. Cylinders carry their own stamped test date — photograph it and note the expiry rather than guessing an interval.

The trip log: the half you will actually use

The service record is annual. The trip log is where a camper trailer’s real history lives, and it takes about a minute per entry:

• Odometer or trip kilometres, since every interval above is a kilometre count and a camper trailer has no odometer of its own. A note of the tow vehicle’s reading at hitch-up and unhitch is enough.
• Conditions: corrugations, sand, salt water, a river crossing, days of rain. This is what moves the next service earlier under Cruisemaster’s off-road caveat, and it is the context for a bearing that later feels rough.
• Anything you did on the road: a wheel change and the re-torque that followed it, a fuse, a tap, a strap. Small roadside repairs are exactly what nobody remembers three months later.
• Anything that felt wrong, even unresolved: a noise on left-hand bends, a brake controller setting that had to change, a hub warmer than its partner. Two entries make a pattern.
• The result of your departure checks, which the pre-trip checklist already walks through, and any canvas that went away damp — the 24-hour clock in the wet pack-down guide is a log entry, not a memory.

A template you can copy

Three tables, one notebook or one spreadsheet. The columns are chosen so that a row is still legible to a buyer in five years.

Service record

Date	Trip km total	Item serviced	What was done	Parts and part numbers	Measurement recorded	Who did it	Cost	Next due (date / km)

Trip log

Dates	Route	Km towed	Conditions	Tyre pressures run	Issues noticed	Fixed on the road

Next-due tracker, one line per system — brakes, bearings, suspension bolts, tyres, gas certificate, battery, canvas and seals — each with a date and a kilometre figure, whichever comes first. This single page is the one you photograph before booking a workshop.

Two habits make the difference. Copy Jayco’s “next service is due at the earlier of” wording into every row, because a date alone lets a busy year hide a due service. And do not start a parallel book: if your trailer came with an AL-KO or Jayco service book, it already has stamped pages a buyer will trust, so keep your own notes alongside it rather than instead of it.

Where to keep it, and what to hand over

Keep the working copy where the trailer is — a hard-covered book in the drawer survives what a phone does not — and photograph every page and every invoice into a dated cloud folder after each service. Physical stamps still carry weight at resale, but the photos are what survive a break-in or a fire.

When you sell, the log is the difference between a buyer’s guess and a buyer’s confidence: identifiers, weights, the service history against a published schedule, tyre date codes, the gas certificate, and the repairs you made and dated. Documenting modifications for insurance and resale is a bigger job with its own rules, and it is the next guide in this series.

Limits of this guide

The intervals above are AL-KO’s, Cruisemaster’s and Jayco’s published figures for their own products, accessed on the date shown in the sources. Other axle, suspension and coupling makers publish different schedules, and a camper trailer built on a mix of hardware may follow three at once. Inspection and certificate rules were checked for New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory only, and change without much notice; confirm with your own state or territory regulator. Gas and electrical work is licensed work everywhere in Australia. When your manual and this page disagree, follow the manual.