Your worse mishap arriving at the Fort ?

[homemaker]

Our worst mishap was back in October. First our truck broke down on the way to he fort. DH had to replace the altenator(sp?) in the parking lot of an action auto. We figured worst was over and we were back on the road. The day after we arrive at the fort our grey water tank falls off. Thank god for the company that does onsite repairs. They couldn't fix it the right way without having it in the shop, but kinda rigged it to get us by. When we purchased the trailer (used) we also purchased a warrenty. Good thing it covered everything!

 

[big kahuna1]

I think the worst mishap I have ever had was a night in our fiver we just picked up for some service/warranty work. Some of this work entailed a leaking toilet. Now we stayed overnight at Tropical Palms the night before as the dealer is 4.5 hours away so we made a little weekend out of it. We did not hook up the sewer as we would be staying at Tropical Palms again on the way back from picking up the trailer and would take care of the dumping at that time. Well, apparently, they opened the dump valve to test the toilet after they fixed it and forgot to close it. I take the cap of the connection and am delightfully showered with Smurf Goo. Being somewhat confused and dazed by this it takes me a minute to get my senses back. I then yell, well actually I screamed for the wife to close the valve while at the same time I am trying to cram the cap back on squirting Smurf Goo every where. Now there are 3 different dump valves. One for the black tank, one for the master suite bath and shower and one for the kitchen sink. She has no clue which is what and where. This is all happening with our neighbors watching next to us. A little embarassing. I tried to convince them that I was not that green (I was actually blue at the time) at RVing but I myself would have had a hard time believing that statement. Well, the dealer got a whale of #@!& from me at the least but I lived to camp again another day. The moral of this story is make sure your wife knows how to close a dump valve!!!

 

[ynottony99]

here is what you need for those flat tires http://www.smartjak.ca/

Looks like the ramps that I have my old rusty Nova up on out front here in the trailer park. (Just an attempt at a little more redneck humor). That does look good. Wouldn't take up anymore room than the 2x6's I carry now. And if it will keep me from ever having another flat, well there ya go.

 

[2goofycampers]

Looks like the ramps that I have my old rusty Nova up on out front here in the trailer park. (Just an attempt at a little more redneck humor). That does look good. Wouldn't take up anymore room than the 2x6's I carry now. And if it will keep me from ever having another flat, well there ya go.

WOW you got ramps !!!! We just have blocks. You're so UPTOWN..

 

[ntsammy5]

a couple of campers ago, too, I got some bad gas

Yeah, me too. Then I spilled some beer. Of the humanity........

 

[ynottony99]

WOW you got ramps !!!! We just have blocks. You're so UPTOWN..

Got to keep up appearances

 

[WhereRv]

Ok, About 6 hours into our 20 hour trip from phila to FW, I hear a noise that sounds like I'm running over a rumble strip, except I'm in the center of the lane....2 seconds later, the front end dips on the drivers side and sparks are a flyin'. Seems you should always repack your bearings at 50,000 miles. I just bought the Winnebago 2 months prior and this was our first trip ever in an RV.
I can honestly say it's very exciting when your entire wheel decides to part ways with your RV at 65mph. Luckily I watched a video about how to react when you have a blowout...although my tire was fully inflated. What happened was the bearings heated up so much, they welded themselves to the axle(the rumble noise I heard), then spun the axle right off, and the tire assembly wedged itself inside the wheel well.
Spent the next 2 nights at a truckstop repair station, but still nervously continued our trip, and now I have a great paper weight(the last 2 inches of my axle with the bearings welded on) to remember the fun times.

 

[LarryJ]

Hmmm, I'm surprised about all the tales of flat tires. The tires on my first trailer 81 prowler lasted a good 40K miles and in the late 1980's had two start to go bad in Alabama and put on some car tires (all I could find in Bessemar Alabama on a Sat.) that lasted another almost 5 or 6 years and finally just decided to replace them and got 4 bias bly "towmasters" and one developed a bubble on our first 250 mile trip to Penn State and replaced them with the Goodyear Marathons back around 1996. Have had great luck with the GY tires so since 1981 towing I have only had two actual flats one on the trailer back in the late 1980's and one on our Van in 2004 in Texas. I generally only carry one spare trailer tire, but when we went out west I did take a spare TT tire I had unmounted since we would be gone for over two months and traveling over 10,000 miles.

The only inconvenient issues I have had in 30 years and several cross country trips were two broken TT springs, both of which happened around Washingtion Pa and got the springs in Wheeling WV. On the first problem I had the place in Wheeling make me two springs one for the broken one and one for a spare and after the second one I got a stock spring from my local RV dealer. I can change out a spring on a TT in around 2 hours.

One thing to remember is that TT tires especially the ST rated ones are only good for up to around 65mph and a lot of folks are going 70 to 75 for hours on end and than can and well cause premature tire failure. That's why I always cruise at just under 60 which also puts me in the best mpg for my 7.3L diesel.

Larry

 

[RvUsa]

Larry, I have seen you post about Penn st a couple of times, when were you there, I was at state college between 88 and 91. As far as the broken spring near washington pa, I can probably see the huge hump/dip/hump that used to be in the road that killed it for ya!! I have hit it a few times myself.

John

 

[MadFF]

Just because something is safe doesn't mean it isn't redneckish!

LOL!!

Two things on the to-do list before our October trip: Get a second spare, and practice changing the trailer tires, using a jack and/or ramps.

And.... put a flat tire repair kit in the trailer!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

...This is all happening with our neighbors watching next to us. A little embarassing. I tried to convince them that I was not that green (I was actually blue at the time) at RVing but I myself would have had a hard time believing that statement. Well, the dealer got a whale of #@!& from me at the least

This is a great story...love the signature logos!!!!

 

[Elliott]

...Spent the next 2 nights at a truckstop repair station, but still nervously continued our trip, and now I have a great paper weight(the last 2 inches of my axle with the bearings welded on) to remember the fun times.

I would love a class C or A but stories like this are what will probably never let me pull that trigger. Right now if something happens to my tow vehicle the worst that can happen is I go to the nearest dealer, throw the keys at them and say "get me another one!", put the TT behind the it and we are on our way.

 

[wildernessfamily]

ahh, traveling in the summer passing all those fresh fruit stands along the way on I 95. Well our daughter who was 5 at the time ate a bunch of blue berries...she was restless during the night...we were camping at Point South..well we wake her up about 7 am to head to FW and low and behold she is covered with hives and swelling....a trip to a small hospital in Ridgeland then...Everything turns out okay...we had to keep her "out of the sun" a few days....memories...

 

[Colson39]

I can't remember any mishaps on the way to the Fort, although we've had quite a few at the Fort...lol

 

[clkelley]

reading about all these things that can happen, i can't help but wonder, does anyone belong to Good Sam Emergency Road Service or something similar? What has been your experience in using these. i belong to the good sam but, thankfully, have never had to use them.

I most definitely belong to Good Sam Roadside. My truck spare and my camper spare are underneath, and crawling around on my back to change heavy tires is not my idea of fun. Yeah, I may wait a few hours on the side of the road for a tow or a fix, but beats hurting myself trying to change a tire.