Sure, we’d miss out on Christmas and New Year’s Eve but the last two Decembers have been kind of brutal to me.

In 2020 I was traveling from Kentucky to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I think I had 3 stops planned enroute before getting to my winter park. I made it to the first stop without any problems but when I left the next day only made it about 10 or 12 miles down the road before another driver flagged me down. I pulled over at an exit ramp and he was kind enough to stop on the shoulder to explain what he noticed. He was smelling burning rubber. I didn’t see any smoke as I pulled over but looked very closely at the tires anyway. One of the spring hangers had broken at the weld and the axle had shifted just enough for the tires to rub.

Well, it was early in the day and I was near a major city so it shouldn’t be a big problem. I called my roadside assistance and requested a mobile welder. About an hour later they called back, said they couldn’t find one, and I was on my own. I spent a few hours calling around and the best I could manage was a welder about 2 hours away who could make it the next morning. Wonderful! I was just getting settled into the truck for an overnighter on the shoulder of the interstate when someone tapped on my window. It was a state trooper who had noticed me earlier in the day. I walked back to his patrol car as he was explaining he knew a guy. Within a few minutes he had a tow service on the phone that just happened to have a mobile welder. Within an hour, a temporary weld was finished and I had a recommendation for a local welder to do a more permanent repair.

I made a slow, safe drive to a nearby RV park and settled in for a couple of nights. The next day was Sunday so I left a voicemail for the welder just to get on his radar. I also drove to his shop to make sure the 5th wheel could get in and out. On returning to the RV park I found the welder checking out the RV. We talked for a few minutes and made plans for the first thing Monday morning. The repairs took a little longer than anticipated so I spent another night in north Alabama

The next day I made it to Louisiana without problem and spent a restful night in an RV park. On the road again the next day, for about 100 miles. I pulled into a truck stop for fuel and walked around the RV to check things out. The first thing I noticed was a tire going flat. Then I noticed that 2 of the tires were closer together than they should’ve been. I pulled into the parking area and discovered a broken leaf spring. After the last experience with GEICO roadside assistance, I opted to start looking on my own. There was a trailer repair just 2 miles away. I could make that if I was real careful. I gave them a call and explained my situation. Unfortunately, it was the last week of December and they had no room on the schedule to squeeze me in. They did give me a number for mobile RV tech. The tech was also slammed but found time for me, at the end of the day. While waiting for him, I put the spare tire on and made reservations at the nearest RV park and found a local tire shop to get the flat repaired the next day. Sometime after dark, repairs were finished and I got some shuteye. Early the next morning I was the first one in line at the tire shop and was back on the road by 10.

I was very leery for the rest of the drive, especially when a trucker in Texas signaled that I needed to check the back of the RV. I pulled onto a nice wide shoulder immediately and checked everything very closely but didn’t see any problems. I continued down the road and remembered that I hadn’t retorqued the wheel after changing the spare. I took care of that at the next exit. There were a couple of lug nuts slightly loose. To this day, I still don’t know if he noticed a slight wobble or if it was something else. I finally made it to my winter home without any more problems.

So in December 2021 I was heading back to the Rio Grande Valley but this time the starting point was north Texas. I had just finished a warehouse gig outside of Fort Worth and we decided to sightsee and relax for a couple of weeks before heading down to our winter spot. One of our sightseeing spots was San Antonio. I had a spot reserved on Ft. Sam Houston for a week. Having stayed there before I knew all the sites were fairly level and had big concrete pads. A perfect spot to be on my back under the RV installing a wet bolt kit upgrade for the suspension. That would require all 4 tires being removed so before the slides went out I went around the RV breaking all the lug nuts so it would be easier getting them off while I was squatting under slideouts. The plan was to do one side at a time. I started on the street side and got the tires and equalizer off pretty quickly. Then the problems started. I had to make an extra trip to the auto hobby shop at Lackland AFB to punch out 2 brass bushings. That threw off the schedule by a few hours. It was late in the day when I finally got to the last spring hanger – and found that weld broken. Damn!! Start searching for another mobile welder on Sunday. I contacted one and he was ready to come out right then. In retrospect I should have taken him up on that even though his Sunday rates were higher. Since it wasn’t an emergency though I deferred until Monday morning. We coordinated on the phone and I sat back to wait for him. And wait. And wait. And wait. I started texting him and got no response so I continued my search. Found a big truck shop with a mobile welder and they quoted me a price. It was kind of high but I felt trapped. They agreed to send someone out and I waited again. And waited. And waited. Called them back and they confessed that they wouldn’t be able to help me. Not that day, not the next day, or the day after. I spent the next 2 days calling every possible welder I could find. Finally found one from a nearby town who actually showed up and did the work – the day before we were scheduled to leave. He welded the hanger back on and I finished the upgrade on that side of the RV. By that time I didn’t even consider trying the other side. Just buttoned up the street side and boogied down the road the next morning.

For about 100 miles. On US 281 south, in the middle of nowhere I heard a pop that could only be a blowout. Quickly pulled onto the shoulder and walked around the RV. I was NOT prepared for what I saw. Both wheels on the curb side were missing and all the lug studs were sheared off. I immediately realized what happened. I’d forgotten to tighten the lug nuts on that side before leaving San Antonio after a week of frustration. Time to call roadside assistance again, this time it was Good Sam. They wanted to send a tow truck even after I insisted on a mobile mechanic. Fortunately the tow company they found called me first before responding. They sent someone with mechanical abilities but not a lot of tools. I had the tools and jacks. While he was shopping for new studs and lug nuts, I backtracked and found one of the tires. The other had been completely demolished but I had a good spare. Late that afternoon we were able to continue our trip with an overnight stop at the nearest RV park.

The next morning as we were preparing to leave Mary smelled something like burning wires and we had several dead outlets. After determining nothing was actually burning I decided to pull out for the remaining 2 hour drive to our final destination. We arrived without further incident and got backed into a tight spot. Later that day the electrical problems became more pronounced. It would take a few more days of troubleshooting but what Mary smelled that morning was a capacitor frying itself inside the converter. Since we were on a full hookup site for several months I had the luxury of time and a plugged in battery charger to keep things running until I figured that out.

Slowly but surely I’m tackling the repairs and projects but I’m really, really, really glad that December is over. Maybe in 2022 I’ll just hunker down somewhere for the entire month.

No, not the pressure you get when you’re hooked up to city water. I’m talking about water pressure when you’re using your freshwater tank and water pump. Many RVers abhor using their water pump because the pressure is just not satisfactory.

My 2017 Open Range didn’t have a very good water pump from the factory. I can’t even remember the brand/model because it failed in the first year. I talked to the manufacturer and quickly rejected their offer to take it to the nearest dealer for replacement. As a full-timer who’s gotten fairly handy with tools, I felt a replacement would be well within my capabilities. They ultimately agreed so I purchased a new water pump and got reimbursed for it. When I chose it I really didn’t go top of the line since I rarely boondock. It was sufficient for the infrequent overnight in a rest area while traveling but certainly nothing to write home about.

Fast forward 3 years and that water pump failed. For the record, it was a Shurflo model 4028, 2.3 gallons per minute (gpm). How did I find out when it failed? Freezing temps. The kind where you fill the freshwater tank and disconnect your outside hose to prevent frozen hoses and filters. I started the water pump and just got a fast trickle from the faucet. Fortunately, I was in a decent size city with quick access to RV parts. Off I went in search of a replacement. This time I decided to spend more in hopes of much better water pressure when needed and hopefully longer lasting.

I bought a Remco 55 AquaJet, rated at 5.3 gpm. Swap out was simple but since it was a bit bigger than the last one I had to make some new holes when screwing down the base. The first test was a roaring success. I really couldn’t tell the difference between the water pump and city water. It came with a 2 year warranty so I’m hoping it lasts at least 6 years.

A few months ago, I realized that the valve on one of my 20 lb propane cylinders would only turn fractionally. Of course, I discovered this shortly after I filled it. I started checking into valve replacements and soon realized that it would be more cost effective to just get a new cylinder. While exploring different options, I reconnected the cylinder in the RV. Surprise!! It opened just enough for gas to flow so I could at least get use of the existing propane.

When the cylinder finally ran out of propane, I headed down to the nearest L&M Fleet Supply store for a new cylinder. As luck would have it, they were right next door to a Tractor Supply that could purge and fill the tank. And that’s where the unexpected lesson took place.

I’ve been a certified propane dispenser for a few years, with actual training from the state of FL, so I was familiar with the purging requirement for new cylinders. Well, things have changed over the last few years and this cylinder had a sticker on it that said it had already been vacuum purged. Great! One less thing to do. The guy from TSC hooked up the hose and started pumping propane. At any other time, I would have insisted that he open the spit valve for safety reasons but since this was a brand new cylinder I let him proceed. Lo and behold, the OPD (overfill protection device) on this brand new cylinder did NOT work. He put over 5 gallons of liquid propane in that cylinder before shutting off the pump himself. Under normal circumstances, the OPD would have cut off around 4.8 gallons (max). So in this instance, bypassing normal safety procedures alerted me to a faulty OPD on a brand new cylinder. The propane guy bled off excess propane and I made arrangements with L&M Fleet Supply to replace the cylinder. When I got the replacement I was sure to ask the guy to leave the spit valve closed to check the OPD.

I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile and decided to actually write after seeing some YouTube videos. Those videos involved travel trailers being towed down the highway and swaying so much that they eventually caused major accidents. In each case, the TT would have been a total loss for insurance purposes.

Many people think RVing is a happy go lucky, carefree way to see the country whether it’s for a vacation or as a way of life. Whoa! Not so fast. I’m just going to discuss the traveling part of RVing, not the actual camping part of it. And of course, my perspective is that of someone towing a large 5th wheel RV with a one ton pickup truck.

I’ve been doing this now for about 15 years and had my share of problems while driving. What I hadn’t considered until just recently is how lucky I’ve been. I’ve always maintained emergency roadside assistance and, while it can be problematic in some situations, it has certainly saved my bacon on many occasions.

One of the more common, but still dreaded, problems we face as RVers are flat tires or blowouts. My first flat tire on the 5er happened on a secondary road in central Florida. There was nothing dramatic about it. I felt and heard nothing so I have no idea if it was an actual blowout or if it started as a flat and progressed to the tire shredding. I only knew it happened because I was watching my side view mirrors and noticed small black debris kicking out behind the RV. I found a safe place to pull over and walked around the RV. I found a tire that was more gone than there. What was left was wrapped around the axle. I placed my call to roadside assistance and gave my location and problem. While waiting for the mobile mechanic, I got the spare ready and made some minor repairs where the tire had beat up the RV wheel well. Assistance arrived within 45 minutes, cut the old tire off the axle with a hacksaw and mounted the spare. All things considered, fairly painless.

I’ve heard first person accounts of far more chilling incidents of wheels coming totally detached from the axle and rolling down the highway alongside the tow vehicle. How would you like to see that in your mirror? And then there’s the people who experience blowouts on the front axle of a motorhome or tow vehicle. Those are trickier because you need to immediately do something that’s counterintuitive. Your brain is probably screaming at you to hit the brakes as the vehicle veers to one side or the other. The proper way to handle this situation is to accelerate just enough to keep the vehicle going in a straight line, then start gradual braking to get off the road.

I’m not a mechanic so I never even thought about this next problem, until it happened to me 3 different times. I’m talking about broken axle hangars. They’re welded to the frames of towed RVs and keep the axles in the correct position. Again, although the break downs were inconvenient and cost money I could have put to more fun uses, I was very lucky each time (2 different 5th wheels). The first 2 times, I discovered the problem at interstate exits where I could get fast assistance. The first time I noticed lots of blue smoke in the mirror as I was exiting the interstate. I stopped on the exit ramp to investigate. About all I knew for certain was that 2 tires were rubbing together. There was a large truck stop at this exit so I slowly pulled into their lot and parked. There was a trailer and tire shop just across the street. I spent the night in the RV in that truck stop and walked across the street first thing the next morning. They sent a truck to align the axles enough to drive it across the street, welded the axle hangar and put a new tire on. I was on my way within a few hours. The other 2 incidents were fairly similar. It’s like I was surrounded by 4 leaf clovers.

How about clutch problems on the truck? Inconvenient? You bet. Lucky? Also true. One time my clutch stopped working as I was coming down a stretch of interstate called Dead Man’s Pass. There was a rest area at the bottom that I was able to get safely into. Another call to roadside assistance. They found a mobile mechanic who came to the rest area and had me back on the road within a couple of hours. The second time was definitely more involved. I had to get my truck and RV towed to the nearest big city. I already had campground reservations and the roadside assistance covered that tow 100%. The truck cost me a little extra since I wanted a different transmission shop to do the work instead of the closest one. Once again, my travel plans were only delayed a couple of hours. The transmission shop was within bicycle distance of my campground (where I was going to be for at least 6 weeks anyway) and a new clutch was installed within a week.

I could go on with a few more personal examples but I think you get the drift. As I said, I’ve been very lucky, or at least I think so. Others may not be so lucky. I see internet posts all the time from younger people who still need to work for a living but they want to ‘live the RV lifestyle before they’re too old to enjoy it’. These are usually the same people who have to start a Go Fund Me page when they encounter problems, or stand on an interstate exit ramp with a ‘God bless’ sign, or beg relatives for help getting a new set of tires. Folks, I’m not making any of this up. I’ve seen evidence of each of these situations.

I guess the moral of this post is: RVing is NOT all rainbows and unicorns.