Never had any problems on the list. Never had any problems that we could not fix in couple days. We stop at next shop and fix most problems in short time. Fuel filters (diesel) plugged up in TX, replaced in four hours. Water heater would not light off in TX, I replaced PC board next day and no more problems from that. Do the PM's at home and save the time on road side repair. Check everything couple times before you travel.
My worst was taking a wrong turn. Ended up at a dead end with a toad on the back of a 34 ft coach. The dead end was not a turn around, instead it was in someones private drive. No place to turn her around, unhooked the toad, and backed the coach up until I could turn it around. The turn I should have made was a block farther down the street. No street signs anywhere.
More Information about my mistakes. Most of the poll questions came from them. We used to have a pop up camper... We were going out west through the U.P of Michigan. We got 2 flat tires (different places) along the way. We had to stay while they fixed the problem in Escanaba. We found out what was causing the problem was a bent tire axle. They ordered the part and it took 2 days until we were ready to go again. Later it happened again (tire blown) after the first two we stocked our car with 2 spare tires. After we fixed it we camped somewhere. We found out the tire that blew, blew a massive hole through the floor of our camper :lol: This trip was crazy. Later we sold it and hope the unexpected person we sold it to doesn't have the same problems we had. The only thing that has not happened to us that is in the poll is an accident (hope to never have this happen), ran out of gas, and driving in the wrong direction for an hour, might I add we might have went a little ways. Oh and I forgot we were on a freeway to Florida when the freeway was closed. We sat there for 4 hours (not moving). Then we couldn't get our car started because we used up the batteries. We used our little handy dandy car starter thing and it worked. A cop luckily let us back on the road because we most likely would have to had waited for the traffic to go by. Yes road experiences have been hectic for us. I think nothing worse could happen now (knock on wood) :lol: B)
We've been lucky - never had any of those things happen. Did have a part go out on the frisge when in Vegas but went to Camping World, got another one and hubby had it fixed in less than an hr.
Well, let's see.... there was the trip that turned us from tent campers to rv campers. We actually got to and from our destination with no problems, but got caught in THE worse thunderstorm ever. We had to take refuge in the bathrooms (glad they were clean!) When it was over, the tent was actually still standing, but everything inside was floating! Then, there was the trip home from St Augustine - which should have taken us only a couple of hours, but with all the trouble we had with our poor old class C it took us almost 6. We overheated, lost a couple of belts, had a blowout that took the gas line to the fridge and the underpinning with it (and it was the inside tire on top of it) and this was all in one short trip! It seemed like every few miles something was coming off! I finally told my husband, just don't stop for anything and see if we can get it home. That convinced us it was time to move on to something else. We got everything fixed and sold it. Two campers later, we are now fortunate enough to have a brand new tt. Our first trip with it was a real learning experience - even after all our years of camping. We learned the real meaning of "rv friendly gas stations". We got into a real pickle at about our 2nd stop to get gas, we turned down what we thought was a way through the parking lot but ended up being the drive through to Wendy's! Of course it's pouring down rain and I have to get out and guide him all the way back out and around a turn. Although we didn't completely block the parking lot, I got honked at, cussed at, yelled at and completely soaked before we finally made it out of there! Yes, it's funny now. I know you're all shaking your heads and saying, "no one but us die hard campers would even think of doing it again after all that"! Happy Camping! Barbara
Thank the travel gods we have only had minor incidents. We used to pull our car on a tow dolly, and one time we either had to unhook or take out a gas pump. If you have ever used a tow dolly you know it was a close decision, but the pump won out. Another time we had pulled into an RV service drive to get propane. Unfortunately we could not pull on through because they were repaving the drive on the other side of the service building so we had to back out. We only needed to back up about 6-7 feet so that we could make a left turn. We decided to try it with the tow car attached (no more tow dolly by now). I can already hear you laughing. We knew better, too. We only made it about 2 feet until the car wheels turned. The worst part, however, was that when the wheels turned they jammed up the tow bar, and we could not get the car unhooked. We blocked their driveway for over an hour until we finally managed to pry things loose and move. The service people never tried to help us, but several other RV owners came over to lend a hand. Once we meant to turn into an RV park but accidentally turned into a long driveway that led to the back of a private business. Thank goodness they were closed and there were no cars in the small parking lot or we would not have been able to turn around. One February in Williams, AZ, our furnace quit lighting so we spent a 14 degree night under every blanket we had. I think we also piled clothes on the bed. Even our 3 cats went under the covers. However, when we got to Las Vegas it only took about 2 hours to have the problem fixed. We now carry a small electric heater as a back up. Travel and learn. More experience to come.
Hmmmm.....well I guess scraping your awning on a tree would be an accident. As far as the driving portion of the trips goes......try driving 50 miles against a concrete wall in a 10ft lane that is constanly moving in a snake like pattern. It's very nerve racking. Well at least for me. :blink:
Our on the road problems relate to tires. On our 36' Jayco 5er Designer, we blew both right side tires, one going to destination, and one on return home. We thanked our lucky stars that nothing more serious happened as both tires blew on an interstate at 60 mph. After having all the tires replaced via road service, we returned home the next day. Sometime later, after some investigation on the internet, a problem in construction was acknowledged by the manufacturer. The manufacturer then paid for the replaced tires and the body damage to the RV. After repairs were made, we traded the 5th wheel for a new motor home.
QUOTE(Cheryl @ Jun 22 2006, 01:58 PM) [snapback]4452[/snapback] Butch, Do you mind me asking what year your Jayco was? Cheryl, The Jayco was a 1997, model #3520, Designer, a very comfortable and spacious unit. We had numerous problems with the unit in the three years we own it, a long involved story of trials and tribulations. The tire & damage problem was the last straw. If we had been new to Rving, I think we would have pulled the plug, but as you can see, we are still at it after 50+ years of camping in one form or another.
We had a 96 Jayco Designer 36' 5th wheel, we ordered new. The tire blow-outs every other summer belonged to it. Also, the 2nd summer we had it (it was stored in a garage all winter), the air-conditioner failed to work. And we had a major leak during a thunderstorm on the slideout.
Cheryl, Have come to the conclusion that the unit's suspension capacity was less than adequate. I believe that the axles bent, and that the tires were not adequate for the weight. Of course this is my opinion, and may or may not be fact. For what ever reason, it's gone.
Worse thing to happen was to leave Massachusetts with my neighbors words ringing in my ears; "Nothing ever goes wrong with those Newmars, right?" Outside Buffalo, we overheated & had to pull to the side of the busy interstate. We discovered a blown resevoir. Great tow truck driver hooks us up & takes us to an authorized RV repairshop. They refused to take us. Tow driver hooked us back up & took us to Buffalo Freightliner where they not only had to replace the resevoir but ALL of our batteries (including house) and a steering column recall (which caused damage to front tires a year later)! They let us plug in & settle in for the night. Not enough power to run a digital clock so it was an early night. Next morning, someone hooks up the batteries to a charger & leaves. Several hours later we ask when we'll be released. We discover that the fine fellow hadn't hook the batteries to the charger properly. Still no juice. We finally get back on the road & reach the Escapade we were headed for. THEN! The front air suspension bag starts to leak. We pump that up & limp into another repair shop for that fix & discover an electrical problem (we'd had a braking system put on at the rally & it wasn't wired properly) so we had no running lights. And to end the week we blow a back tire in TN. One week mind you! I haven't let my friend live down his jinx on my DutchStar! There have been various other ISSUES since. Driving on a "Parkway" in CT (we know we can clear 11'11" BARELY). We're from the west coast, didn't know we couldn't drive on these highways until some motorists got us to pull over. While it has been one grand adventure, I may be looking for a new ju-ju-free Newmar soon.
Butch, My husband always said the tires were too small for the trailer, that Jayco should have went with a bigger size tires as well as the rims. Like you, we have gotten rid of it. The kids quit going with us, so we decided we needed a bigger unit.
Our worst driving experience was almost 20 years ago. We had a blowout in our right front truck tire. It happened just outside Red Lodge, Montana. Hubby got it changed OK. That was back when we had a Ford diesel truck and we were towing a 20' Prowler trailer. Our second incident was another flat tire, only this was just last October and we noticed it just as we were pulling out of our site in a park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This time it was the right rear wheel on the truck. We managed to get it changed without unhitching the 5th wheel. However, our very worst incident had nothing to do with truck or trailer. This June hubby had a kidney stone attack in St. Regis, Montana. The nearest ambulance and hospital were 15 miles away in Superior, Montana. With being hospitalized one night and then another to recuperate, we ended up staying three nights in that park instead of the one we had planned for. Once we left there and got set up in a park in Pasco, Washington, he got another attack. This time he was again kept overnight but the stone was removed the next day. We ended up staying three nights again instead of the one we planned on.
We've been actually fairly lucky with not having too much trouble with equipment while traveling. One time when we had our motorhome we were on our way to Upper Michigan and had relatives who lived half way there, so we stopped to see them for a few days and when we were ready to leave, my uncle noticed that there was fuel leaking from under our rig...so he took a few hours and fixed it for us...at least we were lucky enough for him to catch that before something really bad would have happened.
We followed Yahoo directions to a campground. Turned out to be a mistake when we were on a 2 lane road with no shoulder, no turn around, no pull off and climbed a 8% grade for 5 miles. Upon reaching the top we then had the backside of that mountain to come down. We were pulling our boat and the the backside was 5 miles of 8% down hill also. The brakes got very soft even with not riding them all the way down. The road then ended at the bottom and we had to make a left turn, luckily no traffic on the other road and we pulled into the farmers field to let the brakes cool (they were smoking) and gather up some nerve to finish the last 10 miles to the campground. We then talked to some other campers who came there often and they gave us really good directions on great roads to come home on.
Not driving related, but a current problem we're trying to solve. We planned to be away from our motorhome for three weeks, but unexpected surgery turned it into four months. The propane ran out so everything in the refrigerator and freezer turned into a stinking mush. I have tried so many products and air fresheners but it seems the smell has permeated the plastic insides. If anyone can offer advice, it would be greatly appreciated. This is an '05 coach, so we hope not to have to replace the fridge already.
