A driver waved us down on the freeway and pointed to our fifth wheel tires. At the same time, our truck displayed a message reading, “Trailer brake disconnected.” Heeding the warnings, we pulled off to the side and got out. Smoke emanated from the front driver-side trailer tire. As Bob approached, he saw flames. “Fire!” he yelled. I ran to unlock the RV door and grab the fire extinguisher. By the time I got to Bob, he had already pulled out the gallon of water we carry in the truck and poured it over the flaming wheel bearings, resulting in a lot of steam. “More water!” Bob shouted over the traffic noise. I dashed to the truck and snatched some water bottles to put into his hands. Then I bolted back to the trailer door and snagged what was left of our case of water bottles, about 20. As I handed Bob one after another, he poured them over the hot bearings in an effort to cool them off. Determining Our Next Move That mission accomplished, we assessed the situation. The front driver-side tire bowed out on the top, making the fifth wheel undrivable. Should we call Coach-Net, our roadside assistance provider? we wondered. What would they do? They couldn’t tow our rig in that condition. We decided we needed to remove the bowed tire from our RV. Bob lay on the asphalt and jacked up the fifth wheel. I stood by watching passing cars and semis, trying to coax drivers to move to the next lane. Fortunately, this happened near where the third lane ended and vehicles had to move over anyway. You don’t realize how fast traffic is moving until you’re stopped on the side of the road. A word of caution, drivers: If you ever see a stalled vehicle on the highway and can safely move to the next lane, please do so. It can make a world of difference to the people in an already difficult situation. Getting to Safety Bob succeeded in removing the tire and the wheel hub, which was also leaning out. Without the hub or wheel bearings, putting on the spare tire was out of the question. But with the weight of the driver’s side of the rig on the remaining tire, Bob couldn’t get the bottle jack out from under the trailer axle. We quickly dislodged the factory-installed jack from under the passenger seat of the truck. That gave Bob the extra lift he needed to remove the other jack. Whew! Again, we weighed our options. We were about 2 miles from the next exit. Could we nurse the 18,000-pound fifth wheel along on only three tires to get it to a safer area? We decided to take the chance and crept down the emergency lane with our flashers on. I jumped out every few minutes to remove broken tire pieces that lay in our path. About 1.5 hours after our ordeal started, we succeeded in getting off the interstate and onto a nice flat dirt area about 20 feet from a two-lane road, where we could evaluate the damage. Bob discovered that, in the fiery heat, the washer on the spindle had melted to the outer raceway. He called his mechanic buddy Roy to chat through our options and came to the conclusion that we needed a new axle. Saying Goodbye to Our Home A state trooper showed up. Bob asked him about leaving the trailer, possibly overnight, so we could go to the Phoenix metropolitan area to get parts. We were about an hour outside of Mesa, Arizona, our destination for the birth of our first grandbaby. The trooper informed us we were on an Indian reservation and advised us to contact the reservation authorities. With an OK to leave the trailer overnight on this Friday, we disconnected it from the truck, got it as level as we could, and grabbed some clothes and toiletries. Then we said goodbye to Tagalong, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him mostly in one piece. I drove so Bob could call around for an axle. Our search led us to Cliff’s Welding, which has specialized in hitches, tow bars, trailer hitches, and RV accessories since 1964. We headed straight there, explained our situation, and discovered the shop could get an axle for our rig by Monday. (Another place we called had said it would take two to four weeks.) Finding a Fix The catch with Cliff’s was that it wouldn’t be an EasyLube axle, like the one in need of replacing. Because of that, we really needed to replace the second axle as well. Since Bob has never liked the EasyLube functionality, we decided to go for it. But Cliff’s wouldn’t go to our trailer. We had to get the trailer to the shop. One of the workers told us he had towed a number of trailers, even overweight ones, on three tires from the same area where we had left our fifth wheel. We asked how he did it and learned he ratcheted the bum axle to the frame to give it higher clearance and drove back roads at 35 to 40 mph. Based on his recommendation, we elected to attempt to move the RV on our own, waiting until later in the day so there’d be less traffic. Our son DJ went down with us in his truck to follow behind and keep an eye on the trailer. About three hours after we left Mesa to retrieve our home, we returned, thankful to have it off the reservation and in the same vicinity as us. Counting Our Blessings
Cliff’s offered to let us stay in our rig in the shop’s parking lot over the weekend. But because of the Arizona heat (yes, even in September) and the RV’s leaning to the damaged side, we opted to stay with family in the area instead. We thank God for keeping us safe. His angels were definitely watching over us. The incident happened close to our destination, family, and resources. Our home could have gone up in flames. Instead, we were able to get it to the best place it could have been for the work that needed to be done to it. We were blessed with a bed to sleep in (thanks, Mike and Susan!) and had everything we needed. We’re especially grateful to the driver who got our attention and alerted us to the situation in the first place. Thank you, sir, for your kindness. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life.
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A day off work midweek gave us a rare opportunity to travel outside of our normal weekend relocations. We packed our rig, connected it to Gulliver, and set out for higher elevation so we could boondock in cooler temperatures, oblivious to the series of unusual travel day events that was about to begin. During our pre-travel walkaround, I noticed a missing screw in the trailer’s skirting. Although seemingly a small thing, it warranted fixing before hitting the road. Otherwise, the notorious winds of the South Dakota prairie could cause it to flap so much that it would crack. We unloaded items from the bed of the truck so that Bob could get to his tools. He found what he needed and replaced the screw. Damage averted. Power Deficit A few hours into our trip, we encountered another issue, this time with the truck. As the flatlands of the Mount Rushmore State transitioned to the Black Hills, Gulliver seemed to have trouble climbing. Normally, his turbo kicks in, enabling us to maintain our speed and pass other vehicles on ascents — even when towing. Bob had the gas pedal floored, but the speedometer kept dropping. Although we didn’t slow more than the RV in front of us, this was unusual behavior for Gulliver. Knowing the issue could be the activator that switches between the exhaust brake and the turbo, we flipped off the exhaust brake and said a prayer. About 15 minutes later, the turbo started acting properly again. We thanked God and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing a climb up a dirt road awaited us before we could reach our chosen destination. The turbo fluctuated some more but then continued working, and we made it. After ascending the hill, however, I found the truck’s tailgate down while Bob was parking our rig. It seemed the washboard dirt road had caused so much vibration that it knocked one side of our tailgate off its pin. We’re not sure when the tailgate came dislodged but, thankfully, it didn’t cause any damage to the trailer during turning. Time Trials We were able to set up without incident, although we did notice a fresh layer of dust on our furniture, another result of traveling on the dirt road. I glanced at the clock inside our rig. It registered an hour later than the time on my watch. When did the time change? I wondered. We thought all of South Dakota fell under the Central time zone. A quick Google search revealed a split down the middle of the state, leaving the Eastern portion on Central time and the Western part on Mountain time. Good to know.
As we retired for the night, I set the alarm on my phone for 6 a.m. as I had to work the next morning. When the alarm sounded, I didn’t want to get up, despite sleeping for more than eight hours — or so I thought. I dragged myself out of bed even though the sun hadn’t risen and checked the news on my phone. Wanting to research a location, I opened Google Maps and was surprised to see my picture, indicating my whereabouts, in Michigan. My image quickly moved to the correct location and, as it did, the time adjusted on my phone. Because my device thought I was in Michigan on Eastern time, my alarm had actually sounded at 4 a.m. local time. No wonder I felt so tired. I went back to bed and woke up nearly two hours later, pleased to find the sun also ascending. You might also like The Key to RV Success. As we traverse this great country, we often find ourselves in the path of storms. We endured wind storms in New Mexico, a close-call lightning strike in Georgia, and tornado warnings in Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. When you live in an RV, like we do, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather so that you can be ready to take action if needed. Because of our experiences, we feel pretty prepared for unexpected situations, but they’re still not fun — or convenient. Here are some measures we take to batten down the RV hatches and be storm ready. Closing Slideouts and Awnings When we leave our rig for any period of time, we make a point to close our awnings. We’d hate for a gust to pick up one of our two shade coverings while we’re away and yank it off. Wind can also wreak havoc on our slideout toppers. Not all RVs come with these. We had them installed when we bought our rig to protect the slideouts from sun and heat and to prevent accidentally introducing debris on top of the slideouts to the inside of the trailer. These toppers are lightweight, making them easily flappable in wind. If we’re likely to get hit by a severe storm at night, we might close our slideouts before going to bed to avoid being awakened by the toppers slapping against the RV. If we’re not sure the storm will bring heavy winds, we’ll take measures to clear the paths of our four slideouts before bed so that we can close them quickly and easily should we need to. This includes moving items, such as my office chair, out of the way so that we can simply press a button without thinking and close the office slideout. Getting Out of Potential Harm’s Way We don’t have to get the rig tow-ready when anticipating a storm … unless we know something the magnitude of a hurricane is heading our direction. Then we’d be wise to pack up completely, hook up Gulliver to Tagalong, and get out of harm’s way. With that type of storm, we should have enough notice to be able to do all that. Thankfully, we haven’t had to encounter anything like that … yet. Strong winds have the potential to destroy parts of the trailer, or blow debris into or onto it. In the tornado warnings we experienced, for example, we made a point to seek shelter away from RVs, knowing they were the biggest threat. Because weather can change quickly, we’re also careful not to park in low spots that can be subject to flooding. This is especially important since our truck is not four-wheel drive. Riding Out the Storm
Sometimes the best course of action is to hunker down and let the inclement weather pass. Not all storms produce heavy gusts or threaten destruction. Thunder can be difficult to sleep through, for example, but it’s usually short-lived. Rain doesn’t cause much damage unless we’re moving in rainy weather. Then water can get inside our rig around the wheel wells. Hail can be destructive, but Tagalong sustained hailstones measuring about 1.5 inches that left no marks. The hail didn’t even harm our solar panels. Wherever we find ourselves, we try to keep a level head, be aware of our surroundings, and have a game plan in mind should a sudden storm arise. You might also like The Logistics of Full-Time RVing. |
AuthorThis is the travel blog of full-time RVers Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. Categories
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