After some challenging drives between Arizona and Virginia, we finally found time to fix some RV issues while parked in the driveway of our friends Jim and Jenny. This allowed us to have packages and parts sent. Here’s what we addressed.

Unbending a stabilizer

Shortly after losing a wheel off our RV, we managed to bend the mid-stabilizer on the passenger side of the rig while pulling into an auto parts store parking lot. With the tire issue top of mind, we didn’t have time to deal with the stabilizer. 

Once we reached our friends’ house, we made that a priority. And Jim had the perfect tool for the job: a tractor.



Jim pulled the tractor into position near the stabilizer, and Bob connected a chain between the two, attaching it to the brace behind the stabilizer. As we watched, Jim backed up the tractor over and over, kind of pulsating with the resistance of the trailer. The whole rig shook each time.  

This action ended up bending the brace around the stabilizer but not really moving anything. So we adjusted the chain to be around the base of the stabilizer instead of the bracket. Again Jim repeatedly pulsated with the tractor, and this time the stabilizer moved into place.

When we pulled it a little too far, we had to reverse-engineer the process, pushing the stabilizer back its appropriate position using a board across the teeth of the tractor bucket.

After that, we were finally able to auto-level our rig once again for the best stability.

Reinstalling a tire sensor

When we lost the tire off the trailer, we also lost the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensor we had installed on it. This is what tells the TPMS monitor we keep in our truck if there’s a sudden drop in pressure in that particular tire. It’s been instrumental. 

Without the sensor, we have no way of knowing how a tire’s doing on our trailer. And, as we learned with our recent runaway tire incident, Gulliver doesn’t care if Tagalong has a tire issue. He’ll just keep towing. 

We ordered a replacement sensor and installed that on our previous spare tire (now our fourth trailer tire) for renewed confidence. Then we had to reprogram the TPMS unit to recognize that tire, as we had to remove the previous tire from the monitor to avoid it continually beeping at us.

Replacing trailer trim

During our drive from Arizona to Texas, I noticed some trim flapping on the driver’s side of the trailer. We pulled over, and Bob attached multiple pieces of blue painters tape to it to keep it in place. We knew that was a short-term fix.

Bob ordered replacement trim sent to Jim and Jenny’s and made time to remove the tape and old trim, which had shrunk after years of the sun beating on it. The trim rides in a channel the entire length of the underside of the bed down to the base of the front of the rig, covering and protecting a series of screws holding the front of the coach to the side. 

Bob carefully inserted the new trim into the channel, feeding it through the length and securing it in place with a screw on each end. Then he covered each screw in silicone caulk for added insurance.

Removing love bugs

When we drove through Louisiana in early May, it was love bug season. Swarms of large black bugs took to the air in mating rituals, seemingly staying close to freeways. Many lost their lives on our windshield and RV. 

We washed the truck somewhere along the way, but we didn’t get around to cleaning the front of the trailer. The adage about out of sight, out of mind certainly applied. 

Being stationary for a while, we finally made a point to scrub the massive bug graveyard off the front of our rig. It took a lot of effort, but Bob did a great job. 

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