Trip from he**, heck!

[MacGumbo]

Wow, what a trip so far. Not a day on the road has gone well.

Road day one in Atlanta during rush hour, stop and go, stop and go, brakes failed. Called Good Sam and they found me a service center just a couple of miles from my location but it would be over five hours for a tow because of the traffic.

After sitting for a couple of hours noticed the pedal was responsive again. Cut through a median across 3 lanes of traffic to the exit. Arrived at a Dodge center (I have an F350) just a few minutes before closing. The service tech noticed that my brake fluid reservoir was completely full. It seems my pre-trip service had overfilled it and the back pressure from the heated fluid was causing the problem. Removed some fluid, no charge and we were on our way.

We were running a bit behind but still had just about 45 minutes to spare in making Fort Mountain, GA before they closed the gates. Just 30 minutes out we got caught at the end of a police checkpoint for D/L and Insurance cards. Time just ticking away. Got through and pulled into the park with minutes to spare. Whew!

Very nice for the next couple of days.

Road day two. Vehicle running rough with no power for awhile but seemed to correct itself and we headed to Bledsoe Creek, TN for the eclipse.

There were couple of days that were quite hot but met with some relatives and watched a wonderful eclipse.

Road day three. More trouble for a few hours with engine rough and weak but it perked back up and we headed to Ohio.

Stayed just one night at a KOA, slept hard.

Road day four. Coming out of the hills to fuel up before the interstate noticed that the bearings had failed on one of the TT tires and it was scorching hot. Camping World had done the bearings almost two years and less that 2000 miles earlier. (nice job, NOT!) Called Good Sam and they promised us a "flatbed" tow in 2-3 hours. Almost 5 hours later the tow truck showed up with the wrong truck. He wanted us to go to a closer service center of his choosing but I told him I wanted a trailer specialist. He removed the tire and said we would need a new axle. He followed us on back roads the eight miles to the service place not going over 30 mph.

The service center said I didn't need a new axle and proceeded to replace back plate/brake, seal, both bearings, grease, nuts and cap. They checked the other three and found that two were in bad shape as well. They fixed us up and we were off again. Stayed that night at a rest stop near Cuba, NY.

Road day four. Toll road I90 sucks and beat us to death! I told the toll attendant that NY should pay us for having to be on that road, she agreed. Arrived at Adams, NY to visit family.

After a couple of days enjoying the cool breeze, we drove to Watertown, NY and the vehicle was again running bad. I checked my vehicle monitor and noticed that my injector module was at very low voltage. Had to buy a new FICM and install it. Later in the day I noticed several cracks forming on two of the TT tires and I may end up replacing them.

We will be leaving Wednesday to drive to Minneapolis, MN. I am literally gun shy at this point!

[TomStacey616]

I feel ya... been there, still there, even though I've had an axle replaced, I find myself checking all the running gear often and maybe I'm being super sensitive, but I don't want to be stranded somewhere.

[A32Deuce]

And there are people on here that say you don't have to service your axle bearings every year!

[vmfa]

There is no way the bearings should fail in 2000 miles.

I can only assume either the bearings were defective or when they were service d they tightened them too tight causing them to fail from s massive heat build up when they expanded as you traveled. This is not normal.

[Kenny kustom]

One should never “ top up” the brake fluid reservoir.

If it’s low, you either have a leak, or your pads/rotors are worn.
If your brakes are worn, and you top it up, when the brakes get serviced, the res will overflow.

[youroo]

dea49,Momma said there would be Days like this,they Might get better! Youroo!!

[byrdr1]

Originally Posted by TomStacey616

I feel ya... been there, still there, even though I've had an axle replaced,.

doing that right now..
I have a picture of it on here somewhere.
4 new tires and bought an extra axle so both will be replaced by months end.
randy

[raytwntrvlr]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

And there are people on here that say you don't have to service your axle bearings every year!

Do your own work if you can. There's no way those bearings were serviced properly. 2000 miles and 2 years?? Sounds like a very poor job done by some newbie tech at CW.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by dea49

Wow, what a trip so far. Not a day on the road has gone well.

Road day one in Atlanta during rush hour, stop and go, stop and go, brakes failed. Called Good Sam and they found me a service center just a couple of miles from my location but it would be over five hours for a tow because of the traffic.

After sitting for a couple of hours noticed the pedal was responsive again. Cut through a median across 3 lanes of traffic to the exit. Arrived at a Dodge center (I have an F350) just a few minutes before closing. The service tech noticed that my brake fluid reservoir was completely full. It seems my pre-trip service had overfilled it and the back pressure from the heated fluid was causing the problem. Removed some fluid, no charge and we were on our way.

We were running a bit behind but still had just about 45 minutes to spare in making Fort Mountain, GA before they closed the gates. Just 30 minutes out we got caught at the end of a police checkpoint for D/L and Insurance cards. Time just ticking away. Got through and pulled into the park with minutes to spare. Whew!

Very nice for the next couple of days.

Road day two. Vehicle running rough with no power for awhile but seemed to correct itself and we headed to Bledsoe Creek, TN for the eclipse.

There were couple of days that were quite hot but met with some relatives and watched a wonderful eclipse.

Road day three. More trouble for a few hours with engine rough and weak but it perked back up and we headed to Ohio.

Stayed just one night at a KOA, slept hard.

Road day four. Coming out of the hills to fuel up before the interstate noticed that the bearings had failed on one of the TT tires and it was scorching hot. Camping World had done the bearings almost two years and less that 2000 miles earlier. (nice job, NOT!) Called Good Sam and they promised us a "flatbed" tow in 2-3 hours. Almost 5 hours later the tow truck showed up with the wrong truck. He wanted us to go to a closer service center of his choosing but I told him I wanted a trailer specialist. He removed the tire and said we would need a new axle. He followed us on back roads the eight miles to the service place not going over 30 mph.

The service center said I didn't need a new axle and proceeded to replace back plate/brake, seal, both bearings, grease, nuts and cap. They checked the other three and found that two were in bad shape as well. They fixed us up and we were off again. Stayed that night at a rest stop near Cuba, NY.

Road day four. Toll road I90 sucks and beat us to death! I told the toll attendant that NY should pay us for having to be on that road, she agreed. Arrived at Adams, NY to visit family.

After a couple of days enjoying the cool breeze, we drove to Watertown, NY and the vehicle was again running bad. I checked my vehicle monitor and noticed that my injector module was at very low voltage. Had to buy a new FICM and install it. Later in the day I noticed several cracks forming on two of the TT tires and I may end up replacing them.

We will be leaving Wednesday to drive to Minneapolis, MN. I am literally gun shy at this point!

Your description was pretty accurate. There is nowhere to go but up from here though.

Id replace ALL the tires if I were you. If two aer cracked, the rest are soon to follow.

[aeblank]

My parents had 2 flats, replaced water heater, kitchen faucet due to leaks, propane tank had a hole, propane regulator bad, cracked def tank and bad def heater in the truck, and I think that's all.

The winterizing was messed up due to a kinked hose, so that was part of it. Propane tank had like 3 gallons of water in it, so that's caused the regulator to freeze up (it wasn't bad).

Dad fixed all of it on the road, by himself, except the truck....

Oh, I think he got a flat truck tire too.

[HAMMDOWN]

Just got back from a long weekend on Lake Erie. 15 mi home applied the brake at a stop sign when I darted to go noticed a huge drag looked in the mirror a noticed right front tire locked up. Pulled over and backed up to release the brakes pulled it the rest of the way home tore it apart to find the brake shoe had separated from the backing plate. So unfortunately drug the tire to far $120 to replace
Went to replace the brakes with complete assemblys took them home only to find that my trailer 8289WS takes a different one then most others and not a stocked item be here in 3-4 days @ $115ea . So it could of been worse

[Dennis King]

Wow! That's a lot to go wrong! But the good thing is nobody was hurt! Flat tire blow outs and brakes and axle problems could cause more than inconveniences! Thank God everyone is safe and you did not cause any other people to be hurt. But I know it is still awful for all of that to go wrong . So you do have a lot to be thankful for. Hope the rest of your trip is safe and without problems. You deserve a break today😄
Dennis

[Bikersarge]

Just got my bearings serviced 2 months ago, I have a 2013 FR, the service dept told me they had never been touched, we just bought it in June.

Back to the OP, sounds like you kept a good head through all this, I hope it turns out good, Have fun!

[Johntgif]

I would rather have "Joe's Garage" do a bearing repack than trust CW.
At least Joe's is proud of their work and will admit if they made an error.

I have been a ASE Certified Master Tech for over 25 years, own a 9 bay service center, and I will echo previous post that properly serviced axle bearings will definitely last at least 12,000 miles under normal use.

[MacGumbo]

UPDATE: Decided to replace all 4 tires. Ended up getting Goodyear Marathons at Walmart for $71 each. Got all balanced, service contract and warranty for free. Wanted load range "D" but settled for the "C" as that was all they had in stock.

Road day five was mechanically boring but I90 and I80 across NY and Ohio were atrocious. It beat two hubcaps off our TT. Now I have to order some more. Settled into Pokagon State Park, slept hard. Nice quiet campground with several trails but horrible map and signage. Got lost and backtracked several times.

Road day six. Change of plans to avoid anymore of I80 West. Headed North to Mackinac Mich. Stayed near Newberry at a KOA. Campsite sucked but didn't care. Just glad I could find one on Labor Day Weekend. Almost decided to hang over to cross the bridge on foot for Labor Day but have to be at in-laws by Tuesday. Ordered two new hubcaps to be delivered to said in-laws by time we get there.

Road day seven. You gotta be kidding me! Ran through a bad construction area around Lake Michigan, stopped later for fuel and found another hubcap missing.

I guess I can't complain too much. Since all the major problems we have had, a few hubcaps seem minor, plus the vehicle is running very well and the TT is pulling fine. (knock on wood)

Staying at Lake Dubay Private campground in Wisconsin. The only knock is they're having a big labor day party this eve complete with very loud DJ.

Oh well, it's not breaking anything of mine and not costing me more money so all is good.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by dea49

UPDATE: Decided to replace all 4 tires. Ended up getting Goodyear Marathons at Walmart for $71 each. Got all balanced, service contract and warranty for free. Wanted load range "D" but settled for the "C" as that was all they had in stock.

Road day five was mechanically boring but I90 and I80 across NY and Ohio were atrocious. It beat two hubcaps off our TT. Now I have to order some more. Settled into Pokagon State Park, slept hard. Nice quiet campground with several trails but horrible map and signage. Got lost and backtracked several times.

Road day six. Change of plans to avoid anymore of I80 West. Headed North to Mackinac Mich. Stayed near Newberry at a KOA. Campsite sucked but didn't care. Just glad I could find one on Labor Day Weekend. Almost decided to hang over to cross the bridge on foot for Labor Day but have to be at in-laws by Tuesday. Ordered two new hubcaps to be delivered to said in-laws by time we get there.

Road day seven. You gotta be kidding me! Ran through a bad construction area around Lake Michigan, stopped later for fuel and found another hubcap missing.

I guess I can't complain too much. Since all the major problems we have had, a few hubcaps seem minor, plus the vehicle is running very well and the TT is pulling fine. (knock on wood)

Staying at Lake Dubay Private campground in Wisconsin. The only knock is they're having a big labor day party this eve complete with very loud DJ.

Oh well, it's not breaking anything of mine and not costing me more money so all is good.

[emoji926]maybe boating would be more fun [emoji857]ugh I [emoji120]that your troubles are over.

[Skyliner]

Most of original posters problems are result of him relying on others to do work for him on his equipment. If you want something done right, do it yourself. There is no pride in workmanship by mechanics largely due to the flat rate pay system.

Camping world for maintenance? Seriously? Why would you give that awful CEO your money?

Ugghhh, owning an RV requires a certain level of self-sufficiency and basic handyman knowledge.

Don't be afraid, go ahead and get those hands dirty and be amazed how good it feels to repack your own bearings correctly.

[MacGumbo]

I have completely redone the interior and added many mods so I am not against doing things myself. (many are posted on this site) As far as "relying" on "others" to do my maintenance, it is no different than you having someone else service your vehicles, home, appliances, etc. Or do you do them ALL yourself? One should reasonably expect others that are trained in certain maintenance areas to be able to do the job adequately.

I will not make that mistake again as I will be doing it all myself going forward.

[rsdata]

Do your own work if you can. There's no way those bearings were serviced properly. 2000 miles and 2 years?? Sounds like a very poor job done by some newbie tech at CW.

Most of original posters problems are result of him relying on others to do work for him on his equipment. If you want something done right, do it yourself. There is no pride in workmanship by mechanics largely due to the flat rate pay system.

Camping world for maintenance? Seriously? Why would you give that awful CEO your money?

Ugghhh, owning an RV requires a certain level of self-sufficiency and basic handyman knowledge.

Don't be afraid, go ahead and get those hands dirty and be amazed how good it feels to repack your own bearings correctly.

X2

never go to a trailer dealer to have wheel work done... go to a wheel/tire service center... they KNOW what they are doing

[MacGumbo]

Another update: Have traveled through Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and now in the Ozarks of Missouri with no further major problems.

The water heater wouldn't heat properly last night but after removing the flame tube and cleaning it out, it's fine.

On our way to Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and then home.