It has been a long time since posting. Every time I sit down to "write" I either get bored or feel that there are other things more important to occupy my time. I figured that retirement would be not caring about "important" things. But, at least in my case, apparently not.
So, we headed to Yuma in the second week of November 2022. The Motor Home was loaded, as was the Jeep. As soon as we started, something did not feel right. There was a vibration when the Motor Home was under load. Take you foot off the accelerator and the vibration disappeared. It wasn't a tire issue, more like something out of balance.
About 25 miles southwest of Lubbock, I pulled over and told Debbie that we either continued and risked being disabled along the road waiting on a tow truck, or we turned around and went back to the "barn" and figured out what to do. We opted to go to the "barn."
We put the Motor Home in our storage area, took the necessaries out of the Motor Home and went home, where we filled the water heater (I had drained it before we left), took the covers off the drains and generally moved back into the house.
After much discussion, we decided to unload the Jeep, unload the Motor Home, winterize the Motor Home, repack a smaller version of what we had in the Motor Home and the Jeep into Deb's Highlander and head for Yuma, AZ in the AM. We would worry about repairing the Motor Home when we returned in April 2023. Of course we had to cancel the RV Park reservations and make a hotel reservation, but that was pretty minor. Down sizing the amount of "stuff" we were planning to take took much more time. But, at least we had a place to stay in the warm climate of Yuma, well more on that later.
Off to Yuma the next morning, it was an uneventful trip. We had to be a little more cautious as Annie was in her kennel in the back of the Highlander and not up front in the Motor Home in front of the air conditioner . So, a few more stops but nothing major.
Our time in Yuma was interesting, with our friends from Washington State and our Canadian next door neighbors. The weather was not cooperating. This was our fourth winter in Yuma, our neighbors 20+ winter in Yuma, our friends from Washington 14th winter and all agree that it was the coldest and wettest that anyone could remember. Now cold is a relative term. For Yuma, cold meant 40 degree mornings and 60 degree afternoons as opposed to the 50 degree mornings and 70 degree afternoons that we had had the prior three years.
We have always promoted (ok bragged) that the weather was warm in the winter and things were like paradise. My brother Bill and his wife Sonya stopped to visit on the way back to Washington State from a sojourn to Mexico. What was the weather in Yuma? You guessed it, rain, 40 degree mornings and 60 degree afternoons. But, we had fun.
Fast forward to April 2023. We return home from Arizona and within a week take the Motor Home over to the Freightliner Dealer. Less than a day goes by and they inform us that the driveline in the Motor Home was about ready to fall out. A universal joint had failed and it caused failure in the drive shaft. About 10 days and many $$$$$ the Motor Home was back on the road.
Great, back to storage. So, we plan a 5K trip up through the great lakes, Niagara Falls, Cooperstown, Boston area, Maine and make all those RV Park reservations. Get reservations for a tour of Acadia National Park, Trolley Tour in Boston and tickets for the Grand Ole Opry. We will leave the middle of August 2023 and be back in time for Doctor appointments the end of September. Schools should be back in session, traffic should be lighter, RV Parks not as full.
We still need to take the Motor Home in for the annual maintenance on the "house" part. Adjust a slide, check the seals on the roof, oh, and fix the basement HVAC because that just failed after having been repaired last summer.
The HVAC problem turned out to be the same part that Winnebago replaced last year. The part had been placed where condensation dripped on it and it rusted and failed. OK, a $25 part, but they had to take the HVAC out of the Motor Home, which was a bonus as it allowed them to thoroughly clean it and check it out. Great, all fixed and ready to go.
On a Friday afternoon, we arrive to pick up the Motor Home. Our trip is two weeks away. The Technician and I go through everything that was done. The HVAC, the sealing on the roof and sides and the slide alignment. Except the slide doesn't work. It moves out a couple inches and stops, wait a bit, it moves a few more inches and stops. Bring the slide in and the same thing happens.
The slide motor/gear box has failed. No problem, get a new one and we are back on the road. Except.... the slide motor/gearbox for that slide on our 14 year old Motor Home went out of production prior to 2011. No one has any idea which motor/gearbox to use to replace what is there. The original manufacturer has been purchased by a different company and they have no clue what to do. Winnebago stated that they do not have the part and don't foresee getting any stock.
For two days, I along with our repair facility searched the Internet looking for the part. We followed up on forum posts made by other RV Owners that found themselves in the same predicament and generally saying "I can't believe this." While the search continues, the RV Repair facility has disassembled the gearbox and motor. Cleaned them up and reassembled them. Testing is yet to be done on the unit.
Friday, August 12, 2023 - Motor Home is still not repaired. There is still no idea what the solution to the problem will be, or when a solution will be tested. We made the painful decision to cancel our trip. This is not the first time we have had to cancel a trip due to a problem with the Motor Home. But, I feel it will be the last time -
Anybody want a good Mechanically sound, well maintained 38 foot Motor Home? Oh yeah, the bedroom slide might or might not work.
That's what is going on - We'll keep you posted.
