RV Challenges, Blown Tire, Hail

Well it has been more than a year that I made the decision to live in my RV fulltime.  Do I regret it?  Hell no!!!  Saving some money, no association dues, neighbors change, can move if I do not like the spot, less to clean and maintain, you name it!!  Have there been challenges?  You bet, small problems such as water leaks, toilet leaks, challenges of changing weather, wind, hail, blown tires.  It can all happen.  Do the same things happen in a stick and brick home?  Yes, I have had the same issues.  Are they more in an RV?  Possible, cause when you move, you subject your rig to an earthquake that would be similiar to the Pacific Rim.  All part of it.  Have a good dealer who can assist with repairs, give advice, and be there when you need them.  I have had good luck here with Wichita RV, who have been the best.  Read the blogs of others and heed what they say and try to help them if able and you know what you are talking about.  Many things you will learn as you go. 

OK, I told you all I would write about some of the issues I have had, bout time I get off my butt and tell it. 
First on the trip home from Sturgis for the motorcycle rally, I had a blown tire on the right side of the rig.  I did not know it until someone flagged me down and told me.  I pulled into a parking lot and sure enough the tire was shredded and riding on the rim which was ruined as well.  As good fortune would have it, there was a Goodyear Tire dealer on the other end of the lot, so I walked over there and got the service guys to look at it and assess the repairs.  So I limped on over to the shop, pulled it in and they got to it.  There was damage on the wheelwell and around the fender area.  Pretty sure it happened in town at slower speeds, as it could have been a lot worse.  They were able to replace the tire and rim and get me back on the road.  I had them put a load range E tire on the rig and eventually replaced the other three with E tires and got rid of those D's.  E tires are 10 ply as opposed to 8.  Hopefully that will help as I am at gross weight with the rig.  Now for the dumbass award!!  I purchased a "Pressure Pro" system at the RV Dreams Rally in fall of 2009 at Kerrville, TX.  Now, why you ask would this be a problem?  Well, I did not have the sensors on the wheels as I should have.  Had I done that, hopefully I would have caught it sooner and could have prevented a problem.  After the repair and insurance claim, that alone was over $2000 worth of damage and with a high deductible it was a costly mistake.  Lesson learned, if you spend money on a system, use it!!  So you can bet I will in the future. 

Next thing.  On September 15, 2010 the "weather gods" were quite annoyed and we had a doozy of a storm that evening.  We had been watching the weather all day and believe me the conditions were ripe.  During our morning center get together at the work place, one of the young ladies gave the weather report and stated that the "gods were angry," and was she ever right.  Well, we had a farewell party for one of our managers that nite and we spent the first part of the evening watching the storm, seeing the hail, drinking beer, and not a thing we could do (about the storm that is.)  Good thing I was in the bar and not in the rig.  Guess what you don't see and hear will not hurt you.  Weather report said a twister was in the area of the airport but did not touch down.  The Good Lord intervened and saved us, so I say my thanks to Him.  The party went on and afterward, I went home to survey the damage, could not see anything from the ground, no holes I could see.  Some of the neighbors had hail stones go through their roofs as many others had holes in roofs of stick and brick homes.  The roof repairs guys were busy for a long time.  Some of those hail stones were larger than soft balls and the amazing thing they were so hit and miss in the area.  What a nite, none that I want to repeat anytime soon. 

I had the local RV dealer repair guy check for damage and he said I had a dent in one of the slides and that was it.  However, after talking to others I decided to have my RV dealer check it out and surprise, surprise.  I had a whole lot more damage to the roof.  Bottom line, had to have the holes/dents in roof repaired, roof reskinned, and all three slides extended out and reskinned on the roofs.  All told, over $12,000 of damage.  Thank God the insurance took care of it, but again another deductible expense.  Took over a week to repair the roof, so a friend of mine let me crash in the bedroom of his "Clubhouse" located on his property.  Thank you Greg and Beci, you were a huge help.   Also, need to mention, I had a brake lock up on one of the axles and get very hot, so on the way to repair the roof, I advised the dealer of this latest problem.  Good news, they replaced both axles for nothing.  Guess there was a defect on them.  So a lucky break there.  Same time, repaired the blown tire area, so got all the work done at one time. 

So, are there issues and problems?  You bet, but if you have a good dealer and support network it will certainly help you to cope and move on with life and not let them get you down.  The "Cathouse" is still alive and well and waiting to howl and growl again.  Now I need to tell you how we deal with the cold, but will do that later.