We took some great factory tours and learned a lot. You can read about it here. If we had to do it all over again, we would go to Fleetwood or Winnebago first and use them as a standard to measure the rest.
Factory tours
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Barely
There are many reasons people choose a particular type of RV. For us, when we were looking for our current RV there were two major factors: 1) It needed to be a motorhome, 2) Size matters.
Merry Christmas
I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been trying to decide exactly how I wanted the blog to look.
We are celebrating the gift of God’s only Begotten Son this Christmas with family. I expect to do some catching up after the first of the year.
Meanwhile, Merry Christmas from the Old Folks!
Winterizing made easy
This blowout plug made winterizing a breeze. Drain the water heater and fresh water tank. Hook this up to the fresh water connection, set the compressor regulator to 30-40 pounds, open the taps and let the water blow out. So much easier than trying to get antifreeze in the lines. And easier to de-winterize next season. About $8 from any supplier makes it cheaper than antifreeze, too.
Finally back on the road
We finally got back on the road after the blowout damage repairs. Read about our ordeal here.
Still waiting for parts
I found out yesterday that the part we need for replacing the wheel well liner (also known as a wheel tub) is not an off the shelf part. Winnebago is probably digging around the back of some dusty warehouse looking for a 15 year old mold to re-manufacture the part. It will take three more weeks just to get parts. It makes me wonder if this one could have been plastic-wielded or epoxied or something faster. But the part was already ordered before I knew it. I guess that’s one more thing to keep in mind.
If we had been full-timers we could have had a temporary repair and stayed in the area. As it is, we will get the RV back sometime in the end of September. That’s okay though, that is when things start getting cool enough to go out again.
I’m also wondering if the RV would have been unusable would an insurance company pay to put us up somewhere for two months. Another thing to add to the list of questions.
Tire-d of Repairs
After my tread separation waaaay back in May, I starting dealing with the insurance company. That was the easy part. Then I went around in circles trying to find a full-service RV collision place near here.
Re-Tired
Blowouts can be aggravating. Particularly if they are on the inside dually. Even more so if you don’t have proper equipment to change one. You go a bit higher up the aggravation scale after 30 minutes on the phone trying to get roadside assistance from your automobile insurance company and they can’t find you no matter if you give them GPS coordinates and highway crossroads.
Tire-ing Job
Today I learned more about my steel liners than what I really wanted (but needed) to know. For one, I need three different sized sockets to remove a wheel. One size fits the lug nuts that hold the rear liner on, one for the nuts that hold the front liners on, and one size fits the lug nuts that hold the wheels on.
Lessons Forgotten
Years ago we lived in a house that had galvanized pipes for the plumbing. Every time the water was shut off and later restored we would have to clean the aerators on the faucets because they would get clogged with flakes. But we have lived in houses with PVC plumbing for a while and that lesson had been forgotten.
This spring when it came time to de-winterize the RV, my kitchen faucet clogged and quit working. I removed, disassembled, reassembled and reinstalled it. It worked now, except I hadn’t put the aerator back on. When I put the aerator back on the faucet it quit working again. Oh, no! That’s all it was! Now my faucet leaked. I probably ruined an O-ring taking it apart and the whole thing will need replacing.
Hopefully, I’ll remember this next year.