Hey all!
We bought a used 1990 Hitchhiker 34.5 in December in
excellent shape. I officially, retired from the Air Force
1 Feb, and during terminal leave (not dying! - Military
term for last leave before retirement) in January took our
first trip home. The following letter outlines some possibly
serious things that we managed to avoid. I've edited out the
personal parts of the following letter I sent to our "friends
group".
Folks,
Everyone keeps asking how retirement is going. I think
that's one of those questions like "How's it going?" The
correct response to both questions is "Fine!" Any real
answer is soooooo boring to the listener.
However, since that's never stopped me before, (both in
person and print) I'll answer it.
Our coach is great to full-time in! (RVrs say coach
to cover motorhome, trailer, etc.-It is better than trailer
[visions of pop-ups and mobile homes], and not as pretentious
as luxury whatever) Lynn and I have adapted to the lifestyle
quite well. Our pup, Bogart, took a little longer. He's not
spoiled-he's spoiled rotten. He's finally adapted to being
left alone if we put a chair by the window for him to get up
on to watch out the window for us. It took four re-screenings
of the window screens and many times with no hot water (the
electric switch for the heater is just below the window he
looks out . . .he kept turning it off with his paw) before we
realized what he needed. Now we are all happy campers! And
I'm no longer keeping rolls of screen material on hand.
The biggest change was realizing we could take very
little with us. Storage limitations are not the only driving
factor; weight on the axles is too.
As far as what I do with my days, I'm as busy as before.
Our coach came from the East Coast of Florida, so there were
a lot of metal parts that had corrosion and had to be refinished.
Also we had a lot of surprises after we successfully made our
first trip from Texas to here. Talk
about luck!
But because we joined the RV consumers group (www.rv.org) and
the Escapees RV club (www.escapees.com/website/index2.htm),
and read every letter in rvadvice.com, we've come a long way
fast! We found lifetime warranties and recalls on almost
every problem item we missed on original purchase! For
example: Two days after arriving here with our rig, the diesel
belt tensioner fell off! I just happened to notice because the
heat stopped and the engine temp started to climb fast. Why that
bolt didn't break while towing the coach here, I'll never know.
It was cracked all the way across except for a 1/16-inch edge
that was the only thing holding it on! Fortunately, the
tensioner fell in the engine compartment and was undamaged.
Then we found that the hitch had several cracks in the most
critical parts, that looked like the result of being
dropped at some time before I owned it. It turns out that the
manufacturer, RBW industries, has a million-mile warranty. So
they paid postage and completely rebuilt the hitch-head free.
Then we found a letter in the Escapees magazine about Goodyear
marathon trailer tires blowing up on the highway! In checking,
I found that we had the defective tires on all four wheels and
the spare! One call to Goodyear confirmed the defective status
of all of our tires. We were told to bring the trailer in, and
all five tires would be replaced with the new version of the
marathon that has been completely redesigned. There will
be pro-rating by treadwear. In other words - nearly free
replacement of all our tires. The very expensive tranny in
the dually started acting up in the cold weather and fearing
the worst we brought it to . . .THE DEALER!
Turns out our thermostat was stuck open and the shift temperature sensor
was shifting continuously because of that. $29.00 thermostat brought
the operating temp up which also increased our power, and mileage (5 MPG
increase!) However, the thermostat caused the engine to operate way too
cold for a diesel (They must run hot or power, lubrication, and mileage
suffers, as well as causing rough running, AND THE ENGINE WILL SUSTAIN
DAMAGE!) The verdict? No damage! And the dually runs like a banshee!
To sum up: We took our first 500-mile trip, in the middle of winter,
in the pouring rain, through the middle of nowhere, at night, GOING 60 mph,
with a broken hitch, tires that could blow up at any moment, a severed
belt tensioner bolt, the thermostat stuck open, and to top it all off, I
later found that the trailer brakes were not working because of
corrosion in the connectors on the truck!!!!! (remember I had no
experience towing a large rig, or driving a diesel and the dealer
in Texas missed the thermostat problem) TALK ABOUT HAVING A
GUARDIAN ANGEL!!!! (for you more secular folks read "could fall
in a pile of **** and come out smelling like a rose)
So I've been busy researching, repairing, and modifying the coach
every day. I wanted to take the first trip, find out any showstoppers
for the big trip, and do some mods to the coach to customize it for us.
The biggest part of that has been getting rid of the stock booth
that seems to come in every RV. You know, the one with the tiny counter
that turns into a "bed". And has two bench seats that the brochure
says "seats four". When actually the person on the aisle has one
cheek hanging off.
And it took up most of the kitchen area. So I ripped it out and
installed a counter with an office space on one end. It came out great!
I used a Grey matrix Formica for the top and matched the frame with the
rest of the coach. It doubled the kitchen space and gave me a place to
put the notebook, and multi-function machine.
I used to have a shop with compressors and table saws etc. (before we
went to Europe for seven years in 1990) that I used to remodel our house
and customize my cars. This is the first time I've been able to build
or remodel anything since then. It's sooooo relaxing and a lot of fun.
I didn't realize how much I missed building things!
Now I'm running out of things to prepare for the trip and
have begun to set up my business. I am a distributor for a
company that will be providing wireless Internet for the RV market.
As well, we will be providing dial in numbers for the rest of you
out there (we have 500 at this moment) for 19.95 a month that will
give very high speed connections and more, using our proprietary
software.
I'm now looking at inverters and tankless hot water heater.
It just so happens I'm in the market for both but am budget challenged.
(OK . . .I said it . . .I am now on a budget ....can't go out and
pick up whatever I want anymore!) <[only drawback to retirement] ;-}
Lynn got a job at one of the casinos here so she can, as she says,
"keep me in the manner to which I'm accustomed." She is having a blast.
But we still are a long way from the "big" power mods for the diesel
and the coach. Just an inverter/solar or generator setup is over
Three grand. In checking around, it seems all the CEO jobs here are
taken, So I'm wondering what I'd look like in those McD's hats?
hmmmmmmm . . .NOT!
Leaving for a years travel in May. OEM low-tech stuff will have to do.
We look forward to seeing y'all
dg and Lynn
: ******************* Home is where we park it! *********************
dg
Dear RVadvice,
Glad you liked it. Yes it was a very
"interesting" first trip. Being the careful type,
everything in the letter should have been caught by
the "experts" I hired to replace or repair as necessary
before we left. As for me, this is my first pickup, (we were
van people), first diesel, first trailer. And they are
both in excellent shape and look and perform like new.
I had taken the diesel to the dealership for a complete
inspection before purchase, including: complete disassembly
and inspection of the brakes, rear-end, tranny, engine and
electrics.
They found bad brake drums on rear, bad belt, and bad
shock bushings. All were replaced by the seller, and in
addition it already had new tires all around. Beyond that
I changed oil/filter, lubed it , K&N Air Filter, and
ran it for two months before we bought the coach. I
had the coach inspected and the hitch that came with it
installed by a "reputable" RV dealership in San Antonio
who never mentioned the cracks in the hitch head.
I had an experienced RV friend pull the trailer around
the loop and it was pronounced wonderful with good brakes
and straight tracking. He said it towed much better than
his new Travel Supreme.
So I was a "newbie" but took all the right steps to
insure a safe trip.
The trailer brakes I missed because I had done the research
to match my trailer weight with the truck. My trailer loaded
weighed in at just over 10,600 lbs. So the truck was able to
stop it as if the trailer brakes were there. The only lead
in the umbilical that wasn't working was the brakes -
the visible signals were OK. I've since replaced the connectors
and tested from both ends. The only thing that couldn't have
been found before the trip was the mostly sheared bolt on the
serpentine belt tensioner.
So even when 'ya do all the right stuff, you can still
get into trouble.
Hey does this mean that you published it? (note: they did)
dg
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