The Trip Home

[Fish]

Still looking for my first trouble free trip home from Florida. This year it was my fault. When we drove down in November the last day was in the rain and I didn't dry my brakes when entering the resort. I also got lazy and forgot to move the pusher for 6 months or even disengage the park brake.
Went to pull out, not moving. Driver side wheel spinning and sinking down. Stuck. Called coachnet and they sent out a knowledgeable wrecker driver with a winch line who was smart enough not to destroy my front cap.

He pulled me out of the hole but the passenger side duals were just sliding. He tried to get under there and bang on the brake drum but couldn't. Then his 2 hours were up and he left.
I got under there and gave it a few smacks, no success and I could barely move under there.
The wrecker drew quite a crowd of onlookers so the whole park knew I was stuck.

 

[Fish]

Breaking this up so it isn't a wall of text.

My friend Dennis from down the street (he keeps the palm trees trimmed at the resort) stopped by and asked me what was wrong. He said his friend that worked in the maintenance repair shop at the resort had been a big truck mechanic his entire life and he'd call him. An hour later they both show up at my lot.
Larry pulls up in a gator filled with tool boxes full of big equipment tools, the resort has an endloader, skid steer, trackhoe, and other things he has to work on.
He's smaller than me, he climbs under there with a hammer and bangs. He crawls out and goes back for tools, says he's going to release the brakes. Finally success! He has me move the coach forward and back and watches, then I shut it off and he climbs back under to adjust the brakes.

 

[Fish]

I had asked him about a pop I heard when trying to move the coach when it was stuck and asked if it was possible I'd broke a driveshaft. He said he doubted it but he took a look at some other things while he was under there.
Then he says "Uh OH, you're not going anywhere for a while". I expected the worst. What was wrong though is that after my last tow 3 years ago when I had a bad connection on my lift pump and a no start, they didn't put the one of the driveshaft clamps back on. It was just hanging. He said God was really looking after me, driving all those miles without having the driveshaft fall out.
He went to town and got 2 driveshaft clamps, came back and put them on and torqued them down, and also greased my u joints. Amazingly no one noticed the clamp loose when greasing my u joints during services I'd had done?
He was there 3 hours, I asked him what I owed him, he said Nothing but the clamps were $25. I gave him a hundred dollar bill and told him to keep it, he protested, I insisted and I still felt cheap. Hell of a nice guy, and Dennis too who helped him on some of it.

 

[Fish]

We were supposed to leave on Wed. May 15 and stop in Dover Florida to get some diamondshield correction done. I cancelled that, I'll get it done this fall on the way down.
We ended up leaving Saturday. We stopped at Casey Jones RV Park in Lake Park Florida. Great place for a one nighter. Full hookups for $29 and a pull through. Had to run the generator the last 2 hours, heat was unbearable and dash air wouldn't keep up. on the way there.

Sunday night we stayed at Deer Run RV Park outside of Troy Alabama. $32 I think it was for a pull through with electric and water, might have been $37. Another nice place for a one nighter.

Monday night we stayed at Stoney Creek RV Park on 65 south of Nashville. Higher price for nothing more than we got at the 2 other places. Over $50. Plus it's on the interstate so we got to hear jake brakes screaming all night long.
Going through Nashville Tuesday Morning, trying to get on I24 and surrounded by big trucks with nowhere to go I heard a big pop like a brick had hit my windshield. Whether something hit me or it was the huge hole I couldn't avoid around the same time, my windshield shattered in the upper driver side corner.

It spidered down in about 8 places and had one crack running halfway down the windshield. Left some very small pieces of glass on my dash. We taped it with clear tape and proceeded on home.

 

[Fish]

Got home Tuesday, I was supposed to start helping my son on some jobs he was getting behind on Monday. I couldn't help him until Thursday. Looks like I'm going to be helping him for awhile.
State Farm is getting Coach Glass to replace my windshield, $500 deductible. They're supposed to call me about where and how.
The best mpg I got for the trip was 6.4, the worst was 5.6, pulling my extra cab Silverado. I only drive 250-300 miles a day, and fuel up every day never letting it get below 1/2 tank on the 130 gallon tank.
I got 35-40 cent discounts at Loves truck stops on my EFS card. I stopped at the Road Ranger 5 miles from my house to fill up when we got here so the tank would be full all summer, only got an 8 cent discount there.

 

[Neal]

Wow, quite the story. As to the parking brake not releasing, I had that happen once and had it checked, nothing found. When I pull out of storage I watch the rear wheel lug covers to make sure they are spinning. FL told me if it won't release then put it in reverse, apply accelerator slowly, then back in drive, i.e. rocking it back and forth to release if it's locked up from being in storage.

 

[Fish]

Wow, quite the story. As to the parking brake not releasing, I had that happen once and had it checked, nothing found. When I pull out of storage I watch the rear wheel lug covers to make sure they are spinning. FL told me if it won't release then put it in reverse, apply accelerator slowly, then back in drive, i.e. rocking it back and forth to release if it's locked up from being in storage.

I tried the forward reverse thing and it wouldn't bust loose.

What happens is the shoe rusts to the drum, and like a dummy I parked it after driving through the rain and then neglected it for months. Should have drug the brakes going into the resort to kind of dry them out.
The mechanic also told me to release the parking brake at least once a month so it doesn't happen. Even better is taking it for a drive, but after I'm set up I hate tearing down and moving since my lot's not a pull through.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I am a big fan of wheel chocks!!!

When I had my Chevy Gasser the e-brake was a drum on the tail of the transmission!

Guess what happens when the leveler jacks releaves pressure on the rear suspension! I lucked out!!! I won't rely on e-brake to hold my rig in place. Brake won't rust in place either!!!

 

[John&Andrea]

I’m glad you made it home. It is nice to find good people while on the road. We have had good luck with that over the years. We have had our share of issues.
Great job putting the story together.

 

[Fish]

I am a big fan of wheel chocks!!!

When I had my Chevy Gasser the e-brake was a drum on the tail of the transmission!

Guess what happens when the leveler jacks releaves pressure on the rear suspension! I lucked out!!! I won't rely on e-brake to hold my rig in place. Brake won't rust in place either!!!

I don't have levelers and I really like that. 10 air bags and air level. The only time chocks come out is if I have to crawl under it. On this deal I borrowed the wheel chocks from my storage car hauler trailer to chock it while we worked on it.