Roll Call Alaska 2018

CA Traveler wrote:

mabynack wrote:
I haven't taken my rig on a long trip in 5 years. The last one was a nightmare. The truck blew a head gasket, the fridge quit working, the jacks would go up and down in the middle of the night all by themselves. Sometimes they wouldn't work at all. The TV came one all by itself at full volume in the middle of the night. I blew two tires within 100 miles. Both tires were less than a year old and had less than 8000 miles on them.

I'm going through my rig now to try to prepare. I had the truck engine bulletproofed for 8000 dollars. A year later I had it redone because the first shop didn't do any of the work they charged me for. I'm planning on getting new tires just before I leave and I'm replacing the jack switch. I'm going to have the RV shop pack the wheel bearings. Anything else I need to be concerned with?

You need both a good truck person and a good RV person.

Tire problems like yours are a result of poor quality, under inflation, over loaded or alignment. BTW The average tire shop can sell you tires but they often have little knowledge about towing or the the towed vehicle. And you need the truck and RV axle weights prior to even thinking about tires.

What kind of RV shop is going to pack the wheel bearings? They may/may have adequate knowledge/skill.

Based on your experience including the truck rip off you need to gain adequate knowledge so that you can understand and know when to say no. Perhaps someone nearby can help?

Highly recommend you start taking trips and work out the problems associated with an apparent under used rig.

Think of all of this as insurance for a very long upcoming trip.

I have a BS in Automotive Engineering and worked as a diesel mechanic for 10 years prior to getting my degree. There's no way of knowing if the shop replaced internal parts on the engine without tearing it apart.

RV Connections in Panama City will pack the wheel bearings and inspect the brake components.