Bearing Failure Memorial Day Weekend
We were about 10 miles away from our camping destination near the Colorado River when someone passed us honking their horn and pointing at our toy hauler. Immediately pulled over and noticed the right rear brake drum was spewing flames. Quickly emptied our fire extinguisher--no-go, that only temporarily suppressed the flames. Thankfully, we had a couple of large jugs of water which we poured on the brake drum to cool it down---the flames disappeared very quickly at that point. It was a close call for sure. If we had driven much further I'm sure the axle would have failed completely and we would have lost the wheel. Mucho thanks to that driver who happened upon us when he did. Whoever you are, thank you!!
Unfortunately, cell-phone coverage was very sporadic at our breakdown location. We had to unhook the rig and drive about 5-10 miles to get coverage. Started calling every trailer and RV facility within a 75 mile radius to try and find a place that could take a look at our rig quickly. After calling about 5 or 6 facilities with no luck, finally talked to Nathan at Trotter's RV in Kingman AZ. Said they were very busy, but they'd be willing to at least take a look at it first thing the following morning to see what they could do.
With a destination and possible solution finally in-hand, we felt somewhat relieved and called our insurance company for roadside assistance. To make a long story short, we had to wait almost 8 hours for a tow due to general lack of availability and miscommunication about the type of rig necessary to tow our toy hauler. Finally, around 10pm Jeff from Mike's Pow-R-Tow, out of Kingman AZ, showed up with a huge flatbed tractor-trailer (flatbed trailer had movable axles to lower the ramp angle). He drove our TV with the toy hauler still hitched onto the flatbed. After pulling completely forward, the rear tires on the toy hauler were resting on the very end of the flatbed. Also, our toy hauler is 102" wide. The edges of the tires were resting slightly over the edge of the flatbed on each side--overall, very close fit. We had a 60 mile tow to Kingman AZ. Finally arrived at Trotter's RV a little after midnight. We thanked Jeff profusely (along with a gratuity, of course) for being so accommodating and professional. This was his last tow for the day.
Early next morning before Trotter's RV opened, I called James at Forest River (Work & Play) to see if our toy hauler warranty would cover the bearing failure. I more or less assumed it would. However, was very pleasantly surprised with his offer to overnight a complete axle/brake assembly and also pay for all towing charges. Unfortunately, we soon discovered neither Forest River, nor Lippert (the manufacturer) had this particular axle in stock. The estimate was a week to get one manufactured and shipped. At that point, we planned for the worst, that we'd have to leave our toy hauler and return in a week or so after the axle was replaced. So, anyhow, at 8am, just as Nathan had promised, they pulled our toy hauler into their shop and quickly removed the tire and brake drum. Amazingly the axle was still serviceable! We had the driver that honked at us the day before to thank for that. Trotter's RV had us back on the road at 1pm.
We called Forest River after we got back home. Their offer to replace the entire axle is still good. The extreme heat had to have weakened the axle somewhat. For anyone reading this I'd suggest making sure your roadside assistance is active and covers longer distance towing. Without this coverage this tow would have cost us $500!
Needless to say this was a very long and stressful 23 hours for us. We can't say enough good things about Jeff at Mike's Pow-R-Tow, Nathan (and Steve) at Trotter's RV, and James at Forest River (Work & Play)!
Unfortunately, cell-phone coverage was very sporadic at our breakdown location. We had to unhook the rig and drive about 5-10 miles to get coverage. Started calling every trailer and RV facility within a 75 mile radius to try and find a place that could take a look at our rig quickly. After calling about 5 or 6 facilities with no luck, finally talked to Nathan at Trotter's RV in Kingman AZ. Said they were very busy, but they'd be willing to at least take a look at it first thing the following morning to see what they could do.
With a destination and possible solution finally in-hand, we felt somewhat relieved and called our insurance company for roadside assistance. To make a long story short, we had to wait almost 8 hours for a tow due to general lack of availability and miscommunication about the type of rig necessary to tow our toy hauler. Finally, around 10pm Jeff from Mike's Pow-R-Tow, out of Kingman AZ, showed up with a huge flatbed tractor-trailer (flatbed trailer had movable axles to lower the ramp angle). He drove our TV with the toy hauler still hitched onto the flatbed. After pulling completely forward, the rear tires on the toy hauler were resting on the very end of the flatbed. Also, our toy hauler is 102" wide. The edges of the tires were resting slightly over the edge of the flatbed on each side--overall, very close fit. We had a 60 mile tow to Kingman AZ. Finally arrived at Trotter's RV a little after midnight. We thanked Jeff profusely (along with a gratuity, of course) for being so accommodating and professional. This was his last tow for the day.
Early next morning before Trotter's RV opened, I called James at Forest River (Work & Play) to see if our toy hauler warranty would cover the bearing failure. I more or less assumed it would. However, was very pleasantly surprised with his offer to overnight a complete axle/brake assembly and also pay for all towing charges. Unfortunately, we soon discovered neither Forest River, nor Lippert (the manufacturer) had this particular axle in stock. The estimate was a week to get one manufactured and shipped. At that point, we planned for the worst, that we'd have to leave our toy hauler and return in a week or so after the axle was replaced. So, anyhow, at 8am, just as Nathan had promised, they pulled our toy hauler into their shop and quickly removed the tire and brake drum. Amazingly the axle was still serviceable! We had the driver that honked at us the day before to thank for that. Trotter's RV had us back on the road at 1pm.
We called Forest River after we got back home. Their offer to replace the entire axle is still good. The extreme heat had to have weakened the axle somewhat. For anyone reading this I'd suggest making sure your roadside assistance is active and covers longer distance towing. Without this coverage this tow would have cost us $500!
Needless to say this was a very long and stressful 23 hours for us. We can't say enough good things about Jeff at Mike's Pow-R-Tow, Nathan (and Steve) at Trotter's RV, and James at Forest River (Work & Play)!
