Our First RV Trip
Dear Forum Members. Wanted to share our first RV experience from Dallas Texas to Oregon. We just completed our first 38 day trip to Oregon, spending time in Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, Caldwell ID, Cr...
Forum Discussion
Glad it was only minor problems for you on your first RV Trip. Our experience for our first RV trip was a bit different. Remember the old saying you get what you pay for?
We bought a 86 Class A Mallard for our first RV Trip. One hour into our 1500 mile trip the alternator went out. Pulled into a service plaza before the battery died. We had Allstate RV roadside service. They were zero help. They had no clue how to handle a RV so called for a tow on my own dime. Couldn't ride in the tow truck so had to call for a cab to take us to the RV Shop. Spent all day there waiting for repairs.
We ended up driving to a nearby KOA to spend the night. The next day upon leaving I forget to unplug from electric. Considering I was rather stressed out didn't help matters. We start driving through the campground and I see a guy on a KOA golf cart chasing me. I was dragging 30 feet of power cord behind me. Luckily no damage to KOA or the MH.
Half way there drivers side windshield wiper falls off in a blinding rainstorm. Little while later our stairs drop down and demolish themselves while were driving. Nothing like hearing a screeching sound and seeing sparks in the mirror while driving down the interstate. I had to use a hammer to knock what was left of the stairs off the frame.
We get to our destination and of the roof starts leaking into the overhead lighting. Plus we now have a water heater propane leak. Luckily the Propane was leaking to the outside as we were driving. Off to the repair shop we go again.
On the way back home we spend a night in a campground in WI. Overnight the temps drop into the 20s. And of course our heater doesn't work either and our water hose is froze solid.
Coming back home we start losing power going through the Mountains of TN. We barely made it climbing over the mountains to get to our next repair shop. This time it was a possible fuel filter problem. Repair shop changed out fuel filter and we are on our way again.
We don't get far and start having problems again. Pull into a Fastfood parking lot and engine will not start again. Called a service tech who came out and thought we had a carp problem. No, not the carb. bad coil was the problem. Engine starts up and we are on our way again.
Get a little further and we start losing power again. By this time the wife want to just leave the rig on the side of the road and fly home. I said lets just go for it and now stop again once we filled up with enough gas to make it the rest of the way home. We made it back home by building up speed on downhill stretches and were able to get enough momentum to make it over the next hill all the way home.
We bought a 86 Class A Mallard for our first RV Trip. One hour into our 1500 mile trip the alternator went out. Pulled into a service plaza before the battery died. We had Allstate RV roadside service. They were zero help. They had no clue how to handle a RV so called for a tow on my own dime. Couldn't ride in the tow truck so had to call for a cab to take us to the RV Shop. Spent all day there waiting for repairs.
We ended up driving to a nearby KOA to spend the night. The next day upon leaving I forget to unplug from electric. Considering I was rather stressed out didn't help matters. We start driving through the campground and I see a guy on a KOA golf cart chasing me. I was dragging 30 feet of power cord behind me. Luckily no damage to KOA or the MH.
Half way there drivers side windshield wiper falls off in a blinding rainstorm. Little while later our stairs drop down and demolish themselves while were driving. Nothing like hearing a screeching sound and seeing sparks in the mirror while driving down the interstate. I had to use a hammer to knock what was left of the stairs off the frame.
We get to our destination and of the roof starts leaking into the overhead lighting. Plus we now have a water heater propane leak. Luckily the Propane was leaking to the outside as we were driving. Off to the repair shop we go again.
On the way back home we spend a night in a campground in WI. Overnight the temps drop into the 20s. And of course our heater doesn't work either and our water hose is froze solid.
Coming back home we start losing power going through the Mountains of TN. We barely made it climbing over the mountains to get to our next repair shop. This time it was a possible fuel filter problem. Repair shop changed out fuel filter and we are on our way again.
We don't get far and start having problems again. Pull into a Fastfood parking lot and engine will not start again. Called a service tech who came out and thought we had a carp problem. No, not the carb. bad coil was the problem. Engine starts up and we are on our way again.
Get a little further and we start losing power again. By this time the wife want to just leave the rig on the side of the road and fly home. I said lets just go for it and now stop again once we filled up with enough gas to make it the rest of the way home. We made it back home by building up speed on downhill stretches and were able to get enough momentum to make it over the next hill all the way home.
