2019 Repairs, Fixes, and Faux pas

We are going to try a little something different with this post. Rather than waiting to the end of the year, I will update this as we go this year. The reason, things happen, they happen fast and it’s worth writing down. I will keep this updated with anything new that pops up.

• Tire Failure – Westlake
  • The year started out with a bang, literally. We had a major blow out of the rear driver’s side tire. This caused some significate damage to the RV. The shop estimates this at approximately $2600 worth to be exact. I have outlined the complete incident in a blog post here: Blow Out
  • Solution: The immediate solution as you will read was to replace the tire and continue our trip west. This left me a bit uneasy waiting for the other shoe to drop with the remaining Westlake tires. The reviews are mixed on these tires, some will swear by them others call them bombs. I am leaning toward the bomb description. I was determined to replace them when we got back to home base. Until then we were on pins and needles.

• Air Conditioners-RV A/C Silencer
  • Does this sound familiar to you? You appreciate having an air conditioner in your travel trailer or bus but the noise! You find yourself with the decision to hear the TV or hear your A/C unit. 9 times out of 10 the airconditioner wins and you drive everyone out by turning up the tv to 10.
  • Solution: Installing the RV A/C Silencer is the perfect DIY project because installation is easy and takes less than 15 minutes! Simply grab a screwdriver and you’re ready. There’s no need to drill new holes because it installs into the existing holes that are already on the A/C unit.Cleaning is a snap as well! The simple, yet stylish cover can be cleaned with just a damp cloth or gentle cleanser. Cleaning the electrostatic filter is as easy as simply vacuuming in place or remove it for a quick rinse.• Noise reduction
    • Better filtration system
    • Increase airflow to my existing racetrack venting
    • Easy to cleanI will be the first to admit that these covers are not cheap, they run about $190 per. They are built well and the fit is solid. I would say that the noise is cut in half and there is a noticeable increase in airflow. The fit on a curved ceiling will leave a small gap on the side of the unit. Unlike your existing vent the contours or bends to the ceiling, these do not. I plan to put another one in the bedroom in the coming months.

• New Tires – Goodyear G16-RST
  • The blowout earlier this April gave me a sense of urgency when it came to tires for the RV. The OEM Westlake’s were 3 years old with 26,000 miles on them. The tread seemed to be in good shape but that blow out left me with some serious doubts. I had read a number of reviews about the Westlake tires and the issues many 5th wheel owners were describing.
  • The damage that a blown tire can do is substantial. We lost a leveling Jack, quarter panel, fender and blasted a hole in the underbelly insulation. After doing some research and having a conversation with other Open Range and 5th Wheel owners I felt I knew what I needed.
  • Solution:  Goodyear G16-RST LT235/85R16 These are slightly larger tires that came with the RV stock. This tire requires a special high load capacity wheel and high-pressure tire valve. I could not be happier with this tire, it’s early but I have picked up a 1 mile or so more fuel mileage. The rig seems much more stable and I am feeling much more comfortable about our safety.

• Tire Pressure Monitor System
  • There where a number of items on my priority list for must have on the RV. Tire Monitors was not high on the list. After the blow out in April, I was now leaning toward a system. I am an avid tire pressure and condition checker. Prior to long trips, any trip, gas stops, etc I would be checking the tire pressure and conditions to be sure we ran at the right pressure for our weight and there were no wear issues. After the incident in April and the research, I was looking into regarding TPM systems It was time. Tie in the new tires and I was sold on the idea.
  • Solution –  As I said above, I felt that I needed a Tire Monitoring System to complement this investment and give me the piece of mind I now felt we needed. I have in the past purchased most of my technical gear from Techno RV  They typically have some great pricing and more importantly fantastic installation and informational videos. Thereafter sale followup and help is 5 star. I made the purchase and I could not be happier. The unit has already paid for itself read all about that here: TPMS

• Vent Cap Missing
  • Look I get up on the roof often but not every day or every trip. On a recent trip to Florida after driving some 700 miles or so we decided it was time to get the rig washed and waxed. I was informed by the washing team that I had a vent cap missing. They took the photo to the right and let me know that it needed attention. After getting up on the roof myself I discovered it was an attic ventilation vent. How this came off I will never know, it must have just slowly turned off unit the bolt drop and off it flew. I headed to the local RV store for a new vent or cap.
  • Solution: After a little research I found the attic vent I needed and decided to tackle the job myself. Youtube became my friend, with instructions galore as to how to replace this vent. I showed the photo to RV repair specialist and he told me that I would be foolish to take up that vent, the seal looked fantastic and you would not be able to match that.
  • Open Range owners take note:  the bolt that holds this vent on cannot be reached or tightened without taking the vent off. I took the field expedient route. Cut a hole in the plastic screening, retrieve the bolt, held it with a pair of vice grips while I replaced the screening with mesh. Now place a pair of needle nose on the bolt and turned the new cap on until I could pull up on it to finally tighten.
  • I now check these two vents with regularity and find them to be loose most of the time.

• Tail Lights – Brake, Running
  • As a regular course of action when we leave, Ginny always checks the lighting around the rig for any issues. The last couple of weeks she has noticed a subtle change in the tail lights. One by one the LED’s in the light were going out. I thought this should be easy to replace a few LED’s to make it whole again. But wait …..
  • Solution: I stop my dealership to show them the photo. His first response was, water in the taillight! My response was, can I replace the LED’s strips? No, you need to replace the entire light. The early LED tail lights used by this builder were not holding up. The new and improved version does. So I replaced both tail lights.

• Black Tank Leak
  • Have you been there, you open up the sewer line to hook up your stinky slinky and get a surprise. Seems the valve on the black tank is loose or opened during travel and you have a pipe partially full of not so pleasant slurry. I started putting a five-gallon bucket under it to catch it just in case.
  • Solution: I had been told by my dealer that the technology or lack of on the older rigs needed to be upgraded. Seems they have made some improvement to the valve and the system to prevent those types of issues. That did not solve my problem and it was suggested  I place the pictured valve on to prevent this from happening prior to hooking up the hose. It works great but I wanted to try and solve the problem without a ton of expense.
  • I discovered that the pull cable linked to the black tank had not been secured to anything and was just laying on the floor of the basement. The cable and plunger get loosened while traveling unless there is a tension point you can push against. This tension point helps keep the linkage from moving about and opening the valve to the tank. I found the slack in the cable and tried to straighten it out as much as possible and then tied it down with zip tie to one of the exposed wooden beams.
  • This gave a tension point to push the plunger closed and cable against and seemed to make the whole thing tighter. You could now feel the tension as you pulled out the plunger to release the flow. Prior that was not the case. So far that has resolved the problem.

• Slider Awing Endcap Break
  • Slider awnings seem pretty innocuous, what could go wrong. We have had some minor issues that I fully expected. Slight tears near the ends easily fixed with vinyl tape or a simple clean were the order of the day. That all changed in early July as I was making my way up to Western NY. The endcap and broke loose from the mounting tube rendering the slide cover and slide inopperable. 
  • Solution – I headed down the road to a hardware store looking for hose straps I could use to hold the endcap and tube together. I managed to jury rig the awning. This allowed me to operate the slide and retract the awning once again. Unfortunately, I was not out of the woods yet. As I made my way down I90 west to Cleveland my tempory fix failed. I made a quick call to my remote navigator and Ginny directed me to the nearest Home Depot. Luckily that was but a short distance away. I researched the issue and found that I needed to place a pin in the roller tube. This would take the pressure off the spring and my temp fix. 

    I got the parts I needed in Home Depot made the fix and got myself home. Once home I ordered the parts I needed from Carefree and repaired the break.   

• Slider Awning Blow Out
  • This became the year of the slider awning decided to rear their ugly heads. We had our issues earlier in the year with an end cap breaking away from the mounting tube. Camping in Las Vegas in late September we experienced some very high winds. High winds and slider awnings to not get along. Our dining side slide blew out holding on at each end by the screws that held the fabric and cord in place. 
  • Solution – Ginny and I jumped into action to take down the awning fabric. Learning a lesson from our early issue I knew to lock the awning spring rod into place. We were able to take the fabric down and store it for the remainder of the trip. After researching my options I settled on having the awning repaired. This proved to be a $15 fix versus a $200 replacement. With a little help from Ginny, we reinstalled the fabric on the roller and we were back in business.