I've spent a year and a half on the road, and mysterious forces are at work. I put over 25,000 miles on the trailer, even more on the truck and even after careful maintenance some things just happen.
1. On the first day leaving Coos Bay, Or. the trailer blew a tire, tore up a little of the trailer and put us on the side of the interstate for an hour during evening traffic. We were 10 miles short of our destination in Talent, Or. I called up the Good Sam Emergency Center and they sent out the Tow Truck, we replaced the tire on the side of the road and I limped into Talent. Too late to get into the park, so I camped at Walmart (after asking permission.) I took my blown tire to Walmart, I had originally bought it in 2005 at the St. George, Utah Walmart for $93 and spent $9.76 for the "road hazard" warranty. The tire guy took one look at the shredded tire, the exceptionally good tread depth and said " yep, it was something on the road"" rear tire right?" "We'll cover it, no charge." whoohoooo, they did, and had the tire in stock, saved me $110, although I did pay $13.33 for the new road hazard and lifetime balancing.
2. I've backed my fifth wheel over a hundred times, I've gone almost 90 degrees a few times, I've never had any trouble with the short bed, I even have a slider in my truck, I've used it a couple times just to figure it out. But.... While in Ventura, Ca. I was backing my trailer into a very tight spot, and
BAM, my rear window shattered. 96,000 miles and I lose a window. $155 later the truck has a new window, minus all my stickers. The white cardboard kept the glass from flying into the back seat.
3. On leaving CatSpa with the trailer, you have to hand in your parking pass/survey. I pulled in close to the security hut so I could hand it in. Before pulling away, I figured I was too close to the hut to let the trailer pass by safely, so I back up about a foot to get a better angle. Hmmm, I forgot it's a security hut....... Backing up that foot punctured my right rear tire on the tire ripper placed there for just that purpose, reminds me of a certain wooden bar that swings up but people manage to hit all the time. At least the bar doesn't really stop anyone. Now why is that?
A RV park has a tire ripper that will stop a vehicle in it's tracks with the push of a button.....
A county jail has a wooden bar that doesn't stop anything unless you hit the brake....
By the way, a tire ripper is a "road hazard" and the $193 Michelan was replaced free at Discount Tire, although it took $24 for the new warranty.
Laf, it reminds me of putting up my Internet Satellite on April 1st one year.
Like I said "mysterious forces at work......"
