We are seriously northbound now, having arrived in Asheville, North Carolina yesterday. Our travel timing was based on being in Maine during August to enjoy the cooler summer and to try to stay in the 70 degree weather line as we moved north. Well, we may be a few weeks ahead of the curve since the local weather forecast in this mountain region is calling for cold and some snow on Saturday! Wow! During this last week, we have driven about 600 somewhat challenging miles with three driving days relocating from Savannah, GA to an RV dealership near Myrtle Beach, SC. We stayed there for three days and have now traveled to a KOA campground just outside of Asheville.
Warranty Work
RV’s of all types are truly a problem waiting to happen. When traveling down the road the impact on the trailer is similar to a serious earthquake lasting several hours. Especially with the rougher highways we have experienced as we get farther north.
Combining the earthquake effect with the lack of robustness in the RV construction. Not that they are cheaply made (well maybe), but they are made with lighter weight materials to keep the total weight down. The result is many small things begin to happen over time.
On some of these issues, I have been able to fix with just tightening up a connection, add a new screw, or other simple fixes. But we had a few going beyond this and wanted to take it into the shop before the warranty expired at the end of April.
The visit to our dealer RV Outlet of North Myrtle Beach did not go well. I made the appointment about 6 weeks ago and when we showed up at the 8am opening time we were told they were too busy today, so come back another day. Well, this just would not work due to our full-time travel schedule. Time to find the manager.
After that little chat, we had a tech assigned to us for the day. A few things were resolved, some parts were ordered and others gave me the information on how to repair on my own. What I have learned though the process is that the best repair route is to either do them myself or else hire an independent “mobile RV tech” to come to the campground.
The dealer’s own repair shop carries very limited parts, so if there is an issue involving parts, they must order them and then it takes six weeks or more for delivery. For those who travel like we do, then we are well down the road by the time the parts come in.
Also, when you try to make a service appointment while on the road, most dealers are booked up about 6-8 weeks out, making it even more difficult for the full timer RVer. Another case to contract with a local RV tech.
Arggg…. enough on the repairs issues. The bottom line is we are fully functional, just some minor issues that I will work on over the next few weeks. And if you want excellent dealer service, pay the big bucks and buy a Tiffin motorhome and take it to Red Bay, Alabama.
Driving in a Wind Storm
On leaving the Myrtle Beach area the weather forecast called for this major cold front coming across the nation toward the east coast. The wind was from the southwest at 24 mph with gusts up to 55 mph.
While I was not thrilled with driving into these types of winds, we decided to just go ahead and stop at a truckstop if it got too bad to drive. The 5th wheel trailer is 13 feet, 4 inches tall and is 40 feet long, so is about like a good sized sailboat.
I’ve heard stories about high profile vehicles being flipped over on some of the flat areas or mountain top passes by the high winds.
The good news was that the wind was mostly a head wind and the main downside was fuel mileage dropping down from 10.5 mpg normally while towing to 9.1 for this trip to Lexington, SC. On the occasional gusty crosswind, it just took a small steering correction in the truck. The Ford F-350 dually continues to amaze me at how well it handles the 16,000 pound camper.
I’m glad that a friend from 30+ years ago sold me on the change to driving Ford vehicles. Robert Shell was a friend from the Dexter Missouri Jaycees and also has a Ford dealership in town. I’ve mainly driven Fords since then. Everyone has their own preference, I’m sure, just my experience has been overall very good.
The new mud flaps attached to the truck are working out well. They keep about 75% of the tar and dirt from being thrown up on the lower front of the 5th wheel trailer. If I did it again, probably go for the even larger ones that come down to nearly the road.
Asheville, NC
Asheville has a population of 89,000 people and is the 12th largest town in North Carolina. This was a Cherokee area until Spanish explorers arrived in the 1500’s and then disease seriously depleted the population. In 1784 it became a town, was relatively untouched in the Civil War, and with the railroad arrival in 1894 the town experienced more growth as an industrial town.
We ventured into the downtown to walk around a bit soon after arriving. From a first impression, the layout of the streets and navigation around the town is horrible. It is like a hodgepodge of streets running in every different direction and almost impossible to get there from here. Maybe it is just because we had just come from a month in Savannah, probably the best designed city. Mostly though it is the mountainous terrain.
More updates on Asheville in my next post including visiting many artist’s studios, several breweries, a big house, and some info on area campgrounds.
On Wednesday, we pack up and relocate northwest again this time to Kentucky for a 9-day stay at two locations in Bourbon Country. We crossed over a mountain with some serious grades on I-26 to reach Asheville, but this next journey will be the more twisty I-40 that stretches west and north from Asheville. It also has many more steep inclines and some steep, white-knuckle downhill passes. Ack!!
I’ve done some internet research on this section and most RV’ers state it is fine, just get in the right hand truck lane and keep a slow speed on the downhill using the engine brake combined with the tow/haul mode that will downshift according to how much braking is applied.
It should be another adventure for sure.
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Thanks for the update. In looking at the weather it looks like most of the eastern 2/3’s of the US has had cooler temperatures then most would have planned. I guess you get that at times. Enjoy the spring!!