Travel Days to Harrisburg PA and Another Brake Failure!

We have covered some distance in the last few days.  South from Connecticut on the extremely rough I-84.  Potholes, open seams, and all manner of other bumps and holes.  On the way to Harrisburg, PA.  On top of that, we were traversing through the Poconos.  Long and steep uphill grades followed by the same downhill.  Let’s just say it is not my favorite driving.  And then the right front trailer hub began to smoke!  Yikes!

Actually, I now have a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPS) system that monitors both tire pressure and temperature of each wheel.  We had stopped at a rest area and it began emitting an annoying beep warning.

The right front trailer wheel was at 158 degrees.  That is not good.  I went back to check and it was all blackened and smoking.  Worse.  Such is life on the road sometimes.

Long story, short.  It was Labor Day as well.  My emergency travel company came up way short of any help.  So, I decided to make it to the next larger city (Scranton) at an RV park, and then call around on Tuesday to find a repair facility.

I was checking the digital readout every few minutes.  The wheel was still hot, but not as bad.  We made it to the park.  After a few calls on Tuesday, all places were booked up.  It wasn’t looking good.

Finally, the Wide World RV dealer in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania said to bring it in ASAP as they had a couple of hours open.  We packed up, hooked up and went north about 45 minutes.

Actually we overshot the place a mile and had to turn around in a small bank’s parking lot.  More fun.  Completely blocking the bank’s drive through for the 10 minutes I needed to back up into an alley and turn around with Pat’s help in directing traffic.  I might be getting good at these situations, but at the time it did not feel good.

After finally arriving at the RV dealer they worked us in.  The issue was the same thing we had back in May on the right rear hub.  A broken adjuster spring on the electric brake.  Our 5th wheel trailer has two axles.  We have had both of the right side brakes fail under warranty.  Suspicious.

The Dexter Axle company said they will reimburse me for the repair costs.  I thanked her, but expressed some displeasure at having the same issue for the second time.  I need some corrective action.  Arrrgh!

I can’t say enough good things about World Wide RV.   Family owned.  A father and three daughters.  They worked us in at 2:00, had the parts in stock, made the repairs, and we were back on the road by 5:30.  The TPS was finally reading in the good range.  And on I-81, the road surface was now better, but a million trucks.

We arrived at our next destination in the Pennsylvania capital city of Harrisburg by 7:30 and all hooked up by dark.  Not exactly to plan, but hey, we are all safe, and we are back on our RV Journey.

As our new friend, Randy Warner said, you have to take some of these challenges along with the many blessings that we have as full-time RV travelers!  Maybe it makes the good days even sweeter!

And it was Pat’s birthday as well.  A memorable one for sure!

This was a long segment at 350 miles.  Through the mountains we still averaged 10.5 miles per gallon.  The truck does very well on the grades.

We are in Harrisburg PA for five days then continue south to the Shenandoah Mountains for three days.  Then we are back home in the New River Valley for five weeks for our son Bryan’s wedding and many other appointments.

Take care and God Bless.