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Breakdown on
the Road

Breakdown on the Road

Trouble can occur anywhere, anytime (when it’s least expected). No one plans for it, so when it happens, you handle it. It’s how you deal with it that counts.

We were traveling almost due north on Texas State Highway 277 ... two lane, but good road... between Eagle Pass and Del Rio. We planned to make it to Marathon by nightfall because a break in the rainy weather was due and we wanted to tour Big Bend National Recreation Area in good weather. It would be a long day.

As it turned out, it was a long day... but we only made it to Del Rio, about 175 miles short of our goal destination. Most of the time when we travel we don’t make reservations in advance. It’s a full time RVer thing... if you have your house with you and want to change direction you are not tied to any need to be where you thought you wanted to be! We didn’t have to cancel any reservations.

When we were about ten or twelve miles north of Quemado, Texas, a SUV passed us and the folks inside were motioning back toward our fifth wheel. Shortly before, we had stopped at a roadside picnic area for a potty break and while I was inside the house Steven did a walk around check as he usually does when we stop anywhere. I thought maybe I’d forgotten to put the steps up (again) but Steven looked in his mirrors and realized we were losing a wheel!

Slowing down and pulling off onto a narrow shoulder caused the wheel to come completely off and the back wheel to run up over it. This rocked the house considerably, ‘redistributing’ a bunch of stuff inside. As the loose wheel came out from under the rear wheel it flipped up a little and caused some minor cosmetic damage to the lower edge of the trailer.

Every stud on the hub had been sheared off. All in all, we were lucky because greater problems could have been caused had the wheel gone into the highway.

We called our RV Emergency Road Service from the Good Sam Club and they contacted the nearest service agent. ERS couldn’t have found us a better mechanic than Marvin, from Hacienda Salvage and Metal Company in Uvalde, about 65 miles from where we were.

After talking over the other possibilities, Steven and Marvin decided that it would be best if he could find new studs and repair the hub. We gave him all the numbers from the old hub and he said he would go the the local RV shop and see what he could find.

ERS kept in contact with us off and on during our wait. Cellular phones and RVers belong together. The phones work almost everywhere now ...so no traveler should be on the road without one. Also, an emergency road service may not seem worth the annual fee during the many months of a year when you don’t use it, but it’s worth every cent of the annual cost when you have a problem!

About a half hour later Marvin called from the RV shop and said they had a new hub with studs and bearings. He described it to Steven and they agreed it was a match for the old one so Marvin said he would bring it.

When Marvin arrived it took him about a half hour to replace the hub and put the spare on. Parts and repairs are not covered by ERS. Marvin charged us his cost for the new hub and $35 for time it took him to replace the hub. Who could ask for a better deal than that? No one wants to breakdown but, really, the whole experience was pretty painless.

We were back on the road in three and a half hours from the time we stopped. Marvin was great. We learned how friendly and helpful Texans can be.

While registering at American Campground and RV Park just northwest of Del Rio we talked with some folks who had come from Big Bend that day. They told us about a ten or twelve mile stretch of road construction between Del Rio and Pumpville. It was several inches of mud from rain waters washing across the highway.

These people were traveling in a motorhome pulling a towed and had problems coming through that mess in the heavy rain because their towed vehicle kept slipping from side to side. They reported that folks pulling trailers were also having difficulty. Their rig was caked with mud even after driving in the rain many miles afterward.

When we left Del Rio several days later the road was still dirt but it had dried out and driving wasn't too bad. So maybe the dark cloud of our breakdown had a silver lining.

There are times, of course, when plans must be altered or stopovers lengthened while replacement parts are ordered and installed in faulty equipment. Such incidents can be aggravating at the least and definitely inconvenient if you have a schedule to keep or commitments of your time elsewhere ...not usually a problem for fulltimers!

This article first appeared in RV Companion Magazine as part of Steven Fletcher's Curbside column. Used with permission.