Living in an RV, as we do for
several months a year, draws focus on the customer service world of RV
manufacturers, dealers and the various repair shops associated with trucks and
trailers.
I will come back to the
beginning of our experiences but let me begin in the middle, or thereabouts.
Then again, as I have been driving an RV for most of my adult life maybe I am
beginning closer to the end.
Last winter I had our trailer,
a 22-foot Creekside by Outdoor RV, in tow behind my Dodge Ram, 2008, 1-ton,
with duallys. I live in northern BC when I am not on the road so I was driving
down to Vancouver to pick up my partner Amy who for some reason prefers rain to
snow. Go figure.
As I started up a particular
hard climb out of Ashcroft I felt a distinct lack of power. I quickly figured
my turbo booster was acting up, again, but I kept the pedal to the metal and
topped the 5-mile hill at a whopping 20 kph.
A few miles later I stopped
to check things out and found that my trailer lights were not working – except
with the emergency flashers on, and now it was dark. I kept going with the
flashers on and cruised into Vancouver four hours later.
Our normal Vancouver Dodge
dealer, Carter, did not have time to look at it for days but agreed to a quick
check of the error codes. Sure enough it was a booster issue, but it was
working now and the codes were cleared.
Now the trailer lights. I
headed Cap-it for an accessory shop I often use but noticed Meridian RV in
Coquitlam on the way so wheeled in.
“Could you check my trailer
wiring?” Reluctantly a fellow came out
with a tester and found two error codes.
“Can you fix it?”
I am thinking a fuse or loose wire. Check with
the service manager. Nope.
“That is all run by the
computer in Dodges and we can’t work on it.”
Really?
But there is a Dodge dealer
nearby, Coquitlam Chrysler, and they agree to look at it that afternoon!
Two hours later it’s done: a
fuse and a broken wire. Thanks Coquitlam Chrysler
No thanks to Meridian. I will
be sure to avoid them for a new RV or repair.
A month or so later we were
cruising through Arizona, just east of Yuma and stopped for fuel and a burrito,
enough to get us to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. As I left the pumps
Amy noticed a smell and “something hanging down” near the trailer wheels. It
was a broken leaf spring and and the axle had shifted so two tires were
touching.
I called AAA. What a disaster
that was. I cannot possibly go into all the conversation but they could not get
it clear that it was a trailer, that I had RV coverage and that I wanted to get
to Yuma tonight, ready for a repair in the morning. They might not cover it, I
was told, as coverage differed from BC to Arizona so they would have to get
permission from BCAA to make the tow.(The next week we signed up for Good Sam's RV service.)
The tow truck arrived but
found the trailer was too long at 22 feet for his flat deck and he did not
recommend chaining the rear axle in place and towing it. “I was told it was
shorter, “ he said.
So put it on backwards and
let the tongue hang off the back.
“Can’t do that – it won’t
work.”
He called another truck that
could haul 40-foot rigs, but he could not come until morning. We slept in the
Chevron yard.
Morning: the tow rig arrives
at 10 a.m.
“Why didn’t Scott just put it
on backwards or chain the axle back?”
Beats me.
As we unloaded in Yuma the
manager of CJ’s RV repairs asked, “why didn’t the first guy just load it on
backwards – they do that all the time – or chain the axle in place?”
Beats me.
But CJs were fast and had us
on the road for $400 in a couple of hours. Great guys.
Then a few days later south
of Tucson Amy noticed a list to one side - another broken spring. She got on
the cell phone and called RV campgrounds who recommended a repair place in
Tucson. A friend pulled the rear axle back with his pickup, I chained it in
place and we limped into Professional Trailer Repair in Tucson at 8 a.m.
“No problem,” the tattooed bikers said,
“grab some breakfast around the corner and then check back.”
A great Mexican breakfast and
before ten we were on the road, at half the cost of the first repair.
In Durango Colorado I heard a
horrible noise as we made a hard turn to catch up to the steam train we were filming for the Bonepicker project (see Bonepicker.ca). "Better get that checked," I said.
Dodge could not look at it
for several days but 4 States TNS did repairs and said they would be at it in an
hour.
Two hours later we had a
clean bill of health. Just a stiff 4-wheel joint. Cost? $32.00! “Just say good
things about us and come back.”
They could have repaired
anything and we would have gladly agreed and paid.
Also in Durango the Lightner Creek RV campground agreed to open early and let us have a spot where we could stay and then drop our
trailer for a couple of days while we filmed. All the others were closed.
Now we are on the Stewart
Cassiar highway in northern BC and it is mid October. Just a week ago as we
cruised Highway 16 on the way to Haida Gwaii Islands when we noticed that
warning messages on our new 2015 Dodge 2500 6.7 Hemi with single axle was
indicating a problem with the brake wiring – and I was feeling the brakes were
not working to capacity.
This was odd as just two
weeks ago I paid $400 for a wheel bearing repack and the technician said the
brakes were okay but would need replacing soon. But, he did not think he could
get parts so suggested replacing the whole axle assembly, which I thought was a
bit radical. Oh, and the bearings would need replacing soon. What? So why not
replace them during the $400 repair? Cost for new brakes? I asked if $1000
would cover it.
“No, it would be way more
than that,” he said
We got great help from
Outdoor RV in LaGrande Oregon who emailed us all the part numbers and pertinent
information, which we gathered as we searched for a repair facility.
We cruised into Nor-burd RV
in Terrace and service manager Wade agreed to have a quick look. Fuses were
okay and the electric brakes were operating, but not grabbing. We made an
appointment for a week later when we returned from Haida Gwaii.
It turns out we had been driving with no brakes they were so
worn. The wheel bearings were fine – though we replaced them anyway as at $17
each it seemed the prudent thing to do. They replaced the brake hubs with a
larger size, rebuilt everything including shoes and magnets (they did not
replace the axles!) did some minor work on our hitch and in about 4 hours we
were on our way with brakes that worked. I was expecting $2000 given the previous
estimate. The bill came in at $1000.
There are so many stories out
here on the road. But customer service or lack of the same, are some of the
best.
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