As the title mentioned, we are officially residents. Got our DL, voter registration, and tags.
But this last 4 months have not been without challenges and none related to moving here. In fact, it may be the best thing we did.
The day we got here, we discovered we came extremely close to losing our back axle. If you don’t know how the axles are attached, this will be hard to understand. But we have spring hangers that are hung from the axle with a UBolt and there is a plate that is welded to the frame. Well, the one on the door side sheared off, the UBolt came loose from and that spring hanger twisted as well as the back axle. It twisted almost 90 degrees. If it had been for our upgrade in 2019 to a heavier shackle hanger had not happened, that back axle would have completely left us and caused several accidents including us. Our rig is too heavy for just one axle.
Well, we opened a claim with our insurance company that was a full replacement policy. Our rig had an MSRP of 132,000. (nowhere near what we paid), but it would allow us to get a new one.
The insurance company played diddlefart but much of it was due to Covid restrictions. He hasn’t been allowed to come view damage til just the last month.
In the meantime, we were assuming it just needed fixing. Lippert, the maker of the frame for 98% of the industry and Dexter, the maker of the axles have both stepped up to the plate and sent most of the parts to us free of charge. And we’ve fixed most of it. We were reattaching the tire on the back axle when we discovered a possible bent frame issue. Bent frames can not be fixed and the rig is typically totaled. We are waiting for their decision now. The welder accidentally popped a hydraulic line, Lippert sent a new one, but we’ve had bottle jacks and Jack stands on each side since the leveling jacks are all hydraulic. Then we tried to catch the underbelly on fire with the welding torch, fire extinguisher was a life saver. In trying to fix the wheel, hubby and I almost tipped the rig over. Charles gets about one good day a week of help from me.
Yesterday, we went to the Pittsburgh RV Show. Saw lots of rigs. Prices have gone up. Most were travel trailers and fifth wheels.
But first, hoping we get this one totaled, we pay off this loan, we got approved for a VA loan but need about 8K in the bank since this is the first time I‘ve used it and there are some extra fees. So of the remainder, we will put that in an account and then get a house. We have several on a list to look at. Once in the house and our furniture gets to us out of storage, we will consider our next rig. We won’t go big like this one which is 43 ft nose to tail. Looking at 30-35 ft this time and a travel trailer is not out of the running. The one we really want is not yet in production but saw a rep from that company and they are starting production next month. If this all pans out as we hope, it will be mid Nov before we need it.
We are looking at a mid profile 30RLS Alliance Fifth Wheel. In most RV’s you can figure out the floor plan from its model number. 30 is the inside front to back living length, RL is rear living. Not sure what the S is for. If our current one had a number instead of a name, it would be a 41RL.
But we don’t need it for full time if we are living in a house. And traveling about 6 weeks at Christmas. And maybe 4-6 weeks around the year.
But this last 4 months have not been without challenges and none related to moving here. In fact, it may be the best thing we did.
The day we got here, we discovered we came extremely close to losing our back axle. If you don’t know how the axles are attached, this will be hard to understand. But we have spring hangers that are hung from the axle with a UBolt and there is a plate that is welded to the frame. Well, the one on the door side sheared off, the UBolt came loose from and that spring hanger twisted as well as the back axle. It twisted almost 90 degrees. If it had been for our upgrade in 2019 to a heavier shackle hanger had not happened, that back axle would have completely left us and caused several accidents including us. Our rig is too heavy for just one axle.
Well, we opened a claim with our insurance company that was a full replacement policy. Our rig had an MSRP of 132,000. (nowhere near what we paid), but it would allow us to get a new one.
The insurance company played diddlefart but much of it was due to Covid restrictions. He hasn’t been allowed to come view damage til just the last month.
In the meantime, we were assuming it just needed fixing. Lippert, the maker of the frame for 98% of the industry and Dexter, the maker of the axles have both stepped up to the plate and sent most of the parts to us free of charge. And we’ve fixed most of it. We were reattaching the tire on the back axle when we discovered a possible bent frame issue. Bent frames can not be fixed and the rig is typically totaled. We are waiting for their decision now. The welder accidentally popped a hydraulic line, Lippert sent a new one, but we’ve had bottle jacks and Jack stands on each side since the leveling jacks are all hydraulic. Then we tried to catch the underbelly on fire with the welding torch, fire extinguisher was a life saver. In trying to fix the wheel, hubby and I almost tipped the rig over. Charles gets about one good day a week of help from me.
Yesterday, we went to the Pittsburgh RV Show. Saw lots of rigs. Prices have gone up. Most were travel trailers and fifth wheels.
But first, hoping we get this one totaled, we pay off this loan, we got approved for a VA loan but need about 8K in the bank since this is the first time I‘ve used it and there are some extra fees. So of the remainder, we will put that in an account and then get a house. We have several on a list to look at. Once in the house and our furniture gets to us out of storage, we will consider our next rig. We won’t go big like this one which is 43 ft nose to tail. Looking at 30-35 ft this time and a travel trailer is not out of the running. The one we really want is not yet in production but saw a rep from that company and they are starting production next month. If this all pans out as we hope, it will be mid Nov before we need it.
We are looking at a mid profile 30RLS Alliance Fifth Wheel. In most RV’s you can figure out the floor plan from its model number. 30 is the inside front to back living length, RL is rear living. Not sure what the S is for. If our current one had a number instead of a name, it would be a 41RL.
But we don’t need it for full time if we are living in a house. And traveling about 6 weeks at Christmas. And maybe 4-6 weeks around the year.
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