After fourteen years of owning a motorhome, we have now joined the list of many who have had to call a tow truck. Many of our RV friends have been towed over the years, some more than once! So we consider ourselves lucky to have had many miles of traveling without being stuck somewhere.
We have had our share of mechanical problems but somehow they have happened when we could still travel on our own power to a repair center.
This 2013 Dutch Star has a side radiator which we are happy about, but the design does add some additional mechanical parts to make it all work. We were trying to make good time from Fort Stockton, TX, so we pushed on to Willcox, Arizona. We pulled into the parking lot at the Elks Lodge for a one night stop when we heard a strange knocking noise coming from the engine area. After crawling underneath, we could see fluid leaking from a gearbox that runs the radiator fan. It’s a Saturday in Willcox, (even a Monday in Willcox could be a problem) … we knew we would now be staying until Monday when we could come up with a plan.
So it’s quite obvious what our plan was since this whole page is dedicated to the Tow Truck. After researching our options we decided to get towed to Tucson to W.W.Williams Service Center.
The truck came from Tucson, just over 80 miles away, but it took over 5 hours from the time we called until he arrived at Willcox. It’s quite involved to hook up a coach of this size and that took just short of two hours more. The towing service, WATT (Western American Towing & Transport) did a great job. The operator was experienced in towing coaches of this size. Still there were some heart-stopping moments watching your house on wheels get lifted in the air like that.
We were lucky to see our friends John and Connie arrive at the Elks on Sunday. Monday they pulled up their chairs and we all sat in the shade awaiting the “campground entertainment” that would soon take place. They kept us company and helped us remain calm during this whole saga.
It was 89 miles to the service Center in Tucson and we drove behind the driver and our coach the whole way.
We arrived under the lights around 7:30 PM. The shop closed at 6:30 but the Tow operator called ahead to alert them that we were coming in. One of the managers stayed late to wait for us and help get us settled. Again it took nearly an hour and a half to get disconnected from the tow truck and the drive shaft put back on. We were more than exhausted.
We have Good Sam Towing service and they wanted to tow us to Benson to a repair shop there. After we discussed our problem with the owner/manager of that shop, it was clear to us that he may not be able to help is with this problem. So we opted to pay for the addition distance to go to Tucson where the shop was familiar with our mechanical problem. The jury is still out if GOOD SAM will ever reimburse us some of extravagant $750.00 fee we had to pay out of pocket for continuing only 35 miles more to Tucson.
What exactly happened?
It appears that the mechanic in Gardnerville, Nevada called Bob’s Performance never greased the two U Joints that caused this breakdown. On two occasions, we brought the coach in to his shop for a lube and oil change. Mark specifically asked him about lubing these joints. He said he did. Now we know he didn’t. We know this for two reasons. The service center in Tucson took it apart and showed us that the grease was obviously old and could not possibly be material that was only a few months old. The second reason is, the fittings where you would grease these parts were mounted in such a way that it would have been impossible to reach them. It has been this way, no doubt, from the factory. This engine has 51,000 miles on it so not surprising that the parts failed without further lubrication. The sad part is the mechanic told us he lubed them. It likely would have meant he had to remove and re-mount the joints at that time, but it would have saved us from this particular failure.
As a result of the U joints seizing, it ruined the shaft that drove the fan (this part had to be manufactured and shipped) chewed up the serpentine belt, and broke the belt tensioner. All the parts were reinstalled 9 days after we arrived and they ran it in the shop for a test. It was then that the electric Fan Clutch quit working and had to be ordered. So two more days to wait. We arrived in the shop April 15th and Mark finally was able to leave April 25th to begin the 3 day drive to Carson Valley, Nevada.
I flew out of Tucson to Reno as soon as I realized this was going to be a long wait due to the manufacturing of a special part.
We would recommend W. W. Williams Service Center 1375 West Glenn Street in Tucson. They never promised us anything they could not deliver. We knew it was going to be a project. They kept us updated everyday. The price was fair and we received a 10% discount as new customers. They have 5 RV spots along their building with Electric and I believe we could have filled with fresh water if we needed it.
Wow, what a story! So glad that everyone is OK and your house is back on the road. It is great to find a good repair company and I am sure that your extra effort paid off.
Safe travels.