Major failure this wekend

[Buster661]

We headed out Friday for a weekend in Lake Havasu in support of the AZ Food Bank and as soon as we arrived my fist problem hit. As I was pushing out the slides I notice the the drivers side slide was only extending on one side. I stop to see if something is blocking the slide but nothing !! I try and retract it again and now it will not retract so I send my son out to give a push while I press the button and he starts yelling at me to stop. I go outside to find fluid pouring out by the propane tank. Both the other slides went out fine so I figure I will just drive it home on Sunday with the one slide out (maybe only 4 inchs). Next I try to level the rig and he again screams at me to stop. Fluid again pouring out. This is not getting any better... So by now it is dark and I can't see anything so we head over to do our thing with the Food Bank.

Next day I call some friends in town that are in the RV business to see if someone will come out to get this fixed only to find out that the town of Havasu, unlike the rest of the country, does not need the work so no one works or answers their phones on the weekend. At this point I have had enough and decided I will just drive home on Sunday and have my local mechanic fix the problem.

Here is where the major failure happens... Not putting two and two together, I go to leave today and now I can't get my fully extended slide in either.. This is not looking good.. I get out the manual and go through the manual retracting procedure. Yes this is where it goes bad.. My son tells me it is tight and before I could say stop, SNAP, the head of the retractor bolt sheers off.. Now what.. I am 300 miles from home and can't stay in Havasu since both my son and I need to fly out to NCal in the morning.

So, I went to the campground office, bought 7 more days and parked it hoping to find someone that will go out Monday to fix it.

O'yea, Since all I had to drive home is my jeep, I had to go rent a car to fit the four of us plus the two dogs...

So, on the bright side, I helped out a great cause this weekend even if it is going to cost me a small fortune by next weekend when, I hope, go and pick my rig up....

Wow, I feel much better now that I got that off my chest.. Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in Havasu ??

[Buster661]

We headed out Friday for a weekend in Lake Havasu in support of the AZ Food Bank and as soon as we arrived my fist problem hit. As I was pushing out the slides I notice the the drivers side slide was only extending on one side. I stop to see if something is blocking the slide but nothing !! I try and retract it again and now it will not retract so I send my son out to give a push while I press the button and he starts yelling at me to stop. I go outside to find fluid pouring out by the propane tank. Both the other slides went out fine so I figure I will just drive it home on Sunday with the one slide out (maybe only 4 inchs). Next I try to level the rig and he again screams at me to stop. Fluid again pouring out. This is not getting any better... So by now it is dark and I can't see anything so we head over to do our thing with the Food Bank.

Next day I call some friends in town that are in the RV business to see if someone will come out to get this fixed only to find out that the town of Havasu, unlike the rest of the country, does not need the work so no one works or answers their phones on the weekend. At this point I have had enough and decided I will just drive home on Sunday and have my local mechanic fix the problem.

Here is where the major failure happens... Not putting two and two together, I go to leave today and now I can't get my fully extended slide in either.. This is not looking good.. I get out the manual and go through the manual retracting procedure. Yes this is where it goes bad.. My son tells me it is tight and before I could say stop, SNAP, the head of the retractor bolt sheers off.. Now what.. I am 300 miles from home and can't stay in Havasu since both my son and I need to fly out to NCal in the morning.

So, I went to the campground office, bought 7 more days and parked it hoping to find someone that will go out Monday to fix it.

O'yea, Since all I had to drive home is my jeep, I had to go rent a car to fit the four of us plus the two dogs...

So, on the bright side, I helped out a great cause this weekend even if it is going to cost me a small fortune by next weekend when, I hope, go and pick my rig up....

Wow, I feel much better now that I got that off my chest.. Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in Havasu ??

[amanda_h]

We were cringing as we read your post, Mike.

Several folks we know swear by 3T's.

They're an authorized repair facility for both Winnebago and HWH so they'll work on slides and levelers and their hydraulics.

http://www.3tsrv.com/

http://www.rvservicereviews.com/ReviewDetails.asp?Submi...&Search=&CategoryID=

Good luck!

[Buster661]

Thanks Amanda. That is who my friend in town recommends as well. I will be on the phone with them in the morning.

[MaverickBBD]

Mike after reading your adventure my only thought was 'it could be worse'. At least you were safe but inconvenienced. It must have been the good karma you accumulated from helping out a good cause that protected you.

[John_Canfield]

Ouch!

Murphy's law - what can go wrong, will. My addendum: and it will happen on a weekend

Fortunately the HWH system seems to be very reliable, but you drew the short straw. Hope you get it repaired without difficulty.

[jk_and_dog]

Problems only occur between 1659 on friday and 0759 on monday.
Sorry to hear of your problem but again you were there for a good cause... and the devil will put mountains in front but God will provide the jeep to get over it.
Hope everything goes well and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. please keep us informed.

[Richard 34A]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jk_and_dog:
Problems only occur between 1659 on friday and 0759 on monday. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And I can tell you that applies to getting a flat tire on a Harley too...

[Fakrwee]

Mike, don't feel too bad. On our way home from the East coast after 2 months of great fun my engine blew between Tucumcari and Albuquerque N.M. The thermostat that had been changed on a TSB 2 months before malfunctioned and caused the motor to overheat. This is the short version. I’m still waiting for the new engine to be installed.

[Buster661]

Update ....

Just got off the phone with the mechanic in Havasu. He has fixed the problem and I am good to go. Here is what happened. Blew the main Hydro line from the pump. Rebuild one of the slide rams. Fixed a bad electrical connector. Rebalanced the systems. Fixed the broken bolt for the manual retraction and added 7 qts of fluid.

All that done onsite at the campground for a very reasonable $700.

Many thanks to Scott at the Mobile Mechanic. He will get all my recomendations..

Off to Havi Friday to pick it up..

[SCVJeff]

Gee, 3 months ago it woulda cost you that just in fuel!

[PeteB]

I know you are relieved to have the fix but I would question the rebuild of the slide ram as I do not believe that they are field repairable and the blown hyd hose seems to be the cause of the problem. As a tech I know that there is a temptation to pad some bills to extract a few extra dollars by adding some "work" to the repair. Not saying that this is the case here but it is worth a conversation.

Pete