How to Handle RV Road Trip Breakdowns and Repairs
RV Road Trip Breakdowns and Repairs
Written by Nancy Carter, Making Your Own Lane
RV Road Trip Breakdowns
When I decided to take on this full-time RV lifestyle, I knew things would go wrong. I just didn’t know that they would happen before I even started my first big trip!
Deciding to buy a vintage RV
Daisy is a 2005 Class C Lazy Daze Motorhome. I’ve done the math, and that means she is 19 years old. She was made the year I bought my house and moved to Florida, which I took as a good omen.
Why I chose a Lazy Daze Class C Motorhome
Lazy Daze was known for its top quality in producing motorhomes. Each motorhome was custom-made specifically according to the buyer’s preferences, which means it could take a year or two to get your RV once you ordered it. In fact, there is a metal plaque near the door on each Lazy Daze that has the original owner’s name on it.
They were sold factory-direct in Montclair, California, so you couldn’t buy them through Camping World or another RV store.
A 26.5 foot Lazy Daze Class C RV with a mid bath design and the upgrades like mine probably cost between $130,000 and $160,000 back in 2005, not including the $15,000 for 840 amp hour solar set up.
It also means you don’t see as many on the east coast as you do the west coast. I find I am usually the only Lazy Daze in the campground!
There are some very special features of Lazy Daze Class C motorhomes. The exterior walls and roof are aluminum, like an Airstream, or an airplane. They have large, tinted, insulated, thermal pane windows that help keep the rig warm, or cool, and cut down on inside condensation.
You won’t find any slide outs in a Lazy Daze motorhome. One less thing to worry about breaking.
The inside cabinetry is solid wood. No peeling laminate or veneer here!
Most are a Ford V-10 gas engine, but Daisy is a hard-to-find Ford 7.3 diesel.
And, they have retained their value, in my opinion, better than almost any other type of motorhome.
OK, so I did my homework. I also paid to have her inspected by an NRVIA certified inspector, just to see if I was missing anything before I invested a chunk of money into an RV.
RV mishap #1
Before I even decided to full time, I took a few trips to test this whole thing out. I started with a couple of weekends, and then a few weeks, just to see if I thought I could actually live in a tiny home on wheels.
On my first trip, to St. Augustine Florida, about 2 hours from where I lived, the metal piece that holds the door open snapped off. THAT wasn’t on the inspection, haha, and luckily not a deal breaker. I still have the replacement part I bought that I haven’t installed yet, because I found a work-around involving a small bungee cord.
On this trip I also thought that possibly there might be a small air leak in the passenger side duallys, but it wasn’t a big deal, and I just added a small amount of air in the tires and reminded myself to keep an eye on it.
RV mishap #2
For my second trip, I stayed at a Thousand Trails park in Kissimmee, Florida, about an hour and a half from my house. I had bought a Thousand Trails Zone Pass, and was trying that out as well.
On top of confirming that I got 8.5 miles per gallon 😮, one of the door handles on my clothes closet broke off in my hand.
I also learned that the urine-diverter from my composting toilet to the gray tank was not working properly. While the concept was amazing, so you wouldn’t have to empty out pee containers regularly, the chemical composition of pee crystalizes, and ended up blocking the tube to the gray tank. Also not noted in the inspection, but this is probably an existing problem before I bought the RV.
To fix that, I disconnected the tube and went back to pee jars, like most composting toilet set up. I may look into a different fix eventually, but for now, my fix works.
RV mishap #3
After about five months of testing the waters on short trips, I started to notice a leak. After doing the dishes or taking a shower, I would see a small puddle of water on the floor, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
I determined it was coming from the water pump, hidden under the sink, and I was able to buy a small part for about $2.50 and tighten up the connections.
RV mishaps #4 and 5
When I put the house on the market, I started to live in my RV in my backyard. I had a 30-amp hookup already installed on the house, from when I had a pop-up camper. It was easier and less stressful to keep the dogs and cat in the RV than having to move them back and forth when the house was being shown or inspected.
Well, one night I left the headlights on and drained my house batteries. I have two house batteries, under the chassis of the RV. Not in the usual place. Imagine opening up your hood and not being able to find the battery, because it wasn’t there!
I was able to jump start the house batteries. Yeah me!
So far, I had been able to fix everything on my own, but that was about to change.
Another night we had a really bad storm with thunder and lighting and hail! And the next day I noticed that my electric outlets in the RV were not working. I checked the fuses and reset everything. Or I tried to, but I could not get the reset button to work.
I called a local RV solar expert, who agreed to come to my house and take a look. Basically, he went in the camper and showed me how to reset the fuse box. Instead of the normal flip the switch up, it was flip the switch down, then up. Embarrassingly super simple. $60 for the housecall. So I had him re-explain my solar setup to me while he was there.
RV mishap #6
Once my house sold, and I had to move out in 27 days. Then I was full time, on the road. However, I didn’t think the house would sell so quickly, so my East Coast trip reservations didn’t start until June! I used my newly purchased Thousand Trails Adventure membership to stay in campgrounds locally for the month of May.
Where I had my next mishap. A flat tire. I have six tires on my RV. There is no way I could change a dually by myself.
I did buy a Good Sam Road Protection plan, but… well that’s another story for another time.
Someone came to the campground, checked my tires, changed my stem valves and told me I was good to go. One hour later the tire was flat, again.
The next day he came back and replaced the extenders on my passenger side dually and told me I was good to go. The next morning the tire was flat again.
I put air in the tire and saw it was leaking out, but slowly. I took a chance and thought I would be able to drive 15 minutes to the nearest Tires Plus for them to take a look. It was a white-knuckle 30-minute drive (everything takes longer in an RV), but I made it there and was told my tire pressure was perfect.
I asked them to take the tire off and check the valve stem anyway, and they determined that the new extensions the last guy put on were also bad, so I had them take them off completely. Now I had no way to put air in my tires without help, and only 10 days before I started my way up the East Coast.
So I did some research, and found a place that specialized in RVs and diesel engines. He felt he could fix my tire situation and do a pre-trip check for me, as well as give me a quick lesson on my diesel engine.
They did install new extensions on the passenger side, after confirming that there was no way I could have put air in the tires the way they were currently set up. They also checked the driver side, determined it was good, and "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it", which turned another ongoing problem, starting in Pennsylvania.
RV mishap #7
The day before I left on my trip, I got locked out of my RV. When I shut the door, it locked by itself, with my keys inside. I had to call a locksmith to get me back in. This was covered by my roadside assistance, but it took most of the afternoon to get someone to come out and save me.
I decided I needed a plan in case this happened again, which it has. But I am now prepared for the random locking of the door.
I was starting to wonder if this was a sign that maybe RV life wasn’t for me!
RV mishap #8 and 9
I’m sure you already guess what this one is… the driver side extensions started to leak. Not bad, but enough where I had to put in 5 pounds of air every few days. Which I did for the remainder of the trip.
But, I had made it to Pennsylvania without any problems! Pennsylvania also had a lot of construction. In one section of roadway, they had created a narrow concrete "chute" if you will. It didn't feel like I hit anything, but I heard a noise so loud that I was certain I had.
Once I got past that mess of a road, I stopped to see what damage I had done, and found nothing. I did find that one of the windows in the RV had come open about 4 inches, and had sucked the curtain out so it was flapped in the wind, outside of the RV. What a site that must have been for other people on the road.
The curtain did need to be rehemmed, not a big deal. And I learned to always double-check the windows and vents to make sure they were shut, locked, and that all the screws were in place.
One of the screws in the window lock had worked its way loose, allowing the window to open. Your motorhome takes a beating with shakes and bumps every time you drive it, and screws can easily work themselves loose.
RV mishap #10
I was in Maine, and so proud of myself for getting there, from Florida, by myself. I had such a feeling of happiness, driving through Ogunquit, five miles from my campground, when I heard this very loud “clunk” and my RV got really noisy, like the muffler had fallen off.
I pulled over and didn’t see anything hanging on the ground, no flat tires and nothing was leaking. The temperature gauge was normal and oil pressure was good. Should I call and wait two hours or more for someone to come and help me?
Instead, I decided to drive the five miles to the campground, watching my gauges the whole time, and looking to see if the racket my rig was making was attracting any unusual attention from people walking on the streets. It wasn’t, but I still could tell that something was wrong, with a loud noise coming from underneath the cab.
I made it to the campground, checked in and asked them if they knew of any local RV techs. They didn’t. I parked Daisy, set up for the night, and decided to take a walk into town to find a lobster roll. What else could I do at 4:00 in the afternoon?
I had a place to stay, and there was nothing I could do until the next day. Not only did I find a delicious lobster roll and clam chowder, I found a shop right next door with a mechanic willing to take a look in the morning.
The next day, the mechanic was able to determine that an aftermarket exhaust temperature gauge in the exhaust pipe had come loose. He was able to put it back in, and the loud noise stopped. Amazing.
Actually, it wasn’t quite that simple, but this post is already long enough, so we will leave it at that.
RV mishap #11
Somewhere on the way back from Maine, I hit a rainstorm that must have hit my back window just right, and I noticed moisture on the top of the window, on the inside of the RV.
Luckily, I had a ladder and caulk, and the next day I fixed that by myself. I learned that I should not be using caulk by myself, but I did stop the leak.
When I was looking at all of Daisy’s repairs from the previous owners, I saw that this is not the first time that the back window leaked. But it hasn’t happened again. So while it might not look too pretty, whatever I did has held so far.
And that’s it! Eleven not too major fixes. Nothing else happened, except for nursing the driver side leaking tire all the way back to Florida. When got back to Florida, I went back to the shop that fixed the passenger side extensions, and I had them do the second set, which I should have just done the first time.
I almost forgot the biggest, most expensive one...
RV mishap #12
While they were fixing the extensions at the shop, I had them do an oil change, change the air filter, and look at my brakes on the passenger side. I started to hear a noise when I braked literally when I reached the Florida state border.
This turned out to be my most expensive repair. And there was no way to be proactive about it. It’s hard for me to explain exactly what the problem was, but I had to replace not only the brake pad, but also the rotor and on the passenger side. Something about a pin popping out and digging in (and ruining) the rotor.
They said it was a common problem on Ford duallys, and all you can do is fix it when it happens. Cha-ching $ and ouch!
There are no words for how I felt seeing my RV up on a lift. However, the good thing is, she fits on a lift without having to wait for an appointment at an RV repair company. Just one more benefit of living and traveling in a smallish Class C RV.
Total RV repair for year one of living and traveling in my RV
$2,112.
I originally budgeted $200 a month, or $2,400 a year. So I consider this a good year. I know bigger and more expensive things will happen, like new tires, which I why I also have an emergency fund.
Before I leave on my next long road trip to the Great Lakes, I will bring Daisy in for another oil change and check up, even though I’ve probably only put 2,000 miles on since the last check up. Trying to be proactive, but knowing that I have to be prepared for the unexpected.
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Hi there! I'm Nancy.
In 2023, I ditched my heels for hiking boots, sold my house, and decided to travel the US full time in my 2005 Lazy Daze Class C RV.
I love to share the places I travel to and what it's like to live in an RV full-time.
If you have ever thought about hitting the road and traveling in an RV, either in your free time or full time, you are in the right place!
Follow along for weekly blog posts about my adventures as I travel the US with my two dogs, Rufus and Willie, and my cat, Katie.