Thursday, March 1 - Brakes? - No Brakes? (Mercedes, TX)

 

By Sunday the 26th I was feeling better and being the giving person that I am I gave my cold to Jesse. So we pretty much hibernated in the Kram-a-lot until Wednesday.

Jesse’s story

Ever since we bought the Alpine I have been uncomfortable with the brakes.  It just did not seem to have any stopping power.

While it was still under warranty I had Camping World in Colorado Springs check them when we were having other warranty work done.  All they did was check the voltage to the wheels and said all was fine. 

Meanwhile it was getting harder and harder to stop.  Last week I attempted to find the problem on my own...and with the help of Ed, Bob, and another neighbor Renny.  We could not find anything obviously wrong.

Last Thursday I took the truck to Camco Wheel and Axle in Pharr, TX so they could check the truck wiring and brake controller.    Everything checked out on the  truck so I made an appointment to bring the trailer in to be checked out on Wednesday the 29th.

I showed up at the appointed time of 8:30 and they took me in right away.  As soon as they pulled the first wheel off the problem was apparent.  The seals were blown out on all 4 wheels and the brakes and magnets were saturated with grease.  So much grease that they would never be able to clean all the grease out of the pads and magnets so everything would have to be replaced.

Wheel 1, 2, 3, and 4

They gave me an estimate and I ok'd  the work and 6 hours later I was on my way home with working brakes.  Normally brakes are not covered under warranty but I believe the factory over filled the axles with grease and blew out the seals.  I have never added any grease and I have not had any work done to the wheels so I feel it was done by Keystone.  I will give them a call but am not optimistic.  Anyway I have proper working brakes and that is what is important.

New

Ginger’s story

Me and the boy’s watched as our home pulled out of site 2028. We sat in the site feeling homeless. We kept moving so that we sat in the shade. When there was no shade left we got in the car and took the trash to the maintenance space in the resort.

Then we went by the library and donated some DVDs that we have had for awhile. Our next stop was to go into Mercedes to fill the car with gas. On the way back to our site I stopped to use the restroom.

By this time is was really getting warm outside and very sunny so we went over to Ed and Marilyn’s to sit in the shade of their RV. Marilyn was laying out in the sun so we visited.

She was so nice to sit with me and the boys. They invited me to have lunch with them, Ed grilled some ribs on the bar-b-que while Marilyn made fried apples and a salad.

Janet came over to sit and visit and offered to sit with the boys while I went inside to eat. That was so nice of her and it was really nice to sit inside with the AC on. Bob joined us and we all sat outside visiting.

Around 3:00 Jesse showed up with our home in tow. I left to help get set-up while the boys stayed to visit.

After getting things set up I went to get the boys and get them in the AC, they were very tired after being outside all day. I fed them then took a shower.

I made Jesse a couple sandwiches, then sat in my recliner for the rest of the evening.

 

Our 1st task to day was to stop at the office, pay our electric and extend our time here until March 12th. The last 2 months have just zoomed by and I was not ready to leave. Then we ran a few errands and went to lunch at Quisno’s.

When we returned to the resort I went over to see if Marilyn wanted to ride over to TJ Maxx and JC Penney’s to look around. She said yes and off we went.

The guys were going to go play pool.

When we returned the guys were still gone so I took the time to prepare dinner. When the men returned we all met at Bob and Janet’s for cocktails.

We had lively conversation and after about an hour or so we returned to our own homes. We had our dinner and then relaxed in front of the TV and computers for the rest of the evening.