225 miles via VA 100, I-81, I-40 and I-75. Cumulative distance: 1,303 miles.
GTW Hop 8: Hillsville VA to Heiskell TN
It just keeps getting worse.
Another day, another blowout. This one occurred at 60 mph in the middle lane of a very busy I-81 on a downhill curve near Wytheville, VA, less than 30 miles into our 225-mile journey. It was the scariest and most destructive blowout yet. I managed to get to the breakdown lane without losing control or running anyone off the road, but that was the end of the good news. A quick inspection revealed the extent of the damage: a torn wheelwell cover, a dented sheet metal panel on the big #2 slide and dangling wires resulting from the total destruction of the straps that held them in place. Further investigation revealed that support brackets for the sheet metal had been shattered, leaving the sheet metal flopping around. And one of the heavy-duty support brackets for the slide had been bent and torn. Major damage.
And, of course, we had no spare because our plan was to replace the previous blowout when we got to the next big city – Knoxville. So the highway emergency patrol that stopped to assist could not change the tire. A call to our new roadside assistance provider (Paragon) yielded nothing more than “get a spare and we will come replace it.” So we had no choice but to leave a badly-damaged Patience at the side of a very busy I-81 and head into Wytheville in search of trailer tires.
A shred of good news was that we found a dealer quickly, less than 3 miles from the breakdown. They had two tires and I bought both. One was mounted on the slightly damaged rim from yesterday’s blowout (another shred of good news – we didn’t have to replace the rim) and the other I threw in the truck to be mounted once the other rim was off the RV. When we got back to Patience (round trip: 12 miles) I called Paragon again and they sent out a repair guy. He got the tire changed quickly and we could have, if we had so chosen, headed on to Knoxville. But Jett suggested that it would be wise to get the other new tire mounted on the rim NOW. After all, one of the original tires remained and the smart money was on it lasting less than 24 hours. I had to agree that this was a very good idea.
So back into Wytheville. The place where I had bought the tires had gotten busy and told us it would be a 2-hour wait. We pushed on to the service station that had sent the tow truck. They were more accommodating. They had the tire mounted and (again, at Jett’s suggestion) on the RV in about 30 minutes (total cost: $10). It was good that we had removed the last of the original tires because, once off the RV, it was clear that it, too, was on the verge of exploding. It was misshapen in a way that, according to the repair guy, indicated that the steel mesh had torn. We would have had a fourth blowout before we got to Knoxville.
Why all the tire problems? I may never know the true cause as it could be a combination of factors, but my mind wandered back to that first blowout up in Maryland. The roadside assistance guy had filled all the tires to 80 psi according to his gauge, but mine read 90 psi. I thought my gauge was faulty, but I had not determined if that was true. So I had the repair guy in Wytheville measure the pressure in the remaining original tire. 87 psi by his gauge – well over the 80 psi limit. So I now believe that the assistance provided in Maryland, which seemed so fortuitous at the time, contributed to this blowout and the destruction of the final tire. I still have to take the blame for the second blowout.
So, with Patience now shod with four new tires, we could continue on to Knoxville, right? Wrong. While checking the pressure in the passenger side tires the repair guy noticed that we were missing the dust cap on the hub of one of our axles. It must have popped off in the confrontation with the curb yesterday. This was serious because, he explained, the hub grease could be thrown out, leaving the axle bearings dry. He said we could freeze the bearings (BIG trouble) before we got to Knoxville.
So, off we went in search of a dust cap. Auto Zone? Nope. Napa Auto Parts? Nope. Tractor Supply? Yes! It wasn’t exactly the same, but it fit.
At 4:45pm we were finally able to leave Wytheville. Total delay: 5 hours. The floppy sheet metal was strapped to the chassis with a couple of bungees and the torn wheelwell cover had been removed and placed in the basement. So, looking more and more like a crushed tin can, we rode off into the sunset, arriving at the RV park in Knoxville at 9pm, in total darkness. We navigated a very narrow path to our site, attached water and electric, deployed the bedroom and kitchen slides, had a quick bite, then crashed. We were exhausted.
Jett is talking about giving up. If it were easy to do so I might be convinced. This trip has been nothing but a continuous series of disasters so far. We spend our days driving and fixing problems. It has not been fun. And our budget has exploded like one of our tires.
We are now in a hotel in Knoxville because the RV repair place told us they needed to keep it until Monday. We are trying to figure out if our planned trip to Dollywood will need to be canceled. We hope not because we are desperately in need of some fun.
The dogs like the hotel – they can sleep on the bed. Their spirits are sky high.
I wish we could say the same.