No Go for Launch

Friday, July 11

Today, we got up fairly early and began the prep to leave. We had the rig hitched, and nearly ready to go. When I went to remove the chocks, I could not get either one on the off-door side to move. So, I had Tony pull forward a little more, which seemed to stress the wheel and I heard a thunk! sound. Tony immediately backed up, and I removed the remaining chock. When I examined the suspension, I noticed something amiss—sure enough, one of the shackles, (the metal bar that connects the equalizer to the leaf springs,) was broken! Bad news for us, as now, we are unable to get on our journey. We were sad, but not upset. Things happen when you own an RV. So, we set about finding out what we could do.

After calling the Park office, we found out we would indeed need to vacate our site, as there was “no room at the inn” for us any longer. They were fully booked. So, we cautiously pulled our trailer out of the site and out to the RV Park’s entry parking lot.

We also found out the nearest RV Mobile Tech would be $130 just to come out to look at the issue, and they did not stock those parts. (so, there would be additional time and $ to find and retrieve those parts.)

We did some more calling, and finally connected with a trailer axle repair service, and was able to locate the parts we needed, in Denver. We decided to make the trip ourselves, to keep costs down. Since the kitties were already “sleepy” and in their carrier, we decided to take them with us. We dropped the trailer and hit the road to Denver about 10:30. We stopped for lunch at a McDonalds along the way, and then found the shop, Jim’s Repair.

We quickly got the parts and headed back to Breckenridge, getting back about 3pm. Once there, we let the cats out in the rig, and called the Mobile RV Tech again. They said it would be late tonight or tomorrow about 9-10 before they could get there to do the work, so we were really in a quandary. The RV Park had previously stated we could not stay in their parking lot overnight. We decided to ask again, since the parts were in hand, but we were at the mercy of the Mobile Tech. Meanwhile, Dan had offered to help us with the repair if we wanted to tackle it ourselves.

We talked to the office personnel again, and it was not sounding good. They did give us some other RV Mobile Repair places to call, so I worked on trying those numbers. While I was calling, Ann dropped by our rig, and talked to Tony about letting Dan help us. We finally decided, this was our best option.

Dan and Ann came by with tools and umbrellas (it was sprinkling again), and Tony and Dan got to work. We discovered the new shackle was not quite the same size, but it would work to get us fixed for now. We bought two, which is what is needed for the one connection from the equalizer to the spring. Our Rieco Titan Ground Control system came in handy to lift the rig so the tire could be removed. Our two 12-ton bottle jacks were used for support of the frame, and to lift the axle for maneuvering purposes. The guys had to work to get the parts apart, but eventually, they succeeded. Ann and I shuttled tools to the guys from our respective collections. The guys noted that the shackles were indeed in need of replacement, as the holes were elongated and no longer round. That means all of them are probably due for replacement, but this will wait until we get home.

Caution, men at work

Gettin' 'er done!

This was the companion shackle to the one that broke. Those holes are supposed to be round!

The guys got the parts installed, and then Tony took it for a test tow around the parking lot. Looks like it will work just fine!

We are so blessed to have Dan and Ann there to help us out. This was not a repair we were equipped to do ourselves. Dan had knowledge and tools that helped out the process and made quick work of it. Once the work was done, it was nearly 6pm. Dan went to the office to see if he could persuade management to let us stay in the parking lot for the evening. He came back quickly, and apparently didn’t have to do any persuading. They manager had agreed to let us stay. YAY!

We then loaded up into Dan & Ann’s truck and headed out to eat at Windy City Pizza again. It was easy to get to and we got our food a little quicker this time. We ate a whole 16” pizza! We again had a great visit with them, then returned to the park. We will have to conserve battery power, and no running water (we did not have any in the fresh tank), but we’ll make it fine. The temps are dropping into the 50s at night, and we have two furry heaters to keep us warm.

We used our laptops to hook up to usb and charge our phones and surf a little before going to bed. Tomorrow, we plan to get up early and hit the road. Not too hard to do, as we don’t have to dump or unhook anything, and won’t get to take showers. We don’t even have all the slides out, just the living room and bedroom, so the cats don’t get somewhere they are not supposed to be.

Parking lot boondocking

Whew! What a day! At least the temperature was great, just 73 degrees today!