By Kevin L. Vaughn
At least twice a month, I present the exciting pastime of full-time RVing to excited newbies who have just bought their first used RV. My career is that of an RV Driving and & Orientation instructor who can even teach a seasoned veteran something new to avoid a costly incursion with their RV.
There are many one-liners to welcome someone into RV travel, but none says it better than “Expect the Unexpected.” Even after 64,000 miles, I still know what I don’t know and can calmly handle a little mud on my face when things go wrong. After my most recent and second significant breakdown, I’m reminded you can never be prepared enough for what the road can throw at you.
Craftsman, Snap-On, and even Milwaukee differ from my virtual toolbox’s most extensive and best tools. It is “Coach-net” Roadside Assistance! On August 15th, on my way to Indiana, my Entegra motorcoach exhibited smoke/steam from the rear of the vehicle on I-65. It was accompanied by a sudden increase in engine temperature, which abruptly forced me off the freeway onto a ramp.
The good news was that Coach-net got me out of my immediate bind on a dangerous exit ramp curve and paid for an expensive tow to Cummins in Birmingham, AL. However, the bad news was that Cummins was closed and could not give me a five-day service appointment, which would have derailed my Indiana plans in 48 hours.
With the engine compartment and bottom of the coach covered in antifreeze spray, there was not much I could do that evening following the tow. With a referral from my tow truck driver (Matthew Howard – Hurst Towing), I scheduled a mobile tech from M&M Tire & Mechanical the following day to assess the extent of the damage. My radiator was only one year old, and my hunch was that it was a hose-related failure accompanied by a significant loss of coolant.
At 8:30 am on Saturday, the mobile tech quickly assessed that a significant long heater hose extending from the engine compartment to the cab was sliced (potentially by road debris). Unfortunately, he did not have a new hose onboard long enough to replace it, and there was little chance of getting a part on a Saturday morning. However, the tech had the parts to splice the cut hose together and about 8 gallons of coolant to get me back on the Interstate and running by noon.
Although I already carry a wide array of spare parts, belts, and filters to accommodate a variety of typical roadside repairs, I do not take any molded hoses or hose repair kits, which would be invaluable on some of my extensive road trips. Thus, this experience has prompted me to carry a few more items in my spare parts bin that I wanted to share with our members.
- 2-4 Gallons of coolant
- Complete Cummins 450 Molded Hose Kit
- An assortment of 2”-3” hose camps
- A hose splicing kit
Thanks to good planning and logistics, following this incident, I got myself back on the road and on time for my next appointment due to the timely repair. Without this quick fix, I would have suffered an additional financial loss of $500 in campground reservations that I could not cancel.
These additional parts will augment my on-board spare parts inventory, including lights, water pumps, fuel filters, air filters, belts, wiper blades, and more. As a full-time business traveler, I must arrive on time for my interstate driving appointments. My preparedness and Coach-net have made travel mishaps like this feel more like a 24-hour flu rather than a long bout with COVID-19.
Mentally be prepared for anything, and Expect the Unexpected! It happens to the best of us.
Jacks Up!…. see you down the road.