The good news is that Kathy & I made it home, safe and sound, around 8:30PM. The not so good news is that our camper is still 300 miles away, in Kenawee, IL.
I spent the morning calling people at Haylett RV & Lippert Components (mfg of both our old and new axles). Bottom line is that the new problem is totally the fault of Lippert. Our new axles have a self-adjusting brake feature (new to us because the brakes on our old axles had to be manually adjusted, but self-adjusting drum brakes on autos was a standard feature for many years). After all the dust settled, at least as much as can have settled at this point, Kathy & I believe that the brakes on the new axles functioned properly while moving forward. The first time we backed up the camper, leaving the water hydrant at Francis Park, something broke in the brake assembly.
I called Haylett RV first thing this morning and got the same woman I talked to the previous afternoon, I told her I wanted to talk to a service technician directly, rather than have her act as a conduit between the service person and me. She told me she would have him call me back as soon as he could break away from the work he was doing. 90 minutes later I called again, this time I Dusteny happened to answer the phone, I felt like the sun had just broken through the clouds. I explained my situation to her, she gave me her personal cell phone number and told me to call her back if I had not heard from her in 5 minutes. I didn't thing 5 minutes was enough time for her to resolve anything, and I didn't want to bug her while she was trying to get something accomplished, so I waited. It took about 15 minutes for her to call me back. She gave me the name and phone number of a guy at Lippert, so that I could talk directly to him as we tried to resolve the issue. THANK YOU DUSTENY, you are an awesome asset for Haylett RV.
As I discussed the problem with Don, at Lippert, he apologized and agreed that the problem appeared to be solely their fault. I told him we still had 300 miles to go to get back to Missouri and asked about the risk of just heading home with the noisy hub/brake/drum assembly. I suggested cutting the wires that activated the brake in that hub. He strongly suggested that I not go any further than necessary until the wheel/brake drum was removed to access the extent of the problem.
The campground surface was like being on your lawn. While I was pondering whether or not I was going to put blocking on the grass, so that I could jack up the trailer and remove the wheel/drum assembly without the jack punching through the sod, I did some searching on my phone. The Lord provided a truck towing/repair facility (Hodges Towing and Repairs) less than 5 miles from the campground. I called them and the only guy working on Saturday was just heading out to lunch. He told me that he would check things out. I told him we would be waiting for him at the garage when he returned from lunch.
When Jason returned from lunch he crawled under the camper and used a flashlight to look through the brake adjustment holes in the brake backer plate. He said he could see broken parts loose inside the brake drum. He noted that it would be Monday before he could even tell me how long it would take to get parts. At that point Kathy and I agreed that our "vacation" was over and that it was time to head home, without the camper.
I called Don and put him on the phone with Jason. Monday someone at Hodges is supposed to pull all the wheels and drums for inspection. They will then contact Lippert with a list of needed parts. Lippert will ship them the needed parts and Hodges will make the repairs. If the camper is ready for us to pick up in less than a week I will be shocked.
The camper is parked in a lot adjacent to Hodges facility. After emailing Lippert a LOT of requested information about our camper and the new axles we finally left Hodges/Kenawee around 2:30PM and headed home. We had no means of transporting all the food in the refrigerator/freezer. Hopefully the refrigerator will run on propane until the repairs are done and we get back up to Kenawee to pick it up.
It was an interesting "vacation". I still have no idea of how all this fits into the Lords plans, I'm just sure that somehow it does, and that somehow good has/will come from these events. I am a Christian and I believe what the Bible says is true. See Matthew 6:25-38, Luke 12:22-34 & Romans 8/;26-28. But I admit to also still being a sinful, imperfect man whose faith isn't as strong as it should be, similar to the father in Mark 9:14-29.
On our drive home Kathy noted: No one was injured during any of our experiences. We were never "stranded and alone". All problems occurred during daylight hours and close to needed assistance. God's provision allows us to be able to pay for the needed repairs without worrying about being able to pay other bills, or provide food or shelter. Instead of touring the Blue Ridge Parkway we spent an additional 18 days with family (including my Mom who had her 92nd birthday during this time) in Michigan and Ohio.
It wasn't the vacation I had planned but God is a much better planner.
God is good, may He bless you and yours.
PS. For those of you who have a trailer with EZ-Lube axles. While talking with Don, at Lippert, I told him I had lubed my axles per Lippert's instructions. This had apparently "blown" the wheel bearing seal, which created the problem with the original axles. I asked him for his opinion. He hesitated and then told me that he has a trailer with the EZ-Lube axles, he does not follow Lippert's procedure. He admitted that he might be overly conservative but said that every year he pulls each wheel/drum, washes and inspects the bearings before repacking and replacing them.
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