First RV, and its a 3400RL

[John Bowers]

My wife, Cathy, and I (John) picked up our first RV back on Saturday. I had been looking at motorhomes for several years, sitting on the fence so-to-speak. Cathy wanted none of such a motorized beast. Instead, friends of our daughter's (she's a neo-full timer herself) showed Cathy and me their 3400RL back on Labor Day. Cathy was instantly in love.

I was surfing through Craigslist.org in the Southeast area, and stumbled on a 2007 3400RL just listed. It was available along with a 1999 Ford 350 dually if necessary. Well, I only have a 2002 GMC Denali with 10,400 pounds towing capacity. Suffice to say, I purchased the Montana and the Ford truck. We drove it home on Saturday, as I already mentioned.

The trip from south Georgia was smooth and uneventful, excepting driving through downtown Griffin. I advise never to do that with a large 5th wheel if you don't have to. The traffic lights are not synchronized, and every other one is nearing the top of a hill.

I made it home minus 200 feet. We have a steep gravel driveway, and I elected to pull up slowly in second gear. Well, the truck wouldn't make it to the top in that gear and that speed. So, I stopped and shifted into 1st gear. Of course, the rear wheels just spun in the gravel. I stopped and put on the emergency brake. When I let off the foot brake, the electric brakes on the trailer released and started pulling the truck back. So, I again stood on the brakes. At this point, I shut off the truck motor to think.

I'm pretty good at backing up trailers, so I decided to back up the Montana to get a running start. At this point, the "new" truck let me down. My starter would not work. The motor spun, but the Bendix would not engage. I called Cathy, who had beat me home by 15 minutes and was in the house watching and wondering what her idiot husband was doing. When she answered the phone, I calmly asked her to come out and block the wheels at the trailer so that she could save it. Poor girl ran out of the house in a panic. Luck for me, as my braking foot was getting tired.

With chocks behind the trailer wheels, I got out of the truck. I grabbed some necessary tools and inspected the starter. Inspection didn't help the starter, and it still had a stuck Bendix. I beat on it a few times to no avail.

Next, I called my sister-in-law, Lisa, to request her husband's, Jamie, help. Jamie came over to see the situation for himself. Jamie and Lisa have had a camper for several years and had many experiences. Jamie already knew of the precarious grade of my driveway and recommended attacking it at a faster speed. I thanked him for this belated instruction. He then suggested that we enlist the help of a fellow neighbor, Bruce, who owns a Freightliner.

We visited Bruce and got his help. Unfortunately, the Freightliner was not available, because my truck and trailer blocked the driveway. We can approach my farm through an adjacent trail through the woods, but the Freightliner would not fit through that route. So, Bruce brought over his F-250 truck.

We attempted to attach both Bruce's F-250 and my Denali to the front of the Ford F-350 and pull truck and trailer. This didn't work, as both F-250 and Denali just spun their wheels. The Denali is all-wheel drive, but the F-250 was only rear-wheel drive. Next, we used more chain and connected the Denali to the F-350 and the F-250 to the Denali further up the drive at a more level area. This finally worked.

The new Montana 3400RL is now parked next to my workshop, where I have installed a 50 amp service and water connection. The F-350 spent a day inside the workshop while I pulled and replaced the defective starter. Cathy is happy, and has been e-mailing her friends with pictures of the truck convoy pulling the Montana up my driveway.

I have learned my first important lesson in towing. And, I'm happy to share it. If Cathy will give me the pictures she took of my travails, I will post some.

Thanks for the great forum. I hope to be a good, and eventually longstanding, member.

John