new axel

[Capt Kidd]

As we were pulling into Tahoe Vista Campground in South Lake Tahoe this last Thursday I had to make a sharp U-turn and heard a loud pop. I looked in the mirror on the drivers side and saw the left rear wheel on the Montana was at a very sharp angle.

When we got into the site the rear wheel was sticking out about 2 inches beyond the front wheel.

Called XtraRide our extended warranty folks and about 3 hours later a mechanic showed up and confirmed we had a big problem. It seems the outer bearing had exploded and lunched not only the bearing but also the spindle. In as much as the spindle is part of the axel we are having to get a complete axel. A Dexter 7,000# unit.

Of course there are no Dexter axels to be had in Northern CA or Nevada so it had to be ordered from Oklahoma.

Fortunately the mechanic was able to make a temporary fix so that we could tow it to his shop (about 8 blocks away) on Sunday. We than came on home and he will call us when it is fixed.

Our rig is 4 years old an only has about 15,000 miles on it I would have thought that a bearing would last a lot longer.

I don't normally buy extended warranties but this time it was well worth it as my total out of pocket will only be $100. Oh well could have been much worse it could have happed on the side of the road somewhere.