What's the craziest thing you've fixed yourself?

[Zak]

So we all know buying and owning an rv with tons of moving parts, mechanical and electrical systems, appliances and furniture means lots of repairs.... throw in all the quality control issues from any manufacturer and it's pretty common to have leaks or malfunctions during initial shakedown and/or over time. I've read about so many issues folks have had and fixed it's hard to keep track.

Wondering what is the largest problem or craziest issue you've diagnosed and fixed yourself to avoid the dreaded loss of your rig for weeks or months to the dealer or factory? Fridge or furnace replaced? Tanks? Ac unit? Awnings? Window?

Take heart...even the guy on here who has the billon post thread about unhappy Montana owner right now...it could be worse....we just sold our 500k newmar motor coach to simplify and buy a new Montana...if you think a tow rig can have issues...try owning a bus with a state of the art engine and pollution control equipment...along with computer controlled climate and mechanical....error codes all the time and far less dealer support (if you can imagine)...trips to factory in Indiana at thousands of dollars per time are assumed as part of ownership...lol! Try to always remember, it's about the journey...so enjoy even the odd repair and feel good about problems you can fix on your own...it's the key to rv bliss 🙏✌️👍

[K0LCB]

I neutered an 8 year old stud horse. He kept bucking me off. While he was still stiff and sore, I saddled him and rode him. He became a pretty good riding horse

[mlh]

Every thing about a pull type camper is rather simple. None of it is rocket science. Someone with a little common sense and young enough to do the work should, can be able do anything on these units that need to be done. The young enough part leaves some of us out.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

We are in the old guy category and have not repaired anything of a serious nature ourselves. We are not handy and do not like to fix things.

[jcurtis934]

Broke galley grey tank due to crappy tank indicatores not showing water level properly and dropped and repaired myself. Water heater developed leaks, so pulled it and replaced myself. Fridge ducting for cooling not correctly done during assembly...did it myself. Fridge electronics board went south, replaced myself. Pulled down all my ac vents and cut down inner part as they stuck too far into ducting...done myself. Fireplace died, pulled and repaired myself. Replaced door window and both windows in curbside slide due to large sign making them not so watertight...did it myself. Dropped and repaired black tank, yep done by me. Fixed stuck valve in slide control hydraulics when slides would not retract, me again. Dropped pendant lights over island to replace sockets with bayonet type...myself. replaced shower tub when it cracked, did myself. Replaced one shear spring distroyed by violent marathon blowout, did myself. Repaired leaky bath faucet myself. Installed p-trap in new shower tub to get rid of the bladder valve that would let grey tank odors into unit...myself. fixed all outside passthru doors myself when struts pulled free of inside fiberglass. Fixed strut on entry door when it ripped out of door on second day of ownership...myself. replaced grey and black tank valves myself after I got tired of having to use my body weight to open or close. Replaced tetford toilet with dometic 320 after the tetford floodomatic flooded my trailer. Replaced stock paper moldings around both bath doors and bedroom door with much better quality molding after the floodomatic incident...myself. know there is more...just can't remember now.

[twindman]

Where are you located and how much do you charge?

[bigskyjimmy]

LOL..... Good one for me I have done 2 Toilets ,fixed the Furnace,the Fireplace, the Quiet A/C Mod, replaced Waste valves a few times Awning and front Eyebrow LED strips a few times,Pantry shelves Kitchen Faucets,Reinforced stairs and a few other little things Nothing Major but for sure it helps being a Handy man when you own these Rigs

Originally Posted by twindman

Where are you located and how much do you charge?

[BB_TX]

Knock on wood. Not much for 10 yrs. Replaced red regulator valve. Replaced microwave/convection. Replaced sound system. Replaced toilet seal. Replaced attic vent caps. Replaced dryer vent cap.

Not failures, but replaced TVs for better ones. Installed fireplace. Installed JT Strongarm stabilizers. Installed air ride pin box.

[WeBeFulltime]

Furnace blower motor, new kitchen faucet, toilet, new water heater, main awning fabric, slide out awning fabric(s), hard-wired EMS and just recently upgraded to Kodiak disc brakes. I did the work myself and many other smaller things that I won't bore you with. It's really not that difficult if you know which end of a screwdriver is the business end.

[Slufoot733]

Wow, that's a tough one. Let's see. I have owned two pull behind trailers and two fivers.
1. 1970 19' Pathfinder: rewired all running lights and replaced the 12v light
fixtures. Replaced all axle bearings and brake assemblies. Sand blasted
and painted the wheels before new tires. Installed an A/C unit.
Disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the furnace. Tu-tone painted
entire trailer.
2. 1989 30' Mallard trailer: not much here. Routine maintenance, bearings
and brakes, etc. I did have to remove one leaking window and replace the
water damaged wall in the bed room. Installed a radio antenna on the
aluminum roof.
3. 1999 30' Fifth Ave fifth wheel; routine maintenance here. Repacked the
bearings a couple times and replaced the brake shoes once. Also, replaced
the electro-mechanical actuator (room mover outter thingy).
4. 2009 34' Montana 3150RL (current unit). By the time we got this one I
had reached a point where my back just wasn't up to some of the heavy
stuff. I do annual routine maintenance and prep work, wash the unit, etc.
I had new tires, wet bolts and brakes installed and bearings repacked by a
service shop. Last summer I did have a motor failure on the rear stabilizers and found the motor on Ebay. Saved about 60% over what a dealer wanted. Took about 1 hour to install.

[1retired06]

Refrigerator cooling unit

[Zak]

Jcurtis...that list is just crazy...I think you win by a mile lol. Hope I'm parked next to you in a campground! Please tell me not all that is one unit and hopefully not a Montana ?

[Bad Moon]

Monty is too new for anything major. On my old Nash 29 ft pull trailer, I flipped the axles for better ground clearance, and replaced the wood structure at the bottom of the slide (that was fun!). Never got around to fixing the delaminated siding.

[jcurtis934]

That all is on our 2013 3800RE. Think I got one of the built on Friday units. But overall it is a good unit when you realize this is over a four year period. Ac vents and pendant lights were improvements. Needing to replace windows was being in wrong place at wrong time, although popping over a hill and finding a state dot truck with its sign taking up part of the right lane was maddening. Got to remember these are still trailers built at a maddening pace with work not always up to par and some dealers that don't check them too well before selling. Besides, I don't visit the dealers to have work done and have a lot less frustration than those that rely on the dealers.

[shovelhead86]

Either your rig is 100 years old or you have the worst luck of anyone on the planet. For all you replaced you could have built a whole new trailer.

[racquetballfreq]

Hey big sky jimmy,
I bought a 2014 3582RL and didn't notice that the "eyebrow" LED's were missing until later. Do you know where I can get hem, and, how do I install them? TIA!