The first thing we noticed was that most of the screws holding the front cap onto the body of the trailer were either breaking or backing out and disappearing. We've been replacing the screws on a regular basis, but no amount of thread locker or glue or silicone seems to help. A move to a slightly larger screw helped for a short time, but then that process failed. So as we started our summer/fall trip we decided to investigate a little further.
We found ourselves in Junction City, Oregon, an rv mecca, since a number of rv products are/were manufactured in this area, and decided to check with some of the rv repair shops as to what might be happening. In the course of investigating the screw issue, it was discovered that the fiberglass siding is cracking/tearing at the front of the fifth wheel, indicating a weakness in the support structure. At one shop, the repair person asked us to raise and then lower the trailer off of the pickup. When we did, the hitch pin would twist upward about 2 inches, verifying movement internally.
To make a long story short, the cheapest of the estimates for repair was huge, far more than we wished to invest. The next step in this painful scenario was to decide how to replace the unit and with what. Well, again the rv capital of Oregon came to us with a solution:
Meet Nessie.
She's named after the Loch Ness Monster (for obvious reasons), and is a last years model that hadn't sold. So after a bunch of back and forth, and a bunch of soul searching, we decided to move on to a motor home. She's manufactured by Newmar and is called a Dutch Star. The decor is very simple; the floor plan is straightforward, and there are no bells and whistles....just what suits us. We bought her at Guaranty RV in Junction City, and I have to tell you, these people are wonderful to work with! Not only the sales staff, but the service, detail, and prep crew has gone out of their way to make this a good experience for us. Even the finance guy (hate that part!) was professional, straightforward, and low pressure. He had to suggest the add-on's of course, but a simple "no" took care of that. For what it's worth, check them out if you're rv shopping...they just about own the town of Junction City, and have Motorhome, pull trailer and fifth wheel lots as well as a Chevrolet dealership. Their infrastructure is huge with several buildings devoted to service or repair, as well as a complete body shop. And, no, I'm not getting a kickback...
Here's a pic from the front door. That's the salesman and myself kneeling down checking out some (what else?) plumbing things.....
Just before we went to finance, Donna asked me if we knew what we were doing....
I was about to crack the safe looking for goodies...
The plan is for us to take possession tomorrow, do a complete walkthrough and then a "stuff" transfer. We'll spend the night tomorrow and Saturday here at the rv lot (hookups, too!) getting to know the newest member of our family, and then we're off to Yreka, CA to register the kid on Monday morning. You don't really want to know what the registration fee is....
So say hi to a new chapter, and goodbye to an old chapter, and wish us all well.
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