Mechanical issues can come on unexpectedly at any time, and when they do, they can quickly derail your travel plans. Whether you’re driving down the highway or parked at your favorite campground, these unexpected challenges have a way of reminding us just how complex our RVs really are. Hopefully, it’s not while you’re on the move, but let’s be honest—sometimes it happens, and it’s never convenient.
RVs are our homes on wheels, but they’re also a lot like earthquakes on wheels, right? Regular maintenance is key, but even with the best care, issues can still pop up out of nowhere.
Have you ever found yourself stuck at a campground because of a mechanical issue? Maybe you couldn’t check out on time because your slide wouldn’t retract, your engine wouldn’t start, or some other critical component decided it had enough?
If you’ve ever been in that situation, you know how stressful it can be—especially if you’re on a tight schedule or trying to make it to a reservation somewhere else. It is NOT fun!
If you’ve answered yes to this, we’d love to hear your story. What went wrong? How did you manage to get things resolved? And most importantly, do you have any advice for fellow RVers who might find themselves in a similar bind?
Hopefully, it’s a situation you’ve never had to deal with, but we have a feeling more than a few of us have a story or two to share. Leave a comment below. Thanks!
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RVDT2827
Probably just jinxed myself by answering “no!” 😉🙂
Yes, but it was the driver’s seat in my 2019 Jeep Wrangler JL that got stuck in the forward position. I had to remove the seat to get a socket into the rail and release the latch mechanism.
Broken leaf spring on our Montana 5th wheel.
Yes. Turbo went out on our TV. TV was towed to closest local dealer. Had to extend our stay by 3 days and cancel reservations we had for that time period. We were thankful that it happened when it did and that we had our motorcycle with us for transportation. On the plus side, we discovered some amazing rides that we otherwise wouldn’t have.
One time. I sold my 2014 primetime lacross TT to someone in Panama Beach Fl after a hurricane damaged their home. I agreed to deliver it to them and the last day the trip down to them, the bedroom slide would not retract. A brother mason in the park helped me find the problem and replace the motor the next day.
Only once, our steps wouldn’t retract. Fortunately there was a mobile tech in the camp. He diagnosed the problem, new motor. So he drilled a few strategic holes, gave us a long bolt/screw 3-4″ and a nut. Then showed my husband how to lock the steps open or closed. We were only held up about an hour. Had the motor replaced when we got home. When we had to have our steps replaced last year. Hubby showed that tech how he wanted holes drilled in the new steps, said he learned something new.
Rat/ mouse chewed the power steering wires in the car not the RV. Part was on national back-order. Took a month, canceled 5 reservations and found 4 short term parks nearby while waiting l plus a month of rental car. Everyone was accommodating. Blew out our Snowbird schedule and $3,500 just for car repairs – and an extra month where we had just spent a month. Quite an adventure. We are still traveling and doing snowbird-ing trips.
We had a LARGE bedroom slide (shwintek) that wouldnt retract. For unknown reasons, one of the motors died and we werent aware until time to leave. The local RV tech couldnt help us and calling shwintek was useless. We had to stay an extra night until our RV Repair shop owner and his son drove to our site and manually (took 3 guys) retracted the slide and secured it so we could drive home. Eventually, the motors were replaced.
We highly recommend I 70 RV Sales and Service near KIngdom City Mo if you are in the area and need assistance. They do all repairs for us…they are awesome!
One Time – Leaving close to check out time, retracted my stabilizing jacks, left rear tire was flat. I was surprised, had a bunch of little things happen that took me an hour and half to get it changed. Now when camping sometimes I’ll walk around the trailer and kick the tires.
Does having a broke motor count?
Alpine, TX. Started to pull out early (not THAT early!) morning for the final pull to Big Bend NP. Big clatter from one trailer wheel, even other residents were waving. Pulled back into the site. Put the trailer on jacks, removed the tire, the hub cap, the castle nut and finally the brake drum. I found the manual brake adjuster had somehow popped free. No damaged parts. Finally found a diagram on line for my brake and reassembled it. Only I didn’t have a tool to readjust the brake. Neither the standard spoon nor screwdriver would work. Found a mechanic to squeeze us in. We missed max checkout by about an hour. Park was gracious.
We were packing up the 5th wheel after a month’s snowbird stay in Las Cruces, planning to leave the following morning. I checked the tire pressure and looked at the tread depth for the first time in 30 days. The tread was worn, but still within the “Lincoln limit” and we were only driving to Tucson for another long stay.
But when I felt around the bottom of that tire, a steel thread cut my hand. When I looked under it, the steel belt was showing through the rubber. The tire had worn much more at that one spot, probably due to an emergency stop (the fiver didn’t have ABS brakes). So, we immediately extended our stay a day to get a new set of 4 Goodyear Endurance tires!
One of the front jacks on my 5th wheel wouldn’t operate so I couldn’t connect my 5th wheel to my truck. On a call to Lippert they instructed on proper operation of the jack; none of which is any manual.
Not a campground. But we were stuck for 18 hours after being towed to a truck stop in Laramie a couple of years ago. We couldn’t get any mechanic in town to look at the coach. Fortunately, my husband was able to fix the problem enough for us to continue until a full repair could be completed at home.
We’ve come close to it twice, when we had flat tires, on the same trip. The cause turned out to be the wheels themselves. (We now have 1-piece ones.) However, we seldom push check-out time, so we were able to get the spare on and leave on time.
(We bought new tires after the first flat, since they were due to be replaced after the trip. With the second flat, the shop looked more closely and realized it was leaking welds on the rims.)
Just once that I can recall.
It was the spring of 2020 and we were heading home from our winter quarters in AZ. We stopped in Albuquerque for the night but when we broke camp the next morning to continue home one of the leveling jacks would not retract. Tried everything I could think of with no luck so I talked to the folks at the office and arranged to stay another night. Once that was secured one of the park’s employees had stopped by to see what the trouble was. He had an idea that, frankly, I should’ve thought of. He used a cordless electric drill with a ratchet attachment. He operated the jack motor with the drill to raise the jack.
5 am in Haines AK and getting ready to move the coach to the loading dock to board the ferry at 6 am. Turned the key to start…no joy….nothing…zilch! Took two days to find the loose battery connection on the starter. Kudos to the rv park who let us stay the extra two days and many, many thanks to the Alaskan ferry system who held our reservation for those two extra days. Had to make new reservations at the rv parks in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan
Yes two times. Both times slides would not retract due to relays breaking or wearing out.
Lucky for us, both times were at a KOA. First time it was engine trouble with the computers in my f-150. Second time it was this past summer in the monsoon that broke the drought in Pennsylvania. We stayed there for four days till it stopped raining.
Once. Motorhome starter would not turn over. MH towed 200 miles (AAA), followed in toad to repair shop then home. The MH spent a week waiting for it’s turn with the mechanic. Diagnosis— loose positive lead to the starter motor, repair time 10 minutes (no charge). Lesson learned CHECK ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS BEFORE CALLING TOW TRUCK.
I answered one time, but now that I think about it, I could have left. The EGR valve was broken at the manifold and the noise was outrageous, but I could have driven it. Campground (KOA at Glacier Park) recommended mobile tech who repaired it the next day.
When we had a Class C, the rear tire kept losing air, which delayed our departure. We ended up heading out the next day instead.