Last year we decided that our 2004 motorhome was getting old enough that we should consider taking it to the customer service center for the Freightliner chassis in Gaffney, SC for our annual service. We tried to make an appointment to have the service done as we passed by on our way to upstate New York but quickly learned that the slots fill up quickly and you have to make your appointment months in advance. So we scheduled an appointment for 3/20/2020. We decided that I would go alone and Beth would stay home and enjoy her solitude and take care of the cats.
When we brought the RV home from the storage lot the day before departure the house batteries were dead. Charging the house batteries once they get too low is difficult because there’s no enough voltage available to start any of the electronics used to charge them (even when connected to shore power). I had to hook them up to an external battery charger to charge them up enough to get the onboard charger going. This also prevented us from starting the refrigerator early so we could get it cooled down enough to put food in it. After several hours we were able to get the onboard systems running and start the refrigerator. The next thing we discovered was that the air conditioner wasn’t working. The blower would run, but the compressors never started. I called around, but with it being March in Florida there was no chance of getting an appointment for a repair locally before I needed to leave for my appointment, so I decided I’d just live without air conditioning. It was hot in Florida, even for March, but it looked like once I got out of the state the temperatures would be more acceptable. So we packed up the RV and I planned to leave the next morning.
The next morning I went out to the RV and discovered that for some reason the refrigerator had shutoff overnight. I still have no idea why, but assume that it had something to do with the house battery voltage being so low when we brought the RV home. I started it back up and it ran fine the rest of the trip. The COVID-19 epidemic was quickly approaching shutdown, so we had packed all the food I would need for all meals on the trip. Fortunately, the refrigerator didn’t warm up enough to ruin any of the food we had packed. We threw a cooler in the camper and loaded it with ice in case the refrigerator acted up again and I hit the road.
Country Oaks Campground, Kingsland, GA – 3/17/2020
My first stop was at Country Oaks Campground in Kingsland, GA. We had stayed there last year on our way to upstate New York. They had one pull through site available (Site #5). The campground has a lot of trees, but this site was perfect for accessing the Dish Network satellites with the roof mount satellite antenna. The campground manager gave me the name of a mobile RV repairman and he was able to come investigate my air conditioning issue. I also had an issue with the rear slideout going out crooked when I arrived a the campground. He was not able to resolve the issue with the air conditioner and figured it was probably a capacitor which he did not have in stock. He also told me that I probably just had air in my hydraulic lines for the rear slide and that it should work itself out with usage. I later learned that he was completely wrong on both counts. On a positive note, it did rain quite a bit that evening which cooled things down enough to make sleeping comfortable without air conditioning.
Barnyard RV Park, Lexington, SC – 3/18/2020
On day two, when I stopped for fuel I discovered that the awning over the rear slideout had torn and was flapping in the wind. I didn’t have a ladder so I had to just let it flap. I stayed at Barnyard RV Park just outside of Columbia, SC. We had also stayed there last year on our way to upstate New York. I had left them a message the previous day asking for a reservation, but never heard back. I arrived just in time to get the last spot in the park because all of Canada was heading home due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Apparently they had been told they had to be back in their country by the end of the weekend. I passed one rest stop on I-95 that was so full the cars were being parked along the exit ramp.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the campground kept their office door locked and yelled to me through the glass to go park in my spot and then call them to make my payment. I stayed in Site #K9. All the sites there are pretty much the same (pull through with minimal trees to block satellite reception). The temperature was perfect and I sat outside and enjoyed a refreshing beverage until it got dark out.
Freightliner Customer Service Center, Gaffney, SC – 3/19/2020 – 3/20/2020
I arrived at the Freightliner Custom Chassis Customer Service Center in the early afternoon on the day prior to my service appointment. The facility has 20 spots for motorhome parking with 30 Amp electrical hookups in the parking lot and a dump dumpstation. After parking I went up to the office to register and the door was locked due to COVID-19. After I knocked on the door, one of the office workers slid a clipboard containing a COVID-19 form out the partially cracked front door. Once I confirmed in writing that I hadn’t been sick recently or traveled abroad they let me in the door and they had me detail the services I wanted them to perform on the motorhome.
On the morning of the appointment, one of the service technicians wearing a full face gas mask with dual filters knocked on my door shortly after 8AM. We reviewed the services I wanted performed and he sent me up to the waiting room in the main office. The waiting room is setup nicely with five or six recliners, a large TV, and laptop stands for each recliner. There was also a break area with microwaves and vending machines.
After a couple of hours a service advisor presented the issues they had discovered and the estimated cost of repair. The air bags needed replacing. The front passenger hub seal was leaking and needed to be replaced. The radiator needed a good steam cleaning (I had told them we were experiencing high engine temperatures on grades on hot days). The air tank drain was leaking and needed replacing and the front track bar needed to be replaced as well. Once I recovered from the sticker shock I signed off on the repairs along with standard annual service on the engine and generator. This was a lot of work to complete in one day and they only allow you to be there one day in order to remain committed to their appointment schedule. Fortunately, it wasn’t a busy day and most of the other customers were only there for standard annual maintenance (they all had fancy new rigs), so by noon some of the other service technicians had finished working on the other customers’ rigs and jumped in on ours. At one point they said they had four people working on it. The work was completed around 4PM. They took it out for a test drive and then parked it back in my overnight spot and called me out to the motorhome (after they collected my money). The service technician reviewed all the work performed with me which included removing the torn rear slideout awning. He was very knowledgeable and professional. He also confirmed that I could spend another night there so I wouldn’t have to hit the road in the evening. Overall it was a great experience and makes me feel a lot more confident about heading West again this year with our 16 year old motorhome.
Freightliner Custom Chassis Service Center 
Freightliner Custom Chassis Service Center
Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area – Macon, GA – 3/21/2020
I decided to head home via Atlanta in order to hit some steeper grades to see if I experienced any increases in engine temperature after having the radiator cleaned. It was a cool morning so I can’t confirm the issue is resolved, but the engine did seem to run a couple of degrees cooler than it had been running and never budged off of that temperature (192 degrees).
I stopped at the Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area Campground which is located just a couple miles West of I-475 in Macon, GA. This is not only a convenient place to stop, but it has full hookups at each site and great views of the lake. When I reserved the spot, I had intended to get there as early as possible and fire up the satellite dish so that I could spend the day watching March Madness. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic had cancelled March Madness and I was forced to lounge outside and enjoy the perfect weather. The only negative I could come up with at this campground was that the sewer connection on my site (#44) was on the passenger side. I think this was because the site, although level, was on the side of a fairly steep hill. If the sewer connection had been on the driver’s side, it would have been an uphill climb. Fortunately, I had just purchased an extra section of sewer hose and needed it.
The next morning as I was preparing for departure I moved both slideouts in and then went outside to disconnect at which point I discovered a large pool of hydraulic oil under the rear of the motorhome. I assumed it was related to the issue with the rear slideout I experienced on the first night of the trip and headed home.
I arrived home safely that Sunday afternoon. For those keeping track at home, we took the RV in to repair the air conditioner and awning over the rear slide. The air conditioner turned out to be due to a breaker located inside the panel attached to the air conditioning unit in the basement of the motorhome. I can’t believe the mobile repair technician I hired in Georgia didn’t figure that one out. It would have made my trip a bit more comfortable. I think it more than likely popped due to the issues with the house batteries being low when we picked up the camper from storage. It worked flawlessly all weekend on our next camping trip. The technician in Georgia was also wrong about the rear slideout. The reason the room had slid out crooked was because the hydraulic synchronizer had failed. Fortunately the manufacturer had it in stock so we didn’t have to wait for them to manufacture it. Regarding the awning over the rear slideout, since the camper is so old, we went ahead and had both awnings replaced over the two slideouts.
View from Inside 
Sewer Hookup on Wrong Side 
