97 E350 Winne 4x4- Ski Bum Mobile
- Thread starter java
- Start date
java
Expedition Leader
Well I just got finalized with the insurance Co yesterday so i can tell you a story now.....
//LONG post and RANT warning
We left Tursday night after work. Pretty late already. Got about 80 miles from home, and there is a little town on the main highway to the ski area. Greenwater on 410 for you local people. The speed limit goes from 60 to 35 there. Slowing down to go into town the rear end felt weird, kind of squirrely like a flat tire. There is a fire station right after town with a big lot so I figured I would just pull over there.
Well when I got out, I noticed something very very wrong. The drivers side duallys were sitting at a funky angle. 5 of the 8 lug studs were broken off, the last three that had the lug on them were very lose. Oh Joy.
Now remember on our last big trip I had a flat. Well Geico's road side assistance had come out and changed it….. The drivers side rear….
So I call the road side assistance people. (luckily I stopped at the fire station and they had open WiFi, there is ZERO cell service on hiway 410… VOIP!) They say well we are sorry blah blah blah, we can get a tow truck out there. I say OK tow it to the shop I use by my house and Ill get a taxi home. Now I have two big dogs and my wife and daughter with me also… its 8pm or so at this point. Then they come back saying well the closest RV repair place is 23 miles, and that's the distance we are authorized to tow. I say um no. What am I going to do with my family after they tow me 23 miles?!
Two supervisors and an hour later they have agreed to 65 miles, this will leave me paying 20 or so @ $3.50 a mile. OK send the truck. Geico says it will be 1.5 hours till they arrive.
Two hours pass, I cal the tow co directly. Their truck broke down, they can't do the tow. They had told Geico who didn't feel like letting me know….. I call Geico, they cant find anyone else in the area and say if you can find a tow we will reimburse you, sorry there is nothing we can do. //Rant on. Really ****** am I supposed to do now?! Its 11pm, its cold, snowing and your leaving me here?! Really if I wasn't in an RV I would have been frozen, and likely dead by the time Geico was able to find a tow company the next day. //Rant off
So while I had been on hold with Geico I had googled and found a semi local mobile repair guy. He was busy for the night and couldn't get parts anyway.
My wife and I decide to jack the truck up ourselves, and I tighten the lugs as tight as I can get them with a 2' lug wrench. We drive the remaining 20 miles @ 10 MPH stopping every mile or so to check the lugs. (I also found out at this point my hazard light don't work! Luckily there is no traffic on the road at midnight) Also hard to hit the herd of elk and 10MPH… We make it up to the lot at 1am or so, park and call it a night.
I call the mobile guy in the morning and he happened to have a cancellation. He was a really nice guy and said go skiing, Ill go find parts, text you when I get there and call you when I'm about done so you can come pay me. He charges $100 to drive out, and $75 an hour. Pretty reasonable I thought. He gets it done and finds the cause…. I thought loose lugs, no. There is a pin on the inside wheel to keep the valve stems lined up at 180 degrees. Well the service guy who changed the tire didn't line the pin and hole up, as I drove, the pin squished down, and the lugs loosened. This is why the 3 on the one side were still there. They were mostly tight due to being opposite of the pin. The holes in the wheels were also ovalized from wobbling…. So two new wheels are needed now too. He was quite impressed at how tight we got the last 3 lugs. He couldn't get them off with a 1” impact! My 220lb self on the end of a 2' breaker bar works good I guess  He did bend his breaker bar trying to get them off which I felt a little bad for….
So we ski, camp another night, and head home. I call Gecio. Roadside assistance says well nothing we can do since the tire guy wasn't one of our normally contracted carriers, we don't have a liability policy with them. They tell me to go talk to claims. Go thru the claims dept, they want me to pay my deductible. F that, it was your fault it happened. So claims says you will have to go back and talk to the roadside people.
Well we were doing another trip so I bought new wheels, again out of my pocket. (they also don't make the ones on the truck anymore, so they don't match!! Arrg.)
So after a week of leaving messages, going back and forth between adjusters, roadside assistance people managers etc I get to the right adjuster. Explain everything to her, she says ok, send me your receipts and ill see what I can do for a reimbursement. She was very helpful and gets all my expenses approved, except getting matching wheels….
So that's the story….. if you read all that great!
Short version: Geicos roadside assistance caused a bunch of lug studs to break off, almost letting the wheel fall of the truck and didn't want to pay for it.
Skiing was great. Almost too much snow. It was tiring to ski!
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Sad truck:
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
Untitled by Java_230, on Flickr
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java
Expedition Leader
Yeah lived in Dallas for half a year. Definitely different. It was a pretty crappy experience, but Im SO glad those last 3 hung on there. Would have been so much worse if they broke too
Railvan
Adventurer
Sorry to hear about all that hassle, but glad you didn't have a major accident due to the wheels coming off at speed. I had a very similar thing happen on my 4x4 Suburban years ago. Les Schwab didn't get the lugs tight on the right rear tire and it had three lug nuts barely holding on when I discovered it. It also showed itself when I felt a wobble when slowing down for a freeway off ramp. The alloy wheel had "threads" cut into the lug holes from the stubs banging on it so hard. Since then I have always felt like double checking the lug nuts after having any tire work done.
java
Expedition Leader
java
Expedition Leader
Well the weather was nice, so I got a little project done. Its not just a big white box anymore. Big vinyl decal.
So heres a step by step.
Layout all the pieces, get wifes approval on placement.
Move per wifes directions.
Lower piece goes on first. Tape the uppers up out of the way. Take the top edge of it well, this is what will hold it in the correct position.
Now peel the backing off. This was a pain on such a big piece, don't let the vinyl stick yet while peeling. The tape at the top hold to the face sheet, and not the backing so it keep it all in place, sort of...
Take an old Credit card and work you way across the sticker, pushing the air out and sticking it down.
Peel the facing off.
Ready to start on the upper pieces.
Same process, tape top edge well, peel off backing, work vinyl on.
Ready for the last one.
This one sucked, it had to line up with the other mountain piece, and the triangle shape made it really hard to tape the top edge and peel the backing.
DONE!
So heres a step by step.
Layout all the pieces, get wifes approval on placement.
Move per wifes directions.
Lower piece goes on first. Tape the uppers up out of the way. Take the top edge of it well, this is what will hold it in the correct position.
Now peel the backing off. This was a pain on such a big piece, don't let the vinyl stick yet while peeling. The tape at the top hold to the face sheet, and not the backing so it keep it all in place, sort of...
Take an old Credit card and work you way across the sticker, pushing the air out and sticking it down.
Peel the facing off.
Ready to start on the upper pieces.
Same process, tape top edge well, peel off backing, work vinyl on.
Ready for the last one.
This one sucked, it had to line up with the other mountain piece, and the triangle shape made it really hard to tape the top edge and peel the backing.
DONE!
Stitebunny
Adventurer
Nice touch! That looks really great!
java
Expedition Leader
Thanks! I think so too.
southpier
Expedition Leader
Yeah me too, could have been so much worse.... Im considering these now.
whatzat???
java
Expedition Leader
Loose lug indicator. Torque the lugs, the add the flags in a circle. if one is no longer lining up its loose.
Like so.
