Everything is falling apart!

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If our recent posts show anything, we have really loved our time in Montana. The mountains feel like home to us, and we never tire of the beauty and recreation this landscape offers. We even had the best time basking in solitude along the shores of Salmon Lake and Lake Alva. But, the very solitude we love is a double-edged sword. Being away from civilization means that, if things go south, we're pretty much sitting ducks waiting for an opportunity to get repairs and replacements. Like this loon. Looks like he's floating along without a care in the world, but there are threats to his happiness everywhere.

I know what you're thinking. Didn't we just have a ton of things break in the RV? Why, yes, yes we did. We had our giant repair list in Vegas Bay, so long that we needed 2 blog posts to cover it all. Then we had our flood repairs that required 4 blog posts. But this is RV life, and constant repairs are inevitable.

What's interesting, though, is that many RVers advise newbies to not purchase a new RV. There is a shakedown period where, at the beginning, everything seems to break. Blame is put on the RV manufacturers who often cut corners and install the cheapest parts and products possible. We bought new, but our manufacturer has one of the better reputations in the biz, and all things considered, our shakedown was minimal. We had a few things repaired and replaced under warranty, but nothing too crazy. Fast forward to now, and it seems like our shakedown is coming at the least opportune time possible, when warranties are expiring. We've been finding ourselves shelling out a lot of money that we didn't expect to spend, but we're looking on the bright side: Many parts that break, we can replace with better, upgraded versions. Slowly but surely, we're making our RV suit us in all the best ways. And hopefully the better quality replacements will last us longer than the stock parts that barely lasted us a year and a half.

We'll first start with one of the items that we call an "aftermath break," aka something that has already been broken and fixed, but its ghost decided to pay us a visit. In Vegas Bay, we started having issues with the foot pedal on our toilet, and it eventually got stuck, causing the bowl to fill with water. Anthony was able to replace a few parts in the pedal, but in order to do this, he needed to unbolt the whole toilet from the floor. We wish we could say that this was a one-time fix, but the toilet has been giving us similar issues sporadically ever since. Anthony has now become an expert at unbolting the toilet and fixing various parts. Only, the toilet had been unbolted and rebolted one too many times, and Anthony noticed a small crack forming in the bowl.

Our RV came with a standard, normal quality RV toilet, which is all plastic except for the bowl, which is porcelain. We paid so much attention to all the cheap plastic parts that it was a shock to find the porcelain starting to break, but we get it. It's a breakable material, and this toilet does go through a lot of wear-and-tear on travel days. Add the constant unbolting and rebolting, and here we are. The crack was on the outside of the bowl and was very small, so we were able to continue using our toilet, but we knew its days were numbered. If the pedal or other mechanism started acting faulty again, we might not be able to take the toilet apart again without the bowl actually fracturing to the point of unusability.

We were already in the middle of the Montana wilderness, and we knew that our stops in civilization would be rare for the whole summer season. We started to worry that our toilet wouldn't hold out for the summer, and we'd find ourselves in the boonies without a working toilet. So we began scrounging around for options to order a new toilet and have it delivered to us when we were near a town where we could actually get it.

Side note about ordering items, especially large ones like a toilet. The easiest way to get deliveries is to send them to the RV park where we're staying, as long as we get permission from the park office. This is how we got our new RV stairs...twice. For small items, we typically like to order on Amazon and have the items sent to a pickup location such as a locker. Beyond that, we can get some packages shipped general delivery to a Post Office or do ship-to-store at some places, but otherwise, unless we know someone in the area who is willing to take in some packages for us, we don't have a lot of options. In Montana, even these options dwindle. There is one Amazon pickup location in the entire state, and naturally, it's in one of the cities, Bozeman. The cities are also our best bet for stores, but we weren't staying near many cities. We also had only one RV park booked after Glacier, and the rest of the time we'd be staying in places where we couldn't get packages. As for this final RV park, we had a few packages sent there, but in Montana, shipping usually takes longer. To get anything large delivered would take too long, and by then, we'd be gone from the RV park.

This left us with an inner battle: We were so excited to stay in more nature-centric campgrounds, but all these repairs were weighing down on us hard. If we couldn't ship to an RV park, and we couldn't do Amazon pickup, and cities were often an hour's drive away or more, what could we do?

After lots of research, we found a toilet we like at Home Depot online, that allowed us to ship to store. It was a Thetford, the same brand we currently had, and a brand that we like. We opted for upgraded seat material that's supposed to be antimicrobial, and we also chose an elongated seat instead of the round one. The toilet's arrival date aligned with our stay near West Yellowstone, but we'd need to ship it to the Idaho Falls Home Depot, a two-hour drive away. We also knew of an Amazon pickup location in Rexburg from when we passed through Idaho several weeks prior. We decided to make a day trip down to all the stores, maximizing our time in civilization.

We weren't sure at first if we were just overreacting about our toilet. 99% of the time, it was working fine, and the crack really was just a hairline. We got our answer only a couple days after ordering the new toilet. Anthony had successfully gotten the foot pedal to glide smoothly, but we noticed it was almost too smooth. It took next-to-no pushing for the flap at the bottom of the toilet to open, which lets the water and waste go down into the black tank chute. That also means that it takes even less effort for the pedal to push into "position 2," where it fills with water before flushing. Sure enough, one morning, the toilet started filling with water on its own. Thankfully we were right there and caught it before it overflowed, but the pedal's "position 1" was dangerously close to its "position 2," and this caused the water valve to open on its own. We were able to get the water to stop filling the bowl, but that was the moment we confirmed, there's nothing else we can do with this toilet. We've already fixed the pedal multiple times and replaced nearly every individual part. Between that and the crack in the bowl, this toilet needed to be scrapped sooner than later. We thanked our lucky stars that we had a new one on its way.

As luck would have it, the old toilet held out until the day we picked up the new one. Then, that next morning, it started filling with water again. We immediately installed the new toilet. Not only is the quality of this one much better, but we finally got rid of the dreaded cheap plastic seat. Every RVer knows the one, where cleaning it means trying to get between the plastic lips that jut out every few inches. Finally, we now have a seat that's smooth as the bottoms that sit upon it. The toilet also seems more securely bolted to the floor, which will hopefully increase stability and decrease odor. But most importantly, it's not randomly filling with water!

The other large item that decided to retire was our microwave. I was reheating tomato soup one evening, when the push button that opens the door stopped functioning. It's something that happens often with cheaper microwaves, and as you probably know, many better microwaves don't have this button anymore to begin with. We noticed that, since we got the RV, the button was extra hard to push, but we never thought this was a bad thing because it probably means there's less of a chance of the door opening during travel. Now we realize it was probably defective from the beginning, and eventually a part of the mechanism snapped. We initially thought we'd just need to buy a new arm that connects the button to the mechanism that opens the door, but we took the microwave apart and found a couple broken pieces, one of which is attached to the microwave and wouldn't be a simple replacement part. We mulled it over for a few days, wondering if we should still try to go the repair route, but in the end we knew it would just be a temporary fix, if we could fix it at all. Time to find a new microwave.

Our options were already limited because we'd need the correct wattage and size. There are a few RV microwaves that match the specs of our current one, and some are rated better than others. We tried to find a microwave that would be an "upgrade," but most of the reviews were mediocre. We decided instead that, if we had a choice, we could at least upgrade from black to stainless steel, which would match our fridge and look way better in our rig. Only, it was looking like we'd have no choice of anything. All the places we could order a microwave, we couldn't have delivered to our limited locations. We tried to order one online on Walmart's website, but since it was shipping from a third party, ship-to-store wasn't allowed. We ended up spending weeks without a microwave, which was a nuisance at times, but we could live without it. We finally came up with a game plan after Anthony got in touch with customer service at RecPro, one of the companies that sells microwaves that fit our specs. They said that they could ship the microwave to a FedEx store, but of course, we'd have to time it right. We set our sights on the FedEx store in Jackson, WY. If we timed the shipment, we could grab the microwave in Jackson while we were visiting the Grand Tetons. Beyond that window, we'd have no FedEx stores for miles and miles, weeks and weeks. It was time to call the Jackson FedEx and beg them to be on the receiving end of our giant package.

We got everything squared away with FedEx, figuring out how to address our package for pickup at the Jackson location. Then we ordered our new microwave from RecPro. We couldn't have timed things any better; the package got delivered the day we arrived in the Tetons! We picked it up the next day, and after almost a month, we finally had a microwave again! The microwave is the same model we had before, but in stainless steel, which complements the room so much better. The push button also seems to be working normally, so fingers crossed that this microwave is in it for the long-haul! (Eagle-eyed readers might also notice that we switched our rugs out. Just one more mod we got done because our old rugs were horrendously dirty and stained).

Our trailer, like many RVs, came prewired for a backup camera. Only, the RV manufacturers haven't kept up with the times, and most RVs are prewired for this Voyager camera:

Voyager doesn't even make this model anymore, and their 2.0 version isn't compatible with the 1.0 in any way. So, when the backup camera system fails, what are the options? 1, try to find a used Voyager 1.0. 2, try to find a totally different camera system that is compatible with the 1.0. Or 3, get a whole new system and rewire it to the rig.

We had had an issue with our monitor once before, back when we were in South Carolina at the beginning of the year. We fixed it, and it's been working fairly well ever since. This time, though, the monitor failed, and our usual fixes didn't work. We even tried replacing the fuse in the 12V connector, but upon closer look, we discovered that the wires that connect to the back of the monitor had gotten completely frayed. The way they're connected, it would be a huge pain to try and rewire it. It's actually one of the worst wiring connections we've seen. The little pieces of frayed wire got stuck in their contacts, and even the smallest pliers couldn't get them out.

After we wasted far too much time, we came to our all-too-familiar conclusion: The camera is a piece of crap anyway, so why not use this as an opportunity to upgrade? For kicks, we did look at replacement monitors for our current camera, but they were being sold for $4-500. That monitor isn't worth half that amount! Etrailer had a Voyager 1.0 system for cheaper, but we couldn't time their shipping with anywhere we'd be. With our limited time and even more limited options for pickup locations, we went onto Amazon to see if there were any cameras we could adapt to fit our current wiring. Camera sellers aren't stupid; they know that RVs are prewired for a camera that is discontinued. So what do they do? They create camera mounts with adaptors and claim that we can install them "in minutes" using the Voyager prewiring. We found a camera system that was rated reasonably, but also noticed that many of the lower reviews mentioned that, while they had issues with installation, customer service was great. That's a big deal with technologies such as this, especially because this would be our first time installing a backup camera ourselves. This was also our only convenient option, allowing us to ship it to Montana's only Amazon pickup location. We'd need to drive over an hour to go get it, but that's a small price to pay for a nice backup camera.

"Minutes to install" meant more than an hour for us, and it didn't help that we installed it at a pull-off on the side of a Montana highway, because that was the only time that made sense. But we suppose even hours are comprised of minutes, so the seller's claim is in fact true. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to adapt the new camera bracket to the current plate that was already on our trailer. The instructions were evidently for a different Voyager 1.0 mount than we had. We didn't realize there was more than one. But, after a little brainstorming, we found ways to align all the screws so that we could attach the new bracket to the old mount. The camera and monitor paired with no issues, so that was a huge win, and once everything was set up, we were incredibly happy with this upgrade. The difference in quality is night and day. Our old Voyager monitor would constantly cut in and out, show in infrared when it wasn't supposed to, and had a noticeable lag. This new monitor has a much clearer resolution and much better connectivity strength to the camera. It also had better options for mounting it on our dashboard.

Our next "aftermath break" was a little concerning. While we continue singing the praises of everyone who helped us in Utah, we discovered that our hitch guy gave us the wrong information when it came to torqueing one of our hitch bolts that was causing us problems. There is a bolt that helps keep the hitch aligned correctly, so it doesn't move too much when the ball is in the coupler. The hitch guy realigned our hitch amazingly, but we believe he accidentally told us the torque for a different brand of hitch, and we were dealing with so much at that point, that we blindly trusted him instead of double checking the numbers ourselves. Our bad. So at one point in Montana, Anthony was tightening that bolt, and the head came off. That wasn't just because of too much torque, though. It turns out the bolt was actually rusted. We can't remember if this bolt was replaced when we got our hitch adjusted. Many of the bolts were new. Either way, it's looking like this bolt was defective, because no matter what, it shouldn't have rusted like that. We tried extracting the remainder of the bolt ourselves, but we weren't equipped. We found a mechanic who didn't have time to extract it, but he took a look and told us that we can continue towing safely. We'll need to get the bolt replaced at some point, but we do know that's is very tightly in place right now. We'll keep checking it as we travel along. Worst case, even if it does loosen, it will only affect angle. We drove thousands of miles with the bolt loose and the hitch not adjusted properly, so at least we're still in better shape than that!

The hitch is perplexing us with a couple other problems. We had one issue where one of the rotating sockets for the anti-sway bars wasn't rotating, so Anthony had to loosen that bolt to a lower torque than is recommended. We also have started having an issue with our trailer's ball not wanting to drop when we're unhitching. This is something we dealt with for months, but it went away when we got our hitch readjusted. Now it's back. Is it possibly something to do with the rusty bolt? Maybe, except as far as we know, that bolt is still doing its job. We have a few other ideas for troubleshooting, but as we continue on with our travels, we're just making sure that none of the hitch issues impact our safety. As long as we can tow, we can deal with all the other problems as we go along.

The lowest priority issue was that our bedroom door knob broke. We're pretty sure it saw the toilet and microwave break and wanted to join the fun. The locking mechanism is totally busted, and it's causing the knobs themselves to be very loose and wiggly. Attempts to repair it ourselves didn't work. We don't use the lock on the door, but we do close it often, especially when we're both working and separate ourselves. We talked about waiting until our annual servicing to get the knob replaced, but we worried that sooner or later, the knob would bust completely. When we went to Home Depot to pick up our toilet, we wandered into the door hardware aisle just to see if anything caught our eye. Five minutes and $80 later, we were purchasing two new door handles - so the bedroom and bathroom doors would both be consistent. Not only are they aesthetically more our style, but they are so much sturdier than the stock door knobs. Easy and quick fix! We like those!

We know that our constant articles about repair after repair after repair might scare off those interested in RVing, but that's not our intention. These problems in no way deter us from wanting to live a life of travel. If anything, they help us really appreciate the good that's surrounding us. We may have another long list of repairs, but none of them derailed us from getting to experience the beautiful state of Montana. RVing has helped us think more critically as we figure out our options for getting repairs and replacements on the road. It's also helped us become more handy. We attempt to fix issues on our own first, and oftentimes we succeed. When we can't, then it's time to brainstorm the best professionals to help us. We try to tackle all our repairs as quickly as possible, before more get added to the list, as they inevitably do, but we also sometimes need to prioritize, especially when we're not in higher populated areas. Lastly, we rest assured that, with each item we need to replace, we're getting something that's better quality and will work better for our way of travel. Our upgrades might be involuntary a lot of the time, but we've never regretted them, because they all help to make our trailer stronger, better, and more efficient.