TOUR AMERICA, 2020: SUMMERDALE, ALABAMA, HEART OF DIXIE

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Sumerdale, Alabama

August 29, 2020

Temperature 86 Degrees

Caught In The Nick Of Time – Windshield Wipers

Over time I have found that it is often the simple things that leave you shaking your head.

Take those two things on the front of every vehicle called windshield wipers.

Trolling various Newmar web sites I came across a series of posts detailing various individual’s experiences with them flying off while driving, usually during some serious rain storms.

We’ve only had one occasion since we purchased Elvira to be driving in a rainstorm.  That was on our way here to Alabama.  At the time the wipers worked without an issue so I sort of pushed any possible problems with them to the back of my brain.

Well, today it poured all morning long.  Which got me to thinking, maybe I had better check and make sure the windshield wipers are securely fastened to the front cap.  After all, it appears that over the course of the next several weeks there is a good chance we’ll again be driving in some rain.

So once the sun came out again I decided to get out and check things out.

Now how does that old saying go?  The Good Lord looks after fools and all us full time RV’ers.

Upon checking I found ALL of the mounting bolts loose.  Yup, all of them.  I caught a potentially serious issue just in the nick of time. And when I think back to what could have happened on our way here . . .

Working together Barbara and I managed to securely tighten each and every mounting bolt.  I then went a step further and lubricated all the pivot points for each wiper.

The bottom line is, if you own an RV – especially an older one – you have to be vigilant in terms of maintenance.  In addition if you own an older one you’ll do yourself a great service if you spend some time searching for what other’s have had issues with.  That is how, for instance, I found out about the tendency of the slide motor mounting bolts to work loose.  Yup, ours were also.  If they come loose and the motor begins to move around your slides are not going to go out or in.  One more potentially serious issue caught and corrected.

That was our day on The Road Of Retirement.  We had downpours all morning long.  But the Good News is we seem to have caught and sealed all the former leaks.  We spent some time doing a Movie Marathon.  We caught and corrected our issues with our windshield wipers.  It was a great day from start to finish.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!