We Made It A Whole 19 Hours Before Frankenstein Needed Stitched Back Together

After spending almost 6 weeks visiting family in Ohio for the holidays we finally hooked up Frankenstein to his bride and set off on our second year of full-time travel.

 

We left on a Friday and the plan was to be in New Mexico by Monday. We made it a whole 19 hours before we had to set up camp in Arkansas, because our old pup had other ideas.

Let me give you a little back story…

In October while traveling around the Ozarks we were driving down a mountain and heard a horrible grinding sound. We pulled over and realized we had broke a leaf spring on the drivers side that also shredded the wheel well. After a google search and a few YouTube videos we came up with a temporary fix.

 

Using a bit of redneck ingenuity we took half a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around some wood blocks we had on hand and used them to hold up the axle. We then crossed our fingers and drove almost 6 miles up the steepest curviest hill we have driven on in our travels so far to a campground.

It was slow going and I was terrified the whole time just praying the wood blocks held. We made it to the camp and were grateful one was so close.

So we spent days looking for a 4-leaf double-eyed spring that was the right size for our camper with no luck. I don’t know what it is with our camper, but we always have issues finding the right size parts for it.

We finally had to settle for a 2-leaf spring and changed out both sets while in camp. We also couldn’t find a wheel well that fit so we cut up a plastic tub to cover the hole and held it down with a roll of Gorilla tape.

Now back to the present…

 

We were planning on driving about 18 hours then hitting up one of our favorite camping spots in Arkansas for two nights then finishing the final 14 hours to New Mexico.

We stopped for gas about 2 hours before our final destination when Jamey noticed one of the tires looked off. After inspection one tire appeared to be worn down in the middle and the other was rubbing on the side and showing a lot of wear.  So something was wrong with Frankenstein. We crossed our fingers and headed to our scheduled camp.

After half a day inspecting the pup at camp the only thing we could figure was the camper was sitting too low and every time we were hitting bumps the tires were hitting the side and top of the wheel well. The constant hits were damaging the tires. The wheel well we “fixed” in October had busted again and there were now a couple holes in the other wheel well.

 

The first thing we did was rip out the wheel well and build a new one. Using some plywood, corner brackets and a lot of flex seal we managed to have a sturdy new wheel well that was a couple inches higher.

The only thing we could think of that was causing the problems is that the 2-leaf springs were not high enough to stop the wheels from hitting when we hit bumps. Once again we searched for 4-leaf springs with no luck. So a decision was made.

In the middle of the Arkansas woods on the banks of a lake Jamey jacked up Frankenstein and flipped his axle.

Oh Baby what a difference that made.

I swear the camper is now sitting up a good 5 inches higher than it was before and I’m pretty stoked about it. The plan is to hit up a lot more BLM land out west this year and I’ve heard some of those roads are pretty rough so the more clearance the better. The step into and out of the camper is a little treacherous though for these short legs. I gotta be real careful I don’t twist an ankle or fall on my face getting out one night.

 

Since he was all jacked up anyways we took off the axle hubs to clean and make sure they were in good working condition. We also cleaned out and repacked the wheel bearings. Frankenstein is sporting two brand new shiny tires as well. And since the axle U-bolts looked a little rusted we just went ahead and replaced them as well.

 

Will this fix the problem?

I sure hope so!

It was the only thing we could come up with and we really believe we have got the issue resolved and our old pup is back in proper working condition. We got stuck in Ohio longer than we wanted for a number of reasons and were so excited to get back on the road. It’s just our luck we didn’t even make it 24 hours before something went wrong. We’re lucky we caught the problem early before something major happened though.

 

We may have been set back another week in our travels, but we are really excited to finally be getting back on the road Sunday. If everything works out we should be exploring Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park next week and I can’t wait.

Jamey and I have decided that this event was just our major problem for the year and we got it out of the way early. The idea now is that it’s just gonna be smooth sailing the rest of the year with no major issues.

 

So knock on wood, rub your rabbit’s foot, grab your four-leaf clover, hang your horseshoe and send all those lucky vibes our way. I don’t think me or Frankenstein and can’t take the stress of another crazy malfunction.