A year and a half ago we moved into our RV full time. Since then we have crossed the country, fixed what broke, and learned as we go. The best part of all of it has been the RV community, so this one is about our first unofficial Brinkley rally: a gathering of Brinkley owners at Angel Fire RV Resort in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Four days of tacos, trivia, chili and cornhole.
While we were there, we also had our wheel bearings repacked by a mobile crew. That part did not go the way we expected.
Finally putting on our SnapPad jack pads
Before any rallying, a long overdue project. We won a set of SnapPad jack pads in a drawing at the RV Super Show in Tampa, and a year and a half into living in the RV, we finally put them on. Our site at Angel Fire was nice and level, which made it the perfect day for it.
It was easy. We had heard about tricks with soap and water, but they all went on without a fight and none of them bent. Lower the jack, let the pad snap in, done. Our advice is simple: if you buy them, put them on. Don't let them sit in a bay like we did.
The $40 vacuum vs. our ceiling fans
Next, a cleaning experiment. Nathan bought a $40 hand vacuum (not a sponsor) because our ceiling fans are terrible to clean. To be clear, the fans are terrible. You are great.
It was fine in the bathroom. On the fan blades, not so much. It is going back to the store, and we will probably end up with a more expensive one that people keep recommending. Our verdict on the cheap one: do not recommend.
Check-in, the swag bag, and a rally buddy
Registration got us name tags, shirts, a backpack and a few goodies.
Check-in alone connected us with a lot of people. This rally has a rally buddy program: if you have been to one before, you can volunteer to look after a first-timer so they have someone to find and a way to start making friends. Our rally buddy invited us to tacos at someone's RV on the first night, in the rain.
The crowd was a mix of part-timers, full-timers, weekenders and soon-to-be full-timers, including a lot of people on the edge of retirement who have decided to go full time.
Day 2: trivia, after-parties and RV tours
Trivia night got us second place at our table, and then there was an after-party at someone's RV, where we stayed for a while.
The RV tours were the fun part for us. Every Brinkley starts out basically the same, so each one is like a blank canvas painted with its owner's personality. One owner had swapped a lot of the handles for wavy black ones, and it looked so good we are tempted. Fabiola loved another owner's curtains and got sent the link. Someone else had covers for the roof fans that you can slide closed from the inside, which they use for winter ski trips. We like that idea just for blocking light.
That morning someone also left a small painting at our door as a gift. It is going somewhere in the RV.
Day 3: crafts and cold nights by the fire
Saturday, Nathan slept in a little. Fabiola did not. She went to the craft session, made wine stoppers and fridge magnets (maybe a lot of them), and stayed to help other people finish drying theirs.
The after-party hangouts kept going every night, and that was almost our favorite part. You end up around a campfire, and that is when you actually get to talk and know people. Angel Fire is nice during the day and really cold at night, so the fire was not just for atmosphere.
The chili cook-off (and cornhole)
Fabiola does not like spicy food, so the chili cook-off was a calculated risk. The plan was for Nathan to taste first and report back. She worked through it one bean at a time.
Our votes are secret, but our favorite was a more tomatoey chili, and the coconut rice served alongside was delicious. There was also a "four bagger" caramel apple cider, named for the cornhole goal of landing all four bags. Once everyone had tried everything there was still a lot of chili left, so we went back with real bowls for big seconds of our favorites.
We also missed the group photo by two minutes. These people are punctual. Next rally, we will be early.
Riding the chairlift up the mountain
Angel Fire is a ski resort town, and we rode the chairlift up the mountain. It went a lot faster than we expected. At the top we did a short hike and could see the campground far below. Then burgers.
Bearing repack day with Performance Trailer Braking
One big advantage of a rally is that vendors come to you. On the final morning, Ashley from Performance Trailer Braking repacked our wheel bearings right at our site. We hired them; this is not sponsored. Anything with wheels and brakes is a safety item, and that is where our DIY ends. We would rather someone who really knows it does the work.
Before the hubs even came off, she spotted a problem with our leaf springs. Each spring pack is a stack of leaves, and ours were starting to "fan," meaning the leaves were no longer lined up neatly on top of each other. That usually means the U-bolts holding the springs to the axle have loosened out of torque spec. The fix was to loosen them, tap the pack back into line, add Loctite and re-torque to spec. In her words, we caught a spring before it broke.
What we found inside the hub
The front hub was fine. The rear one was not. When she pulled it off, the seal had failed and grease had gotten into the brake drum and onto the brake pads. That explained something we had already noticed: that brake had not been grabbing like it should.
Once grease soaks into the pads, they never work at 100% again. She cleaned everything up, said we would probably need to raise our brake controller gain a little from where it was at 6.5, and recommended replacing the brakes when we are parked for a while, on both sides of that axle.
She also explained why she does not recommend greasing through the fitting on the end of the spindle. You can't see what is happening inside, and with a bad seal you could just be pumping grease straight onto your brakes. For checking the bearings themselves, make sure every roller rolls, look for heavy burn marks, and expect a little play but nothing loose. As she spun the hubs, the old black grease pushed out and the new pink grease showed through.
Her maintenance advice:
- Repack bearings and check your springs once a year or every 10,000 to 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.
- Watch your tire tread. Uneven wear is one of the first signs something is wrong underneath.
- Every so often, look behind the wheels for broken springs or shackles. It can save you an emergency on the side of the road.
We went over our own under-the-rig routine in our undercarriage maintenance video and the wet bolt greasing guide. A repack opens up the hubs, which a walkaround never does.
Why you should try an RV rally
It was only four days, and we met so many people. Games, crafts, chili, fixing things and talking about the things that broke. If you have an RV, look for a rally for your brand. Brinkley has an official rally run by the company, and this one was unofficial, run by owners for owners. You can also pick a rally by interest, like the Junction Rally with Open Roading and Untethered, which was our first rally ever. This was our second.
Full-timers, part-timers, weekenders, summer trippers: it does not matter. If you have an RV, you can find people who understand life on the road.
Have you been to an RV rally? Which one should we try next? Tell us in the comments on the video.