We are Kyle and Renee. Hop onboard HappilyEverHanks! For the best RV living tips, secrets, and inspiration, you’ve come to the right place. Embarking on our journey in 2017, we transitioned from conventional nursing roles into travel nursing. This life-changing decision eventually led us to discover and fully embrace the RV lifestyle, which we now share as full-time digital storytellers.
We have a twofold mission at HappilyEverHanks: to educate the public about the authentic, sometimes challenging aspects of RV living, and to inspire individuals to break free from their comfort zones. Through our content, we impart real value to both the experienced RV community and those newly interested in this way of life.
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Our brand new 2023 Transcend needed 8K in warranty repairs before it left the dealer lot..... Granted, Grand Design went above and beyond repairing everything which included a complete reroof, I'm not going back to GD.
What dumb asses you are! What do you expect? You try hauling an entire house around the entire country and then wonder why the POS is falling apart. Why do you continue your punish yourself- why ????
Check your PROPANE REGULATOR! My propane fireplace pilot kept going out like you described your oven pilot is doing. A new regulator isn't expensive and it's a DIY repair that you can swap out in just a few minutes. I hope you get all the things fixed soon! It's like a house, always something!
If you don't have a Sam's Club membership but you do have a Wal-Mart Plus membership you can still fill up at Sam's Club. Something I had noticed the Murphy's discount for Walmart plus and the Sam's Club price in an area are typically the same.
A friend of ours rented an RV to live in while their house was being built. Mom and Dad, and 5 kids under 10yrs old. When they returned it the dealer told them they were just going to burn it. Anything that was fragile, it was broken. It did not surprise me. When I helped them move out of their old house and put everything in storage, the refrigerator stayed on the truck, it had to go into the shop for rebuilding. Never heard of that before. When I asked about it, they told me the interior needed to be replaced, because kids have used the shelves and door for a ladder. Yea the RV didn’t have a chance. Small note here, after the house was completed, the kids would jump out the second story window into the backyard pool!
Dang I didn't know you had a Grand Design. I hadn't connected you guys to the controversy going on with them until just now. Grand design is really leading the way in the worst of the RV industry and that's saying a lot.
By definition "RVs" are not intended for full time habitation and driving the amount that full timers travel. Add to the mix a trip to Alaska (aka death for RV rigs) and you have a laundry list of repairs. In an effort for manufacturers to keep them light and affordable to the recreational user they must be woefully under engineered for full time use. It is the nature of the the beast. The best defense is to keep doing what you are currently doing and learn as much as you can about your rig and all of its major systems (plumbing, electric, suspension, etc, etc) and take the time to repair or even re-engineer as things come up. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your repairs.
The more of these that i see, the happier i get not being able to stand up inside my Express. Cold rainy days are a drag, but my fear of structural failure is near zero.
It isn't cheap unless you camp host or have discount passes as a senior. I tell people all the time it costs as much for me to live in an RV as it did to live in a house. And no, I don't park in the middle of nowhere with no water, electric, garbage, or shower. That's ridiculous.
Please contact us to have a high quality build made for you. Ours are built for full time living. Custom and each is made to order- not stapled together and slapped out like those are
Our slide on our Imagine is grinding on the bottom too. Our aft axle (not original) needs to be replaced, so we are replacing both axles with a bit larger ones. Hoping the axle replacement helps the slide issue. We’ve had a lot of tire issues which have stemmed from the axles too. Our list is long… but we are parked and tackling it! I had a client at the boat yard I managed tell me: “Every few years you need to buy your boat back” meaning you have to put money back into the boat. Same with RVs too. Oh yeah, we recently took out our power jack too. And then there is our truck… 😖
omg, it's my birthday... came home from a birthday dinner to big old leak in my trailer.... that I've already put $1500 into fixing. I'm feeling y'all ❤
Howdy...Just stumbled across your channel earlier today and have been scrolling thru some of your videos. Not exactly new to the game, but have learned a lesson or 2. First TT me and the Mrs picked up was a 34 foot toy hauler from Forest River. Not once in 4 years did I ever pull it. It was moved twice for me by transport companies, once when we bought it (from Chicago when new to Kansas) and a second time from Kansas to our Northern Minnesota cabin on 5 acres. Guaranteed my F-150 was not gonna do the job. It did come in handy for 4 years and being "The Cabin", but I just was not in the position to get the proper rig to tow it. It was a great learning curve on the overall aspect of the fridge, slide outs, heating and AC, water pumps and plumbing. We sold it in 2018 when we moved to the mountains of Colorado, but we did get some great insights as to what we really needed. Now, fast forward to today. We are about to buy a 2015 Hideout from Keystone, 21 foot, single axel. I am getting it from a guy I work with, and have also had the opportunity to have rented it these last 3 years. In that time, we have found that there is no leakage, all components inside work just fine (fridge, heat, AC, electrical, water heater and plumbing, etc). We also found out that the layout inside was very much to our liking and needs. Perfect for me and the Mrs, and most importantly the dog. Towing with my F-150 is a breeze in these mtns at 9 to 11,000 feet. It feels good, very maneuverable with that single axel. You have a new subscriber with me. Love your content.....
Thanks for sharing everything with us! We all keep coming back for more. Looking forward to seeing Solly looking like new again. BTW we love hearing train whistles. Hope all of you slept well there. Again #ThanksHanks
If you are towing your RV nose high you need address that issue. By riding nose high you will be putting more weight on the rear axle and that may be causing your tire wear issue. I could either be camber or toe out. You can check camber with a level, the tire should probably be straight up an down. You can check toe with any strait edge across both tires. It should contact both the front and back of both tires evenly at the centerline of the tires. Good luck.
I used to have a 5th wheel when I started to full time. Never again. I have a used 2006 class A diesel pusher. Yes, I've had to repair things, as expected, but not nearly on the scale of my 5rh wheel. I keep the temp at 65f during the winter and it's warm inside. As for your blowouts: have you weighed your unit? What load range are your tires? Go one range higher. Costco (if you're a member) has great prices. They will sometimes mount and balance your RV tires, but you'll probably have to take them somewhere else. Good luck.
Always enjoy your videos. I also was finding excess wear on the inside edge of one of my travel trailer tires. When I pulled the wheel to service the bearings and hub, I found that the castle nut for that wheel was way too loose. This allowed too much camber on that wheel. The castle nuts should be snuggled down to about 50ft lbs and then backed off to hand tight plus a quarter turn. You should not be able to "wiggle" the wheel by hand.
You were talking about the front landing gear. We bought our first ever RV a 2017 GD Reflection 367 BHS new in 2017. Had it 7 seasons and had to replace both front landing gears. I can speak personally it is a DIY job. It’s not bad at all. Just need big sturdy blocks and a jack to support the side you remove the landing gear from. Bought exact Lippert replacement online from Lippert directly.
Your side looks good after the blow out. We had to use 8 zip ties to hold up all the aluminum skirting with our blow out a few years ago just to get us off the New York State thruway and to our camping destination. Ended up taking over 6 months for parts and repairs, and $4000 !
Out of curiosity - have y’all ever stayed at any auto racetrack (NASCAR etc) during a “downtime”? Some tracks are set up for use during races, but I’m not sure about hook-ups (a VIP lot vs center) the rest of the time. 🤓
Kyle and Renee. I feel your pain on your RV troubles. But, on a good note, some of the things you showed are a 15 minute or less fix. Yes it's fluctuating. But you RV does take a beating on some roads. But, even your slide rubbing the floor should be fixed with an adjustment to compensate wear over the yrs. Just think of how many times yall have slid it in and out!!! Take a breath, have a glass of wine, look on the bright side. Yall are living the life many will only dream about. Keep the videos coming friends. We are all pulling for The Hanks. God bless.
Love hanging out with you guys! Curious if you guys have hit every state yet? Also, all those crappy repairs...it's the same junk in an old home...everywhere I turn there's crap breaking in my old house lol! Can't wait to be on the road experiencing the same thing....yay...hahaha! Thanks for all the great content!!
The 3rd issue you showed with needing caulk redone, looks like you might have a water leak issue. The plywood/partical board has expanded and pushed your molding down. We had the same issue on our fiver.
