Drew Callahan

“Drew, my slide won’t budge anymore — it was grinding for weeks, I ignored it, and now the motor’s completely dead. Do I just swap in a new motor and call it fixed?” That’s the question that lands in my inbox about twice a month, and it’s the one that tells me someone’s about to … Read more

I’ve got my head halfway into the water compartment on this Puma 25RLSS, hand on the thermostat housing, and it’s stone cold — the kind of cold that tells me right away this isn’t a fuel supply problem or a control board hiccup. The element’s running (you can hear it), the rig’s plugged in, but … Read more

A shop quoted me $385 last month to replace the furnace igniter on a 2060BH that rolled into their service bay with nothing but clicking sounds when the owner cranked the thermostat up. That’s labor alone—add the part and you’re looking at north of $500 for what amounts to a 20-minute job if you’ve got … Read more

Most Dutchmen Aspen Trail 2060BH owners don’t catch a failing water pump until it’s already stopped working—by then, you’ve got low pressure, weak flow at the fixtures, and a system that’s been cycling itself to death trying to compensate. The real trap is waiting for catastrophic failure instead of replacing the pump at the first … Read more

What’s the one safety device in your Aspen Trail that you never think about until it either screams at you at 3 a.m. or stops working entirely? Your LP gas detector—and when one of those two things happens, you’re facing either sleep deprivation or an actual risk to your family. I’ve pulled plenty of failed … Read more

I was three weeks into a late-September loop through the Blue Ridge when I first caught the smell—not overpowering, just a whisper of something off seeping up from the bathroom corner of my 160RBT. I’d been using that toilet daily, and the handle had gone soft, almost mushy, in a way that didn’t register until … Read more

Walk into a dealer service bay and they’ll tell you the roof vent fan on your KZ Sportsmen Classic 160RBT can’t be tackled at home—it’s sealed, it’s electrical, just bring it in. Then you hit the forums and everyone’s bragging about swapping one out in their driveway with basic hand tools. The dealer’s wrong. This … Read more

So your KZ Sportsmen Classic 160RBT’s awning fabric is shot — torn, faded, or so sun-damaged it’s practically cardboard — and you’re wondering if this is a $500 dealer job or something you can tackle yourself. The answer: it’s doable on your own, but only if you know what fabric actually survives more than a … Read more

Dealer service bulletins won’t mention it, and your Alliance Avenue 32RLS owner’s manual certainly won’t flag it as a predictable failure—but the stabilizer jack on these rigs fails in ways that are almost as reliable as the sunrise. I’ve pulled dead motors out of a dozen of these trailers, dealt with seized scissor mechanisms that … Read more

I was sitting at a rest stop outside Flagstaff, Arizona—engine off, air brakes fully charged—when I felt it: a subtle scrubbing sensation through the brake pedal on a gentle downhill test, followed by the trailer swaying just enough to make my stomach drop. Not a hard grab. Not a complete failure. Something worse: a brake … Read more