Drew Callahan · April 19, 2026
I had a Grand Design Solitude roll into the yard a couple summers back with an AC unit that wouldn’t kick in — shop quoted the owner $680 just to diagnose and replace the capacitor, plus labor. Sixty bucks for the part itself, nearly seven hundred out the door. That’s when I realized how many … Read more
Drew Callahan · April 17, 2026
It was late November, parked at a pull-through in the high desert outside Flagstaff, when I first heard the click-click-click that wouldn’t finish. The igniter would spark, the blower would kick on, but the flame never caught. By the third night, my family was running the engine for heat between campfire sessions, and I was … Read more
Drew Callahan · November 28, 2025
RV Slide-Out Motor and Gear Replacement “Drew, my Solitude’s bedroom slide grinds halfway out and then just quits. Dealer wants eight hundred bucks just to look at it. Can I swap the motor myself, or am I going to crack the frame trying?” That’s the message I got from a fellow full-timer in Quartzsite last … Read more
Drew Callahan · November 28, 2025
RV Water Heater Thermostat and Heating Element Replacement I’m standing in front of the water heater access panel on a Grand Design Solitude, and the owner just told me they haven’t had hot water for three weeks. Three weeks of cold showers, lukewarm rinses, and a growing sense that something inside this hybrid system has … Read more
Drew Callahan · November 28, 2025
RV Awning Fabric and Motor Replacement I paid $1,847 to a dealer once for what turned out to be a three-hour awning fabric and motor replacement on a Grand Design Solitude—labor charges that could have bought the parts twice over and paid for a couple nights’ camping. That bill taught me something hard: when you … Read more
