The first clue that something out of the ordinary was going to occur was the Arizona State Patrol car parking in the highway facing oncoming traffic. Shortly, another patrolman arrived and asked me to move our pickup truck and travel trailer farther off the highway even though we were already pulled off in a wayside enjoying lunch. It seemed a very wide load was on its way towards us and it needed to pull off the highway to let the parade of vehicles behind it pass. Soon I could see the procession of patrol cars, the wide load and the string of vehicles behind it slowly approaching. The wide load consisted of a lead truck with three rear axles all sporting duals, a specially built double wide trailer with ten axles, each axle had 8 wheels supporting it and bringing up the rear was a conventional semi tractor hooked to the rear of the trailer via a tow bar. The rear truck was there to push up the hills and supply additional braking on down grades. All told there were 104 tires on the ground moving what appeared to be a very large pressure vessel. How would you like to be the one that has to buy new tires for that rig?
Consider yourself lucky that the longest RV combinations need less than 10% of that amount of tires. That includes spares!
Dave Helgeson’s many roles in the RV industry started before he even had a driver’s license. His grandparents and father owned an RV dealership before the term “RV” had been coined, and Dave played a pivotal role in nearly every position of an RV dealership. He and his wife Cheri launched their own RV dealership in the Pacific Northwest. The duo also spent 29 years overseeing regional RV shows. Dave has also served as President of a local chapter of the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA), worked on the board of advisors for the RV Technician Program of a local technical college, and served as a board member of the Manufactured Home and RV Association. Dave’s reputation earned him the title of “The foremost expert on boondocking,” bestowed by RV industry icon, the late Gary Bunzer (The RV Doctor). When he’s not out boondocking, you’ll find Dave in the spotlight at RV shows across the country, giving seminars about all things RVing. He and Cheri currently roam in their fifth travel trailer, with Dave doing all the service, repair and modifications to his own unit.
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