Oh Boy!

We got about half way to Corpus Christi on Highway 77 when I felt a bit of a lurch and a noise from the front end of the motorhome. I slowed down and all seemed well. Norma thought we hit some metal on the road but I saw nothing. Then we stopped for lunch and the brakes made a loud squealing / grinding noise. Not completely unusual, it could have been caused by dust in the brakes. Then came a low level steady noise from underneath, sort of like running water. I made several test stops where all was normal and opened the hood and climbed underneath but all seemed well. All gauges were normal (temp, charging etc). We got close to the RV park when all of a sudden the cab filled with smoke and a strong burning rubber smell! I pulled over and a Texas Highway Patrol pulled in behind me with lights flashing. Both of us checked everything we could think of but could not find anything. It seemed OK idling with the problem appearing when we were moving. The noise seems to go up and down with the speed of the vehicle and not with the RPM of the engine.

As it was unsafe to remain on the narrow shoulder we all agreed for me to continue the four or five miles to the RV park slowly with the hazard lights flashing where we would call a Ford dealer. About half way there the smoke started again and this time I could also see it in the mirror behind me. We stopped again to let it cool down and then continued to the RV Park. We got an appointment tomorrow morning at the nearest Ford truck dealership and we are getting the rig towed there. It is about twenty miles and I have AAA RV Plus that gives me 100 miles of  free towing.

In the meantime we are trying to relax for the night. I set up the Starchoice, I guess we should try to act as normal as possible. It is actually quite nice here right on Corpus Christi Bay.