DAMAGE! Los Mochis to Guaymas - April 23

June 13, 2022

Day 3 route
Los Mochis to Guaymas

Day three of our journey out of Mexico started mid morning at around 10:00 a.m. when we left the Lima  truck stop in Los Mochis and headed for Guaymas.  Most of this stretch of road was also quite bad when we made it in December, so we were expecting more bad roads.  Expecting them is one thing, then the reality of driving on them kicks in as you hear and feel everything rattle in the RV while Dan navigates numerous pot holes on lengthy stretches of road.  Thankfully all our cats just curl up on the bed and seem unaffected for the most part by the road conditions.  Good thing we have a comfortable bed!  Heffay bears the brunt of it with us up front in the cab.  

The day started out as we expected, with bumpy potholed roads for certain bad stretches.  Thankfully there were periods of good road mixed in too which gave us a bit of reprieve.  

One thing we noticed during our travels in Mexico was that the condition of the toll roads seemed to depend on the state we were in.  Overall we travelled through three Mexican States - Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit.  By far the worst stretch of roads was in the state of Sinaloa. By the end of day three, we’d make it out of Sinaloa and into Sonora.  Sadly Sinaloa didn’t want us to leave without a reminder of how “wonderful” their roads were. We wouldn’t realize this “gift” until we were well into Sonora though.  

https://www.mexinsurance.com/destinations/

By noon we were driving through the centre of the city of Navajoa.  Although the toll roads often route you around the cities there are still some places where it takes you right through the centre of town.  Thankfully this town had nice and wide roads.  It was a very clean city with many businesses lining the main road including a McDonalds!  And, as in other larger Mexican cities it also had a variety of different vendors and entertainers at the major intersections.  Although we saw fire breathers and many many window washers I wasn’t able to capture any on camera.  I did have success capturing a short video clip of a juggler at one of the intersections though.  In Mexico there are so many creative ways people  make money.

Navajoa Centro, Sonora Mexico

Back to the “reminder” Sinaloa gave us of their roads.  Just before we left the state of Sinaloa we encountered some bizarre sections of toll road that appeared almost like detours but weren’t.  It was on one of these stretches littered with potholes that I remember Dan saying “what was that!” then asking me if everything looked ok on the rear view dash cam and on the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).  He had gone through some rough patches and felt something different in the steering wheel.  I looked at the rear view camera and at the TPMS and from what I could see all looked good so we continued on our way.  Lesson of the day = STOP if that ever happens again and confirm it is actually ok!

We have a routine when we drive.  Dan does the driving and monitors the numerous gauges in the dash and navigates the roads, traffic and obstacles while I monitor the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and rear view dash cam and of course keep an eye on our furry beasts.  The TPMS is a device that tells us the pressure of each of our 10 tires (6 on the RV and 4 on the truck).  Tiny monitoring devices mount to each of the tires where the tire air caps would screw on.  As we drive the system regularly runs through each tire sensors reading to report the tire pressure and temperature of each tire.  It’s an invaluable system to help monitor tire pressure and ensure you don’t have any issues going on that you otherwise wouldn’t know about possibly until it’s too late (such as a flat tire or overheating tire).    I also monitor the rear view camera to make sure everything looks ok with the truck as well as the kayak mounted to it’s roof.  I basically make sure it’s staying in line with the RV and nothing looks wonky.  

Pic of what a TPMS looks like

Having checked the systems, we continued on our way gradually experiencing better and better roads.  We were super excited to get on a new stretch of highway that diverted us around the city of Obregón, the second largest city in the state of Sonora.  It was an absolutely gorgeous highway, such a difference between the stretches of road we’d been on for the last day and a half!  Below is a short video clip showing a small section of the wonderful new road that goes around Ciudad Obregón.  

 

15D toll road around Ciudad Obregón
Not yet marked on Google Maps as the 15D

Things were going so smoothly.  After about two hours of driving we came upon a toll booth located just to the north of Ciudad Obregón - the Casita Libramiento Obregón Sonora.  It was here that the toll attendants alerted us to an issue with our tow bar and truck.  There was a bit of confusion around what they were trying to alert us to and that is when the attendant went and took a picture of the front of our truck where the tow bar connects so he could show us what he was seeing.  I got out of the RV to go inspect and that’s when we realized it had almost completely disconnected on one side and was on it’s last bolt!  We were so thankful they noticed it and after paying for the toll we pulled over right on the other side of the booth.  Although Dan felt something in the steering wheel when it initially happened, it seemed to balance itself out and we had no idea the damage that had occurred.  

There are often pull off sections at the tolls.  This was convenient in more ways than we could imagine because the toll station called a highway road mechanic to come and help us.  We were SO grateful to have his help, even though we were all at a bit of a loss as to how we could repair the damage.  We were also faced with the added challenge that he didn’t speak any English while we were only mildly familiar with Spanish. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the damage.  We just went right into problem solving mode and the last thing on my mind was grabbing my phone to take a picture.  I did manage to snap a couple shots of the repairs in progress but that wasn’t until probably hour two of this four hour ordeal.

Having taken no pictures of the actual damage I’ll do my best to describe what it is that happened and how it looked.  The first thing I remember thinking though is how lucky we were.  The damage was so bad that we could have at any time lost the connection between the truck and the RV.  Now, there are safety measures on the tow bar set up that would apply the brakes on the truck if it came disconnected but who knows what could have happened once it was disconnected!  Especially if it happened on a curve!  We were SO lucky!

Ok, back to the damage…what we figure happened is that in one of those bad stretches of road as we left the state of Sinaloa the truck likely dropped into a hole.  When navigating the RV around holes, it is pretty much impossible to also navigate the truck around them too.  As mentioned above, the truck connects directly behind the RV but it’s wheel base is much narrower than the RV’s so although the RV tires could miss a hole, the truck could end up hitting it.

What we discovered was the bolts that mounted the steel tow bar brackets to the truck had broken leaving the mounting bracket hanging by just one bolt.  In addition part of the heavy steel framing for the brackets was severely bent.   Thankfully our truck has a rock guard plate mounted under the front end and this plate actually caught the part of the bracket that was hanging and kept the last bolt from sheering off.  If we didn’t have that rock guard plate that last bolt would have sheared off way sooner and we’d likely have lost the truck.  

After at least three hours of labour and four different runs to the AutoZone parts store by the Mexican men who were helping us along with grunt force to bend back the steel framing bracket, we managed to reconnect the tow bar mounting brackets.  It was far from perfect though as having driven with it damaged for some time had not only sheered the bolts but had also widened the holes the bolts were in.  So while we were able to replace the bolts, the holes were too big and impeded our ability to tighten them down sufficiently but, we wouldn’t realize that until later.  

Then there was the issue of the tow bar itself which we quickly realized had also been damaged.  One arm was bent and would not lock into place as it is supposed to.  Without the ability to lock the arms we could not connect the truck.  And there is nowhere on our route in Mexico to purchase a replacement tow bar.  We would have to wait until we got into the US to do that.

So, after three and a half hours repairing the tow bar mounting brackets we said our farewells to the wonderful Mexican mechanic who was helping us out.  There was no charge for this service, it is part of the service provided on the toll roads.  When we tried to give him a tip he waved us off, but then we realized we were within eye sight of the main building of the toll booth and he would likely get in trouble for taking a tip.  To thank him for his time and service Dan had to be creative so he tucked a $500 peso bill into the palm of his hand and then shook the mechanic’s hand and said “muchas gracias”.  He knew exactly what Dan was doing and the transaction went off seamlessly, other than the big smile on the mechanic’s face.  Such a wonderful man!  We then headed down the highway with Dan driving the RV and me in front of him driving the truck.  Our destination for the night was an hour and a half away at a truck stop just north of Guaymas.  Thankfully, we have walkie talkies and were able to use those to stay connected while we drove to our destination for the evening.  

The final stretch of the day was tiring and stressful, all I could think about was whether we’d be able to fix the tow bar to be able to reconnect so that I didn’t have to drive through the border crossing on my own separated from Dan and the animals.  In a truck I’d be directed to a different area than Dan would go in the RV and I can only imagine that would make things very confusing for the border control people.  And, confusion at the border is the last thing anyone wants!

We made it without incident to our stop for the night at around 6 p.m.  Well I should say without incident until we were at the gates of the secure parking lot.  I was behind the RV waiting for Dan to proceed.  A security guard was at Dan’s door with a clipboard asking for $50 pesos for the night and for some reason Dan wasn’t moving.  I didn’t see him hand out any money from his window and the guard was just standing there staring up at him.  Unfortunately I didn’t have my walkie talkie.  Before going to the secure parking area I parked the truck and met Dan at the fuel station pumps so I could go and fill up the RV.  Although the attendants fill it, I need to unlock the fuel door and also watch that the pump is zeroed out before they start.  When I did this I inadvertently took my walkie talkie with me and left it in the RV figuring we didn’t need it anymore for the day.   *Side note:  when driving long distances Dan takes his prosthetic leg off as it is much more comfortable and easier on his back.  Because of that, I take care of filling the truck at the fuel stations.

So, here I am in the truck waiting behind Dan to get into the secure parking lot but Dan isn’t moving and I can’t figure out what is going on.  After waiting a few minutes I decide to get out and go see what is up.  I thought maybe the security guard was not going to let us park there, or there were language issues.  When I approach the guard I ask him if we can stay there and he says in Spanish yes, it’s $50 pesos then he looks at me strangely then motions toward Dan.  It’s then that I can see something is terribly wrong with Dan!  OMG, I run to the passenger side and quickly jump in asking him what happened.  I can see he is in agony and can’t move, but I don’t know what happened.  He asks me quickly to put the RV in neutral and apply the parking brakes (it’s a yellow button on the dash of air brake equipped vehicles).  He then asks me to grab his wallet which he had dropped on the floor and couldn’t reach.  He explained that when he went to get his wallet to pay the attendant he dropped it and when he bent over to pick it up he had the most severe pain in his stomach and was not able to move.  The pain was so severe it took his breath away and he was essentially immobilized.  OMG, could this day get any worse!?  I quickly pay the guard and Dan somehow manages to pull the truck into the lot and park.  The pain continued and he barely made it out of the driver seat and onto the bed.  All this time though I’m thinking OMG, who do we call, where do we go, what is happening, how serious is this?  Thankfully, after a bit of time it gradually subsided.   We think it was likely a pulled muscle or muscle spasm from being sprawled out on the concrete in odd positions for so many hours working on fixing the tow bar brackets.  We were both very grateful when it subsided and even more thankful that it has never recurred!  

Fletna truck stop, Guaymas

Once things settled and Dan was feeling better I had a chance to get Heffay out for a short walk to survey our accommodations for the night.  This Fletna truck stop was so much nicer than the truck stop we had stayed in the previous night in Los Mochis.  The best part was the amazing restaurant it had.  That night we had the most delicious burgers and french fries we’d had in months!!  We just barely finished our supper when exhaustion from stress of the day kicked in.  We slept like babies that night but not before Dan formulated a plan for how to safely connect the tow bar to the truck the next morning.

I am so grateful for Dans problem solving abilities.  He has MacGyver like instincts and is always quick on his feet to troubleshoot issues.  Our final day of travel in Mexico would be the next day - April 23.  We got up early, safely secured the truck to the RV following the plan Dan came up with the night before and hit the road before 8:00 a.m. This day we’d be exiting Mexico through the Nogales border which was about a 400 km drive.  All we had to do was get there with the truck still in tow safely behind us!  

Los Mochis to Guaymas - April 23

Total miles driven - 222 miles

Total number of tolls - 5 tolls

Total cost of tolls - $1,263 pesos (approx $80 Cdn)

Total cost of fuel - $25.35 pesos/litre - topped up about 1/3 tank (30 gallons) for $3,000 pesos ($188 Cdn)

Accomodation - $50 pesos ($3 Cdn)

Until next time / Hasta la proxima vez!