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Along the Natchez Trace

Sunday, September 28, 2014

On The Mend...

This applies to both our motorhome and myself....

Thanks to all of you who wished me a speedy recovery.  I get impatient and expect instant results..... I have to remind myself that I fell pretty hard and those little stitches are minor when I look at the bruises on my knees turning lovely shades of green and yellow and the scrapes on my hands scabbing up.  I drove to church this morning and had no problem with the clutch pedal, so figure I'm well on the way.

The motorhome is still under repair...
The AC is fixed...  the rear shocks were checked but appear okay.  The front right shock is bad...  Bill is still trying to get the left shock out; it might be good, but it's going to be replaced anyway.  Makes me wonder...  why would the right front be worn out and the left front good?  I'm not tiny, but not overweight...  Bill has at least 50 pounds on me...  hmmmm......  

I had to ask what all has been happening to the rig's innards...  So far they've replaced the ac compressor and dryer, replaced the alternator, replaced all hoses, replaced the water pump and thermostat. They've replaced the belt and tensioner and idler bearing; replaced carrier bearing and u-joints.  They've cleaned the radiator and replaced fluids.  They also replaced the steering stabilizer.  Right now the front shocks are under repair...
This is how I see Bill these days...
Being a bit paranoid, I had to go out and check how we're jacked up...  looks pretty secure and Bill assures me it's okay.

We'll be parked here until mid-December when we return from our Asia trip, so some of the work might be put on hold until new shocks arrive.  Apparently shocks are under lifetime warranty as long as the vehicle belongs to the original owner.  I don't know where we'll have to send the old ones, but it probably costs a fortune to UPS them there.  No matter...  things need done.

It must sound like we are a rattle-trap waiting to fall apart along the road.  But really, most of these repairs are kind of like "preventative medicine"....  fix it before it breaks.  We're fortunate that Bill checks things regularly and even more fortunate that he can fix almost anything.  And especially fortunate that Victor, our son-in-law is not only willing, but eager to help.  He has not only the expertise but the necessary tools and equipment to make this project work.

Both me and the Lazy Daze will be back to normal soon.

That's All For Today!






11 comments:

  1. Glad you are on the mends. I am sure Bill had the RV blocked up in a very safe way. My father-in-law said that I was dangerous when I picked up a wrench. You know, I think he was right.

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  2. Preventive maintenance pays off in big ways down the road, and with peace of mind! :c)

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  3. In all my traveling, I missed your last post so had to go back and read about your tumble. Glad to hear you and the rig are getting all fixed up. ;)

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  4. Yes, excellent to have an in house mechanic. Or, on the ground, as the case may be. Glad you're mending.

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  5. That sounds very painful! Hope you're better soon.

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  6. If it is mechanical it will eventually wear out. Nice to get things all fixed up again ready to get back in the road again.

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  7. Glad to hear both of you are on the mend. Asia is your next trip--such adventuresome souls you are!

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  8. Glad you're healing up! It's really nice that Bill can do a lot of the fixing himself - that's quite a savings for you.

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  9. I wonder why the right shock is worn out but not the left. I have never replaced the front struts on my Scion. The rear has shocks which are easy to change by myself with few tools but the front is struts and so much harder. I did replace struts myself once on another car, using C clamps to compress the suspension spring but I was younger then and lived dangerously. Now I can't even break the bolts free on the top, for the front struts. I shove down the front of the car and it bounces right back up so I think o.k., they're fine. But can they be, with 300,000 miles on the car, can they still be fine? But there's little weight put on those front struts with such a tiny light engine, so maybe that's why they still seem adequate after so many miles on them. I hate doing mechanic work myself, having to study up first on youtube, then use inadequate tools, so you are very luck to have a husband who is mechanical and a son in law too, and all the tools. That's a lot of value right there.

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  10. Glad to hear you're healing fast. Seems like the older we get, the longer it can take for bruises to fade.

    Our Guppy is also built on a Ford and has engine parts that come close to being inaccessible by ordinary mortals. The S.O. did a tune-up after we bought it and was cursing fluently just trying to get at the spark plugs. It's an 8-cylinder engine. When he finally got the last two plugs out, he discovered they were probably original equipment, which struck both of us as real good evidence it pays to know how to do basic mechanic tasks yourself. We bought the Guppy used (it's a 1989 Rockwood), so odds are previous owners got ripped off at a garage when they paid for tune-ups. The mechanic(s) changed the six easy to get at plugs and ignored the other two.

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