Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Emergency Roadside Repair! - Part 2

    Last week I began a trip I believed would be wonderful and relaxing. Likely the last one of the season for me. It started with a bang, and not in a good way! A hose ruptured and put me on the side of the road. Well, that was just the beginning of what the universe had in store. Next up, the incredible disintegrating rear brake. I made it another 400 miles down the road before I decided to stop for the night at a mountaintop rest area someplace in South Carolina. About 500 miles from my destination. While slowing down, my brake warning light lit up and my pedal went to the floor. Now what?

After getting some sleep, I awoke and began to try and figure out what happened. Seemed like my vacuum brake booster had stopped working and the pedal was at the floor. I thought that since I could still stop, but I pulled off the hose at the booster and tested for vacuum with the engine running it was fine. The brake reservoirs were very low on the back circuit and BEHOLD I had a stream and puddle of fluid behind one of the back wheels. Well, that was it, the rear left brake was toast. I followed the emergency guys back to their shop and worked out a repair schedule. Little did we know that it would be our erstwhile home for 2 days!

Typical Auto Parts Supplier
It wasn't that they weren't nice nor accommodating, rather the surroundings were...well a bit "repo yard." After a long disassembly period and short diagnosis time, a bunch of parts were needed, Problem was none would get there until the following morning so, stuck again. This time, we had power, but not enough to run the air conditioner. The pace in the shop, was...well...leisurely at best. All I wanted to do was get back on the road. The parts (most of them) arrived near the agreed to time, (most of them anyways) We were then stuck waiting for the mechanics to finish and we waited and waited. Nothing I could do would speed up up the  process, so we waited some more, hoping for a fix to get us moving quick;y. Not to be. After two days most of the parts arrived, bit some didn't. We  finally got out of there and got onto our destination without delay.

The bottom line is not everything that needed to be fixed was. I am still riding on worn bearings (inner and outer) on the rear passenger side. They could fail at any time. I MAY have purchased the correct bearing from an auto parts store but no guarantee they are correct for my Aero Cruiser.

Wish me luck!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com


4 comments:

  1. A 28 year old motor home, no brakes and "...still riding on worn bearings..."!!! Should be a lawn ornament, not rolling down the highway!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown,
      With proper maintenance and repair ANY vehicle can be safe on the highway. Breakdowns happen to ALL vehicles regardless of age.

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete
  2. Rich, I feel your pain. I'm normally self sufficient. I carry enough tools in my 40' 04 Newmar MADP to fix or repair almost anything. On our way south out of MN this year, less than 90 miles down the highway I had a coolant hose rupture over my rear axle. I didn't have spare hose or coolant or the desire to work in the lake of coolant under the vehicle. I called emergency road service, and got a mobile repair to fix it for me. $484 lighter we were back on the road by midnight and comfortably boondocking in the Cabelas in Owatonna, MN by 3 am. I also have many other tales of roadside repairs on my previous vintage motorhome that you could probably identify with. Hopefully your repair adventures will be done after the wheel bearings are replaced. I hope that's before they cause a spectacular flame out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan,
      Thankfully, I made it back the 100 miles from Florida and am in the process of replacing all the bearings now. I've already ordered extra hoses to fit all fittings and should be good to go.

      BTW: I love Cabela's!

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete

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