By the time we arrive in Ottawa, he will have been sitting for a full year!
And I bet I could turn the key and he would fire right up, raring to go!
But, there are those minor issues I mentioned that I need to take care of.
There's a broken bracket that holds part of the body onto the frame. I don't really see the point of it, but there is obvious stress on it or it wouldn't have broken. I'll take it off and get it welded or get someone to fabricate a new one.
There is another body section that also mounts to the frame at the front end. It's a poor design and I've seen it broken on other models the same as Sherman. I need to reinforce that section because I am sure that it will cause a problem eventually.
Sherman, waiting patiently for us at our daughter's house.
The U-joints need replacing. I can hear them starting to "clunk" when you put it into gear.
The power steering belt needs to be tightened. It's sometimes got that annoying screeching noise when you fire it up. I've tried tightening it up before, but it's so hard to get at the bolts. I may actually need to pay someone to do this. Maybe I'll get them to do the U-joints too.
I've got that new charge controller to install for the solar system. Then, somewhere along our way through the United States before we get to Mexico I'm going to buy four new Trojan T-105 batteries. The ones we currently have, I installed in March of 2010! We'll see... I might try and squeeze one more winter out of them!
Hmm. That's about all I can think of. The tires were new in the spring of 2016, so they should last the two year trip. I'll have the brakes inspected, but I think they will be fine as well. Oh, I also want to change the upper and lower rad hoses and put new clamps too. That I can do myself.
That should about do it. I'm sure there will be more that I come across as I'm inspecting things, but nothing serious.
Can't wait to get on the road again!
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I have a contemporary of Sherman (1992 Chevy P30, 96000 miles.) I figure on a few hours of maintenance or repair for every week on the road. But then I'm told by people with newer units that they are really not much better...
ReplyDeleteThat's sounds about right. Although we have heard about people with new units that have had way more problems than we have ever had with our older unit over the past 10 years! We are quite happy sticking with Sherman. :-)
DeleteAs long as you've got sun the batteries will be fine. It's when you go several days without sun that it becomes an issue. Our batteries are 7 years old. They start the night at 12.7 and in the morning are at 12.3. But, we use the LED television for movies and our laptops plus, when it's cold the electric blanket. We have the pane in the front of the rv so we can park the bedroom in the shade and that pretty much keeps us charged. I used the generator twice for a few wasteful minutes because someone wanted coffee from the coffeemaker. We did all of Canada without the generator though. Close calls a couple of nights but overall the solar with our deficient batteries did well. Time to spring for some new ones I guess.
ReplyDelete". . . . because someone wanted coffee from the coffeemaker." LOL! I wonder who that was. Does anyone perk coffee in a coffee pot on the burner of a gas stove anymore? It's a heck of a lot tastier than drip coffee if you have the water to coffee proportions right. However, after our old pot is worn out, it's hard to find a good quality new replacement.
DeleteAgreed Chris! We think that we will probably be good for the winter in Mexico with the batteries that we have and then get new ones on our way north next spring. However that will all depend on how they made out over the summer and how they perform through the fall on our way to the Texas/Mexico border.
DeletePreventive maintenance sure does pay off in the long run, get things all working great and you should be good to go. Our coach is a 1999 with 135,000 miles on it and still runs like a top.
ReplyDeletePreventive maintenance definitely makes all the difference. Your coach looks great and you can tell you have looked after it well over the years.
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