Most of it was on paved farm roads that run through the sugar cane fields. The road surface was not the best, due to the heavy trucks that are used for the sugar cane... but at least it wasn't dusty like a dirt road would have been.
Here's some scenery along the way...
Sugar cane fields.
Entering the city of Ciudad Valles (pop 180,000).
The reason we detoured into the city was because Igor had developed a bad rear u-joint. This wasn't really news to me, since there had been an odd ticking noise for a few months now, and I was pretty sure it was coming from the u-joint. It finally developed into an annoying squeak, and I had put it off long enough. It's pretty rare for a u-joint to fail entirely, but we certainly didn't want that to happen so we had better do something about it.
The iOverlander app has a section listing mechanics, and sure enough there was one with reviews here in Ciudad Valles. It was easy to find, and we parked out front. The guy spoke zero English, but I was able to describe the problem and showed him a photo of the u-joint because I didn't know the name for it in Spanish. Turns out it's called a "cruceta".
He said that if I walked over to the nearby AutoZone store (a 7 minute walk) and bought the part, he would install it for me right away.
Ruth stayed and kept Igor company, and I walked to the busy AutoZone store. This area has a ton of mechanic shops, and auto parts shops. AutoZone and O'Reilly Auto Parts, two of the biggest auto parts stores in the U.S. have both expanded into Mexico over the past 8 years or so. But there are still a lot of independent auto parts shops as well.
The guy at AutoZone got onto his computer and his system listed 6 or 7 different options. We thought we got it narrowed down to the right one, and I bought it for 250 pesos ($17.20 CAD, $12.25 USD).
Back at the mechanic shop, I gave the guy the part, and he and his teenage son got to work. I figured it would take an hour or so, so Ruth and I decided to go find some lunch while they got the job done.
We got a little sidetracked and went and did some grocery shopping as well, so it was almost two hours later that we got back to the shop. Expecting Igor to be ready to go, I was surprised that the driveshaft was still out and lying on the bench. Turns out it was not the correct u-joint.
He gave me the old one (and it really was in rough shape!) and sent me back to the AutoZone to exchange it. The guy there compared it to the other ones that were supposedly for this van, and none of them were exact. One was really close though, and he thought it would fit. Of course I'm trying to do all of this in Spanish which made it a bit difficult!
Back at the mechanic, he turned it down. He actually got out his little measuring gadget and said it was about 2 mm too big. He said he would go himself, and set off walking.
He came back about a half an hour later, with what he said was the right one. He sent me back to the AutoZone (for the third time!) to return the other one which he wasn't able to do because I had paid with my credit card.
I got that done, and as I'm walking back, who is coming towards me but the mechanic and his son! He said there was a problem with the third u-joint attempt, but I didn't understand his explanation. Anyhow, he said to follow him, and we went to an independent auto parts place where there was an old guy who looked like he had been in the auto parts business for 50 years. And there was not a computer screen in sight.
The mechanic plunked our old u-joint down on the counter, the old guy had a quick look at it, went into the back, and came out with exactly the right item! I guess experience beats a computer in this situation!
Back at Igor, the mechanic and his son got to work, and forty minutes or so later the job was done.
And the bill for his labor? 300 pesos ($20.50 CAD, $14.60 USD)!
I gave the guy 500 pesos and told him to give 50 pesos to his son. The guy was quite happy, and so were we!
Glad to get that fixed.
I had read of a place by the river here in town that does boat tours, and some other RV'ers have stayed overnight on the property. But the reviews were a few years old. We found the place, and the gate was open, but there was nobody around. It was quite run down looking. I went and used the bathroom, and you could tell they hadn't been cleaned in weeks (months?).
Anyway, we found somewhere to park. Eventually, a guy came around and I asked if we could stay the night. He said it was fine, but we had to park in a different spot and he motioned towards a big old tree that we could park under. That would do just fine, and if we didn't need electricity it was no charge.
Slept fine!
Today, we are off to the Micos Waterfall. This is one that we tried to go to in March 2020 with our last Mexico RV caravan group, but it was closed due to the start of Covid.
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Queen Sheet Sets on lightning deal!
And in Canada...
Great deal on Blink Security Cameras.
You are right, You don't want to lose a U-Joint. Having had Three Econolines, it was not fun. At least it wasn't the front joint.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Kevin knew when the squeak started to get louder that is was definitely time to get it fixed and he already notices athe difference in the driving now that it has been replaced.
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