Winter Vacation 2013-2014

[Froggy1936]

Sorry Kev but if the speed meter is working and the miles recorder is not Its not the cable . The gearing inside is broken  It may be repairable at a speedo shop wich since you have to pull it out either way may be the easiest way to keep actual mileage record (a used one would have to visit a speedo shop to adj mileage)  Locate a shop near you next resting area and pull it out when you get there drop it off /reinstall whenever time allows Or search for any truck / R/V with same dash for a used one wich could do the same thing in a few miles Dont forget to disconnect the starting battery  you dont want to let the smoke out of the wires Frank

[recycled55]

Hey Kev before you go pulling it out take a few pushes on the reset button. I had one that would stick sometines on reset. Resetting it a few more times sometimes brings it back into action.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Its the twist type of reset, not push button...and I tried resetting it a few times to no avail.  Not a biggie though...I'll try to find another one or have this one fixed, maybe while we are at the Arizona renfaire.  At least the speedometer part still works!  But estimating gas mileage now is going to a matter of rough estimates until then.

We had a great visit with our friends Ande and Brian, who pulled into the campground with us, and we are all pulling out today.  They are on their way east to Tampa, while we of course are headed West on I-10.  1650 miles to Tombstone!  Woohoo!  Should take us about 4 days if we drive 8 hours a day.

Not much to do before we leave...checkout is at 11am, so we are taking our time.  Patti is coloring her hair while we have the grey tanks hooked to the park sewer, and when she's done I'll be taking a shower as well...we REALLY like this on demand water heater!

Pretty soon I'll be hooking up the Jeep and checking all the fluids and pressures, but the pups will have to have breakfast first and take yet another walk (they woke me at 2am and then again at 6am...I think they are pretty much housebroken now!  Not the best thing for my sleep cycle, but sure is good for my carpets...lol!)

Did I mention just how good perculator coffee is?...

Kev

[Froggy1936]

Hey Kev, You might have mentioned it, 5 or 6 times !  But now for your secrets i?? What brand of Coffee do you use How many scoops per full pot of water (8 or 12 cup pot ?) How long do you perk it And what type mix ? Milk, cream or dry real sugar or sweetner ? We need the whole formula !!! W% Frank

[ClydesdaleKevin]

LMAO!  Corningware Perk pot, 9 cup capacity.  5 scoops of any Columbian bean, even cheap Walmart brand tastes great, and if you grind your own beans, even better!  I drink it black, no sugar.  Patti likes it sweet and light, but prefers Coffeemate to anything else...and real sugar.  Start with hot water, let it get to a good roiling perk, then turn it down to a low flame and let it perk for a few more minutes...perfection in a cup!

So we left the campground in Marienna, FL and drove all the way to the Flying J in Gulfport, Mississippi, about 30 miles out from the Louisianna border.

I think they are a special kind of stupid here in Mississippi.  This is one of the last Flying Js left that have RV Only signs in their parking lot, and still the morons park in the RV slips in their little cars and trucks!  We were lucky enough to get into one after we gassed up when we got here, and are here for the night.

Then I went to turn on the inverter, and it just gave me an alarm.  BEEEEEP!!!.  I checked all the connections and voltage, and all was well, but my old Coleman inverter had apparently pooped the bed.

At least we were at the Flying J!  They had a similar model with the same output at a good price, so I bought it.  Its a Powerdrive modified sine wave, 1500 watt, 3000 peak, just like what the Coleman was.  First I just hooked it up temporarily to make sure it was indeed a fact that the Coleman died, and it worked perfectly.  So out came the Coleman, and in went the Powerdrive.  Works great, and has a one year warranty.  It has another neat feature as well...it has an LCD display that tells you volts in, and watts out.  So with everything off, it was reading 0 watts out.  With the TV on, it was reading between 60-70 watts out, and then when I plugged in the tablet to charge it, it read steady at 70 watts.  Pretty useful information, since Amps=Watts/Volts.  So with the TV on and the tablet charging, we are using 5.833 amps.  NEAT!

We are going to check the fluids in the morning and get an early start, and should be at least past Houston by tomorrow night...hopefully a good way into Texas.

Everything else is running awesome on the rig...and a very rough estimate of MPG is around 7.5.  Very acceptable to me with the power gains we've achieved!  I'm really starting to think about GearVendor or an overdrive tranny someday in the future.

So far so good!

1441 miles to go!

Kev

[Froggy1936]

Hey Kev Dont forget about Flories bar and dance hall in Heloties/ Town where Willie Nelson/ Elvis and a slew of others played Just north/west of San Antonio on rt 16  Worth the slight jog on your way west  Frank

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We got an early start, but it was SUPER windy coming out of Louisiana, and my safe travelling speed varied between 40 and 50 mph.

Finally got to the Flying J in Orange, TX to gas up, and the Texans are even dumber than the folks from Mississippi!  Every last RV spot had a tiny car or two in it!  This was around 3pm, and we knew we'd never make it to Houston before rush hour, so wanted to pull in for the night.

Apparently, Pilot has issued an edict to all Flying Js that they cannot enforce the RV parking rule, and are not allowed to ask people to move.  Bad move, Pilot!  That's gonna cost you a lot of business!

Anyhow, we decided to go a bit further and just stop overnight in an RV park.  Found one in Beaumont, TX called Hidden Lake RV Resort.  Cheap enough, cable, etc...and just for the night.  We'll roll through Houston bright and early tomorrow on a weekend day.

1120 Miles to go until Tombstone, AZ!  With a hopeful segway to Carlsbad Caverns...last year the roads were iced up.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Slight change of plans because of the impending weather forecast.  All the major stations and websites agree that starting tonight and ALL day tomorrow, its going to be wicked bad winds and thunderstorms, even a possibility of tornadoes all the way from where we are in Beaumont, TX out to Florida.

Yay.

So we paid for another night...I hate driving in the rain, and even more the high winds anticipated.

Supposed to be perfect traveling weather on Sunday, so we'll get an early start and drive as far as we can to make up for lost time.

Kev

[DonD]

Smart move Kev.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Lazy day today, that's for sure!  Crummy outside, but we have cable...lol! 

We are going to go to bed fairly early tonight and hit the road before the sun comes up.  That way maybe we can get ahead of all the last minute Houston Christmas shoppers!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

The storm came in later than they said it would, but it was a doozie!!!  Rig rocking all over the place and the campground essentially flooded.  The water was up the tires a good 3-4 inches...but it all pretty much receded now.

And no winds anymore either...yay!

Pups got us up early...around 5...so we'll be hitting the road shortly.  Just need to get some coffee in my system, take a shower, feed the pups, take them out again, and hit the road!

The goal is to make it to at LEAST San Antonio today, and hopefully a good bit further.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

847 miles to go, but Houston, we have a problem!

Actually past Houston now, at the Flying J in San Antonio.

This morning's trip started out just fine with an early start and all systems go.

Then we started to get serious vapor lock about 100 miles out.  I knew the symptoms, and its happened before.

We made it through Houston in the early Sunday morning holiday traffic...not bad at all for Houston...and pulled into the next Flying J to fill up after noting the bogging and vapor lock symptoms.

Maybe bad gas from the last Flying J?

I added gas additive, but it just got worse and worse as we started climbing more and more gradual hills.

We pulled off a rest stop, and I decided to eliminate the obvious first and pull the electrical fuel pump out of the tank completely to see if it had slipped its moorings like it did a couple of years ago the last time we had these symptoms.

It was secure, but the fuel strainer sock was clogged completely...so off it came, I put the pump back in the tank, and started her up.  Ran fine for about 15 miles, and started doing it again even worse than before!

Made it about 20 miles to the next exit, and pulled off in the parking lot of a closed business (its Sunday). 

If I remember correctly, if the mechanical fuel pump is shot, the rig won't run at all, or might just idle, but if the electrical is shot, then it will run but vapor lock like crazy up hills or accelerating.  So I had Patti turn the key while I listened at the tank, and no hum at all from the fuel pump.  Then I had her start it, but I couldn't hear a thing, since the exhaust is loud and the rig vibrations conceal a lot.

Okay, off to the auto parts store.  The one in that crappy little town off of Exit 664 was about to close and he didn't have it, but told me to go to the Autozone 20 miles away.  Off I went in the Jeep, but they didn't have it either, but the nearby O'Reilly's did.  Oh...yeah...what did they have?  A new electric in tank fuel pump, since I distinctly remember being able to hear the pump hum when I installed the last one.

I installed it, but still couldn't hear a hum.

I almost decided to press on, but decided to assuage my doubts, and disconnected the 1/2 rubber fuel line coming from the tank to the hard line, and had Patti turn the key.

No gas flow.

So I had her start it.

Still no gas flow.

Apparently it wasn't getting power!

So I checked every fuse.

One of the last fuses I checked was under the dashboard top cover in a circuit board.  It was the only one blown, a 10 amp blade fuse.  I replaced it, and had Patti start the engine again...FUEL FLOW!!!

Put the line back one, cleaned up, and we hit the road.

FIXED!!!

Runs like a top again with no vapor lock, so I guess I have another spare electric fuel pump.

But that isn't the problem that is probably going to see us in San Antonio for at least a day or two.

I almost think the gods or God or whatever made the fuel pump and or fuse go out!

While under the rig unhooking the 1/2 inch hose, I noticed that the front of the Mor/Ryde suspension was about to undergo catastrophic failure!!!

Serious failure!  For those not familiar with Mor/Ryde tag axles, the drive axle is connected in a series of parallelograms to the tag axle and various frame connections.  The drive axle shocks connect to the frame, and then to this plate on the bottom of the drive axle, which also has a shallow box/dish that contains the lower half of a big coil spring.  The whole assembly, on BOTH sides, is cracked and about to come apart completely!  A lot of the cracks look older and rusted, but there are a lot of newer bright shiny cracks!

If it wasn't for the fuel pump failure, I never would have noticed it.

I checked it again when we go to San Antonio, and the passenger side at least looks even worse.

I'm not sure what would happen if it lets go on the highway, but I don't want to find out!

I'll break the news to Patti in the morning.  She was already upset about the fuel pump stuff today, and is feeling out of sorts...but in the morning I'll show her what is going on, and then call some local metal fabrication shops and see if they can throw together some new plates for me.  They are pretty simple at least, just the metal is too thin in my opinion for the application.  Just a wedge shaped flat plate with bolt holes, with a shallow square box welded to it to keep the coil spring in place, and a threaded rod welded in place to attach the shock.

They might even be able to be repaired and reenforced once removed by a welding shop, since so far all the pieces are there...so far.

Looks like it might be Christmas in San Antonio.  Definitely a campground while I have the parts fixed or made.  I sure wish I was a good welder with good equipment!

I'll also give Mor-Ryde a call in the morning to see if they have the actual replacement part in stock, how much it will cost, and see if they can overnight it.  I am going to guess it will be cheaper and faster to have it made locally.

Oi Vey!  I'm not talking minor cracks.  I'm talking major separation of metal parts bending away from each other, and things really looking like they can come apart at any second like watch springs!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Oh yeah...an update on Paladin, since I forgot in all the excitement. 

While still in that campground in Marienna, FL visiting friends, we brought him to Ark Animal Clinic.  The old country doc took one look at his thinning fur spots on his face and told us we worried too much.  He said it didn't look like demodex mange mites, and was probably a combination of color changes in his fur and markings, and the fact that he's already 56 lbs at less than 5 months old...his skin is growing faster than his fur can keep up is the way he explained it.  He also said that if it was demodex, he's healthy as a bull and its a 99.9% chance it will go away on its own in the next couple of months.  He charged us a 30.00 office visit and told us not to worry.  YAY!

As far as the Mor/Ryde stress failures go, I took pictures but still can't find my camera cord, so I'll post them when I can.

Kev

[HandyDan]

Is this similar to what you are talking about?  Yes, I know the spring is not straight.  It is because of the way I backed  into the driveway.  It normally is straight up and down.  You can see where that broken wire, that I don't know where it goes, is fastened to the chassis.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Exactly Dan, but on ours there is a threaded stud that the lower shock bolts up to.

I went out and carefully looked at the damage, and I'm going to proceed towards Arizona, checking it at every stop.  After studying the design in my manual, I don't think the axle will fall off or anything even if the tray falls off completely.  The worst that can happen...I think...is that I might lose the coil spring somewhere along the highway.

I don't want to spend any more time in Texas than we have to...lol...and fixing it here or in Arizona makes no real difference, except here I'd have to wait until after Christmas.  Maybe they'll be a good fabrication shop in Sierra Vista.

Coffee, then back on the road!

Kev

[DonD]

Almost? "almost think the gods or God"

OK Kev, I have contacted "my" little 4x4 club via their website and asked for help. www.zuksofarizona.com

You might consider signing on using my info so you can communicate directly with the guys? If yes, I'll PM the stuff to you.

[pvoth1111]

On our trip from Arizona to Florida, Texas kicked our bum all the way across.....took like 7 days to get across....just everything breaks in Texas....next Im gonna avoid it and go around .

[HandyDan]

Kev, You might already have this recall notice, but, if not, you might find this interesting, especially the second paragraph.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Holy crap!  Thanks Dan!  That is exactly what ours looks like, and although the manufacture year is different, it certainly looks like the failure started at the welds, then cracked the metal on the sides of the coil spring boxes.

On a lighter note, they haven't gotten any worse since I first noticed them, so I'm keeping a watchful eye on them at each stop.  Almost looks like they reached a certain point and stopped bending (once the sides cracked, there was nothing to stop them from bending downward at an angle.  If I have enough zip ties in my kit, I'll see about securing them around the coil springs as described in the pictures so I don't lose them if it does fail completely.

Nice to know for my own peace of mind that it "poses no danger" for us, but I also don't want to be responsible for danger to others driving behind me.

I wonder if Mor/Ryde will make good on the recall?  Especially since its a different year of manufacture, as ours is an 89?

I'm sure going to give them a call after Christmas though, that's for sure!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

So we reached Fort Stockton, TX last night with no mechanical problems.  The only problem we did have was that a small gas station in Sonora, TX was out of gas but didn't know it, so after running our debit card 4 times, Chase bank shut our card down for security.  Took forever to get a hold of them, and then they turned the card back on but their computers wouldn't allow the card to be used at gas stations for 2 hours...so we got a 100 bucks out of the ATM, went to another gas station but couldn't get into the pumps except the diesel pumps (too narrow with no place to turn around, and I ended up tagging a concrete block with the rear bumper...not much damage to the bumper, but it snagged the very back edge of the rear compartment door frame, and did some ugly damage there which I'll have to fix in Arizona!  I patched it with Eternabond as a temp fix, but its an ugly boo boo!), then at the third gas station had no problems, and topped off the tank.  Ended up wasting about 1.5 hours in that fiasco!

So we kept driving all the way to Fort Stockton.

And they built a brand new Flying J in Fort Stockton!  Woohoo!  You can tell it was built by Pilot since there isn't any RV Only parking slips, but we just parked to the side after gassing up, taking up about 10 car spots...lol!  They do have RV fuel lanes though, and propane and a dump station.

So we spent the night and are now about to hit the road again bright and early!

535 miles left to Tombstone!

The goal today is to make it all the way to Lordsburg, NM's Flying J, 402 miles from here, with a stop at the Flying J in Anthony, TX to top off the gas on the way.

That will only leave us with 133 mile to go on Christmas day, and we'll arrive at the RV park fairly early.

Patti is going to call them sometime this morning to reserve a site for the week in case the office is closed Christmas day.

And that's it!  The rear suspension cracks don't seem to be any worse, the fuel pump is still running in the tank with no vapor lock, and hopefully we'll be out of Texas with no more mechanicals...lol!

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Message sent to Mor/Ryde in an email, along with a copy of the recall notice.  We'll see what they say!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

We had an uneventful trip out of Texas (YAY), and arrived in Lordsburg, NM's Flying J around 5pm Mountain time. 

The coil box on the passenger side is looking a lot worse, although the driver's side is about the same.  I'm going to get under there this morning and secure the coil springs with some nylon straps so they don't fall off.

Mor/Ryde wrote me back a quick note that they were closed yesterday and today, and they suggested running the straps around the coil springs just in case, and they would look into everything on Thursday and we'll go from there.

24 miles away from the Arizona border, and about 130 miles away from Tombstone!

About 3 hours left of driving, then its Tombstone for a week of fun with the pups, then off to the desert for the boondocking part of our vacation!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Touchdown in Tombstone!

Safe and sound and camp is all set up.

Pups love it, but its literally a ghost town today, so they'll get a rapid and heavy dose of socialization tomorrow, that's for sure!

God I missed Tombstone.  I don't know what it is about this town, but I love it dearly!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Cold last night and this morning, 32 degrees, but somehow it doesn't feel as cold when the air is so dry.

Letting the sun warm everything up a bit, then we'll be taking the pups into Tombstone!  They are going to have a blast this week!

Kev

[HandyDan]

Now that you have driven all over the US, can you give an evaluation on your tires and the balancing substance?
Might need a different thread for it.