We knew that the house would finally close so I moved the trailer onto the concrete drive and put it up on blocks so I could change the brakes, get the drums turned and put on a new set of tires. I had a bit of trouble finding new seals for the brake drums but came up with some from Napa but they didn't seem as heavy duty as the ones that I took out. I'd gotten them from Camping World in Fresno, CA.
First a few photos of the new truck. Last time I bought a new truck in 2002, I bought a new Corvette some months later. I was tempted to pick up the slick little Z07 sitting here. For some reason we took to naming everything on the first trip and the GPS became Lucy, because she had some 'splaining to do, when she got the directions wrong. (think Lucile Ball). The Tahoe became Nora, for the British slang, Bloody Nora, which means bloody horror. The Tahoe must have been built on a Monday or a day after a drunken holiday because something was always going wrong with it.
So this truck acquired the moniker "Gina" for
Gina Carano because they're big, tough and beautiful.
Patrick and I jacked up the trailer and set it down on blocks. Then I stripped her of her running gear.
I had new tires put on the rims and wanted to clean the rims to get rid of the old grease that leaked out over the last 32,000 miles. I used some Gunk Engine Degreaser and they came out looking good with a little elbow grease and water pressure.
Carlton's Automotive turned the drums both that outside where the pad rubs but also the inside where the magnet runs. They turned out beautifully even if it was a bit expensive. Cheaper than new ones.
The old tires had a load rating of C so I bought some E rated tires.
All done....what a job. I tried some different grease and it was so thick that it didn't penetrate the bearings after packing them. It ended up blowing out the seals on the back of the drums and so I had to take apart the brand new brakes and clean all the grease out of them. I was so irritated and angry. I said to Becky, "if everything happens for a reason, what was the reason for this?" Well, that interspersed with the salty language only a sailor can use in the course of a tirade.
In the morning I had to send Becky on a hunt for new seals while I tore apart, cleaned a repacked the bearings again. What did I learn? The bearings had not packed like they should have and would have been metal on metal in some areas. That must have been my reason, my guardian angel was looking out for me again. So we finally got the job all done, Becky tightened the brakes and we put on the wheels.
We packed and moved most of the heavy stuff on Saturday April 29th and then moved the little stuff in lots of trips over the next week so we could be out of the house on May 5th. What a fiasco, the new buyers made a lot of demands and were pressuring us to get out early. We learned later it was because their realtor made a mistake and told them wrong date we should be out. Rain dogged us that whole last week but we were able to work around it. Below is a photo from the last night we spent in the house.
We moved the trailer to my parent's home. Dad leveled a place and packed it with stone so we had a place to park. The only accommodation we don't have is sewer hook up so we will have to take the trailer to a dump station. Becky informed me that if we have to move the trailer to dump it we would be going on a trip. I told her I didn't care but that she would have to drive because we do not have hand controls in the new truck yet. Yesterday (5/9) I drove up to the VA in Cleveland to drop off all the paperwork for getting the equipment installed in the truck because the paperwork never seemed to show up in the mail. Sometimes its just better to go straight to the source and knock it out.
In the mean time I have been doing some woodworking projects so that we can make things a little easier in the trailer. Nothing like having a top notch workshop to do your business in.
This is a little project I started thinking about on the last trip. Just something to tidy up the forward hold. That little cubby on the back is for my tire spoons, brake tool, jack handle and whatever else I put there.
I made two book holders like the top one but it seemed like all my books wouldn't fit into it and were all jammed up. So I made a new one to hold paperbacks which I seem to collect and discard in abundance even though we all have Kindles.
Becky wanted some division in her big drawer so I made some slots according to her specifications.
The view from the trailer at mom and dad's.
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