In January we took a day trip to Grand Canyon National Park, the south rim, while it was covered with snow.
In February, we took a wonderful trip over to Death Valley for the early flowers.
On the way home I kept hearing a brake grinding noise, I examined the brakes on the RV and soon after began the process of a complete brake job for the rear axle. I had a lot to learn about doing brakes on a large chassis and it was a lot of hard and heavy work. Got some basic pointers from my neighbor, but did all the work by myself.
It was hard work and the hub/disc combo weighed in at nearly eighty pounds. I had the concrete pads to work on, so it was not to hard to rig up a furniture dolly, wooden blocks, and floor jacks to do the heavy lifting and moving. Having to remove the axle shaft was a first for me, and I had to buy a special $36, 3-1/2 inch socket to get the big nut (see photo) off. I probably used it for a grand total of five minutes and most of that was figuring out what I was doing.
It took me about two weeks to do the whole job and it actually went pretty smooth until I jacked up one side to fill the hub with gear oil from the rear end. Using the leveling jacks, which I have done for fifteen year, I raised it too high on one side and broke the windshield in the process. Insurance did cover it but it should not have happened. After a test drive with the hub temperatures within spec we made another trip to Death Valley.
Around the end of February we took a day trip to Sedona to enjoy all the red rocks. This is the view from Red Rock Crossing. The Wheel of Fortune fans may recognize this scene.
In May we made an RV trip through Grand Staircase-Escalate National Monument ending up in Moab and taking in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.
Later, still in May, I had to replace the belts and battery on the Suzuki with 200,000 miles on it! Another Suzuki tire warrantied for an impact break, $102. Lots of back roads driving.
I fixed M's old monitor with three small resistors. It dies quite some time ago and I just kept it just in case I wanted to investigate the problem. Finally got around to reading up on the problem and watching YouTube and decided to order some resistors. It was not easy to remove the shroud and get to the main board, but I did and replaced the resistors. And it worked. Then she found a bug, a literal bug, behind the glass of her replacement monitor. I used the her old one to see if I could get between the glass and the active screen and remove the bug. I could not, but in the process I pretty much screwed it up. After putting it back together and turning the power on, there was a bright white strip down the middle of the screen about a quarter inch wide. That pretty made it unusable.
During the summer I upgraded the electric to the shed from just a circuit extension from the garage to a dedicated 30A/240V feed with two 20A and two 15A 120V circuits and can add a 240v circuit later if needed. I also rewired the RV plug on the side of the garage while I was at it.
I had to installed a new water pump controller on the water wagon pump. The pump would no longer shut down, and running dry is not a good idea. I couldn't find the kind pump I wanted for a replacement, but I did find a controller assembly for the one I have. Good ol' Ebay and the slow boat from China! And it was about twenty percent the cost of a new pump if I could have found one.
In October, while M was over the mountain for Kaleidoscope Days, taking classes and helping with a benefit auction, I replace the kitchen sink!
So, it was out with the old, and in with the new!
This fall, I built an extension/shed on the back of the garage in order to move the compressor there. I call it the compressor shed. Worked on it a little at a time, so it took a while. It is large enough to store a lot of the stuff that should have been thrown away! This made more room in the garage so I relocated the lawn tractor from my stand alone shed into the garage. This made for lots more shed room, so I turned it into a man cave/work space. I reworked the work bench and then added a new home built miter saw station and a drill press. Removed and tossed a lot of stuff so I now have room to do a lot of things, other that automotive of course, which will still be done in the garage.
Got word that the tenant in my Florida condo will be moving at end of lease in January, so I have put it on the market. Prices seem to be up a little now and thirty plus years is long enough to own it! Don't know if I have made any money from it over the years or not!
Finally, I got around to putting new tires on the truck. If they last ten years, the truck will be twenty seven years old and I might upgrade then!
