Tires, Jacks, and Steps

Tires, Jacks, and Steps

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It all started innocently enough. Take the RV about 50 for M to stay in while volunteering in Jerome. Simple enough. Ready to leave and the jacks down alarm won't stop. OK, pull the fuse for now and check it out when we bring it home. 

Found the right front jack is leaking, so after I get it home crawling under it why not check out the step that has been spongy for a while, the same one I broke a few years ago, lowering the way off level rig, with the door open and a block acting as a step that was way too close to the steps. Anyway, the step came down the block and broke a pivot bold, and I fixed it, kind of. 

Found out that the long bolt holding the step frame to the RV frame had pulled through. Easy fix, found some old shock bushing washer in the odd parts pile and bought a longer bolt and that took care of that.

The leveling jack, not that easy. Read, searched and researched the fix or replace options on the RV forum that I follow and other places. Seems that I have the pre 2004 Power Gears Jacks that were no longer supported. Newer jack kits have the same numbers, but it now states that pre 2004 had a finer threads and no longer supported, even though I had an old copy with the same kit number. I think the kit was above $200 but not sure, I quit looking and forgot about it. I found a local shop in Chino Valley, AZ. Called them and they said sure, bring it in. $110 later and I have it resealed. 

In the mean time I have ordered a 20V impact wrench for the RV tires and used it to reinstall the jack. It was so much better than the air wrench that I fell in love with a few years ago.

While moving the wheel/tire around I let it fall on the ground... just at the wrong place. I had left the tire extension on the valve stem and it hit a rock and broke the valve stem off.

So I take the wheel in to have a new valve stem installed. They told me the tire was bad, broken cord and tread separation. The tire was ten years old so replacing it was not a bad deal, except I might as well do both as they are the same age. I ordered a couple of Hercules tires and came home to remove the other one and get it in the truck to take in the next day. 

So $500 later I'm back home, front tires back on the rig with new impact wrench and everything is looking good and in working order.

Except for the the hydraulic fluid tank. It's been eight years since I changed the fluid so this would be a good time. I drained just over a gallon from the resuivor and put nearly two gallons in. It had leaked more than I thought.

All of this started with just a little little drip...

H

So I had this 'not booting from SSD' problem. A few months ago I installed a couple of SSD to boot and run the new computer much faster than the Disk Drive that it came with. A few weeks ago Windowz updated and reverted back to booting via the Disk Drive. For whatever reason I could not re-sign the boot sequence. Aaron should know, but all I got from him was the take it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy! I know I have mentioned that I hate Windows, but have I mentioned that I don't like Best buy either! It's a long story, but they made me mad.

Yesterday I had all but given up and was ready to take it to local computer shop, but before unplugging it, thought I would try swapping cables on drives, (it use to work years ago). Well that doesn't work now. Then later I thought 'unplug just the Disk Drive to see if the SSD would boot... it did. Re-plugged the disk drive. At power up, it booted to the SSD, like it should have all along. I don't know why or how, but it works properly now. It wasn't my fault. Did I mention that I hate Windows, and Best Buy?

Then it would not connect to the internet! After saying a few chose words about Windows, I remembered I had net problems a couple of weeks ago. The ISP installed a new antenna. We also discovered that the router was acting up and it too had to be replaced. No problem, I had an extra one from trouble shooting the last net problem we had. So, after entering the password for the new router, things worked out fine.

By this time my brain is starting to hurt so I decide to go out and gather up all the used oil and head off to recycle it. Truck tire rotate and balance, which is due, and a hair cut will be later in the week.

H

Feb 3 Got the FL Condo sold and closed, and the check is in the mail.  Have had it forever and glad to see it go.

Feb 14  third anniversary for Pace Maker!  Still ticking!

Feb 18  Replaced the water pump on the Truck, may help with the small water/anti-freeze leak.

Not much going on this month.

H

January, 2017

Last month, Dec. 2016, I put my Florida Condo on the market after my long term tenet indicated that she was moving.  The value had more than doubled after the recession of a few years before so now is just a good time. Then on Christmas Eve I received a call with an all cash, full price offer, which I accepted.  Just waiting for closing now.

Just after Christmas I bought myself a new 4K monitor for the computer.  Took some fiddling but got everything working and it looks great.

Took less than a week, but I decided I needed a new computer with more speed to drive the new monitor so I ordered a Dell XPS 8910, with 16GB of memory.  That should do it.

H

Year End update, 2016

Year end update, seems like I don't update as often as I should!  Keeping things up and running keeps me pretty busy and that is what makes up most of my list of things!

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!

Editor's note:  Just found that I had not posted this little item, so here it is, and just a few months late.  Will work on a new update!

Band saw mobility base

Been watching Youtube Vids about moving heavy shop tools around on wheels but then having them stable when using them so I added castors to my band saw.  works really great!

Removed  sun screen from the skylight to allow more light and heat in the kitchen for winter.  Makes a really big difference on both counts.

TV working again   ...   not

I flew to Florida for a few days to visit a brother, Jim.  JT made the trip from KY at the same time.  So, three brothers sat around and hashed out all of the political issues for the country and solve a great many world problems while we were at it.

Suzuki Axle replaced, above my pay grade so I had it done by professionals!

New to me Ipad.  I bought M's iPad II so she could get the latest one.

Suzuki, installed new front brake pads and had the rotors turned. (DIY)

11/4 Just got a letter from AZ Dept of Rev. The ongoing audit has been closed! But they didn't send me a check!

Been hauling water for five years now saving $3,700 after paying capital and operating expenses. That is about half way toward paying for the truck!  

Much needed and ongoing (never ending) maintenance!

Not a lot going on in the last couple of months, but here is a run down.

I did end up ordering the Multimeter from Home Depot.  I get their daily email with the daily special and one day that meter showed up at about 35% off so I ordered it.  It been a couple of months and I really haven't used it for anything yet.  The Radio Shack one is working better after I worked on it a little bit.  Now  I will have one to keep in the RV.

I was working in the garage one day and M came in and told me the shower door had broken.  Being tempered glass, it just kinda of crinkled all over.  I accused her of braking it because she has wanted a new one for some time now.  I finished braking it out and removing it  and installing the curtains from the other bath until we find a door that works.  This being a manufactured home, a lot of things are sized a little different and that's what happened with the shower doors.  No one has this size in stock so a special order is needed.  We did find a suitable door at Lowes and got it ordered.  Takes about a week to get it and I managed to get it installed the next day.  It's called Rain Forest or something like that, with it looking like rain water is running down the glass.  It works, and we even got the special coating to help prevent, or at least reduce, the hard water etching.

Other routine maintenance included ordering and replacing the outside hose bibb,  ordered and replace the broken auger in the refrigerator ice dispenser, and replace the washers in the toilet supply valves that was somehow causing a very slow tank refill.  Put sealer on the front deck after a year, maybe it will help it last longer.  I replaced the cabin air filter in the truck, I think it made a difference,  after all, it is 15 years old!  

M went to Florida to visit and help out her sister recovering from a busted up shoulder and the resulting surgery.  This gave me an opportunity to get more maintenance done!  So I built and installed more garage shelving, and replace the rollers on the sliding screen door which is working properly for the first time in ten years.  I also decided to acid wash and paint the shed floor.  That was fun.  I decided the vacuum the floors and naturally, the vacuum is not working properly.  It is the belt, seem they tend to stretch over time and need replacing, so I get a couple of the ordered, replace one and get the floor cleaned up!

This week has been Kaleidoscope Days in Jerome, so I took the RV to the top of Mingus Mountain for M to stay so she doesn't have get a room or drive 100 miles round trip each day.  She takes a couple of Kaleidoscope classes and helps out with all the goings on for the week culminating in an auction to benefit the humane society of Jerome.  She may come home on Sunday, and drive back up of a class on Monday.  She has yet to decide what she will do.

I also took the home alone time to acid wash and paint the garage floor.  Got it finished before the rain system moved in.  It has been cloudy and raining for the last couple of days.  I hope the paint works on the shed and garage floors, concrete is so fickle when it come to painting it.

Somewhere in there I had time to get my pace maker checked out and it is working just fine!

Do I need a new Multimeter? Yes I do!

A few days ago...

I have had this Radio Shack 22-166B digital multimeter for about 30 years and it has served me well in that time...  until now!  A few days I turned it on and got no response.  Using a freebie Harbor Freight meter, the batteries and fuse tested good.  So I took it apart and acted like I knew what I was doing and all looked well so I put it back together and started searching the net for a new one.

I went back to look at it and noticed the batteries (2xAA, side by side) had both (+) on one end and (-) on the other and that just did not look right.  Only one of the battery positions was marked and I had recently replaced the batteries.  I reversed the one in the unmarked side  and the meter started to work and I even uses it for a while.  

Next morning I was checking something and got very weird readings, so I turned it off, checked the batteries , which were OK, and the fuse showed 3 ohms with my HF meter.  From that point  I could not get it to turn on, or at least no indications on the readout.  I have new fuses on the way.

Did it just die, or, did I kill it?  And, can it be revived?

If it's dead, I need a new one, Under $100 .  Looking at this one at Home Depot online

http://www.homedepot.com/p/General-T...M550/205748236


Any one know this one, is it a good one.  I seldom use one and then only use it for gereral household and auto type maintenance.  Any other suggestions?  The HF one just wont cut it, even for me!

Fast forward to present...

This morning I took the RS unit apart once more just to see what I could see.  Seems the LCD screen unit connection is a press fit type.  I have never seen this before.   The PCB and LCD just press together.  

 So I put it back together trying to fit it correctly and the LCD did come on, readings are still wacky.  Then I banged it with my hand a few time and the wackiness changed each time until it went blank, never to show a number again.  Guess I really screwed it up this time, and a new meter is in my near future.

And, just to keep the irony gods happy, my new fuses came in today!!

Pretty boring week!

Not much going on in the last week or so.   I did get a few miscellaneous  RV repairs done.  The bottom drawer on my side of the table/desk was moving out during travel and I found a loose catch so I fixed and tightened it up a to hold better on the road.  We used to keep the main area rugs there and that held it in I guess.  Now that we no longer have them is when the problem showed itself!

The table/desk top was bouncing up and down so a couple of screws from the bottom took care of that, and a couple of pieces of Velcro took care of M's keyboard tray sliding out while on the road.

One of the storage bins/drawers of the table has always had problems with the slide latch.  I had put in a stopper behind it to reduce the wiggle room and it was too tight.  I replaced it with a thinner one and changed the latching hole to a latching plate with a small piece of angle aluminum.

I replace the waterproof  LEDs in one of the light fixtures to non-waterproof.  The double stick tape had dropped loose causing a heat sink failure and a discoloration of the waterproof coating.  The sticky stuff on the non waterproof seems to be working better.  While I was at that, I install a second switch on two other fixture allowing half of the LEDs to be off or on, depending on the need, and extending the battery life just  a little which help when out in the wood boondocking.

The Suzuki was due an oil change and other routine  maintenance and I got that all taken care of, including replacing the air filter with one I have had on hand for a few years.  While rotating the tire I noticed an air pocket on the side wall of one of them.  Something to call about for warranty.

I have been wanting to add memory to my laptop and this week I remembered that it used to have 4GB and the two 2GB DIMMs were removed and placed in out two net books and their 1GB DIMMs were placed in my laptop.  So this week I switched the back.  Did not help with photo transfers speed, but maybe it will help with other things.

All things considered, it has been quite boring, not much going on!

That was easy!

The plastic plug came out of the RV water heater without any issues!  I found a steel 1/2" NPT plug and used that to clean up the threads in the Aluminum tank.  It worked great.  Then I bought a plumbers round steel wire brush and cleaned it up a little more and inserted a new brass plug using liquid "pipe dope".  It worked great and I hope the dope works better than the tape, at least there wont be little bits and pieces of it down stream.  It looks like it has had a steady minor thread leak for a long time from the looks of the mineral buildup around the plug.   Everything work out very well and the RV is now ready for another road trip!

Got that all taken care of and then concentrated on the mower.  It lost a clip that held the level control lever link on and one side started digging into the dirt.  I didn't thank a lot about it until something else broke.  Had to stop mowing.  Fixed the link but the broken part may need some welding.  Talked to welder owning neighbor and will take it over this weekend for welding.  In the mean time I drilled and bolted the parts together so I could finish mowing.  

Now to get back to the regularly scheduled chores and maintenance!