5C's Que Pasa

Long story short.  Colin left at 6:30AM this morning to take the RV in for new tires at Fountain Tire in Kelowna and then for its annual check at Freightliner in West Kelowna. He got there about 11:20AM.  He just called me at 6:00 PM, well in fact he has called me a few times throughout the day. Turns out that the last thing that needed doing on the RV became problematic. At 4:30 PM they sourced a part in Kelowna but when it came back it did not quite fit. I guess that comes with having an older RV.  In fact today they called our RV vintage in a very complimentary way. The only part they can find at the moment might be in Tennessee.  Meanwhile the RV has one wheel off and the brake taken apart. It won’t be repaired tonight nor tomorrow as they have to source that part. Likely they will do that rather quickly as the RV is taking up one of their bays.  It is a very small but necessary part. We are fortunate that they found the problem or down the road it would have cost us a good deal of money, certainly before we got into Mexico.  This particular Freightliner is a thousand times better than any other Freightliner we have ever dealt with in the US.  We have been dealing with them for about 14 -15 years and they are very accommodating.

If you look closely you can see that the right side of the tire is tapered and parts of the tire were flat ( out of round ).  We definitely need new tires.  Fountain Tire did a great job for a good price.  Later at Freightliner the mechanic told Colin that the tire was out of camber.  So now we need an alignment. The tire was fine when we headed south but once back in the US we noticed the thump thump, looks like the rough Mexican roads threw our alignment off.

So Colin calls me and asks if I could pick him up.  He is 25 miles away and it probably is at least a 45 minute drive right through the heart of Kelowna and over the bridge.  I have not driven the Jeep since October, in fact I have not driven any vehicle since then.  Plus I have had two glasses of wine.  So I was forced to say no. When Colin checked in at 4:30PM they said that if they could not find a part that someone could drive him home.  So at 6PM when they realized that the part did not fit, most everyone was gone and there was no one coming back this way to give him a ride.

Freightliner discovered that the back left wheel hub seal was broken and had spewed oil all through the brake lining. That means that the brake shoes are slippery and might break apart, in other words not safe at all.

Because the lining is porous ( you can’t wipe away the oil ) this brake pad needs to be replaced ( this is the new one ) even though it is hardly worn after 146,000 miles.  Because there is hardly any wear only the one brake pad needs to be replaced.  Good driving, eh!

They decided that they could loan him a car to drive home but it would have to be back first thing in the morning.  No problem, in the morning I can follow him in the Jeep and return the loaner.  Then we could do a wee bit of shopping as we were already in Kelowna.  I haven’t been to town since we drove through it in the RV coming back home on March 26th.  Small problem is that our park is mostly shut down ( because of the virus ) and at 6PM the public gate area is closed and of course Colin does not have his resident gate pass with him. Okay, I can call security to open the gate for him or I can drive up in the golf cart and do it, which I had earlier retrieved from the storage lot ( Colin used it to get to the RV early this morning ) which was a good thing as it will soon also be locked.  Next issue is that he has only 15% power left on his iPhone. So we hang up.  A few moments later I call him back saying do not and I mean do not get in that loaner car until you sanitize the door handle, the steering wheel, the drivers seat and area, etc, etc.  Now I am worried about all of this.

This is the seal ( not very large at all ) that needs to be replaced but this new part did not quite fit.

Another thought pops into my mind.  Where the heck is he going to park the loaner car?  I will have to contact security on that one. Hopefully he can park it by the pool or at the front area near the Italian restaurant which is of course closed.  They are very strict about stuff like that.  Hmm I just had another idea, be right back.  I have to make a phone call.

I am back ( 40 minutes or so later ) and so is Colin.  Found an empty parking spot just half a block away and called to get permission to park there and by then Colin was at the gate.  Off I went in the golf cart and unlocked the gate for him. So he is home with a loaner ‘pick up truck’.  He told me that just as he was leaving that Troy ( the service manager that Colin kept checking in with all of last fall as we were on the road with our various RV issues ) had taken a general look over the RV and came back to say that the compressor fan belt ( for the dash air which we had replaced in Mazatlan  ) was not tightened sufficiently and was slipping and therefore prematurely wearing out.  It will need to be placed.  So maybe all of this was meant to happen as had not the part been wrong and Colin had to wait for a loaner vehicle then Troy would not have stopped to look over our RV.  Bottom line, if he had not found that frayed compressor belt, we for certain would have had no dash A/C next time we headed south.  Not sure I could have survived that two years in a row.

New thought by Colin and he called Freightliner ( they work until midnight ) that perhaps both wheel hub seals should be replaced. The mechanic that Colin spoke with agreed.  So now they will order two and with that it means that the other wheel and brake assembly will have to come off as well.  Of course that means more $$$$$.

Fortunately I had planned a lovely dinner which is only slightly delayed ( an hour – so normal for us ). Fish chowder in the crockpot. I was going to make homemade bread from a supposed easy recipe but I had no yeast and not enough flour, mostly because Colin is making banana bread every week.  Last night I had an idea and sent a message to the couple that do the baking in the park to keep busy during the pandemic.  I asked if they were making bread soon.  They asked what I wanted and delivered a homemade loaf this morning. So I do have a lovely meal to end out this strange day.

Will this year ever end?

Because I am so far behind I won’t be able to make a reply to your comments until the morning. But I think we need to relax and enjoy our dinner.  9:30PM is late enough as it is to eat and we do have a full day ahead of us tomorrow.  Really appreciate you stopping in to read and to comment.