“And The Hits Just Keep On Coming”

I couldn’t sleep so I was up and outside at 2:30 A.M. Wednesday morning looking at the landing gear installation in an attempt to formulate a plan.  I went online and found a PDF instruction booklet for the Atwood landing gear assemblies.  I called Forest River a couple of times and left messages both times with no returned call.  I, also, called an RV dealership in Manassas but they have no “room in the Inn”.

After looking the entire installation over, there appears to be only one way to replace the distribution/gear box.  That is, to cut out a section of the bottom plate (which is actually sheet metal) and then unbolt the landing leg and move it outboard to gain enough room to change out the distribution/gear box.  The drive shaft appears to be pressed into the landing leg gear box at the top of the leg and is pretty much inaccessible.  Being that nobody is interested in coming out to play, I guess I’ll have do the job myself. 

Here are some pictures of the installation so you can see what I’m up against. Use your cursor for a description.

 

To add insult to injury, after Judy turned off (that’s right off) the television set yesterday morning I heard a popping sound (sounding something like a low boil).  I noticed that the power light wasn’t on on the front of the TV so I listened closely to the noise; sure enough, it was coming from the television set.  So I unplugged it and let it sit for awhile, but after plugging it in again the TV still wouldn’t come on.  Also, after a few seconds it started the popping (boiling) sound again.  So, I guess the television is shot.  Are we having fun yet?

We considered doing an “about face” and “high tailing” it back to ‘Bama, but after looking at the map we discovered that it’s 803 miles back to Summerdale and only 793 miles to Topsham, Maine.  Being that Maine’s closer, and that Mikee has brought in a fresh supply of vodka from New Hampstir, we decided to press on.  However, we won’t be stopping to see Mary and Joel or Marc, Amie, and kids since we can’t unhitch the coach – Bummer.

The RV is reattached to the truck and will stay that way until the landing gear is fixed.  The replacement gear box will cost less than $85.  Hopefully the coolant issue won’t become a problem and we can snuggle in the bedroom to watch the news.  Oh yes, one more thing, Alex got diarrhea yesterday afternoon, but that’s not something you really want to hear about; although I can attest to the fact that katts do not like baths.

Well, there’s the state of the union in Virginia.  We’ll be hanging in there, You Hang In There Too Until Next Time - - - - - - -