The Easy Way Out?

It turned out to be a magnificent day with the temperatures reaching 55* by noon time.  After lunch I decided to pull the driver side landing gear leg and take some measurements.  After removing the top cover on the Main Leg it was obvious that the gears had stripped.  This is not good as I have no idea why last spring the shaft broke and now the gears have stripped.  The system is rated for 5000# (2500# per leg).  The tongue weight of our coach is around 3100# which means approximately 1600# per leg.  But something is certainly rotten in the state of Denmark!!!

Further research has turned up an Atwood Driver Jack Leg that we could purchase for $137.50.  The dimensions of that leg are a close enough match that it would be a one for one swap.  The Atwood leg would ride 3/16” higher than the Venture leg, but all the other dimensions line up.  I could compensate for the 3/16” when aligning the two legs.  This would be the easy way out, but since I don’t know why it’s stripping gears and breaking shafts I’m not sure if this route would eliminate the problem?

Ultra-Fab forwarded me a print of their landing legs.  In checking the dimensions of the Venture landing leg with the Ultra-Fab leg, I determined that the Ultra-Fab would work with one slight modification.  This system is rated for 8000# (4000# per leg), with two drive motors (one on each leg).  It sells for $453 through Amazon.com.  It will take quite a bit of work to get the passenger side leg out of the coach and require me to cut an opening in the propane tank housing to gain access (then I’d have to fabricate a cover for the opening once the new leg is installed).

Of course, we could always just purchase a new set of gears and install them into the existing leg, but the same question remains.  Would that eliminate the problem or would we just end up in Timbuktu with another landing gear failure? 

Here’s a picture of the culprit leg so you can get an idea of what I am talking about.  If you look closely, you’ll see the shaft at the top left and the two stop blocks on the left side of the leg.  The black square tube is the “main leg” that bolts onto the frame of the coach.  The gears are inside the “main leg” at the top.

This has been a lot of technical stuff that all the guys want to know about, but most women could care less about it.  So, for you ladies, my bride has all sorts of fabric stuff strewed all over the dining room table and is getting ready to put thread to needle.  She’s working on a quilting challenge project that the ladies of the quilting group drew material for last spring.  Each lady drew three different fabrics out of a bag and has to design, cut out, and sew together a mystery quilting project.  The winner gets to have her picture made and put into the clubhouse activities photo book. 

We will include pictures of the finished product once it is completed.  It’s a secret right now and even I don’t know what my bride is making.  The whole dining room table will be covered by a white canvas tent pretty soon so this is the only picture that will be seen of the project (or Judy) until it comes out of the tent in about a month .

Take It Easy Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Volunteering and Researching

What a great ministry, the Hope Center provides medical care for uninsured and low income people.  There are certainly a lot of people that need a hand up, especially in this current economy.  Most of the patients that came in yesterday had been to the clinic before, however, the Evangelism Team volunteers still take time to visit with them, prior to the doctor, and pray with them.  There were a few that it was their first time to the clinic and two of them accepted the Lord as their savior.  The Hope Center has a chaplain who follows up on patient visits and works toward getting new converts plugged into a church.  Judy and I are going to enjoy volunteering at the Hope Center.

I called Atwood yesterday to get information on the dimensions of their direct drive landing gear legs.  The good news is that there is an “industry stand” for mounting landing gear legs on fifthwheels which means that their legs should fit into our stop block brackets.  The bad news is that Atwood is very, very proud of their legs – they charge almost $1,600 for the set.  That’s the same price as HWH’s hydraulic system with four levelers.  Further research has turned up an Ultra-Fab system for $400 to $450, so I have an email inquiry into them to verify the dimensions.  In the meantime I will continue to research the issue to see what other solutions may be hiding out there.

The old temps dropped down to 30* this morning, but that was the end of the artic express.  Today it will get up into the 60’s and only drop down into the 40’s overnight.  By Saturday we’ll see temps back in the 70’s so, hooray for our team; we’re looking forward to that.  I’m waiting for warmer weather before I lay on my back under the rig pulling its leg .

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Getting a Leg Up

Well, we no longer live in an RV but a mobile home on blocks.  The landing gear is free and guess what?  It works perfectly when there is no weight on the legs.  After considerable research, I think we are moving toward a solution.  I’m hoping to replace the cheap Venture system with Atwood’s direct drive landing legs.  Each leg has its own drive motor and would assist in leveling as well as raising and lowering the coach.  Once I get the driver side landing leg out and take some measurements I’ll be able to determine if the Atwood system will work.  It all comes down to the dimension between stop block brackets that are welded to the frame of the coach.

Other than that, I was able to take care of the commode issue.  With rubber gloves, a scrubbing pad sponge, and some Bar Keeper’s Friend I was able to clean the gasket and the toilet now holds water once again.  Bar Keeper’s Friend was recommended to us by a Sealand customer service rep for cleaning the bowl.  It can be purchased at Walmart in the detergent/cleansers section (generally found in the “A” bin – bottom shelf) and costs about a buck forty.

Judy and I did some household chores for the rest of the morning.  Judy attended the crocheting/knitting group at the clubhouse yesterday afternoon while I did my landing leg research.  Then we did some relaxing and reading.  Santa brought us the entire West Wing series for Christmas (one of our favorite television shows of all time) so we spent last evening watching a couple of episodes of West Wing – finally something decent on television with no commercials.

This morning Judy is off getting her blood work done.  I plan to defrost the refrigerator (it’s too cold to work outside on the landing gear today).  This afternoon we are volunteering at the Hope Center at church.  The Hope Center provides medical, dental, and counseling services to low income and/or no health insurance families.  Doctors, nurses, counselors, and administrative personnel volunteer their time to provide the services.  Judy will be volunteering in the office while I will be part of the Evangelism Team that does the intake portion of patient visits.

So that is the state of the affairs at Patterson household this third day of twenty twelve.  Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Let The Good Times Roll

We wrapped up the old year with Jim, Ellie, Randy, and Terry.  Judy made her world famous lasagna, I prepared a salad, Ellie made up some garlic bread, and Terry brought a sweet bread.  Jim brought his portable bar (a cooler full of beer) and we just hung out chatting, chewing, and chuckling away 2011.  We made it to the fulltime RVers midnight (nine o’clock – it was twelve o’clock somewhere) before the yawns began to roll in.  Randy and Terry managed to hang on until 10:00, but they were “hitting the road” on Sunday heading for their workamping gig so needed to get home and hit the hay. 

We spent the first day of the year with friends; first at church and later at the clubhouse.  Throughout the coastal South, eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck.  Hoppin’ John is a rice and black eyed pea dish with bacon or ham and spices.  We put some raw onions, jalapeno peppers, and Texas Pete on it as well (well, I did – Judy went with the mild version using some salsa instead).  Anyhow, we’re looking forward to “a prosperous year filled with luck”.

Today I plan to get the front of the RV up on blocks (anyone know where I can get a couple of junk cars?).  It’s time to address the landing gear problem.  Once I get the “road side” landing gear leg out, we can make our decision of what the fix will be – either overhaul the existing system or replace it.  To be honest with you, I’m leaning toward replacing it.  I don’t like the way system was manufactured in the first place and can only see more problems in the future, but I will be able to be more objective once I know what the issue really is.

Judy will begin her basket weaving endeavors at the clubhouse today.  I’m not sure when I’ll see her again, but at least I’ll know where to find her.  There is sooooo much going on at the clubhouse that one could easily keep busy all day everyday.  Judy wants to attend line dancing, quilting, beading, and knitting/crocheting, just to mention a few.  I’ve signed up for a painting class as well.  We’ll keep busy, that’s for sure.  

No matter what, we are planning to take it real slow and easy.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know (but I wasn’t the project manager on that job either).  We want to take time to work a little and rest a lot each day; after all, we’re supposed to be retired and sitting in a rocking chair is part of that scenario.  Plus, we have lots and lots of reading to catch up on.  In any event, it’s just nice to be home again.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Happy New Year

We’ll be beginning the New Year by worshipping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a better way to start a year than by getting our focus in the right place?  We wish you a healthy, prosperous, and happy two thousand and twelve.

 

Happy New Year, Everyone !!!