Kudos
Wednesday, April 30 - gorgeous day. What a day for the 1st trip of the season from NW Ohio to Bean Station with the new tires, new AE wheels, new shocks and all new bearings in the rear wheels. The 455 was purring like a kitten with Mr. Paterson's newly rebuilt distributor. This was what it was all about.
The day before, I took one more look at the engine to verify all connections, and something reminded me of a member's picture showing a gap between the drive axle flange and the final drive - so I looked. Sure enough, on the driver's side, a 1/8" gap. A check of the six bolts revealed they were all finger loose. These bolts had a hex head, the other side had the OEM 12 point bolts. Got them tightened (with new lock washers), good to go.
About 50 miles out, we re-torqued the new wheel lug nuts. We were heading for Cincinnati with a stop for lunch with Bob Burkitt, and to pick up some items he had for us, including six new Cinnabar flange bolts and lock washers I had emailed him about. After lunch, and a stop at Sears for a new torque wrench (old one gave up the ghost just before Cincinnati) we were on our way again.
Then the day turned cloudy for us. A slight vibration was telling me that there might be a problem with the front end, but we pressed on. It got worse. By the time we hit Corbin, KY, the vibration had turned into a full-fledged side-to-side shaking. It was so bad, it literally almost threw us out of the seats. This only happened during acceleration, and after reaching any speed and letting off the gas, it would be as smooth as glass. Push on the gas, and it shook. After we called Bob B., and discussed options, we decided to try for Bean Station. It was late in the day and we had some good hills before us.
About 20 miles out, we called Al Samsel to tell him we were coming, but limping in. That was a good move as when we got to Bean Station, JR put us in the covered area where Eric Tanner had been with his problems the year before. We called it a night. HA! At 11:30pm, the cell phone rang and a voice says: "John, this is Ken Burton - I'm on the phone with Bob Burkitt and I hear you've got a problem". He was in his Blazer going around Indianapolis. The three of us conferenced for a half hour and Ken decided to change his route and go to Cincinnati and pick up some parts that might be needed to repair whatever was wrong with our coach. The next morning, Thursday, we moved into the pit building.
If we thought that phone call was amazing, what happened next was also. At some early hour, our coach was inundated with people willing to do whatever was needed to solve the problem. Bill Bramlet led the charge, with pit boss, Ron Davis, Eric Tanner, and Tom Phipps right behind him. John Nicholls pitched in, as did many, many others.
It was determined that some of the cv joints were gone. The spindle nut on the passenger side was removed with the obligatory breaker bar and cheater. The same nut on the driver's side was removed with Ron Davis' hand! One inner cv joint was bad on one side and the outer joint was gone on the other side. The driver's side hub and knuckle were shot (knuckle had been pin punched on the inside by some PO or their ‘mechanic'). Luckily, JR had a rebuilt hub and knuckle with him. One of the three balls on the bad inner joint was chipped around the ball opening and the needle bearings were no where to be seen.
It was decided that two, new (rebuilt) drive axles should be ordered, and they were. They would be in early Friday morning. They were ordered from NAPA in Morristown, but that's another story. Ask me sometime in person.
That night, Chuck Boyd popped in, and after looking at each wheel setup, made a few observations and suggestions about what I might also want to fix. Ken Burton arrived a little later and we discussed the situation.
Bill Bramlet said he would be back at 7:30 Friday morning. He was. As I had inherited two new Sets of Timken #23 bearings and four new seals from the PO, we decided to change the wheel bearings also. Don't ever arm wrestle Bill, period.
One of the NAPA axles was the old style; one wasn't. After much discussion, we decided to return the one that wouldn't work and we made a new axle out of the good inner and outer joints from the coach. We also found the driver's side lower ball joint had no nut. By Friday evening, we were back together and a test drive proved out everyone's competence.
Pat and I cannot express our thanks enough to the people who helped us with this breakdown and to the members of the Dixielanders group in general. They are all an amazingly friendly and helpful group, and we are very fortunate to be a part of them. We are also very lucky to have Al and Marti Samsel, without whose generosity, this rally would not be possible. Thank you all, again!
The trip home was uneventful, and the balancing beads in the new tires worked great!
Some trip specifics: 468 miles down, 455 miles back
total miles: 923
total gallons: 89.122
total gas cost: $317.04
MPG: 10.357
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=25099
John and Pat
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John Shotwell
Archbold, OH
78 Royale CK
Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 07:46:27 -0500
[quote title=UziYaH wrote on Fri, 09 May 2008 07:39]
Bean Station ‘08’ was our first rally, our first trip
in our coach, and our first time we slept in our coach
and a life altering experience. I met men who were my
heroes when I was a young boy, men who flew ’those
magnificent flying machines’. I actually met a man and
his beautiful bride who flew the PanAm flying boats to
the South Pacific, and the visions of Nordhoff and
Hall were again kindled within the canyons of my mind.
My wife and I were greatly impressed with the humility
and kindness shown us in spite of the fact that most
had far deeper pockets and better education than us.
Everyone seemed focused on our commonality of owning
one of these unique GMC motor homes and not on social
status. How refreshing.
I got to meet many who I have come to appreciate from
communicating on this forum, and missed those who
could not show. I was impressed with that fact that my
wife and I did not have to endure the stench of
cigarette smoke. I was also impressed with how many of
these men had lifelong mates. This too was refreshing
as my wife an I are enjoying over fifty years
together.
After seeing so many pictures of customized coaches, I
was apprehensive in bringing our ’plain Jane’ only to
hear “this is the coach everyone has been looking
for”, and I began to relax and enjoy what is in the
moment of now.
I thank all who shepherded me in the surveyed of our
coach and made repairs.
My wife and I left feeling we had just discovered a
large family we didn’t know we had. Such a refreshing,
life altering experience. Thank you all so much.
Happy trails,
Howard Nylander
Royale Class of '78'
E 10-O-C
===================
Howard,
We enjoyed parking by you at Bean Station and talking with you. Your coach was a rare find. Every one who saw it was impressed.
I don't know what it about a GMC but some of the most interesting people I have ever met seem to have one and it is not just the Dixielanders. We belong to 6 chapters and every one of them are full of interesting people if you take the time to talk with them. The International rallies are great to meet new people and see old friends from all over the country and world. We look forward to seeing you all at more rallies.
Gene Dotson
74 Canyonlands
www.bdub.net/Motorhome_Enhancements
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