Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Awning parts, and batteries for the neighbor

What a busy day! We were up early, and had breakfast, as Loyce had to go to the quilter’s meeting at 8. She has many new ideas from the association with the ladies.

I was off to the RV dealer to see what was to become of our repair. I wish I hadn’t gone. The folks at Jayco said our broken bracket was because I had hit something, and I was being less than truthful with them, so they would not warranty it. End of story.

Well I did no such thing, and would have told if I had, and got it fixed and paid proudly. So, so much for our relationship with Jayco. No more of their products, ever.

I went over and grabbed the bracket and the necessary parts off of the wall, paid for them and left the dealership. I spent the morning, installing the parts on the awning.

I am no awning repairman, but after installing the pieces and adjusting back and forth on the brackets for several attempts, it appears that the awning has been installed crooked from the factory. This is why the parts ended up broken, and they will break again over time, since it is crooked and is stressed each time it is deployed.

Perhaps my dealer in Missouri can help me when we get home, but I will have to pay him, as Jayco is not about to.

We had the largest motorhome I have ever seen pull in next to us several days ago. It is built on an extended semi tractor truck frame. It is all steel and fiberglass, and weighs 40K. It has both rear axles of the semi, and they are tandem rear ends. Meaning that the 500 hp engine drives all eight tires, when they are locked together. A gigantic class C.

This rig is a toy hauler, that has a Mini Cooper in the back. The floor of the toy hauler lowers to the ground, and you drive right out of the rig. Above the garage, is the master bedroom. Like a fifth wheel built backwards, with the semi driver cab on the front end. Maybe I can steal a picture when Rob isn’t looking.

He is pulling a matching trailer, that has a 32 Ford hot rod inside. It has a small block chevy V8, and a four speed. Of course the entire car is custom, and nothing about it was made in 1932. The entire car is new parts, and modern day technology. It does have a load of attitude.

But today, he was having battery problems with his four semi truck batteries. They are 2002 year stamped, and it was amazing they lasted so long. But they were gone. Done. He wasn’t going anywhere. He had checked all around, and the price of having someone come here and replace them was quite high.

I told him to pull the batteries, and we would go get him some with the pickup. So he did and we did. Sam’s club had the exact number he needed, and at $82 each. This particular Sam’s was over West of Scottsdale in Phoenix, and we spent about 2 hours picking them up. I saw 90 degrees on the dash of the truck while we were in route.

He installed them when we got home, and the diesel roared to life. He was quite happy to have this little job behind him, and the Mini Cooper did not have to haul the dirty truck batteries on the nice clean interior carpet. It would have taken two trips as well.

Perhaps I have a new friend. I know they are from North Texas, and collect cars, but have not found out her name yet. He is Rob. More on this later.

We reached 88 today, officially, which will be the highest temperature we will see while we remain here in Arizona. At least if the forecast is correct, we are to begin to cool down starting tomorrow. It was really warm, as we snaked our way through traffic to get to the distant Sam’s Club this afternoon. All of this while the rest of the country has snow.

It is not lost on me, our good fortune to be here in the desert.

Retired Rod

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rod, I think that we would all be interested in seeing this gigantic C, if you get a chance to post a picture. I am sure Rob would be proud for you to take one of it for us Dreamers.
    I think that some dealer should show Jayco how they screwed up your awning, that isn't right.
    Happy Trails, Penny, TX

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