Travel Day 17 – Oops! What Happened? (continued)
We were prepped and ready to roll out by 8:00 AM Thursday morning. As usual, we left hooking up the truck for when we reached solid pavement—about a mile up the road from the campground.
Susan was in the pilot’s seat, and I rode shotgun. We merged onto Interstate 94 heading east, and everything felt smooth—until it didn’t.
Oops!
“What was that?” I asked.
Susan frowned. “I don’t know, but I’m pulling over. You’d better check it out.”
Hazards on. We eased over to the shoulder. I jumped out, did a full walk-around, checked the tires—nothing obvious.
Susan crept forward while I walked alongside, eyes and ears alert. Still nothing I could see or hear to pinpoint the problem.
So I took the wheel and merged back onto the interstate.
Nope.
Within seconds, we knew something was definitely wrong. Back to the shoulder again.
Susan remembered a vista pull-off just ahead—about 100 feet up—so we limped forward and tucked safely out of traffic. Time for a more serious investigation.
The noise didn’t seem to be coming from the rear. Both of us suspected the front. So Susan raised each front corner with our onboard jacks while I watched the tires and rims as they lifted. With the wheels off the ground, I was able to spin and shift them.
And just like that, we knew: we weren’t going anywhere. We were going to need a tow.
From there, it was one issue after another.
We both got on the phones—Susan with FRVA roadside assistance, me calling for a tow truck. I found one within a minute: they’d be on the road in 20 and could be with us in under an hour. We were just 8 miles west of Medora and about 40 from Dickinson.
But hold on. FRVA said we needed confirmation from a roadside mechanic before they could authorize a tow. No mechanic, no tow. So scratch that plan.
I could write an entire post about what happened next with FRVA—but trust me, it’s a long story. Let’s just say Susan was on the phone a lot.
We ended up finding our own local mechanic and tow operator. By 3:30 PM, we were at the shop with Roger getting to work on the front wheel. We arranged for new wheel bearings and sleeves to be held at a parts shop nearby, and Roger planned to pick them up. By 7:00 PM, he had the wheel hub off and called it a day.
The plan for the next day: Finish the driver’s side, then move on to reinstalling the drive shaft and inspecting the passenger side.
Being proactive, Susan went back out and picked up another set of bearings and sleeves—just in case we’d need them for the passenger side.
Oh, and where did we sleep that night?
Well… since the jacks were in use to raise the wheels and Roger didn’t have any jack stands, we didn’t spend the night in Gus.
More on that part next time.
Safe Travels and Journeys
DaGirls Rv, Gus da Bus
Susan, Tilly, Dakota and me
No comments:
Post a Comment