We left the State Park and drove to the next town down the road, Las Vegas. New Mexico, not the big Las Vegas. It was Friday evening and we found a brake place just about to close up. They said they’d take a look but we’d have to be there before they opened at eight.
We continued down the road to a KOA instead of the State Park in town only because we needed internet. My god, KOAs are the most unbelievable rip-off in all of RV land. They charge fifty percent more for fifty percent less. At least I didn’t have to feel bad about changing my oil there.
In the morning I dropped Ali and the kids off at the McDonald’s down the street from the brake shop. This is how her day began at quarter to eight. It’d be eight hours before she was able to get back in the bus. Eight hours on foot with two little kids in a less than entertaining area of town. Good fun.
The day before, on our way into town we’d stopped at the post office where the brakes locked up on us once again. I’d been taking temperature readings on the drums throughout the day and when I did it this time the front passenger brake was ninety degrees while the driver’s side was smoking hot at about three hundred. It seemed obvious now that the brakes were locking up because the newly repaired front driver’s side was doing all of the work to stop the bus.
So the shop pulled both front tires to have a look. It took them nearly two hours just to get the tires off. I’m only telling you that because there are so many people commenting here to, “Just take it to a pro and get it done!” These people seem to think that mechanics are god, when from my experience they aren’t much more knowledgable than I am—they just have better tools and a clean place to work. When we stopped back in Tucumcari the mechanic was under the bus for half an hour with his phone held up above him googling Travco Brake System.
Anyway, these guys quickly found that the passenger side cylinder was seized up. They also said it was leaking, but I couldn’t see any evidence of fluid. A wheel cylinder was going to take five working days to get to Las Vegas, but on the last call they found a rebuild kit. They got that, cleaned up the drums good, greased the wheel bearings, installed the newly functioning cylinder, pressure bled the brake system, took it for a long test drive around town, and called it good. They were supposed to close at noon on Saturday—they worked until four.
Ali and the kids had gone from McDonald’s at eight, a mile down the road to a park at ten, back up the road to the grocery store at one, another half mile to the shop at two, back to the grocery store at three, and eventually into the bus at four. That there is a crappy day for the whole gang. We drove just down the street to Storrie State Park and called it a night.
We were off early the next morning and it soon became clear that something was still wrong. The brakes were soft. They stopped good and even, but I had to pump them. Giving up, we got on the interstate and headed for a real city with real services, Albuquerque. It was Sunday, the interstate was wide open, and we wouldn’t have to stop until we got there.
And that’s exactly how it went. We got to Albuquerque, and headed for the only campground that I had found during my five minutes worth of internet in the past couple of days. Internet that I had scrounged from a dentist’s office across the street from the mechanic.
The campground is on the west side of Albuquerque. From the city the interstate starts to climb. It climbs and climbs. It’s straight as an arrow, but for four miles there is a steady grade uphill. By the end the temperature gauge was inching higher and higher and we were down to thirty miles an hour cranking it in low gear. I was sweating as we pulled into the campground. I got out, talked to some Bum friends that had spotted us on the road and followed us, then went inside to pay. I came back out and was climbing into my seat when I looked down and saw a dead baby mouse lying exactly where my foot rests as I drive. I would have totally thought Ali was playing a practical joke if her reaction hadn’t have been so sincere. I don’t even want to think about the fact that this was a baby mouse, and babies have mothers. What a day.
In this picture you can see how bad this piece of flooring has warped. The reason is that this is the piece that goes over the big hole that I cut out of the floor to access the brake master cylinder. I meant to cover that hole in the floor, but didn’t get around to it, so instead this piece of flooring is the only thing covering it. Oops. The hole for the master cylinder is also exactly where my foot rests when pressing the gas. Basically I’ve melted this thing with engine heat and then pressed my foot through it for four-thousand miles. Fortunately I’ve got two spare sheets of the stuff.
We got settled in at the very nice RV park, took the kids swimming, met with some friends who live in town, and then put the kids to bed. Once they were asleep we got the computers out, ready to research where we could get the bus fixed once and for all, and wouldn’t you know it, the internet was down. Nothing is ever as easy as it should be out on the road. Three mechanics, one night in a hotel, fifteen hours of waiting around shops, and we’ve still got bad brakes and no internet.
Today our friends dropped off a car for us, which is a lifesaver at the moment, and among other things we did we found a brand new master cylinder. That’s my chosen next step.
We also tackled another project on the bus—removing the old furnace. If you remember a while back I tried to get it working, to no avail. Probably for the best anyway, as a fifty year old furnace probably isn’t the safest thing out there. Anyway, it was taking up a ton of space under the sink and today Ali decided was the day it was going to come out. She had her eyes on that storage area.
Forty screws held that thing against the wall of the bus, a dozen of which had rusted solid, but with a little coaxing from a hammer they were soon off and the furnace was out. There is some rotten wood under there that’ll need some attention, but it’ll certainly do for now.
Do you have any idea how much space that is to a 27′ motorhome? I offered to turn it into a bedroom or playroom for Lowe, but he declined. Apparently he’s good with just sprawling out all over the rest of the bus.
25 Comments on “Albuquerque”
Any new part you put on your coach is a plus.
PS there are better ways to get heat if you need it. Small 12-1500 watt
cube heaters are twenty bucks….and they will help you to get your money’s worth at a KOA. 🙂
That’s all we’ve been using, one tiny electric heater. Does the trick if temp is above 44. Below that and it gets mighty cold. But there’s really no excuse for being anywhere that it ever gets that cold.
They were having problems getting the wheels off because on one side the nuts loosen in the opposite direction. Normally it is lefty loosey, righty tighty. There should have been arrows for loosen on the studs telling them which way to turn the nuts. It was a thing back then. They don’t do it anymore.
No, I make sure to tell them in case they don’t know that. The problem they were having was that the Travco doesn’t have big full cut out fenders. You need to lift the body with one jack and the wheel with another. They were using a full length lift, and couldn’t figure out how to slide the tire out. I didn’t realize they hadn’t done anything for nearly two hours until the guy came in and told me they were having trouble getting the tire off!
If you are still in Albuquerque, an option would be to check with Statkus Engines (just SW of the I-25/I-40 intersection). They are a “real” shop and work on a lot of RV’s (mechanical/engine, not “house” RV stuff). Mostly modern at this point, from what I saw, but Mr. Statkus is an older guy, so…? Nice, family biz.
Pat,
I took Captain Fatty’s advice and brought an iPad w wifi. It frees up a lot of time looking for an internet connection and now you can get plans just for data usage.
Sorry I don’t recall, what type of camera are you using? I love the pic of Lowe sleeping, so precious.
We use a Canon t3i. And no way are we buying an iPad and internet. Despite our occasional grumbling, there is no need for us to be connected twenty-four hours a day. I try to keep in mind sometimes that there are differences between wants and needs, and that most things are nothing more than conveniences. I sometimes feel like the States has become too convenient for our own good. Then we have a bad day or two and all of those thoughts go right out the window. 🙂
There is the “off” button. I don’t know if they are still doing it, but T-Mobile has a free 200mb/month package for tablets, and you can do fine with a used Android tablet.
Nothing like Europe, though, where a months worth is 4 Euro.
Ali deserves a medal. So do the kidlets. I so hope you guys get a break on the brakes soon.
Yes, she does.
With the old Winnebagos we also had to jack up the frame in order to get the rear wheels off. Even then the wheels barely fit through that flattened wheel arch.
Did the prior owner indicate they had done any work on the rear brakes, i.e. replacing those wheel cylinders? With some years, the Dodge RV chassis rear brakes had two wheel cylinders on each side – but I think the older (1966) chassis only had a single wheel cylinder on each brake backing plate. If your Travco has the dual wheel cylinders on each side, beware; they look identical but are not.
The entire time we were using our 72 Winnebago, pressing on the brake pedal the first time would require a lot of pressure for quick stops. If I quickly pumped the pedal once – the pressure on the second application was MUCH less than required when I had only pressed the pedal once. This was due to the old sticky brake boosters. (Mine had dual remote boosters). But since it was consistent, I put up with it.
“Nothing is as easy as it should be out on the road.” You sure got it there. Our RV is a lot newer than yours, but we still have some of the same experiences that you’re having. Can’t think of anything else we’d rather do, though!
All of you are being troopers. Kids look happy.
I wonder at what age your kids are going to realize they have the coolest parents on the planet.
I stumbled onto your site a long time ago, but it is a daily stop. I appreciate your adventures, “can do” attitude, and for also appreciating some of the most interesting vehicles on this planet.
Thanks… and steady on.
It must be so frustrating to have to keep fixing the same problem. My Mom owns a home built in 1860 and one of her biggest issues is that she can’t ever get someone to come out to fix something the first time. It sounds like you guys are going through the same thing. Hope the brakes get fixed soon and for good!
Hi Pat,
If you or Ali need any help getting around Abq., finding suitable mechanics or parts, play areas for the kids, good eats…..gimme da holla back.
Long time reader, Jim
Love the surfboards on top of the rig…kinda makes it obvious what -one- of your destinations are…
Dont let the grumblers bring you down. I drove across the country and back on my learners permit with unbelted passengers. Ha!
Live life the way you want and let the others do it their way! Too many signs warning people what to do and what not to do…what happened to common sense? How did it become that lawyers run the government?
Happy trails and keep up the great posts and photos!
Been following your blog for a few months and you guys are living my dream. I have some info for you that may help… If you go on the Technomadia.com (that’s madia with an A after M) website they have tons of very useful information that you likely will be interested in. They are also full time RVers and highly recommend Millennicom on the Verizon network for a mobile hot spot. 20GB of LTE high speed data for $89. Here is a link to one of their more recent articles about Millennicom: http://www.technomadia.com/2014/04/millenicom-verizon-hotspot-price-increase-no-joke/
Thanks, Tom. I’ve seen that article, but honestly we have no intention of paying a hundred dollars a month so that we can have internet every minute of every day. Sometimes we get it at night in campgrounds, sometimes we go a few days without it, sometimes we’re supposed to have it and don’t and we get in a huff about it for a few hours, but overall life seems to go on just fine without being able to google anything anytime.
I hear that, Pat! I loves me some internet but not enough to pay much for it. There’s always free internet at Macca’s. Give the kids a chance to play in the playground and you guys a chance to slurp down a pineapple-mango smoothie. Or, if your timing is right, a couple Sausage McMuffins. Look what you’d miss if you had that Verizon dealie.
Sounds like a new adventure every day. This may help with your internet access. I went with Republic Wireless a year and a half ago because I couldn’t stand paying verizon $125 a month for service. Well, that and I retired. Anyway I went with Republic. They use a combined Sprint, Verizon roaming and WIFI access to make calls (actually world wide), send text and provide data. The total cost for unlimited, no contract access is $25 a month (plus tax). They also have a no data plan for $10 a month. Every member gets a discount link for friends or anyone else who cares to use it: http://rwshar.es/Oqvb. It provides $20 off at check out if the link is used to enroll. I recommend it highly after using it up and down the East Coast and out as far as North Dakota. Have fun. Ken
My husband and I have been looking at Boingo Wi-Fi for travel hot spots. You can use it on laptop.
Unlimited wi-fi. No contract. $4.98 for the next three months. Then $9.95.
http://www.boingo.com/retail/
Love reading the blog! Stay safe.
Jeanette
I guess I should have been more clear. Republic phones cannot be used to teather a laptop. They provide unlimited service to the phone itself.
We hate phones. Stop telling us about phones!!!!! We really don’t care if we don’t have internet for a few days here and there.