Category: Commentary

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When does it end?

Before we start,  I DO like to travel.  Normally.  Of course, when I happen to be the person on the front line when something breaks, traveling can be a bit stressful.  I sometimes sit there and think: “Is that a new noise?”  It’s been nearly a year since the engine blow-up but there has been a constant string of little to medium-sized issues.

In my last post, I referred to a rear axle flange leak – that I tightened the nuts and cleaned up the oil.  We drove back toward our home base and checked – and yes, it was still leaking.  But before that- this week+ has been one thing after another.  So here we start…..

I started both researching the axle leak problem and looking for a seal.  I found several posts and videos where DIYers took care of their F53 axle flange leaks.  More on that below.  The immediate issue was where to get a new gasket in just over a week we would be stationary.  No online place either had one or could get one to us in less than two weeks.  I hit up my local Ford dealer and they promised to get one (I always order two) delivered in a few days – and they did.

Our 2019 Tiffin is based on a Ford F53 stripped chassis.  This chassis seems to come with one of three different transaxles.  None of the numbers on the transaxle seemed to match up with anything I could find on the Internet.  Most references were for 8-stud axle flanges.  Mine had twelve.  Aside from the issue of getting the right gasket, the torque values for the various flange stud nuts is very different based on the size of the studs (6 or 8 studs flanges use larger diameter and higher torque values than the twelve).

I had never dealt with this size of transaxle before.  The F53 has dual wheels on the rear.  The hub on each side, to which the wheels bolt and the brake disk attach connects to the transaxle via a pair of bearings.  Without the axle shaft installed, the hub would free wheel.  F53 12 Bolt axle flangeA “half axle” then inserts through the hub and a spline shaft connects with the gearing inside the transaxle.  The Flange on the end of the half-axle bolts to the hub, and thus drives it.  There is a thin paper gasket that seals transaxle oil from leaking between the flange and the hub.

The transaxle is filled with oil high enough that it runs out to the bearings in the hubs.  I let oil out of the transaxle case so I didn’t have to deal with a lot of oil running out when I pulled the axle.  There are three plugs in the case – one at the bottom to fully drain, one part way up the side for a partial drain and one higher up which is the fill and full-measure port.  The case is vented, so if you pull the plug on the middle port, it will drain and drain quite fast.  I let oil run out, until it slowed a bit and put the plug back in.  My estimate was it was low enough to minimize the oil that would come out later (it did).

The process goes something like this: place the RV on a flat surface, with wheel chocks in place.  During removal and re-installation you will need to release the parking brake and place transmission in neutral. Remove the hub cover (the left side has left-hand threads).  Mark the flange and hub, so that when reassembling, you can line everything up the same way.  Remove the flange nuts.  Now release the brake and go to neutral.  The flange should pull out fairly easily if all pressure on the drive system has been removed.

I cleaned up both sides (hub and flange).  I removed the remainder of the gasket with a utility knife and buffed up the surfaces with 3M green scrubber and did a final cleaning with a paper towel wetted with brake cleaner.  I applied the gasket dry (as per instructions).  The axle slid back in and with a little bump and jockeying, it mated in just the same place it came out.

The service manual specified to tighten the nuts in a star pattern – that is start with one nut – then go opposite (180 degrees), then 90 degrees, then another 180.  Or based on a clock, noon, 6, 9 and 3.  Then move to the next set and tighten in the same order.  With twelve bolts, that meant three sets of 4.  I snugged by hand, then set the torque wrench to 20, 40, and 65, in turn, following the pattern each time.  Finally, I cleaned up the hub, hub cover and wheel with brake cleaner so that if anything leaked again, I could easily tell.

After installing the cover, I added back new gear oil (my service manual spec’d 75W140.  It took 6 pints – it all depends on how much yours leaked and how much drained out.

We were waiting to leave town for one last medical test on me (which turned out good).  We headed northwest, into Iowa, and stayed the first night at a Harvest Host (Alpaca Farm).  It was our second trip to that host and it was as great as the first time.  It was hot during the day, but by evening it was cool enough to sleep with the windows open.  The next day was a long one – 6 plus hours on the road.  The axle flange didn’t leak – that was great.

Debbie and I weren’t really in sync that day.  We were having issues with gas stations.  Flying J and Pilot stations were limiting credit card purchases to $100, even in the RV lanes.  You can’t fill up an 80-gallon tank on $100 unless you travel back to the 1960’s.  AND, when I put my card in again, the station, or the card company denies your charge – EVEN IF I PUT IN A DIFFERENT CARD!!! So we pull into the left RV lane and there are bags on the left pumps – the easiest one to use.  But there are pumps on the right side of that lane – so I try that – “processing” forever.  (AND there was a deep puddle I had to wade to get to asshole parking in the waythe right pump – wet shoes!)  Ok, the right lane is now empty – so Deb drives around the lot to enter the right lane but some bozo parked his RV and trailer in the way, forcing a tighter turn into the right lane.  I was worried about the truck jumping the curb, as was Deb.  We weren’t agreeing on when to turn which way.  Deb was halfway into the lane when I in frustration said,”Just pull up, I’ll tell you when to stop” – when I heard a crunch.  front left fender damageThe left front fender hit the island guard that was sticking WAY THE HELL OUT INTO THE GAS LANE.  Shit!  To add insult to injury, this lane didn’t like my card either so I had to walk into the station to prepay.  Oh, and some stations put a $500 hit on my account, which is adjusted later to the actual amount – all the while limiting the

 exact same purchase to $100.  After filling up, we pulled out of the lane and parked in the lot to add half a roll of tape to the fender.  Some Flying J’s just plain suck rocks.  Others are great.  This one obviously sucked boulders!!

Update:  I am fixing this myself.  I’ve done lots of body work and paint, but very little fiberglass before.  The fiberglass broke in about 10 places.  Trying to work through insurance and finding a place to get the work done quickly (likely to be in a shop for a week or more) – we just couldn’t see doing that.  I’m almost through with the fiberglass work.  Then finish it out with glazing, primer, and paint.  It turns out I can get the same BASF paint in two different spray options.  We shall see.

When we pulled into our RV park – the girl was “new and on her own”.  She assigned us a site but we found a large fifth wheel parked there.  Back to the office – and a new site – backed in – but found only 30 amp service.  Back again – assigned another site and it had a very antiquated and jury-rigged 50 amp, but it worked.  Then the fun begins.  While unhitching the pickup truck, I found something wrong with the RoadMaster Nighthawk tow bar.  I couldn’t get the hitch to catch in the storage position.  It was sticking out too far and wouldn’t recess.  I presumed something in the stinger was broken and the bar was about to separate.  That wouldn’t be good.

Of course, I didn’t have the correct socket, so we went out and bought one and some supplies in case I could put it back together. Nighthawk repair I managed to remove the nut (inside the stinger) that held the tow bar in and couldn’t, for the longest time, figure out what was supposed to be there.  The nut I removed was trying its best to slide out of the stinger so there had to be a washer, spring, or something in there originally, that had broken into pieces and fallen out of the stinger.

nighthawk repairI couldn’t find any diagram of the internals of the stinger.  I finally decided there was a washer missing.  So, a trip to Menards was on the schedule for 6 am the next morning.  And wonder of wonders, I found a grade 8 washer there that was exactly the right size – and a better-fitting socket.  Back home – lubricate and reassemble it all, install on Rover and we are ready to leave and water starts dripping out of the speaker just overhead of the driver.  We had downpours much of the night.  I opened up the back of the cabinet but couldn’t directly identify the leak (it’s way overhead).  I went on the roof and dried off the area but could not find any break in the sealants.  Out of frustration, I coated all the seams in the area with self-leveling sealant.  Won’t know if it worked until it rains again – which seems to be coming soon. (It rained cats, dogs, and elephants at the next park, and no leak. Yea!!!)

We found a park today that had vacancies for three days.  A little relaxation is in order.

Mike

P.S. THE DAMN RVLOCK DOESN”T WORK EITHER!!!!

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What is a Father?

What is a father?

First, he Is the companion to your mother.  For most of us, they come as a pair, each with different strengths and weaknesses.  When one is not present, “your parents” becomes a less perfect set, a less perfect set than each of us might have been used to.  If you never knew your father, then your mother had to fill both positions, which could have been good or bad, but that isn’t the situation I’m speaking to.

My father, like most fathers, wasn’t perfect.  Clearly, he made mistakes.  There were bad judgment calls I’m still learning about.  He could, at times, have a temper.  There were times when he was intolerant of others (usually with good reason).

Yet, he was MY FATHER.  Yes, I had 7 siblings, to whom he was also a father.  And I fully expect that they too, could write a similar story.  But I’m not them and my relationship to George William Gardner is mine and mine alone.

Second, my father was one of the two guides in my life.  For a father to be a guide, there must be some commonality between father and child.  There must be a reason to spend time together.  There must be time for the child to watch the father in infinite detail.  Because it is in the details where the child mimics their parents yet also develops their own skills and personalities.  If the child is watching from afar, with little time in the details, then the lessons learned will be distorted, incomplete, and perhaps imaginary.

Third, my father imparted skills to me.  How to handle a paintbrush to neatly and efficiently apply paint (never using masking tape).  I learned how to glaze windows.  How to build things out of wood.  How to tune up cars. How to fix broken appliances.  How TV’s work.  The basics of electronic – and so much more.

Fourth, my father wasn’t just imprinting skills on my brain.  His training wasn’t setting me up for a life as a handyman.  I was learning the value of work.  I was learning that basic skills put me in control of at least some of the “world around me”.  I was setting goals for myself – such as I was, as a ten-year-old, setting my life goal to be an Electrical Engineer.  I saw that Dad valued people who had skills and used them and didn’t value people whose skill was so narrowly focused that they could add a title in front of their name, but couldn’t change a flat tire if their life depended on it.  Dad also taught me to think, logically, through problems.  “Why did this machine not work?”  “How do we debug it?”  “How could it have been made better, so it did not break?”

This story is about Dad, but Mom deserves a paragraph at least.  Mom imparted a whole different set of skills, yet not completely unlike Dad either.  I would spend Saturday morning working with Dad outside, then go inside and help Mom make a hundred loaves of bread.  She taught me how to darn, how to knit, and how to remain committed to family even in the most difficult situations.  I am my father’s son, but I also carry a piece of Mom in my soul as well.

Fifth, I also learned some bad habits from Dad.  Maybe it’s just DNA, as some family members are inclined to say: “Gardner’s are just………”, whitewashing us all with the same brush.  And I do believe there is some truth to that.  I also believe we all can change, but I can tell you that from personal experience, it’s damned difficult to change some things that were ingrained for 20 years and perhaps before birth.  Dad grew up in the Great Depression.  I’m sure he made difficult choices, for those he loved and he certainly worked his ass off all his life providing for and supporting his family.

So, what is a Father?  A teacher.  I guidepost through life’s difficult choices, even long after he is gone.  Someone to work shoulder to shoulder with when there was a hard job to do.  Someone who said what needed to be said, yet also taught by example without a word.  He was never about politics.  He did favor one person over another because of their policies, but never because of the color of their banners.  As a “good catholic”, he supported his family’s participation, but I also know first-hand that he never spared a priest his disdain when they couldn’t think or act logically or show even the most basic life skills outside of the pulpit.

A Father isn’t the façade some religious fanatic portrays using bible quotes.  A Father if you had one, is your Father.  Even if you didn’t, his absence also formed who you would become.  Never mind everyone else trying to tell you “What a Father is.”

mike