Well, the Trip Saga begins already! Let me tell you what's happened so far. . .

[Christyhicks]

Ok, now, I want to warn you guys, some of this may be painful to hear, and I'm going to have to tell a little story or two on Larry. . .no way to get around it I guess, so any of you guys who had visualized him as the ultimate "man's man", Mr. Safety, mechanic, weldor, painter, "can fix anything". . type of guy. . .I have his permission to burst your bubble. . .read on at your own peril.   

Larry has a shop, and it has a slot for TempBus.  When backing through the door, there is a whole 2-3" on either side of the mirrors, and your approach requires you to swing in at an angle and straighten up JUST at the right time, and then nudge your backend over towards the north wall to clear the front end of BigBus, all while observing nothing but a black hole in the wall as it appears in your mirrors.  Needless to say, backing into the garage can be a challenge, even with me helping watch and guide.

I can be a hard person to reach during business hours.  The nature of our business and my position requires that I spend pretty much 90% of my day on the phone.  Every time Larry walks in the door and peers through my window at me, you can bet I'm starting, in the middle of, or trying to finish up a phone call!   I see him look at me, and I try to get off the phone as quickly as possible if it looks like he needs a hand with something, but the truth is, often, it's a juggling match for me to decide if his needs are more pressing than whoever is on hold for me, especially if it's one of our guys, on a jobsite, on the clock, needing an answer from me .  Because of this, tired of waiting for me, Larry discovered the other day, that he actually could and did back the bus into the garage, ALL BY HIMSELF!  He did a good job at it too.  Just enough room to squeeze in on the north side to plug it in and on the south side between the two buses, just in case you need to get to the breaker box or something. 

So, yesterday, he pulls TempBus out and fills it with water, goes through all the fluid checks, fills the batteries. . basically gives her a good once over before we leave the next day on our trip.  In he comes to signal me that he needs a hand backing her back in.  Yep, I'm on the phone. Next time I see him come in and look in my window, he's shaking his head and scowling. . . this does NOT look good.  I follow him out to look at the damage.  Hmmm, garage door looks fine.  Owww.  Oh well, so now we've got a little scratch on our new paintjob, where he got just a Leeeetle too close to the north garage wall. . .the good thing is if he was going to err in one direction, at least he erred AWAY from BigBus!      The good, GOOD news is that it's just a small surface scratch. . .no dings or dents. . .no harm, no fowl.

It gets better.

So, we're running down the highway, I'm chatting with my mom on the cell, when all of a sudden I hear a beeping sound.  I say, "What's that beeping?" and suddenly realize it's the Pressure Pro. . so I yell, "Pull over, we blew a tire" and tell my mom I'll call her back.  Larry pulls over, and I unbuckle and climb out, pulling out my Nextel to beep him back and tell him it's just a false alarm when, WHAT IN THE HECK. . . our front tire on the Jeep is SHREADED!   How crazy is that!  Those tires had less than 200 miles on the set, and we knew the pressures were good because we had checked them the day before and then again that morning.  Thank GOODNESS we had the tire monitor, as even though it tore the fender rain shield, cut the bumper cover a little, and pretty much ruined the rim, everything else was fine.  I'm thinking that the next time I hear loud beeping, I need to IMMEDIATELY tell him to pull over, , not sit there and go, "Now, WHAT is that beeping??"

So, I grab the orange triangles and head out. . . set one out, set the 2nd. . .stop, look, take it back farther, walk some more, set the third. . turn around look, decide the first one was WAY too close to the bus. . go get it, hike on over past the last one and set that one every FARTHER down the road. . .then hike on over to help Larry change the tire.  He looks in the back and I'll be darned if there isn't a full sized spare with a brand new tire on it, ON A MAG WHEEL EVEN, and there's the jack, and then I remembered seeing the handles under the rear seat, so we find those. . . I pull out the book and together we figure out where to set the jack for "proper lift point".  Did I tell you we haven't had this car long??  

He starts removing the damaged tire while I pull out the air compressor and air the tire up to proper pressure.  On goes the new tire, "Mr. Shreddy" goes in the bay, and I start the hike back to pick  up the triangles.  Now, I've spent the last 1 1/2 yrs exercising to lose 20 lbs, and before we left, I whined a little about whether I'd get any exercise on this trip and whether I'd put some of that weight back on.  Well, I gotta tell you folks, hiking all the way back to pick up those stupid triangles gave me me day's quota FOR SURE.

Anyway, back on the road again .  We're making pretty good time, even with not leaving until 10 and then having to change a tire, and we hope to make it through Kansas City yet tonight if Larry feels up to it.

Oh, and BTW, we, ahem , figured out what blew the tire, ahem . . .seems that no matter how many times Larry tested out the steering wheel lock that didn't seem to lock the wheels. . . (even when it was up on the lift he turned that steering back and forth). . .well, I guess the thing does eventually lock. . . in between "me watching him pull out and visually okaying everything" and "blow a tire" stage.  

What's really bad is I started to question him on the key position when we left and he assured me the steering wheel lock didn't work, and of course, him being a "man's man", "Mr. Safety". . yada yada, well, I'd believe him over a book any day!   hahahahahahaha

oh well,  , as Margie said, "That will be SEARED into our memories forever!" Christy Hicks

[bobofthenorth]

Marilyn often reminds me, while in the middle of some adventure "someday this will make a great story".  Thanks for sharing.  Most of us have done way dumber things than leave the steering column locked.  Some of us don't TELL when we do but most of us have done something that would qualify.

[Dreamscape]

I'm going to vote for you to entertain us in MAK'S Bus Conversion Magazine. You are too funny.

Sorry for the tire blowout, but what the heck, we wouldn't have read such a comical story line that only you could tell.

Hope the rest of the trip goes smoth as silk.

Paul

[bubbaqgal]

Christy, if I ever get arrested for anything serious I want you to give the closing statements. I believe you could make a very serious crime sound funny and get me the sympathy vote.

[Christyhicks]

Sorry for the tire blowout, but what the heck, we wouldn't have read such a comical story line

yeah, well, we aim to please     

Some of us don't TELL when we do

I believe you could make a very serious crime sound funny and get me the sympathy vote.

HAHAHAHAHA
Well, to be honest, it's a bit embarrassing to tell on ourselves, but it IS so doggone funny, the stuff that happens to us, but we also kind of figure that if after reading what happens . . well, if just one busnut avoids making the same assumption/error, etc., that we've done, it'll be worth it in the long run.  It's just like the silly steering thing. . . he tested it ON  A LIFT even. . . I watched as he pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto our drive, and the wheels turned first one way and then the other, the car was tracking well, the tow bar had locked, so of course, we thought all was well.  Wrong-o.

I will say that the Pressure Pro did it's job and alerted us immediatley upon the blowout.  It was easy to grab those sensors off of the old Jeep and slap them onto the new one, and even though we had a few second hesitation when I was trying to figure out WHAT IN THE HECK ALARM IS GOING OFF??? , we were able to stop quickly and prevent all but minor damage to our Jeep.  It tell you what, between my two cell phones and Larry's cell, the palm pilot, the computer, the digital camera, the rear camera, and all the various buzzers and beepers on the bus itself. . .there are just TOO many choices when something DOES start beeping, ha ha. 

Christy Hicks

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Christy,

If you have rubber valve stems on the toad, have Larry change them to steel ASAP.

The weight of the sensors will bend them under cintrifugal force, eventually tearing them at the base.

I learned that the hard way about a year and a half ago....

Be Safe and enjoy your trip!
Nick-

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Remember my jeep a couple years ago....But, I had no tire left to investigate what went wrong!

I installed the presure pro after this. And the metal valve stems on the Yukon.

Nick-

[kyle4501]

Glad y'all are OK! 

I just had a tire blow on the front passanger side. The tire looked really good & was holding air fine & I had just checked it at our last stop 15 or so miles prior to a sudden disintegration of the tire. No, I didn't see anything in the road to have damaged it. No, there was no warning of pulling or shaking. Just BAM, instant tiny tire pieces & me thinking "not again".

I was fortunate that I didn't swerve much pulling a 32' camper.

[bobsw]

Been their and  did that. About $ 1,000.00 damage to the jeep. Just one click of the key. Also took out the park dog in the trans.  I think we need a pilots check list or something, but then I would forget to check that too.

[JackConrad]

     We have been fortunate. 2 times, we towed with the steering wheel locked, but caught it before the tire went flat, but tire had to be replaced. The first time was my fault. The second time, I allowed a friend to help me hook up the toad and did not check the steering wheel.
  Our policy now is that we do not allow anyone to help us to hitch up. We have a set routine.  With engine running, transmission in neutral, shift transfer case into neutral. Shift transmission into drive and rev engine (to confirm transfer case is in neutral). Shut off engine. Shift transmission into park. Turning engine off in drive prevents ignition switch from going to the position that engages steering lock.  This routine is for a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee,  routine for your toad may be different.
   I guess the best method would be to remove the steering wheel and remove the steering lock pin.  Jack

[DrivingMissLazy]

     We have been fortunate. 2 times, we towed with the steering wheel locked, but caught it before the tire went flat, but tire had to be replaced. The first time was my fault. The second time, I allowed a friend to help me hook up the toad and did not check the steering wheel.
  Our policy now is that we do not allow anyone to help us to hitch up. We have a set routine.  With engine running, transmission in neutral, shift transfer case into neutral. Shift transmission into drive and rev engine (to confirm transfer case is in neutral). Shut off engine. Shift transmission into park. Turning engine off in drive prevents ignition switch from going to the position that engages steering lock.  This routine is for a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee,  routine for your toad may be different.
   I guess the best method would be to remove the steering wheel and remove the steering lock pin.  Jack

If the toad transfer case does not have a neutral position, it is extremely important that the transmission is in neutral, not park.

Do not ask me how I know this. LOL

Richard

[Ncbob]

Happy it wasn't more serious, Christy.  You seems to have a track record with Toad problems don't you?

Wasn't it a loose plate after Arcadia 2 years ago?  Hope the rest of the trip goes well.

Missed you in the Chat Room tonight...perhaps another time. Pass along our best to Larry.....

Bob