Made it to Reno and back home, but had a ton of troubles on the road

[belfert]

I made it back early this morning from a trip to Reno and back, but not without problems.  We actually got back earlier than ever despite problems on the road.

It started with having to replace steer tires the day before leaving.  Something happened during the tire change and the bus was making a terrible noise from the right side.  I ended up taking the bus to a local truck shop that pulled the wheel and drum and cleaned everything up.  Noise only happened very rarely after that.  We heard it once or twice in 4,000 miles.

Road problems:

1. Stopped by Sheriff for lack of trailer lights.  It turned out that fuse holder on bus for trailer lights had melted.  Got a new one at Walmart and had it fixed in minutes.
2. Blew the sidewall on driver's side inside dual on I-80 in Utah just before exit 62.  Luckily, I had bought a torque multiplier to remove the lugs last year.  I also had a 12 ton jack and a 600 ft pound torque for wheel lugs.  We were able to change the tire in two to three hours before tire guy dispatched by Coach-Net showed up.
3. After changing the tire we realized trailer running lights not working again.  We found a bad blade on the trailer plug and ran a wire from bus to trailer for running lights.
4. GPS speedometer failed.  Still had speed from VMSpc.
5. We had an unmounted spare tire so had it mounted to replace blown tire at Love's truck stop tire shop.  Loves said it would take 45 minutes after we got there.  It took an hour plus before they started even though the shop was empty and there were mechanics there.
6. Checked oil in generator and noticed one of two belts had broken.  Luckily, there are two belts to the water pump for some reason and it didn't overheat with just one belt.
7. On way home in Iowa we noticed no trailer running lights again.  We pulled off and checked and the entire front panel of the trailer had torn loose on one side!  It took us about thirty minutes to screw the panel back in place.  Good thing I carry lots of screws including self drilling screws.  We had to fix our temporary wire for the running lights that was severed by loose panel.

All in all the trip was a success despite the problems.  I had done a 250 mile shakedown trip six days before leaving and everything was fine on the shakedown trip except for an alignment issue I had fixed before we left.  I had planned to do the shakedown trip weeks earlier, but I had a hard time getting an appointment for annual service to the bus.

[bevans6]

New motto - take tools and carry a lot of screws!  good job well done.

Brian

[TomC]

Yep-situation normal. Besides basic tools, nylon tie straps, electrical tape, duct tape, silicone sealer.

[belfert]

Yep-situation normal. Besides basic tools, nylon tie straps, electrical tape, duct tape, silicone sealer.

I had all of the above on my trip.  If a car had this many issues regularly most people would buy a new(er) car instead of having to fix it every few thousand miles.

[oltrunt]

I saw the word Reno.  Were you visiting, looking for a winter spot, enjoying a casino?
I've wondered about retiring there but haven't made any real plans.  Oh, my bus is always in need of something so I do keep a newer more reliable car in the driveway--now that I think about it, the newer car is 17 years old?  Jack

[kyle4501]

My first car had lots of issues - the reason I put up with it is because I didn't have the funds to get a newer one.

[belfert]

I saw the word Reno.  Were you visiting, looking for a winter spot, enjoying a casino?

We go out to the Black Rock desert every September to launch high power rockets.  We turn off I-80 about 20 miles before Reno at Fernley.  In 18 trips out there I have only been in the actual city of Reno once to rent a car at the airport.