Days 1 and 2 - Bakersfield

We left Huntington Beach Monday at 1:30 p.m. and arrived at my brother Rick's house about 5:00 p.m. after a drive of 127 miles.  Dod performed great including going over the "Grapevine".  The Grapevine is a portion of Highway 5 that climbs from the floor of the valley to a summit of 4,144 feet.  I only had to shift into 2nd gear twice.

Dod is Happy

Jesse is Happy

It was a nervous drive because Dod had been diagnosed with a major problem in his front suspension.  A mechanic in Huntington Beach told me that Dod needed to have the complete front suspension system and steering control replaced at a cost of $2,400.  He also told me that I needed all new belts, a tune-up, and new gaskets for the oil pan, transmission pan and differential.  Total cost would be around $3,000.00.  He said that if the work wasn't completed soon, I would most likely lose a wheel while driving!

My brother and I sat up until 1:30 a.m. reminiscing, solving the world's problems and getting reacquainted.  We also talked about Dod's problems and Rick has friends in town.  One friend manages a tire store that does suspension repairs; another closer friend and frequent house guest is a mechanic.

Tuesday morning we went to the tire shop to have an expert with 30 years experience check Dod's suspension.  This guy started doing suspension work about the time that Dod was new.  He performed a thorough inspection both visual and mechanical.  In just 15 minutes I had my second opinion.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the suspension and in fact he said that it was amazingly tight for a motorhome that is 32 years old.

Later that morning Rick's friend Mike came by to look at the problems with the engine.  The belts did not need replacing, the gaskets were "good enough" for several thousand more miles and that the engine seemed to be running just fine.  While we were examining the engine, I found a loose wire just hanging down from the wiring harness.  After attaching it to the battery, my only other concern with Dod was fixed.  His clearance lights, back-up lights and flashers are now working!

It has always been my preference to give everyone the benefit of the doubt so I will just say that the shop manager in Huntington Beach probably just made a bad analysis and wasn't actually trying to take me for $3,000. worth of unnecessary repairs.

Rick and his wife Karen planned a big home-cooked meal for me that night with chicken fried steak, fried chicken, corn and mashed potatoes and gravy.  Some of my all time favorite foods!  When my brother's son Matt showed up for dinner Rick told me he was an electrician and he asked Matt to check my roof AC as it had no power.  One loose wire and one wrongly wired connection were located and within an hour I had full power going to the AC.  The roof air probably has not worked for several years as the wiring problems resulted in no power reaching the unit.  The roof air now blows ice cold!

Today, we are going back to the tire shop where an air conditioning specialist will be working today.  He will pressurize the AC system and test for leaks.  If there are no leaks, Rick has offered two cans of freon that have been sitting in his garage for years.

Boy, I sure picked the right place for my first stop!  Dave is Happy