Third bus not able to reach Pahrump. The jinx of three is over
eek:Shirley and I are very disapointed we could not complete our trip to Pahrump.
Reno's Smith Detroit - Allison repair facility supplied the reason. We had a drivers side rear axel beraing seal replaced on Tuesday. We hit the road to Pahrump on Thursday. 40 miles east of Reno loud scraping noises sounded from the rear. By the time we found a semi safe spot to leave the freewy roadbed smoke was emitting from the rear DS rear axel bearing. I exited with the fire extenguisher and did not have to use it, but the axel bearing was toast. Smith sent the tech that replaced the seal to examine the problem. We checked to see if I could move the coach further away from the roadbed and found it would not move under power. The drive line turned, but no wheel movement. Now the real fun of the day begin. Smith called a tow company. After explaining the problems to them, they dispatched a tractor with a drop-bed trailer and a large wrecker truck. I got busy and removed the all across rear mud flap to allow access to the rear hoisting points. They pulled and scraped the bus on to the trailer 11: oo AM to 3:30 PM. At Smith they pulled and scraped the bus off the trailer. The scraping part did some minor damage to tail pipe extensions and the front SS light bar. There it sits for at least a weeks worth of repairs.
Lesson learned on towing: Our bus bumper sections front and rear are not strong enough to stand the pressures put on them from cables hooked to the frame below and wrapping up under the bumper sections. We need to check with Prevost for detailed instructions on hoisting for towing. It would have been easier to load the bus on the drop trailer if we coud have lifted the rear over hang of the bus with the other wrecker winches. The tow driver said the bumper section would not stand the pressure of the cables wrapped under the with blocking, without bending upwards causing body damage. It took long sections of 4X4's placed under the rear wheels to get the overhang portion of the bus behind the rear wheels off dragging the ground when being pulled onto the tilt trailer ramp.
Darl came to the rescue allowing us to transfer our portions of the Monday evening meal and auction items to him for his trip to Pahrump.
You'all have a good time your hear. God willing we'll work toward seeing you in S.D. @ POGVII.