September 2, 2004

September 2, 2004

DAY 77

 

 

Had a big brunch with the Danelak family in their gazebo this morning before leaving. Sharon baked fresh cinnamon buns for the occasion. Thank you, Sharon. Toby and I thought they were great. Surprisingly, Teddy spit his out.

Left their driveway at 11:30 A.M.. Drove to Transcona Trailer Sales to resolve one way or another this missing hub cover issue. As I arrived at their parts and service counter, Doug the Parts & Service Manager was just finishing making arrangements by phone for me to pick up the correct hub cover at the Forest River ( Harvey's manufacturer ) factory in Elkhart, Indiana which is the next town over from Goshen where we're headed for the Escapees rally. Fine !

Drove next door to GNR Camping World to dump the holding tanks. Filled up with diesel fuel. Battled congested city traffic south on Hwy. 59, west on Bishop Grandin Blvd., then south on Pembina Hwy. to the Perimeter Hwy. Beyond the Perimeter Hwy / city limits it becomes Hwy. 75 to, of course, Pembina, North Dakota.

Halfway to the U.S. border, just past St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba, I felt and heard a rear tire blow out on the truck. What a mess ! The inside rear tire on the passenger side self destructed. The outer tire looked very low. I thought that was just because it was supporting all the weight on that side. OK ! Disconnected the trailer. Removed the spare tire out from underneath the truck. Jacked up the truck. Removed the outer wheel and tire. Removed the inner wheel and remains of the tire. All that sounds a lot easier than it was. I checked the pressure on the outside tire. It was 24 PSI. HUH ? It was 55 PSI when we left this morning. I hooked up my teensy little 12V air compressor to re-inflate the outer tire. Installed the spare into the inner position. Checked how the little compressor was doing at re-inflating the outer tire, and discovered a slow leak in the valve extender. AHA ! So that's what happened. The outer tire lost pressure, and the inside tire took all the weight, overheated, and exploded ! These dually valve extenders have been nothing but a problem since I installed them shortly after buying the truck. I'm going to have to buy a different style of valve extenders. I removed the valve extender and started the little compressor again. While it was puffing away, I re-installed the outer wheel and tire. Joanne went inside the trailer to make lunch. I tightened everything up, lowered the jack, put everything away, and kept checking the outside tire pressure. It takes a long time for this little 12V compressor to inflate a big tire to 55 PSI. Finally, everything was put away, and I was cleaned up, but the outside tire pressure was still only 50 PSI. I went inside the trailer to eat a quick sandwich. As I was eating my sandwich ... < sniff sniff > ... HUH ? The smell of smoke ? I peeked outside the trailer ... and ... and ... HOLY SHIT ! My little compressor was belching smoke and flames ! ! !

I ran out to the truck, unplugged the compressor's power cord from the lighter jack, disconnected the air hose from the tire valve, and kicked the burning little compressor into the ditch. After it stopped burning, I picked it up to examine it. Oh, look. Instructions. "Allow compressor to cool for 10 minutes after each 10 minutes of use. Never leave compressor unattended". Right. I'll have to remember that ! Letting it run for about an hour and half isn't a good idea. Letting it run while you go inside for lunch is even a worse idea.

I connected the trailer back onto the truck and we drove back a mile or two into St. Jean Baptiste, where I finished re-inflating the tire at a commercial trucking business. I just went inside and asked them if I could inflate a tire there.

It took 2 1/2 hours to deal with this problem, but it was satisfying to know that I have the tools, parts, skill, strength, etc. to be able to solve this kind of problem without having to phone for a tow truck. Guess I'll have to buy a new 12V compressor, though.

Finally, we arrived at the U.S. border at Pembina, North Dakota. The customs officer asked very odd questions, like "which one of you named the cat Toby ?", then he wanted to go inside the trailer to examine the fridge contents. No problem.

Manitoba Hwy. 75 became U.S. Interstate 29 when we crossed into North Dakota. We stopped at Grand Forks to feed the cats, replenish groceries, and fill up with diesel again. By the time we left Grand Forks, it was 7:30 P.M.. We continued south on I-29 to Fargo, where we stopped at 9:00 P.M. at Flying J to cook supper and call it a day. Flying J is a chain of "truck stop" service centres that are very RV friendly.

End of a longer than planned, tiring day.

DSK