Itinerant Air-Cooled

I think I told Bill I was going to Albany. Didn't make it. My first breakdown.
The 2008 itinerary repair budget has skyrocketed to $11.99 + tax after 19,455 miles since I got the bus out of storage on May 10.

See, I was driving down US Rt 6 towards Providence when I noted the fact that road whine was going away every right turn/swerve and coming on hard every left. That is classic wheel bearing wear. At the Shell station, I jacked the right front wheel and popped off the dust cap and pulled out the outer bearing. Lots of good grease . . . with metal shards. Cleaned the outer hub area, toothbrush/GumOut on the bearing itself, slapped in some fresh grease, adjusted it a little loose and hit the road. Why did the bearing fail? I know not but that it was made in China. I think I got it in Dallas when doing MightyArt's Vanagon in 2004.

Stopped at an Advance Autoparts in Willimantic CT and tossed out my need with no hope. "You want the good one or the so-so one?" said the lady with the red rabbit nose and constant sneezes. "The good one of course." Federal Mogul. wow, not ba. . . dang, Made In China."
Jacked up the right front wheel again, cleaned the outer hub area again, packed the new bearing and all is now quiet up front. I will do the serious repack after the itinerary.



This is the famous off-camber downhill right on Jeremiah Road where Phil and I tore down the steep hill at 80 MPH in the Ferrari 250GTB.


. . . and this is where we moved in 1967 after that big house in Virginia. My parents moved out in 1993, and I didn't think I could revisit the place, but here it is in 2008:





. . . and how it looked that first fall after we moved in:

Gorgeous... and makes me miss Monroe County, Indiana (and southward) because it looks very much like it.

Dang it! I would have preferred you to have visited an Autozone store to obtain a gen-u-wine Timken tapered roller bearing (as the company is my employer)!

Just curious... what country of origin was marked on the bearing?

Oh, and by the way: Beautiful photos!

vwlover77 wrote:... to obtain a gen-u-wine Timken tapered roller bearing ...

For what it's worth, the made in USA Timkens I just replaced on my Riviera looked exactly as Colin described. Of course in my case, the PO may not have adjusted them properly causing premature failure. I replaced them with SKF's made in... ummm... well they said Germany somewhere on the box, but who knows for sure!

So Colin, since your repair budget was destroyed as well as the extra travel expenses, have you decided to do a 2009 tour? C'mon, you know you have to! It's only right for you to take BobD and do an Obama-victory lap of this great country!

dtrumbo wrote:have you decided to do a 2009 tour?
It's only right for you to take BobD and do an Obama-victory lap of this great country!

I am not ready to commit to 2009 just yet. I need desperately desperately desperately to kick this book out or I will hate myself for the rest of my days. I expect BobD Bus to hit a couple of shows after I detail it, and I think BobD Bus deserves a good 10,000 mile Road Warrior Initiation to shake off the sleeping beauty sleep of its first 30 years. That would spin the odometer up to 47,300 miles. So I would do a half-itinerary with BobD, and then finish it with my "real" Road Warrior Bus.
As a matter of fact, I am ready to name my bus. What travelling warrior in the lore would be a decent name for my bus?
Colin

vwlover77 wrote:Dang it! I would have preferred you to have visited an Autozone store to obtain a gen-u-wine Timken tapered roller bearing (as the company is my employer)!

Just curious... what country of origin was marked on the bearing?

Oh, and by the way: Beautiful photos!

"Federal" Mogul. . . Made in China. Whattupwitdat?

What are your feelings being back in the Northeast after floating about this great land for a pair of seasons? I've love to hear.

I grew up in Fairfield/Bridgeport and your pics bring back many memories.....I loved that part of the world.

I think Federal Mogul does very little in-house manufacturing these days - they are much more a sourcing/distribution company now.

As far as a name for your Bus, what fictional character was a more faithful companion, protector, care-giver, inspiration, and friend through a long and arduous journey than Samwise Gamgee from "The Lord of the Rings"?

Yep, your bus should be named "Sam".

dtrumbo wrote:For what it's worth, the made in USA Timkens I just replaced on my Riviera looked exactly as Colin described. Of course in my case, the PO may not have adjusted them properly causing premature failure.

Not to oversimplify it, but it's better for the adjustment to be too loose than too tight.

http://www.timken.com/en-us/solutions/a ... nglish.pdf

I think "the BobD bus" is appropriate.
Besides, what's in a name?

vwlover77 wrote:Not to oversimplify it, but it's better for the adjustment to be too loose than too tight.

I agree, and if my memory serves, I think I had to try a little too hard to get the nut off when I removed the destroyed bearings. This leads me to believe the PO or the idiot at the repair shop had them adjusted way too tight.

I use the Colin-and-others method of tight-until-the-thrust-washer-can-still-be-moved-with-a-screwdriver technique.

Whew, outta hyphens for the day.

hambone wrote:I think "the BobD bus" is appropriate.
Besides, what's in a name?

BobD is BobD. He's talking about naming the blue bus.

Sam Gamgee is very good.

Of course the personalized license plate, paid for by the advance from the publishing company for the book would read:

SAMIAM

This assumes that, in fact, you do like green eggs and ham.

Criminey if it doesn't have a name in 30 years, then it doesn't need one now.
My 10 cents.

hambone wrote:Criminey if it doesn't have a name in 30 years, then it doesn't need one now.
My 10 cents.

im with you--ive known it, nameless, for 17 years. it would be strange.

cindy