Monday, November 4, 2013

REPAIR DAY!

Thursday, October 31 – With the rain finally slowing down (Houston area received over 4” of rain from this storm.), we prepared to haul the RV out to find replacement parts for the broken landing jack.

Paul ran down to the office to let them know we were pulling out but would return shortly. To our delight, one of the campground managers said he would take Paul to get the parts. Marsha was delighted she didn't have to close up the RV, and Bella was ecstatic she didn't have to get all nervous about traveling.

So with the girls smiling, Paul and Jack, one of the husband/wife management teams, headed to town to find a shear pin for the landing jack. They visited several hardware stores and found close to what they were looking for at a marine/boat repair shop. The only problem was the new shear pin was 1" long instead of 3/4” long.

marking pin

Paul tried to cut off the shear pin using his hacksaw but it was just too difficult to do without a vise to hold it. So back to the campground office to ask for help. Jack took Paul down to the repair shop and gave him use of the bench grinder to shorten the shear pin.

Yes, Marsha yelled at me for cutting it this way.cutting pin

Now, Paul need to remember how to re-assemble the jack. It's been two days since he tore it apart....short term memory, you know. Luckily for Paul, Marsha had the sense to take pictures of the innards of the jack as he disassembled it.

jack

By consulting pictures on her cell phone, he was able to get things back together successfully.

wiring jack

motor

Again with Marsha's help (I love this lady.), we re-installed the jack. Testing proved the thing was working as designed. So after two days sitting hooked-up, we finally are were able to setup here in the campground. YEAH!!!

working jack

In case you're wondering........total repair cost = $1.50. Lots of misery for a measly dollar and a half.....JEESH!…… And yes, Paul bought an extra shear pin as an emergency backup.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

19 comments:

  1. Wahoo! You are all fixed up and it didn't break the bank. The best part was that you and Bella got stay home.

    Taking pictures was a smart idea! I always knew Marsha was the brains behind this operation:) Sorry, Paul, couldn't resist! I can see why you love that lady.

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  2. Always good to see a happy ending to a repair story! Yes, pictures are the way to go.

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  3. These kind of things can be real annoyances, but you need to sit back, take a deep breath, and realize it just goes with the territory of living in earthquakes on wheels. $1.50 may be the record for a cheap fix!

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  4. Yeah!! Jack was sure nice to run Paul around. However, RVers are usually fast to help! Thank goodness that is now behind you.

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  5. What a team you two make...and RVers are THE nicest people! Ain't it wonderful when all is right with your RV? Someone ought to be able to take that picture of Paul sawing the pin on his knee and used it for a dos and don'ts page somewhere. Now time to relax and enjoy your visit!

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  6. You know.. behind every great man stand an even greater woman!! YAY Marsha!!! Glad you were able to get everything all fixed up and finally unhooked!! :-)

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  7. So glad you got it fixed! But now you know why I don't always get excited about going into town when I'm parked since I always have to take my whole house with me. But, I don't have any leveling jacks to break so I have that going for me.

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  8. oh goodness. . .so glad that's done! Now you can enjoy your visit. . .

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  9. Isn't it exciting when you fix something for so little and you do it yourself. Sometimes Doug improvises. Good idea about the picture.

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  10. Great to hear it fixed and cheap too. In the next day or two I have to work on the big slide. Not looking forward to that job.

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  11. So glad to hear that Jack was willing to take Paul to find the parts. Having to go hunting for the parts towing the rig along would not have been fun. And now you can relax and enjoy yourselves.

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  12. A lot of the repairs with rv's are small simple fixes, once you get the part.
    Good job Paul.

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  13. Marsha is a great assistant! Thank goodness for cameras.

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  14. I usually think of pictures after it's too late! Nice job on the repairs and sure was lucky you didn't have to haul the 5'er around while looking for the shear pin.

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  15. Beautiful work done . Taking photo of an object before dissembling it is a great idea. I too will follow it again. Trying to cut the shear pin keeping in thigh is not advisable.

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  16. Notes taken; take plenty of photos, and buy extra parts......That Marsha sure is one smart lady :-)

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