And on I-10 East. About 50 miles east of Q I noticed the coach wasn't driving quite right and at the same time somebody was motioning me to pull over and as I pulled the window open they said you're on fire! Well that's not a good thing I thought.
Pulled over on the side of the road and got the fire extinguisher ran out and found that the passenger side rear wheels were on the wheel well and that's what the smoke was about. My first thought was the HWH computer but I know I got that repaired recently on further inspection I found the linkage to the rear ride height valve and dry rotted and broke on a big pothole I guess. I ten not a very good road in that section of arizona.
Easy fix I thought but getting the screwdriver out on the roadside was not as much fun. Don't these drivers know they're supposed to pull over to the left side when you're pulled over on the right? Yeah no they don't. Anyway 10 minutes later I was back on the road. Tire looks okay minus a little bit of rubber.
Of course the rest of the day I was driving with White knuckles thinking what else is going to happen. But it was fine and the next day was windy like crazy. Now I'm in New Mexico and enjoying every bit of the drive up on US 70. Highly recommend the route.
Yeah if you have an older coach you might want to look at those rubber connectors on the right height valves. Mine was dry rotted.
I-10 is a mixed blessing at best.
Option 1) Take another route if you can, but add more time/miles/fuel to the trip.
Option 2) Take 10 and slow down for the bumps, or do a salom run around the pot holes.
Option 3) Run her up to 75 and take the left lane as it's generally better, but I can't pull the toad over 65 and I won't force Alice over 60.
Damned if you do......
Regardless, glad you got back on the road.
Yep, best to have your simple suspension stuff up to task when you hit the the well traveled big roads...
Glad you were able to apply a quick fix and get back on track. It's too bad the dry rot wasn't discovered before it created a problem. I bet others can learn from this.
Most of us don't wear tires out, they become outdated and still have plenty of tread left.
Yeah there's no pre-inspection that would have showed me that. And my suspension is just fine thank you very much. All eight airbags and shocks are fairly new and the tires are a year old. It just is what it is.
Yeah I have another story that's even better than that to happen to me today but that is going to have to wait for a different day.
Hey Bob, looks like you have been having fun. I dont recall having a hose clamp on those couplers? Please post the replacement coupler number and were you sourced them. Probably a good time to change all three of them.
Yeah I bought it that way. It's worked fine for 6 years but nothing less forever. I'm still on the road I haven't sourced anything. I turn the thing around stuck it back in and tightened up the clamp. It's good until I can get the right part.
Not Bob but here you go Part Number Collection (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=11472.msg477394#msg477394)
Mike
I feel your pain. After picking up my new to me U320 was driving through Shreveport on the notoriously rough I20 and started getting attention from the truckers. Smelled the burning and pulled off at a rest stop.
Passenger rear was riding on the wheel well and there was molten rubber and plastic everywhere. Found the linkage had pulled out of the mount due to a missing nut. Quick but messy fix.
Upon further inspection the remaining RHLs were double nutted.
I check them with a mirror before each trip.
Thx Mike...but now where to find them..?
Automann Linkage Kit Horizontal MSRK3735H – HD PartsPro (https://hdpartspro.com/products/automann-linkage-kit-horizontal-msrk3735h)
looking for easier site now
Found one better.
Salesforce B2B Commerce (https://www.fleetpride.com/parts/haldex-air-valve-rebuild-kit-rn10jc)
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/MBIRN10JC
Well look at that it's a clamp!
What I did was just turned it around and clamped it to the other side it worked fine. But if that side dry rots and I'm sure it's getting close to being that way that wouldn't be good.
I was heading to Oklahoma City but changed my mind now I'm going to nacogdoches to get one of those little rubber things and the clamp.