The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

As expected, that was an expensive repair bill...

Well, I had guessed the bill would be around $2,000 USD and it came in at $2,273 USD.

Of course that's hard to swallow, but it really becomes a lump in your throat because we have to pay for it with Canadian dollars... almost $3,000 Canadian dollars!

But, we have spent very little money on Sherman over the years so I suppose we were due for it.

And, we were fortunate to find a good place to get the work done. Would not hesitate to go back to S&L Auto and Truck Service in Amarillo. Richard the service manager was great, and they're a friendly bunch of guys who worked us into their schedule and got us back on the road quickly, while organizing things such that we could still sleep in Sherman overnight.

So, what did we get done?
  • New front wheel bearings
  • Transmission filter and fluid changed
  • New steering damper
  • New front brake pads
  • New rear brake shoes
  • New rear wheel seals
  • Bleed brake system
  • New inner and outer tie rods
  • Adjust power steering belt
A total of $700 in parts and $1472 in labor. Plus some supplies and tax.

And I have to say, Sherman's brakes have NEVER felt this good! So at least there is that.

Next stop was the alignment shop, Panhandle Tire. They took us in right away, and got to work. This was at a big truck tire shop, and I was expecting a big truck bill. But when we went to pay, it was only $73 USD ($95 CAD) tax included, so we were pretty pleased with that.

Next stop was a welding shop. Sherman has a little structural problem with a support under the drivers side floor. It's been like that for a long time and I keep meaning to get it fixed. They essentially need to build a new bracket, and it's not easy to get at. It's not really a problem except that when you go over a bump you can feel it in the steering wheel because the body flexes and the steering column is mounted to the floor at that point. But, it was after 1:00pm and they could not confirm that they would get to it and finish it by closing time and we really didn't want to be stuck in Amarillo for the weekend.

So we will get it done another time.

Even though it was after lunch, we decided that we should get some driving in. The winds had picked up again, but it was mostly a strong wind from the south, so we would have a (mostly) tailwind.

There have been lots of wiildfires north of Amarillo.

They were actually calling for rain last night. I hope they got some!

Mostly four lane road heading up to Oklahoma.

The cotton gin!

Lots of cotton.

And lots of cows!

We stopped in the town of Stratford, TX for a driving break.

There's a nice little tiny home!

Into Oklahoma!

Boise City, Oklahoma.

Boise City, Oklahoma is a little town of 1,100 people. We saw quite a few choices of places to park, but when we got to the library we saw a decent parking lot at the hospital. We could use the free library wifi, and it should be quiet at the hospital. I went in and asked, they said we were fine to park there for the night.

Yesterday's drive, 118 miles (189 kms).

Around 6:00pm, it actually started to rain. And it was a decent steady rainfall that lasted a couple of hours. I hope some of Texas got some of that rain.

We slept great, and we're heading north into Colorado today. We've got about 10 days to do the 1,200 miles (2,000 kms) drive up to Cabri, Saskatchewan so that works out to 120 miles (200 kms) per day which is exactly what we like to do. Of course some days will be more and some days will be less. 

Looks like we've timed the weather perfectly as well because the 10 day forecast for our route looks just fine.

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Should be in every RV'ers tool box... especially for this price!


And in Canada...





20 comments:

  1. Big expense? I'd say "no". Compare that to say, putting a new roof on a house, or a new furnace, or....shall I continue? As Sherman is your "house", I'd say you've done well over the years. Helps to do some stuff yourself, but even if you hadn't, you're still farther ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a big expense when you live on a tight budget. Yes, in reality it is our house and repairs have to be made and they sure are cheaper than a real house. We know we put had new windows, new roof and new furnace over the years on the house we used to own. Any time you own a vehicle it is going to cost some money and we know it is worth it in the long run and we love this lifestyle, that says it all! :-)

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  2. Here's a link to the most famous photo ever taken in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. Even though it's very dry there this year, it's not as bad as it has been in the past.

    https://sites.middlebury.edu/landandlens/2016/10/27/arthur-rothstein-dust-storm-cimarron-county-oklahoma-april-1936/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin's dad, his sister and his parents lived in Saskatchewan during the dust bowl until they moved, we can't even begin to imagine what it was like back then!

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  3. and the weather is warm at home...........19 in Maple Creek yesterday

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    1. Sounds great, we just hope that trend continues! :-)

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  4. Great that Sherman is back on the road and in good shape as well. Why are you heading towards Capri Saskatchewan I thought you were heading into BC. Drive safe and enjoy!

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    Replies
    1. We are headed to Cabri, Saskatchewan because that is where the park is that we have worked at the last 4 years. We are going back for two weeks to help train the new mangers and sort of show them the ropes there so that they have a good solid start, rather than going in blind which is what we more or less had to do.

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  5. Good deal on the repairs! Excellent deal on the alignment. Our class A handled much better in the wind after a proper alignment. Have to love Texas!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It was definitely a fair price for the work that was done and we were very happy with the work and the people that worked there. If we ever have to have work done on Sherman again we would definitely plan our route through there.

      We were really happy with the price of the alignment, way better than what Kevin was expecting.

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  6. After reading David the list of Sherman's repairs and having him say "oh" and oh dear, I asked him what he thought it cost. He does most of our mechanical work on Ruby and Winnona so he has a good feel for your list. He said potentially $5000 and thought you got an amazing deal for all they did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to hear that! We really don't have any true idea what the prices are like for this type of work, these days, especially in the US. Like David, Kevin does most of the work on Sherman as well. The price could have been even lower had Kevin been able to source out the parts himself but that just wasn't feasible, although he did tell them not to do one repair because he wanted to buy a better product than the one they were going to buy and install, so he has already ordered that and we will either find someone to install it before we leave the US or even do the job himself once we get to the campground back home.

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  7. Nice to get the repairs done and a pretty good price as well. Compared to owning a house like Bob said you have done well and actually so have we. Continued safe travels

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    1. Yep, we are happy with the repairs and the price was about what we were expecting.

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  8. Love that you always have a map and also how and where you stay in the RV. I’m always leaning something new on your blog. Those details of finding power, dump,stations, spot for night, repairs and road conditions are REALLY helpful. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Not only do we want the blog to be a sort of diary for us, especially in years to come but we also like let family and friends know where we are and what we are up to but we also want it to be helpful to other RVers like yourself. :-)

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  9. Love that tiny home. The repair bill sucks but as you say, you've never really had to put much money into Sherman before. I was born in Colorado, love it there.

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    1. That little house isn't actually a house it used to be the Phillip 66 Gas Station and is now a building that is part of the historic downtown.

      No we haven't put too much money into to Sherman over the last 10 1/2 years so really to keep him running for a good time yet, it was necessary.

      Didn't realize you were born here, it is a beautiful state!

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  10. If you bought that camper or a similar one new you would still be making payments.

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    1. Trust us we have thought about that! We looked at some new motorhomes and didn't like them at all, especially for the prices they are asking. We would much prefer to put more money into fixing Sherman up to keep him on the road than have payments on one of these new models. :-)

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