We have been in Westport WA for five months now,with two more to go. We have been feeling a little stale, a little sluggish, and a little bored. Dan suggested a trip to Centralia so he could have some maintenance and upgrade work done on the coach. Road Trip! Civilization! Yes!
We had our work performed at Brazel's Performance RV in Centralia WA. We had the normal chassis and engine lube and fluid changes done, and changed to an updated Air Dryer that conditions the air for air brakes and air ride suspension. Dan had rebuilt the old Air Dryer previously, but it still spit small amounts of oil along with the water, and coated the front of our tow car. The upgraded Air Dryer uses newer technology and should greatly reduce or eliminate that irritation.
We had the ride height of the air suspension checked and adjusted, and four corner weighed the tires. We moved some weight around in the basement storage of our coach to better balance the load. We had Road Master sway bars installed front and rear, and a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer installed on the steering, followed by a complete alignment of steering.
We next tackled adding some engine performance to our Cummins C8.3 Turbo 300 HP (at the crank) engine. The motor is a mechanical controlled system, not by computer or electronic controls.
We first tested several mufflers on our rig on a chassis dyno - and chose a Aero 4040XL muffler. Next we changed the fuel plate (that controls the amount of fuel injected) to a number 10 plate. We ran dyno tests for each stage of the changes, and gained a good amount of horsepower and torque. Dan will be adding a turbo boost gauge, and a exhaust gas temperature gauge soon as a safety measure to monitor the effect of our new added power, to ensure we do not over temp on long hard mountain grade climbs.
(click to enlarge chart)
We spent the weekend at a campground only 20 minutes away from Centralia. This campground had pet goats and chickens. We stopped by to feed the goats our scraps and to get some pictures of them.
We spent Sunday in the downtown area of Seattle. Something we have wanted to do since we arrived here. We spent m
ost of our time in Pike Place Market wandering around the maze of stores while enjoying samples of food and watching the colorful vendors. Sandy had to stop by the Undercover Quilt shop. It is small, but it is packed to the ceiling with fabric.
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n the street, we met Cubby the Amazing Pike Place Market Cat and one of his owners - Patrick. While Cubby sat surveying his street corner, Patrick explained why they were there. Their mission: “TURNING UNWANTED CATS INTO HAPPY CATS”. They also sell very nice artwork along with their rescue mission.On a sad note, we lost our oldest and dearest cat yesterday. Mischief, a.k.a. Grey was losing a lot of weight and had developed a fast growing tumor on his hip. After consulting a vet, we decided it was time to let Grey go. Grey was raised on a baby bottle by friends in Germany, and thought he was people - not having been raised by momma cat. He was very athletic and brave. He lived in Germany, Turkey, New Mexico, Texas, and traveled far and wide in our two motorhomes. He had a good 18 1/2 years with us.
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He was a wonderful TV companion, a great alarm clock (get up! time to feed me!) and very motherly (where have you been?!)
Yes, we still have four cats, but none of them will ever be able to hold up their paw to Grey’s unique and very mild manners. There are few cats as relaxed or as easy going as Grey and he will be missed.
Mischief with his brother, Trouble in Germany, July 1991. We laid Grey to rest in the woods in the very large campground we are hosting in.
I'm sorry to read about Grey. It's so hard to lose those we love so dearly and who have spent their lives loving and taking care of us. But there does come a time when we have to say good bye until we meet them at the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.
ReplyDeleteI am also very curious about how you like your Saf-T-Plus. We're considering adding that on and I would love to hear what you think of it.
Jim and Sandie,
ReplyDeleteTo make a short story long:
We purchased this motorhhome in 2004. The 94 Bluebird BMCs came without swaybars, the 95 to 97 had them (this is a Spartan Mountain Master chassis). There was no factory steering stabilizer. Semi trucks passing, and wind gusts moved us around a great deal, and there was a lot of perceived slack in the steering feel.
In April of 2007 we were passing through Deming NM, and had a Steer Safe installed at their factory.
The Steer Safe took out 80% of the wind buffeting from wind gusts and semis. It left a little perceived slack in the steering feel, and we could occasionaly hear the springs popping as we turned - especially at low speed high angle turns. It is less money than a Safe-T-Plus.
We decided to upgrade to the Safe-T-Plus at the same time we had sway bars installed. We have only driven 100 miles with the changes so far. Set-up on the Safe-T-Plus is critical to have no pull to left or right. A 1/8" adjustment can be felt in pull on the wheel. We had a good tech who made 4 test runs, adjusting until the steering was perfectly neutral (after an alignment first).
Steering feels tighter/better, with zero perceived slack in the steering wheel. While we have only run 100 miles with it, we believe Safe-T-Plus was a good upgrade.
Either Steer Safe or Safe-T-Plus will give you increased safety in the event of a blowout, and less effect from wind buffeting. You won't "fight the wheel" as much with either product.
I do recommend you install a Safe-T-Plus as first choice - but a Steer Safe is also a good investement.
Sway bars - dont know yet. Overall coach feels tighter and more connected to the road.
Noise - Aero 4040XL muffler has more sound level than stock, but not bad. Tone on 4040xl at idle when we are outside is fine, from drivers seat fine. On the dyno it seemed ok. From someone driving right next to the exhaust - unknown.
Power - only driven 100 miles since upgraded horsepower and torque on slightly rolling hills. Impressions: accelerates quicker from a stop, or when rolling. Holds speed, rpm, trans gear better on minor upgrades.
No change in trans temp or engine temp. We'll add boost and egt gauges and monitor them as well.
Dear Dan & Sandy, So sorry that you lost your beloved Kitty Grey. We are cat lovers and moved here to Idaho with 4 cats and added our grandson's cat to our family because his stepdad was alergic. Anyway, after lives ranging from 14 to 19/20 years we found ourselves empty nesters. While in Ohio at a Gypsy Journal rally we rescued an abandoned kitten, named her Gypsy. she had many health issues and other than a tender digestive issue she is now healthy and fine. Bob remarked yesterday that whoever threw her away had no idea how smart and fun she is and their lose was our gain. Your kitties are fortunate to reside with you. Love your blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. We love hearing from other cat lovers. Gypsy knew a good loving couple when she saw you and Bob. I always felt like our cats picked us instead of the other way around. Sandy
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about your kitty.
ReplyDeleteThank you. He will be missed. Sandy
ReplyDeleteI have just been following your blog a short time but enjoyed the stories about your cats. I'm sorry to hear about Grey. Our brother cats passed a few years ago and they lived to 17-17.5 years old...Ping and Pong. :)
ReplyDeleteWe aren't on the road yet but hope to bump into you someday.
Kari
It is easy to write about our cats since they keep us entertained. Never a dull moment with those guys. I love your brother's names for his cats - Ping and Pong! They lived a good long life.
ReplyDeleteI hope your dream comes true. We have been full-timing for almost a year now and I will never go back to a house if I can help it.
Happy Trails, Sandy
Dear Dan & Sandy:
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled onto your blog. Sorry to hear about the loss of your dear kitty, Gray. My wife and I are the proud servants of 4 kitties (Quaise, Leo, Peace and Yoda). They are at home with her in the USA while I am working in Iraq so we can afford to live our dream, fulltiming in an RV. Quaise came back with me from Saudi Arabia in 1998. I adopted him over there when I was working there and he is my "Special Buddy". Kept me sane for my year there. Anyway, again to learn of the loss of your "child". You will see him again, in a much better place than this Earth. Be safe and stay happy.
Rev. Dennie - SFC, US Army (Retired)
Thank you Rev. Dennie for your comforting words and for understanding why we have so many cats. It is so nice to hear from another multi-cat person (not owner). I often feel like our cats adopted us instead of the other way around. What a great story! How did you two meet? Quaise sounds like a wonderful companion and a good traveler.
ReplyDeleteIf you or your wife have any questions about full-timing, please feel free to ask. We started this blog for work-a-bees with full-timing dreams. We wanted to share with others why we made certain decisions and what kind of prepping we did before we started traveling. We had our first full-timing anniversary in March and neither one of us would return to our old way of life.
Stay safe in Iraq and Happy Trails. Sandy
I was so sorry to hear about Grey. I check in on you blog occassionaly (just as a lurker) and enjoy it. Our lives are infinitely better because of the animals who choose to live with us. I believe it is their choice since I've had cats join me and cats leave me. My favorite was named Ben and lived with me for 20 years and five months and I still miss his unique company. I've had several cats (sometimes simultaneously) since Ben but never had the same connection. Keeping your memories close helps.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I agree. I can’t imagine having a life without Grey. It is so wonderful to hear about the special bonding between cats and their people. 20 years and five months is a long life for a cat. You must miss Ben a lot. We were very lucky to have Grey in our life. It is hard to believe he is gone.
ReplyDeletePlease feel free to read our blog anytime and to make comments. Sandy