July 2015
While the weather this July is more pleasant and mild than many recent years, we’re having our ups and downs it seems. On a good note, Dar is progressing well and has migrated from using her walker to using a cane to help her stay steady on her feet. The cane is just basically a tactile feedback mechanism that lets her know if she is off-balance or not. We tend to think of our joints as just dumb hinges in our limbs. This is apparently not the case. They give feedback to the brain on the load they are carrying, the angle at which they are operating as well as how much torsional deflection (twist) they are doing. Mechanical knees don’t really give you all this feedback – so instead, your body has to compensate and use other senses to replace those that are missing. At least that’s what we get out of all of this. Still – Dar’s progress is nothing short of phenomenal. Her pain levels are manageable with Tylenol most of the time, although there are times when they ache terribly. Stairs are doable, but in very small doses and not very fast.
Randy’s slowly getting better. His doctor is taking this a couple of weeks at a time. The medications have had some bad side effects – some are expected, others not. We still have not gotten the right combination but are trying. He is able to drive safely, but shouldn’t while on the medication. His primary doctor is concerned that if we don’t find the right medication that Randy will have a relapse with possible dire consequences. Randy is going slow and still working on the camper and yard work. The time off is good for him, but he worries a lot about his job and his team. His manager is being extremely supportive and that makes all the difference!
Camper Suspension Rebuild – With our apologies for all the Technical stuff for those not interested..
After getting the landing gear operational again, we jacked up the entire camper and supported it with jack stands and the landing gear legs. All six wheels came off and then we set our sites on the springs, shackles, bushings and shocks. While it was in the air and access was good, Randy designed and fabricated 4 additional suspension cross-members to spread the cornering load out to both sides of the chassis. In the pictures below, those are the Gray painted rectangular tubes that run laterally from one spring/shackle hanger to the one on the opposite side. The shackles were 1/4” mild steel and were replaced with 1/2” plated steel. Unlike the original shackle bolts, the new bolts are called “Wet-Bolts” that have a grease zerk (fitting) on each one so the bolt and its paired bushing can be lubricated. The plastic bushings were all discarded and replaced with bronze bushings. The springs are all disassembled, cleaned, inspected, re-assembled and painted. Then the wheel bearings are all serviced with fresh synthetic grease and grease seals replaced. The brake shoes and drums are all inspected after cleaning and found to be in good condition. While the wheels are off – the tires are all replaced with brand new Load-Range G radial tires. All the while the camper is in the air, no one goes in/out of it.
The camper’s suspension is in better shape now than when it was manufactured.
From the Interior perspective, we’re pretty certain we will remove the dining booth in favor of chairs and will remove the smelly hide-a-bed and replace with recliners for both of us. The TV in the living room is a very heavy 35” TV with built-in DVD and VCR. It also will be replaced with a lighter weight flat panel TV and a Blu-Ray DVD player and surround sound system.
More in the next installment!
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