Hi all y’all, I finally had an uneventful relocation journey. It was only 500 miles, however, seeing as how my entire Grand Western North American Tour is a shakedown trip in my 20 year old formerly used and abused Holiday Rambler, the trip up I-5 from Fresno to Weed CA and then Hwy 97 to Chiloquin OR, is not without its trials, what with several long elevation gains as well as numerous multi-mile 6% and one 7% downgrade. My old rig went the entire distance without a whimper. Adding an $8 dedicated engine to frame electrical ground cable appears to have finally cured my starter problem and filling up with gas every 200-250 miles, while an annoyance, seems to have solved my random intermittent fuel pump failures (knock on wood). Though I plan to replace the fuel pump, I’m praying this annoying work-around will suffice until I finally return to Texas next winter.
I did have one thing happen that almost makes me feel a little paranoid. I spent one night in a small crowded rest area located outside of Mt. Shasta on I-5. When I awoke in the morning I gave my rig its start-of-the-day walk around and noticed both rear tires on my toad appeared very low on air pressure. I checked both with my tire gauge and both were at about 10-15 lbs. Fortunately, I carry a small tank of highly compressed nitrogen gas and was able to easily inflate them to their proper pressures. I worry about tire failure on the toad so I visually check them at every stop and pressure check them if I have any doubts at all. I have to wonder, I understand there are truck drivers that take offense to RV’s using “their” rest areas. Could someone have released air from the Caravans rear tires expecting the tires to overheat and fail farther on down the road while I was underway? I have a set of remote tire monitors on the RV but not on the tow dolly or the Caravan.
