As promised, Richard (the retired Engineer) stopped by the RV around 9:30 with his flashlight and cup of coffee, to see if the slide did retract. His timing was perfect as Kevin was just about ready for that activity to begin. Kevin pushed the In button on the slide console and …. nothing moved. No surprise for someone who elected to live on the edge the day before by putting the slide out. Richard quickly put his flashlight to work to examine the remains of the 4 bit fix. His report confirmed that indeed both bolts were inferior and had failed at holding the torque needed to open or withdraw the slide. Almost giddy he told Kevin he would be back with the right tools from his Rv in a few minutes! Kevin and Theresa completed the rest of the camp brake down, and removed items in the bay storage so that Richard would have clear space to work. When “Mr. Engineer” returned he was equipped with a very organized and well equipped tool bag that made Theresa jealous! Kevin proudly showed him the array of replacements bolts, washers and nuts that were purchased knowing the 4bit fix was indeed temporary. Richard examined the hardware and said “These are 5 grade bolts and what was really required for this application was 8 grade bolts, but we will make these work!” Richard continued to educate Kevin and Theresa. He went on to describe that “you can tell the difference by the marking's on the head of the bolt”. “5 Grade bolts have 3 marking's in a Y shape, and 8 grade bolts have 6 marks in a hex pattern”. See this link (https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/materials-and-grades/bolt-grade-chart.aspx).
Clearly all bolts are not created equally!
It took Richard all of 45 min to extract the remains of the previous fixes and insert and tighten the new bolts with several stories in between. One of the more important stories related buy Richard was that he was in a 12 step recovery program. The 12 step program had been sabotaged by this early morning intervention. Richard's 12 step program had been successfully practiced by him until today. The program required him to resist helping stranded RV'ers. His 12 step program had him repeat to himself “they will be fine, they can figure this out, wait to see them solve the problem themselves”. Clearly Richard had determined that his 12 step program would have to be abandoned due to the Smit's inability to solve a problem that has plagued them too long already. Richard stood with confidence as the slide was smoothly retracted with in 6 inches from complete. “Stop” he shouted. The he pulled out his tape measure and systematically measured the gap on either side of the slide to report it was “perfect!” With everything aligned, permission to pull the slide the rest of the way was granted. Kevin presented Richard with a bottle of wine as a thank you and assured Richard that good Camping Karma will be passed on. Richard then imparted wisdom upon the Smitanic team. “The holes in the shaft of the motor and gears is deformed”, “the holes in the square tubing is elongated”. “You need to replace all the square tubing, and drill out the shaft arms from ¼ inch to 5/16 inch holes”. “Use 5/16 inch grade 8 bolts with washers on each end, and nylon lock nuts on the end of each bolt”. “If you can not replace the square tubing you might be OK with the larger holes and grade 8 bolts thru each”.
It took Richard all of 45 min to extract the remains of the previous fixes and insert and tighten the new bolts with several stories in between. One of the more important stories related buy Richard was that he was in a 12 step recovery program. The 12 step program had been sabotaged by this early morning intervention. Richard's 12 step program had been successfully practiced by him until today. The program required him to resist helping stranded RV'ers. His 12 step program had him repeat to himself “they will be fine, they can figure this out, wait to see them solve the problem themselves”. Clearly Richard had determined that his 12 step program would have to be abandoned due to the Smit's inability to solve a problem that has plagued them too long already. Richard stood with confidence as the slide was smoothly retracted with in 6 inches from complete. “Stop” he shouted. The he pulled out his tape measure and systematically measured the gap on either side of the slide to report it was “perfect!” With everything aligned, permission to pull the slide the rest of the way was granted. Kevin presented Richard with a bottle of wine as a thank you and assured Richard that good Camping Karma will be passed on. Richard then imparted wisdom upon the Smitanic team. “The holes in the shaft of the motor and gears is deformed”, “the holes in the square tubing is elongated”. “You need to replace all the square tubing, and drill out the shaft arms from ¼ inch to 5/16 inch holes”. “Use 5/16 inch grade 8 bolts with washers on each end, and nylon lock nuts on the end of each bolt”. “If you can not replace the square tubing you might be OK with the larger holes and grade 8 bolts thru each”.
No further attempt to deploy the slide would be made until a planned service appointment at Gull Boat & RV in Missoula would resolve the issue for good!
The Smitanic was cleared to exit Glacier and headed south on the West side of Flathead lake. Kevin had very fond memories of summer visits to his uncles cabin that was on the east side of the lake. The lake was massive! The opposite shore could not be seen even on a clear day! The view was stifled form the ever present smoke in the area, but none the less magnificent!
The destination of Jellystone RV park was reached just outside of Missoula, this was a full hook up site with laundry and wifi facilities that would definitely be leveraged!
The destination of Jellystone RV park was reached just outside of Missoula, this was a full hook up site with laundry and wifi facilities that would definitely be leveraged!
Laundry was completed while pictures were uploaded and more blog posts completed. Once Laundry was completed attention turned to Part 2 of Norther Exposure. With smoke dampening the bucket list vistas, discussion of altering Part 2 began. Origninally Part 2 included a short stent in Canada to see Lake Louise, then back down to Vancouver, and into Washington state, and on to Oregon. More investigation will be needed to determine the value of staying with original plans with the levels of smoke and haze in those areas.
Before any research would be conducted the team turned to preparing the evenings meal. Dinner consisted of Chicken wraps with giant chicken breasts that would have Cameron dulling. Wonder where is he now?
An early start was required for the next days start in order to get the RV to the 8:30 service appointment.
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