Our Eyes Hurt & Truck Follow-up - (Gillette, WY)

Well, it's been a couple of days of computer work, reading the fine print of extended warranty contracts, and beading for Linda.

This whole RV Extended Warranties thing is new to us and new to the folks over at WholesaleWarranties.net as well.  We're their first attempt at having mobile "warranty specialists" so we've all been forced to figure out how it's all going to work.

They sort of thought that we would only pick up business at RV shows, rallies, and campgrounds.  So they weren't quite prepared when we had a dozen requests for RV quotes and five requests for auto quotes in the first two days.  :)

But, again, it has forced all of us to stop thinking of this as a "concept" and figure out how it's going to work as an actual process.

And we learned that we can't provide RV quotes directly for those with Florida addresses.  Due to some state licensing specifics, we can still get quotes, but they are referred out and we aren't the point of contact.

We also learned that we don't have nearly enough knowledge or training to provide auto quotes directly.  Those are much more complicated as there are more companies to shop and far more variables.  So, for now, we remain as a referrer on those and one of the experienced auto warranty specialists at WholesaleWarranties.net will provide those quotes.  However, we'll still be following up on those that complete a quote request through our online form to make sure the quotes are received and everything was handled professionally.

So most of my time the last couple of days has been spent tweaking web pages, learning the details of the different contracts, calculating quotes, setting up a quote template, and getting the quotes out.

Linda is working on a beading order - a difficult new design that's taking some time.

And she has been researching locations for our 2013 Spring Rally.  As of now, it looks like we'll be working the Good Sam Rally in Albuquerque, NM April 11 -14.  Then we will be doing seminars at the RVSEF Lifestyle, Safety, & Education Conference in May in Colorado Springs, CO (tentatively scheduled).  And then we'll be back here in Gillette for the FMCA International Rally from June 19 - 22.

So, we're looking for a great facility somewhere in between those dates and locations.  That may not be easy to find, so we might have to expand our search a bit.

With two days of looking at computer screens, fine print, and tiny beads, our eyes hurt.  :)

 

Truck Follow-up

I thought I would address some of the questions included in many of the wonderful Journal comments about our truck.

1.  No, we unfortunately didn't have an extended warranty on the truck.

2.  Yes, we asked about installing a different engine in the truck.  No go.

3.  Yes, the "new" engine is actually a re-manufactured engine, but supposedly with all the updates and improvements that were added after our 2005 model year.

4.  The old engine - referred to as an engine core - goes back to the factory and the value is "supposedly" calculated in the cost of the new engine.

5.  They tell me there is no "break-in" period before towing.  However, the original owners manual said to drive 500 miles before towing, although it didn't say why. 

6.  I'm not sure we will ever know the cause of our engine failure, but I'm pretty sure it was an "over-rev" situation (officially termed an "overspeed" which apparently showed up on the computer) where the RPMs were too high coming down the mountain in lower gear with a load.  And "yes", many people have told me that there is supposed to be a "rev limiter" or other features within the system that are supposed to prevent that.  The owner's manual states the "Tow Haul" feature (which we always use when towing), provides engine braking on descents, but there are no details about RPMs or instructions on what to look for and try to prevent.  I assume responsibility to a certain degree, but I don't know for sure if protections failed or the Tow Haul didn't work as it was supposed to.

At any rate, if you are behind us coming down a descent in the future, I will once again have my emergency flashers on and I will likely be going excruciatingly slow, rather than just annoyingly slow.  :)

The engine transplant is in progress, and it looks like we'll have our truck back on Monday.  Fingers crossed as we're ready to get the heck out of Gillette.

I'm taking two optimistic approaches regarding this whole truck thing.

First, I'm going in with the attitude that I will notice a huge difference in the truck's performance that will have me saying our old engine never was up to snuff.  :)

Second, as for the money, we're just looking at it like the stock market went down.  We're viewing it as a temporary loss in investment value rather than a huge unexpected payout.  Either way, we still need to build back up, but for some reason it makes us feel better if we look at it as something that could've happened no matter what we did.  :)

Look out Yellowstone and the Tetons, we'll be there before too long.  :)   

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Comments

[Karen Phillips]

That's the way to keep your chin up! I'm so sorry to hear that you can't do us Florida residents...I am seriously thinking of changing our extended warranty and was going to come to you when you got up and running. It would be nice to have a representative that we "know" rather than the faceless voice on the other end of the phone.

[Darby Corwin]

Howard good to hear you have the new engine going in the truck. Can you tell me how many RPM were you doing coming down that mountain when it blew? I have the same problem with my MH building too many RPM when coming down. I have to keep stabbing the brakes in order to hold it below where I want it.

[Julie]

Yellowstone and the Tetons will make you forget all about your "stock market" loss. I don't know if you have been to the Tetons but I worked there at Meiner's Store and hardly anyone I ask that has been to the Tetons knows about it. It is behind the chapel near the Moose VC. It is an old store with no utilities. If you are lucky you will get a wood stove baked gingerbread cookie. Check it out if you can.

[Ross Dunfee]

Howard, let me recommend that you break-in the new engine before towing. I could care less what is written or not written in manuals, the engine needs a break-in period. 500 miles is the very minimum and you might want to think about 1,000. Then change the oil before towing anything. Plan you visits out of the mountains until the engine has 3-5,000 miles on it. What's the purpose of prematurely putting a heavy strain on a new engine. Save the new engine.

[Neil Laubenthal]

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons are two of the best NPs we have been in. We particularly liked GT; it was way less crowded than Yellowstone when we were there (granted; that was 30 years ago but it's probably still less crowded.)

[Rod Ivers]

I'm with Darby Corwin in his comment about pulsing the brakes when coming down a mountain.. We have an exhaust brake and I turn it on, but still have to watch that we don't get up into the 3 K revs area on the engine. Slowing down with the brakes for short periods and then letting the exhaust brake run for a while. I'm also not sure where the actual red line would be on the Cummins ISB engine as far an an overspeed limit... Perhaps we all could learn a little more in this regard....

[Sue Satterwhite]

Glad you have plans for GT and YS. Your positive attitudes will become even more buoyant! Have fun and looking forward to reading about your adventures.

[Budd Nash]

The basic rule for downhills is put it in one gear lower than what you used to get up it.

Every engine has an upper limit in RPMs regardless of the gear or load. It should be shown in the Owner's manual. Tow / Haul modes are no substitute for the brakes. They are just assists to keep the vehicle engine and all, within it's limits and legal speeds.

An Exhaust brake is considerably less effective than a Jake brake, which is built into the engine head rather than just an obstruction in the exhaust pipe.

Above all, there is no such thing as going too slow.

[Doug]

Do you have a stick or automatic transmission? There should be an over-rev limiter that would have forced a shift into a higher gear on an automatic transmission but if you have a stick shift then you have to pay more attention to the tachometer and the RPMs and shift it manually.

[Renee G]

Love to see your positive attitude. Your new business could use some project management basics, but you will do just fine with both of your winning attitudes. Take care.

[Kevin]

Congrats on getting the truck fixed in a timely manner. As to the cost, 7 yrs with no payments is great. Seems most everyone has a permanent car payment. 7 years at $500/month = $42k. Your expenses for this are less than half that. All things considered, not too bad.

Good Luck on finishing up and getting back on the road.

[Gary]

Of course you need a tachometer for this... if you can't find the max RPM in the manual etc., and you have an automatic transmission, watch the rpm the tranny shifts up in various gears. Then don't get that high by say 100 rpm going downhill. I have a V10 Ford and my red line is just below 5000 rpm, I don't go over 4500 going down a mountain and usually brake hard at 4300 and drop to 2100. I've been all over the mountains of CO etc., off the interstates mostly. It's been 3 yrs since I had a garage take the wheels off and inspect my brakes. I'm back east now but before I go down any more mountains, I'll have that done again.

To use your brakes going down a mountain, you push the brakes hard to drop a few hundred or thousands of rpms (depending on gas or diesel engine) and get off the brakes; actually put your foot on the floor.

And stay in whatever gear you are in until you know you are finished with the down grade. If you overheat the brakes, you are in serious trouble because they won't slow you as much as they were a few miles ago so you'll be on them much more building more heat, and depending on how much longer you need to use them, the hotter they get and the sooner you don't have adequate braking to slow down at all and the faster you go.

So you will want to up shift to prevent over speeding the engine and then you'll need more braking or you go too fast and end up wrecked.

[Preston McCrackin]

Reading your saga with the Ford has convinced me that a Cummins with an Engine Brake is in my near future. Lookin forward to Happier Days for you soon.

[bee]

Happy Birthday Howard
Celebrate - something to remember no matter how small
You'll never see 49 again
Bee