Late today, Friday, all the work was done and our "week of truck stuff" came to an end. Compared to the last time we were here in 2014 Rob's business seems much busier (which is good) with a number of other customers or at least customer vehicles requiring attention.

Below are a few images from our week "in the shop" and Nina's exploration of La Junta.

So what were the big items on our list:

  • Replace all fluids. Engine oil, coolant, oil in 4 hubs, 2 axles and a transmission.

  • Check valve clearances.

  • Inspect all 4 hubs. When the oil was drained from the two left handside hubs there was some metal bits on the magnetic drain plug. This indicated that a visual inspection of those two hu assemblies was required. The inspection revealed that the front left hub required a new outter bearing and a new large gear wheel. A major piece of work and substantial expense. But as we know from our Iran experience much better that a failure while traveling. The read left hand side hub truned out to be in good condition.

  • Inspection revealed that the exhaust system was near the end of its life so a new and redesigned system was installed.

  • The Webasto heater which had stopped working earlier in this trip. The problem turned out to be a small component called the "wick". A pad that absorbs and holds diesel fuel as part of the buring process. The one in our heater had crystalized and would not absorb fuel. Replacement of this part was a bit difficult because of the placement of the heater but not beyond the skills of Rob and his staff.

    Apparently these heaters should be run for 20 minutes every month to prevent exacltly the problem we encoutered.

  • Inspection of the engine revealed a slight oil leak from the front engine seal. This seal was replaced which required removal of the front harmonic balancer from the engine along with all belts. In the process the belts were replaced.

  • Brakes were inspected, all pads have at least 50% remaining so no action was required.

All in all I feel good about the week, there were less problems than I feared and the truck seems in good condition for future use.