We are all back together! And it feels so good – guess you all were wondering where we have been? Well here is how we are now living On The Side Of The Road {And I am loving it}
Heading To The Springs Place ::
David organised through his Boss {through Keep Travelling Caravan Repairs} to have our springs looked out. We need all four of them replaced. And we have been wanting them done for a very long time. Because its through a friend of a friend we have had to wait for the perfect weekend. So a Saturday two weeks ago was the day.
So we drove to Port Kembla Springs ::
The Springs were looked at, the measurements were made, the weight of the bus {we took it over the weigh bridge before heading to Port Kembla} was taken into account and a really good quote was written up. All was good…
The guy {who does the springs} knows his stuff. He has been working on springs for a very long time! And he had a great catch up with David – they both had a lot to talk about.
After organising the Springs to be done {in a time that suits Illawarra Springs as well as us} we headed back to the Caravan Park. We had our oldest son with us as well as his girlfriend…. But we didn’t make it back. We were about 10 minutes away when we lost power and we didn’t know why.
David cruised to the side of the road and rang his boss. Who is also a Mechanic. They talked back and forwards and they tried everything to see what the issue was…the weird thing that there was no noise, no loud bang, no parts fallen off the bus…and no reason why we had no power.
He thought it might be the new gears that we had made, but he was able to get the gear from 1st to 2nd and so on…. Within a very short time it was decided that a tow truck was needed. Again David’s Boss {who is also named David!!} helped find us a tow truck company who was able to tow it back to work.
Pushed it up on the side of the road and this is where it has been since… At first David didn’t know what was wrong so I headed back to Sydney with Cameron and Kyle so that we had somewhere to stay. You see when the tow truck pushed it up on the curb the back passenger side wheel almost came off, and there was heaps of Oil. So basically it was not stable to have our very active sons inside.
We packed a bag, and headed to Sydney. Thinking we only had to stay there for a very short time. But unfortunately David is limited to time, and limited to working on the Motorhome.
So after two weeks in limbo it was decided that we all needed to be back together….it had been raining in Sydney and our two active boys were not happy to be in a small unit without being able to burn off energy.
David secured the back with blocks underneath….
We have access to a toilet, and we have water so we can wash the dishes. We are still able to use the Caravan Park facilities because our site is still there waiting or us…so we head back there for showers.
We also have our Generator on during the day for the Motorhome Batteries and for the Fridge to work…I had to clean out the fridge when I got home and throw everything out because it was not kept cold enough {David hasn’t been able to charge the batteries enough}. Now that our Solar Panels arrived that will change our Power situation.
Now David is trying to work out exactly what parts we need, and where we can get them from! Bedford Comair parts are not easy to come by.
Here is what David first thought {after the tow truck got us to where we are parked} – he shared this information on our facebook page.
“Lisa has asked me to update you all on what has happened to our bus. Yesterday on the way back to the caravan park after having the springs measured up to be reset something broke in the drive train and ended up coasting to a stop on the side of the road. After eliminating the clutch and gearbox as the problem I found that the problem was in the diff. When I tried to turn the tail shaft whilst in neutral it span freely. There was no visible problem at the time but it was not something I could fox on the side of the road. after several phone calls I found a tow truck available that was big enough to tow our bus. After he arrived and hooked the bus up we decided to tow it to a place near my work that I could work on it. There was no way that we could get back into the caravan park under tow. As we drove to where the bus is now we were discussing how hard it is to find parts now on account of a lot of the old stuff being melted down as scrap when Mick the tow truck driver remembered someone who was in the bus industry that used to run some Bedfords.
After backing the bus into the spot it is now we found that a lot of diff oil was now on the back of the right hand rear tyre. I took a closer look after the tow truck had left and near craped myself. The break drum and wheels had started coming off. The outside tyre was now rubbing against the wheel spat. From the marks on the tyre and lack of damage to the wheel spat I think it started coming off as it was backed into position. I have not been able to put it up on stands yet due to the rain but from what has happened I expect to find the right hand axle broken and the bearing gone due to the axle moving around. I will know for sure when I pull it apart. If the axle is broken I will have to try and find another one. But thanks to Mick the Tow Truck Driver. Before he left he put me in touch with the guy who used to run Bedfords and he has a similar complete diff and axle assembly sitting there. Only thing is it is made for air brakes and ours are air over hydraulic which means modifying the braking system if I go down that path. the extent of the damage and availability of parts will determine which way I go.
We will let you know how it turns out“
On The Side of the Road ::
Now he is working out exactly what is broken and what needs fixing…he will soon do another update….when he gets five minutes to himself!!
At least we are all back together, and at least some of the parts have been found, delivered or picked up. Tomorrow is another day where he can again ring around and find more parts.
Now that I am home I can take over the cooking, and running around along with shopping, washing of the clothes etc. Basically he had been working all day and taking care of the day to day living as well…which meant very long days for him!
Yes we are on the Side of the Road. And yes we have both rear tyres off for the time being. But its been good for our relationship – the two weeks apart has made us all stronger.
We learnt that we really need to be together as a family for us to all be happy. And I am always happier when we are Free Camping!
And we have realised that our Motorhome is not suitable for our family needs so we have ideas/plans to work towards. “New Life on the Road” is never going to go away but we are changing our direction!
Sorry I have been so very absent for so very long – I have LOTS of blog posts to catch up on which I will be doing over the next few weeks.
Thanking you for following our Journey.
Cheers
Lisa
New Life on the Road.
Hope the little bus is back together again soon. Sounds like it’s all a bit of an adventure for you guys thou 🙂
Caz (The Truth About Mummy) recently posted..Fading away ……
Sure is an adventure, so many things to think about – do know that our little bus is too small for our family needs!
I love how you are always able to see the positive in everything instead of dwelling on the negatives like a lot of people (me included sometimes).
Shah recently posted..Decorating with books in kids spaces
Oh I so was NOT in a good place when the breakdown happened! I am only in a more positive note now that I know we are able to be all back together 🙂
Sorry to hear another breakdown has happened so soon, but love the way you always see the positives in your on going problems with the bus.
Thanks Rita, wished we had it back together again and was heading north…its so cold down here in Wollongong 🙂
Wow what a lot of problems. Lucky you are all back together again. A little time apart really makes us appreciate our partners/family doesn’t it. I am interested to see what future direction you have for New Life on the Road.
jan recently posted..Ayvalik an Agean Seaside Town in Turkey
Spot on Jan, absence makes the heart grow fonder 🙂
We feel like we are in “Limbo” – waiting for so much to come together before we can change the direction of New Life on the Road. Can’t wait for the Motorhome to be back together again cause without the wheels on we are stuck in one location! David is now waiting for a manual to come, he ordered it online. All the parts are here, its just a matter of reading the manual to make sure the parts get put back together in the right order!