We had
one more day of maintenance actions. Looming large was the
repair of my brake booster. It seems that Thor has a
rather unique configuration and that MB no longer provides a
rebuild kit. In the end, we found that there was some
particulate contamination and a small scoring of a face
seal. Some shuffling of parts provided what was needed to
get fully operational again.
The
photos below are what we saw.
Eric and
Rebecca came into Rob's from Alaska. Above is a comparison
of their Fuso-based Earth Cruiser versus Thor.
They are
washing the truck prior to storage. Their home in the
Florida Keys has likely been damaged during one of the hurricanes
so they must return to check on the property.
The
source of the air leak is the big green can (the "brake
booster") at the left-center of the photo above. The two white
plastic cups are brake fluid reservoirs for front and rear
circuits of the brakes.
The
booster was removed from the brake system and torn apart.
The top must be restrained when the bolts are removed to prevent
the spring from sending things flying.
Once the
top was off and spring and piston removed, the assembly was in
good shape.
Inner
pistons with some odd grease on the seals.
The
whole assembly was stripped into base components. A bad
seal was discovered deep in the guts; the seal was replaced and
the unit was reassembled.
Next up
was re-routing some of the a/c hoses to prevent chafing.
Note the splice in the top line. Hoses were spliced,
re-routed, secured and the system was charged with coolant.
We
finally left La Junta and headed east. We spent the night
in Garden City, KS and passed a wind turbine factory.
Above are blades for the turbines.
After a
night in a decidedly low-budget RV park, we continued east and
passed a huge wind farm co-located with millet fields.
I try to
stay alert when I drive. I checked the rear view and saw
the weinermobile from the 1950s passing me. Got a photo as
the 'mobile passed us.
We spent
the night with a friend in Overland, KS. Next morning she
took us to the Union Station to see some sights. Across
from the station is this nice fountain.
To the
south is the WWI memorial tower.
Inside
Union Station I noticed great ceiling treatment in the great
hall of the building.
Our
hostess, Barb, too us to the miniature train museum at Union
Station. They had a large fleet of trains of various
gauges as well as intricate towns.
The
drive-in was showing a movie.
A very
detailed round house.
From the
museum we walked outside to an old bridge that spanned the
tracks. From the tracks we could see one of the hundreds
of trains that passes through the yard every day.
From the
1892 bridge we could see the performing arts center in the
distance.
We also
had a clear view of the Stuart Hall building.
Next to
Union Station was this very-well preserved FP-9A locomotive
built in the late 1950s.
In the
distance the Western Auto building can be seen.
Of all
the luck! While driving around central KC, MO we turned
onto a side street and again spotted the Weinermobile, this time
at rest. This vehicle is built upon a truck chassis as it
has dual wheels in the rear.
Our
destination was the Nelson Gallery.
An
outside sculpture at the gallery. This is "Shuttlecocks".
There were several
more sculptures in the front yard including a Rodin.
Another brass
sculpture in the yard.
Abandoned
steel plate or art?
This is
a Chillida. Sounds yummy, but you cannot get a chillida at
Taco Bell. Chillida in this case means Eduardo Chillida,
the artist.
Large
stone sculptures on the lawn. This is "Sheep Piece".
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2017, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.