August 14, 2012

We tried to stay up to watch some TV last night (the one channel we were able to receive) but both of us were so tired we kept nodding off.  We woke up around 5:30 to the sound of sawing and grinding.  That is what time the workers start working.  We had to be out of the RV by 7am so they could continue to work on our rig.  I went into the comfortable lounge while Monte stayed behind to take some pictures of the work being done. 

We were handed menus for an Italian restaurant.  We both ordered a sandwich and salad.  I looked up where the closed AAA was and took a ride there.  Lisa, the agent who assisted me with my trip tik was wonderful.  She even gave me 4 ears of corn from her garden. 

Lunch had arrived by the time I got back.  After lunch Monte and I took a ride to the Keystone factory and took a tour. 

 We saw how our rig was built.  We were quite impressed.

 

Most of the day was filled with technical stuff so Monte is going to provide the rest of the commentary.

Well here we are at the Mor/Ryde Factory in Indiana.  We arrived to have the mor/ryde disc brake and independent suspension system installed on our 5^th wheel.

We arrived on Saturday Night and upon driving past the building discovered a gravel parking lot with a small picnic table type shelter with metal benches and several slots consisting of timbers laid out in the lot with some electrical outlets install towards the back.  We filled up with water alongside of the main building.  We proceeded to the parking lot and my awesome Rose said she would like to back in the 5^th wheel into the parking space.   I got out of the truck and proceeded to give her some basic instructions on backing up the beast.  She did a great job for her first time and made me very proud of her.

We them hooked up the electrical connections and put out the slides.   We then did our usual thing which I am sure will be described in detail.

On Sunday we had some additional visitors join us in the lot.  They had come to have work on their 5^th wheels also.  Both were glad to have fellow rv’ers to talk to.

Monday morning came upon us quite early and we awoke at 5:30am to the sound of train whistles and the sound of people working.

We walked over to the work bays and were greeted by a couple of technicians who asked us to pull our RV into the middle of the street which I did.  They proceeded to take measurements of the underside of the 5^th wheel.  We asked them if they had somewhere we could dump our poop tank.  Guess what, not here. Opps or should I say Pooops!   We asked if they could suggest someplace and they told us to go to the Elkhart Campgrounds.  We plugged in the GPS and as you can guess it sent us on a scenic drive nowhere near the location entered.  We called the office at the campground and got directions to the proper location.  We arrived and it was raining.   The cost was going to be 12 dollars.  I pulled in got out of the truck and a voice from the 2^nd floor of the office said in a strong Indian accent said put the money through the slot in the door.  I only had 10 dollar and was expecting them to come chasing after us for another 2 dollar. (didn’t happen)

I did the dump thing and then proceeded to return to the Mor/Ryde Factory and all the front bays were filled up, of course.  They directed me to drive around the block and back into the second entrance.  This was a lot of fun having to back the beast several hundred feet from the road into and narrow bay.

I was being directed by a young man named Sergio.  He helped me in getting into the center of the bay.   He asked to hold up for a minute while he put some scales under the wheels so he could weigh the 5^th wheel.  He asked me backup onto the scales.  I put the truck into reverse and when I touched the scales the truck proceeded to stop.  I stepped on the pedal and it didn’t move and then the tires began to spin.  I could see this was not going to be fun!  He directed me to pull forward and them put into reverse and hit the pedal to get into a running roll.  I finally did get onto of the scales and he got all the measurements he needed to proceed.

I unhitched the truck and pulled it around to the side of the building and parked.  I went inside and it was already later in the morning.  They usually start at around 5:30 to 6:00am in the morning when roosters’ crow and trains blow. Ha ha. Sergio explained all he was going to do and told me it was okay to take pictures and watch him work and boy did I watch and take lots of photos of everything I could.  You will see many in the following descriptions.

Sergio proceeded to remove all the tires from the 5^th wheel after supporting the frame with several large hydraulic jacks. These enabled him to work safely on the frame. He then removed all the axles and mounting hardware, nuts, bolts, springs etc.  He then took a bluelight cutting torch and cut off all the brackets that held the axles and springs to the frame.  This is where his work was just beginning.  After taking extensive measurements he gave all the information to other technicians in the factory and this is where everything is custom built for every rv going through this transformation.

The independent suspension and disc brakes add such a safety factor to this frame of the RV.  I took several photos of him cutting off the brackets.  Then many photos of him  reinforcing the frame, installing the disc and suspension system, brakelines, brake controllers and much more.  The photos speak for themselves.