Tow Vehicle repairs

Driving ~4000 miles a year for the past 5 years has taken a toll on the 1995 Caprice 9C1/LT1. She doesn't feel as fast, stop so well, or handle rough roads as well as I remembered. That's only 20K, and the car only has about 135K on it, but time passing seems to count as well as miles.

The main job of this car seems to be moving around town loaded with stuff. Capacity is legitimately 1500 pounds (7 external bicycles on racks!) with driver-only, as well as 5K on a trailer with a 300-500 pound tongue weight. With a loaded 4x8 trailer, this is no problem. We can move brush and rocks all day, go to Mr. Plywood, pick up loads found in Craigslist FREE! section or things found by the curb on big trash day. The problem is holding up the nose of the travel trailer high enough that it doesn't scuff on rough roads at speeds over 10mph.

With the air suspension pumped up to 80PSI the car rides just about right , even with a TT attached. But, it sags after a few days. I have a leak. Leaks on air suspensions are inevitable. We've all seen the 7 year old Lincoln riding down the street with the stock rear tires crammed up into the wheelwells and the front riding somewhat-normally. That's not a "fashion statement" other than "I don't have the $1200 that it takes to get this hooptee to ride flat". The Caprice still has some springs to ride on, so it wasn't bad, except with a loaded trailer.

These are signs that neglect is setting in. A neglected car isn't as safe as it can be. Lacking confidence in a car is almost worse than not having one. Time to spend some money. I'd had good luck with The Line-Up Shop in Portland with a previous Caprice, so a visit was in order. I had a $150 credit with a local GM dealer that would somewhat ease the pain of some Delco parts, and TLUS was fine with me providing those.

Result: New brakes on all 4 wheels, one new ball-joint, alignment, HD shocks in rear, air suspension replaced with Moog cargo springs (thicker than stock diameter, variable coil rate, no air-bladder system to break or wear).

The car drives like new. I can look forward to getting a new pair of tires in the fall, but they are okay now. It's no 4300 pound Porsche Cayenne, but I'm only into the car for $2200 (not counting fuel or insurance) over 5 years.

I suppose that putting any money into a V-8 sedan is a testimony to my belief that gasoline will continue to be available at some price for the next 100 years. At $3/gal gasoline is CHEAP, when you consider the amount of work that can be done with that fuel. I'm going to keep buying and using gasoline to run my machines as long as I possibly can.

It beats walking....

better than some rental houses...

The typical US house built before the 1960's (and not extensively remodeled later) is unsuitable for living in without cheap and highly available electric power.

I've lived in a house like this as a renter, and found that a 1350 square foot house with no significant insulation, single pane windows, and "All Electric" appliances (advertised as a convenient positive feature when new!) makes for a cool and expensive winter. This is with the power on, cheap Bonneville Power Administration electricity, and a mild Western Washington/South Puget Sound climate. We became hat and sweater indoors people after the first electric bill came. House was only heated to 63F and only for the few hours we were home and not in bed. I turned down the hot water heater to "tepid", bought a fiberglas blanket for it and foam covers for the exposed pipe. Plastic wrap covered the windows on the inside (staple holes cost us our deposit on move out). If the power went out for more than one day, or a 6500W generator stopped running, we would have to find other accommodations.

A couple years later, we live in a smaller house with natural gas everything and grid electricity. We have had some power losses (winter storm), but they haven't been long enough to thaw the freezer. The ng stove/oven still works and there's hot water without electricity. The house is old and relatively uninsulated, but it's only 600 square feet with pre-code small windows.

There's room in the back yard to pour a pad for a trailer, or a 20' container, where there was once a horse cart garage that opens to an unpaved alley. A 50' extension cord reaches easily to the far corners of this little lot.

What didn't make sense was spending too much or borrowing money to get a trailer. This prices out the commercial trailer lots, where a 35 year old trailer with (well-concealed) rot is going to be $3000+ (plus high financing fees and required insurance costs) and 15 year old trailers made of foam and plastic are even more. Craigslist is the place to check first and keep checking.

I found an 18 foot double-axle 1973 Timberline out in a mud field near Salem Oregon. The price was right, due to age/condition/location. It had 4 different tire manufacturers, one was studded (legal on the road in January). Plates were expired, so I was taking my chances. Strictly legal would be to get a trip permit. I drove to the nearest service station and put air in all 4 tires to the sidewall rating (35psi?) and in the car rear tires (55 psi). The running lights, signals and brake lights worked.

The literature claimed that the trailer sleeps 6 adults (thin midgets), but it felt like maybe 2 people would be okay for longer than a weekend when I looked at the inside. Styling of the early 1970's is the same for trailers as for fixed houses: avocado shag and brown dark paneling with faux-colonial trim, or in trailers: foam-colonial.

A pry bar and 3 pound hammer can make quick work of hideous interior.