Bronco Tow Bracket Repair…

 Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.

Because we have 4,500+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Acton, California. I’m scheduled to depart here April 3rd.

 

 

 

 

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you will remember about one month ago I had my ford Bronco II repainted in Yuma, Arizona.

 

They removed the front bumper to facilitate the painting process. They informed me that my Bronco towing bracket had two broken welds. I resolved to get it corrected at the earliest convenience. I found the ad in my current location’s Thousand Trails brochure.

 

LJ Automotive

415 W. Sierra Highway

Acton/Palmdale

661-267-0600

Lee Dusenbury

 

He works on cars, trucks, RVs, and horse trailers.

 

Lee is the owner and the only one there. A mechanic for 48 years, he has been in his current location for 22 years. A quick look around his shop a few days ago convinced me I had found the right place.

 

My Bronco towing bracket has served me for 19 years when it was attached to my previous 1984  Bronco which I purchased in 1999. I bought it from a couple who towed it behind their motorhome, so the bracket has the potential of being 34 years old.

 

Over the years with well over 100,000 miles of towing, it had become bent, twisted and had two broken welds. It was time to get it fixed.

 

Yesterday morning I brought it to Lee who bent to the task.

 

Here are some photos…

 

 

 

 

After putting the bar under the press, here he is correcting some of the final bending and twisting…

 

 

 

 

Here is the location on the broken welds. there are two of them…

 

 

 

 

A new weld being put in place…

 

 

 

 

The new weld…

 

 

 

 

Some black paint to protect the weld from moisture…

 

 

 

 

It took more than two hours, but now the bracket is ready for another 25+ years of service…

 

 

 

 

So, if you find yourself in the Acton/Palmdale area and need a good mechanic, Lee’s your guy!

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 74 degrees. Finally!!!! After two weeks of unseasonably cold, wet and windy weather it’s back to normal. Next ten days forecast sunny and in the low 70’s!

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

FALLEN ROBOT

Guys like my robot. Their mechanical curiosity immediately pops up at first site of it, and they check out his movable arms and legs, and head; his spark plug toes; radio tube eyes. They act like teenagers looking under the hood of their first car. (It helps to know he is made of car parts.)  One piece comes from a 1947 Plymouth, the artist told me.

Rust has caught up with my robot and I tried to move him inside, out of the weather until I could attend to the problem. Unfortunately, the weld on his foot gave way and down he came, his head came undone and rolled to the side. Oh, no!  Some rusty looking oil spilled out of his “crank case” and there he lay. Now, where is one of those handy car guys when you need him?  No putting off the job. I got out the steel wool and sandpaper, bought some aluminum paint and went to work. Not a job I wanted to do just now, but the robot needs this  fix.

Several hours yesterday morning, I managed to get two legs finished on one side only. Hmm! This is going to be a long process I can see. I’m enthused. He looks much better. Now, to find a handy welder kind of guy to put him back together before I leave.

I spent the afternoon with an old quilting buddy, Kendra North.  We didn’t quilt, we talked about the quilts we haven’t finished yet, our high school reunion experiences and had lunch instead. I am so fortunate to have so many talented friends.  Kendra, a cancer survivor,  can saddle a horse, shoe a donkey, weed eat her acreage, stave off the coyotes with her rifle, tutor her grandchildren, build a chicken coop, make gorgeous quilts, and keep her ancient Volkswagen running.  She doesn’t weld.