25 Jul 2023 - Last Day at Moab UT

 

Today was our last day here at Moab UT.  We are very glad we allotted six nights here, so we had plenty of time to see the main attractions and do many hikes at Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and the local area.  It is a shame to rush through these places as there is so much to see.  

We took our time this morning and I took the opportunity to do some maintenance on the coach.  These Alliance fifth wheel coaches have a beefy suspension system that includes 1/2" thick leaf spring mounts and 'wet bolts'.  A 'wet bolt' is a hollow bolt that has a grease zerk on the end, which allows you to use a grease gun and inject grease through the bolt and out a hole near the bronze bushing that the bolt rides on.  Alliance recommends you lubricate the suspension system every couple thousand miles.  The last time I did this I had a wet bolt that would not accept grease.  There are a few reasons this could happen:  (1) plugged grease zerk; (2) plugged wet bolt; (3) wet bolt has rotated thereby blocking the hole against the bushing; (4) plugged grease hole.  I did not to start this without the parts to fix whatever I found, and those parts were delivered here at Moab.  

So to figure this out the first thing to try is to check the zerk.  This can be done without much work.  Well the zerk was not plugged, so next step is you have to use a hydraulic jack and impact wrench to remove the wheels, remove the suspect wet bolt (which may have weight on it from the axles), then lower the axle so as to inspect the bronze bushing.  Well, sure enough, the bushing was bad thereby plugging the grease hole with bronze particles.  

The left rear leaf spring with the bushing removed.  

The square metal with a hole is the leaf spring hanger

Here is the bad bushing, a new bushing, and a wet bolt showing the plugged lubrication hole.

I installed a new wet bolt & bushing, torques same, lubricated.  reinstalled the wheel and torqued same.  Sounds easy but that was a few hours of work and roasted my butt off.  Temps peaked at 102F today. 

When we got that wrapped up and after an enjoyable shower, we headed downtown to one of the laundromat's to do some wash.  Once completed we made our way to one of the local Mexican restaurants for a late enchilada lunch with frozen lime margarita for Doreen and a Modelo Especial for me.  

Later I completed a few other things in preparation for our departure including the normal tank dump/flush and fueling the truck.  That is a bit painful here as diesel is $4.459/gal.  

Tomorrow we head south and east from Utah back into Colorado to an RV park just outside Mesa Verde National Park.  We will spend five nights there and explore the areas where Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs, i.e. cliff dwellers.  

Adios Moab.  Next report - Mesa Verde RV Resort.