Great Gas Mileage on the first 65km of the trip!

2012-09-05 - Great Gas Mileage on the first 65km of the trip!!!

All Loaded up and ready to go!

Well - an interesting start for me!  On Thursday, Louise told me there was a squeal coming from one of the wheels on my van.  I drove it into town - and couldn't hear anything.  On the weekend, we had to go to Calgary to visit Louise's brother Marc, and to drop Spencer off at U of C - and yes then it started to make noises - intermittent - sounded like a brake.   When we got home late Monday night, I loaded the van so I would be ready to leave right after work on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, I took it in to the dealer to get checked out.  They found a bit of rust on a rotor, so they sanded if off and told me I was ready to go ...  $60.00.

On the way home, the squeal started again - as loud as ever - but it would come and go....  When I got home and stepped out of the van - I could smell something burning.....  The back rear tire rim was too hot to touch.  I changed out of my work clothes, talked to Louise for a bit, then went out and jacked the van up and took off the rear tire to have a look.  The hub and rotor were still so hot that when I spat on them, the spit boiled off.....   Hmm..... brakes or bearing - not sure.  No - the emergency brake was not on.

Long story short - I am an AMA Premium Member, so I arranged a tow to Wetaskiwin for 7:00am Wednesday - back to the dealer...  hoping they could take it in the morning and get me going in time to leave for Oregon by 4:30...  So, great gas mileage on the first leg of the trip (on the deck of the tow truck...)

Anyway - here I am in the Almo Court Motel in Cranbrook.  The rim is still cool - and the van is working fine so far!  Turned out the brake caliper had seized, so the brake could not fully release - all covered under warrant - so no worries....  :<)

Hope the rest of the trip is less stressful!

See you on the water!

Ted