Riding High

Just a little update on Frankentruck. I get very tired of posting my trucking issues here, but I sincerely feel the need to document them because I have never in my life been witness to, or experienced such complete mayhem when it comes to Big Trucks. I swear, this series of Volvo is such a complete joke. You know, they actually had a good reputation with their trucks several years ago, but I suppose as it is with just about everything else, quality is no longer a standard when it comes to production.

My beloved Frankentruck is in the shop this week. Are you surprised??

I do not know if I had mentioned this before, but for the past few months, I have been losing traction, sliding, and living in constant fear of an imminent jackknife. I have mentioned previous occasions where I had concerns about suspension problems with the other trucks, primarily Maggie, but this is altogether something completely new. I was breaking traction when taking off from a complete stop. My rear axles seemed to be sliding every time I made a turn. And, I would slip and slide continually on wet pavement, to the point that it felt as if I was driving on pure ice. I have registered many complaints. I have had everything checked from airbags, bushings, springs, traction bars, tread depth on tires, everything, shocks, everything! Nothing looked damaged. Nothing looked worn or cracked. Nothing!! The ride itself does not seem to be affected. No bronc riding, no bouncing out of control, no hardness at all.

I have been very zealous in taking care to not let Frankentruck take me for a wild ride, but the tension it was placing me in was beginning to wear on my nerves. This week, when returning to the shop, I slipped and slid through the yard and just as I thought my frayed nerves would finally snap, I decided to try a little test. I proceeded to play in the dust and gravel. Yanking the steering wheel as hard as I could to the left, I accelerated. Man oh man. Now that was a good time. Have you ever seen a Big Truck that could turn on a dime? Well, Frankentruck can. Seriously!! While studying my drive axles in the mirror, I noticed my pivot point was on the forward axle. I was literally able to turn at a 90 degree angle. I continued doing donuts for awhile, just to relieve a little stress and afterwards I got out to look at my tread marks in the dirt. That is when I noticed that my rear axle tires were barely touching the ground. I was leaving absolutely no tread marks in the dirt. Now the forward axle would leave a pattern, but the rear axle would brush lightly over them, smoothing them out. Okay, I thought, maybe it is only doing that because I was playing around while bobtail, and the leveling valve could not keep up. So, I hooked to a 45,000 lb load, and you know what? Still no tread pattern.

After making that delivery, I headed back into the shop and proceeded to show one of the Stooges my discovery. He had never seen anything like it. Next Moe was notified, and after a brief consultation, he decided to exchange the leveling valve and all four drive axle shocks. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem, but if not......Frankentruck goes back to Volvo for more complete repairs.

Good thing I noticed this when I did, because it looks like the warranty for this part of the truck runs out in 7000 miles. That means we only have two weeks to figure it out. I know, you are probably thinking, 'Why not take it in now, while it is still under warranty?'

Well, shocks and valves are not covered, and we do not have permission to go to the big shop except as a final measure, so that gives us 2 weeks to get it straight and determine if the problem has enough merit to be sent in. Confused yet? Me too!!

Either way, this needs o be resolved before winter strikes again. It is bad enough driving in ice and snow, but to only have one axle making contact one hundred percent of the time is frightening enough of warm, dry pavement. Because, when the second axle grabs the road, it tends to throw me sideways for a brief moment before recovering.

I will admit however, me and the Ol Boy sure had alot of fun relieving some anxiety out there in the dirt! Git R Done!!

I cannot believe I just typed that, but it was that much fun............