New Shocks For Big RED

Virginia Beach, VA.

58 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast today = Periods of rain. High 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..
Tonight = Rain showers this evening with mostly clear conditions overnight. Low 48F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Way back in April when Big RED first pulled Nora from the RV Dealer's lot to Highbanks, Jim thought that possibly Big RED's shocks weren't in the best condition any longer. But because Linda was still having treatments and Jim was busy trying to get the trailer ready and packed for travel, nothing was done about it.

Jim knew that the shocks weren't real worn out and figured that they'd probably be OK for this trip. He also reasoned that if they became too worn and the ride got too bouncy, he could find someplace to get them replaced along our route. Well, the farther we've traveled, the more bouncy the ride has become, so when we arrived here in Virginia Beach, Jim decided it was time to do something about it.

I don't know if you recall, but 3 or 4 years ago, Jim had Ray, (One of Joe's friends who works out of his garage), replace all the brakes on CLT (Cute Little Truck), when we were here. Well, Ray is very conscientious and is very reasonable with his pricing, so Monday, Jim gave him a call and asked if he'd have timer to change Big RED's shocks before we leave here on Friday?

Jim told Ray that because Big RED would be doing a lot of towing, he wanted him to try to get some replacement shocks that were better than the original ones. Ray said that he had time and would check on the availability of shocks and get back to him. After a day of not finding suitable shocks at local parts stores, he was finally able to find what was wanted at a truck parts store and would be available on Wednesday.  

So, yesterday, Ray came over here and picked up Big RED. He left his little Toyota truck here and told Jim that if he needed to go someplace to go ahead and use it. In about 4 hours, Ray brought Big RED back, with new shocks installed, and told Jim that 3 of the 4 old shocks were definitely weak and in the short drive back here, he had noticed quite an improvement in the ride.

It was dinner time by the time Ray returned with Big RED so Jim hasn't driven him yet. Jim has some errands to run today so he'll get to test the ride later. Then, tomorrow will be the big test when we leave Virginia Beach and Big RED tows Nora back down to Williamston.

We'll only stay one night at the CG near Williamston so that Jim can dump Nora's tanks and then we'll head for the coast, (just south of the outer banks), where we have a reservation at the Surf City Family CG near North Topsail Beach, NC. We'll be staying there for 3 nights and then head down to Myrtle Beach, SC for 4 nights.

Ahhhh!!!! I can hear the surf already!! ;-)

Did you know that Virginia Beach has 28 miles of public beach area?

Woof!!!