Reliability Report from the Proving Ground

[donald w. miller]

On this list, it seems we GMC owners are bold enough to discuss it all; the
Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Among the Good ......

I recently talked to East Coast owners who drove their GMC up the Alcan
highway to Alaska and back. They reported zero problems, no mechanical
problems, not even a flat. They traveled about 14,000 miles on this venture
as they not only went to Alaska but it seems they thoroughly explored the
far North of Alaska and Canada while there.

Another owner told me of a friend who drove the Alcan in his GMC with zero
problems except he lost a windshield due to an errant rock.

I know how tough the Alcan can be for we did this trip in the early 80's
with a pair of Suburban's and a top of the line 31' Airstream.

The Suburban's did well; though we had two flats, lost two windshields and
all headlights.

Our near new Airstream slowly became a disaster area. Interior doors fell
off, partitions pulled loose, cabinets came loose and fell down. The frame
aft of the rear axle bowed and drooped. IMO this particular unit did not
stand up at all well to the abuse it sustained.

Therefore, those two reliable GMC's and their savvy owners have my
admiration.

This really sets me to wondering how much of the globe has been traveled by
our GMC's.

I am monitoring a group planning a trip to the Southern tip of South America
in their Volkswagen Bus Campers during year 2000. Sounds like fun. Anyone
heard of a GMC doing this trip?

Don Miller

 

[sharyn p nasca]

As someone who spent 6 months in the Panama area with a VW camper, I would
advise them to take no women with them, leave at home everything they wish
to have when they return, be heavily armed...oh, and don't eat or drink
anything.
S.Nasca
- -----Original Message-----
From: Donald W. Miller
To: gmcmotorhome
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 1998 11:56 PM
Subject: GMC: Reliability Report from the Proving Ground

>On this list, it seems we GMC owners are bold enough to discuss it all;
the
>Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
>
>Among the Good ......
>
>I recently talked to East Coast owners who drove their GMC up the Alcan
>highway to Alaska and back. They reported zero problems, no mechanical
>problems, not even a flat. They traveled about 14,000 miles on this
venture
>as they not only went to Alaska but it seems they thoroughly explored the
>far North of Alaska and Canada while there.
>
>Another owner told me of a friend who drove the Alcan in his GMC with zero
>problems except he lost a windshield due to an errant rock.
>
>I know how tough the Alcan can be for we did this trip in the early 80's
>with a pair of Suburban's and a top of the line 31' Airstream.
>
>The Suburban's did well; though we had two flats, lost two windshields and
>all headlights.
>
>Our near new Airstream slowly became a disaster area. Interior doors fell
>off, partitions pulled loose, cabinets came loose and fell down. The frame
>aft of the rear axle bowed and drooped. IMO this particular unit did not
>stand up at all well to the abuse it sustained.
>
>Therefore, those two reliable GMC's and their savvy owners have my
>admiration.
>
>This really sets me to wondering how much of the globe has been traveled by
>our GMC's.
>
>I am monitoring a group planning a trip to the Southern tip of South
America
>in their Volkswagen Bus Campers during year 2000. Sounds like fun. Anyone
>heard of a GMC doing this trip?
>
>
>Don Miller
>
>

 

[tipton eric]

Several years ago, a couple gave a slide presentation on their trip from
central California through Mexico and on to Belize in their GMC. They
traveled with a relative who drove an SOB. They actually bolted an
extra wheel on each front wheel to make duel wheel configuration to
provide traction in the mud during part of the trip. They gave
statistics about how many times they were towed & how many times the
used the jack. They drove about 8,000 mi round trip. The purpose of
the trip was to study bats and to teach the rural villages about the
native bats. I don't think they called the coach a Batmobile, but it
sure would have fit.

Eric Tipton
etipton

-----Original Message-----
From: Donald W. Miller [mailto:millerdw]
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 1998 9:53 PM
To: gmcmotorhome
Subject: GMC: Reliability Report from the Proving
Ground

On this list, it seems we GMC owners are bold enough to
discuss it all; the
Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Among the Good ......

I recently talked to East Coast owners who drove their
GMC up the Alcan
highway to Alaska and back. They reported zero
problems, no mechanical
problems, not even a flat. They traveled about 14,000
miles on this venture
as they not only went to Alaska but it seems they
thoroughly explored the
far North of Alaska and Canada while there.

Another owner told me of a friend who drove the Alcan in
his GMC with zero
problems except he lost a windshield due to an errant
rock.

I know how tough the Alcan can be for we did this trip
in the early 80's
with a pair of Suburban's and a top of the line 31'
Airstream.

The Suburban's did well; though we had two flats, lost
two windshields and
all headlights.

Our near new Airstream slowly became a disaster area.
Interior doors fell
off, partitions pulled loose, cabinets came loose and
fell down. The frame
aft of the rear axle bowed and drooped. IMO this
particular unit did not
stand up at all well to the abuse it sustained.

Therefore, those two reliable GMC's and their savvy
owners have my
admiration.

This really sets me to wondering how much of the globe
has been traveled by
our GMC's.

I am monitoring a group planning a trip to the Southern
tip of South America
in their Volkswagen Bus Campers during year 2000.
Sounds like fun. Anyone
heard of a GMC doing this trip?

Don Miller

 

[tipton eric]

As I remember, they used steel wheels and turned the second one backward
so the high part of each wheel were together and then ran a single nut
up snuggly. I don't know it the had longer studs or not but it is
probably necessary. I believe that they used the configuration only in
extreme conditions where their maximum speed was less than 5-10 mph. I
would be concerned about the strain on the front end using this setup
for long distances or higher speeds. This presentation was at the GMC
Western States rally at Lake Tahoe several years back. Maybe someone
else online also remembers & has more info.

Eric Tipton
etipton

-----Original Message-----
From: John Dolan [mailto:jdolan]
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 1998 12:53 PM
To: gmcmotorhome
Subject: Re: GMC: Reliability Report from the
Proving Ground

> They actually bolted an extra wheel on each front
wheel to make duel
> wheel configuration to provide traction in the mud
during part of the

How hard would that be to do? What kind of innovative
adapter would be
needed? Would that be a good use for some of the old
steel wheels, some
of us have laying around from the upgrade to Alcoa's?
Just throw the two
sets of dualee's in the trailer with tires already
mounted. When you get
to the slippery parts just change the front wheels, and
avoid sharp
turns.

If widening the track a few inches overstresses the
bearing by 450% what
would this do?

Wonder how that would work with snow tires for ski
trips?
--

Regards,
John Dolan

jdolan

 

[donald w. miller]

Hi Sharyn,

I know what you mean. Some parts of the world, it pays to advertise; hip
holster and .45 calibre minimum. Other places, best to stay home.

So far this group has 15 or 20 Westies planning to travel together. They
are seeking information and I'll bet they would like to have your input.
Their newsgroup is 55-south using majordomo.

Cheers,

Don Miller

>Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 07:47:47 -0500
>From: "Sharyn P Nasca"
>Subject: Re: GMC: Reliability Report from the Proving Ground
>
>in their Volkswagen Bus Campers during year 2000. Sounds like fun. Anyone
>heard of a GMC doing this trip?>>
>
>As someone who spent 6 months in the Panama area with a VW camper, I would
>advise them to take no women with them, leave at home everything they wish
>to have when they return, be heavily armed...oh, and don't eat or drink
>anything.
>S.Nasca

 

[john dolan]

> They actually bolted an extra wheel on each front wheel to make duel
> wheel configuration to provide traction in the mud during part of the

How hard would that be to do? What kind of innovative adapter would be
needed? Would that be a good use for some of the old steel wheels, some
of us have laying around from the upgrade to Alcoa's? Just throw the two
sets of dualee's in the trailer with tires already mounted. When you get
to the slippery parts just change the front wheels, and avoid sharp
turns.

If widening the track a few inches overstresses the bearing by 450% what
would this do?

Wonder how that would work with snow tires for ski trips?
- --

Regards,
John Dolan

jdolan

 

[les & des]

We don't know if this classifies as a "big way," but here goes. We
had owed our GMC for a little over a year, and were almost home
from a trip. Right in the middle of an intersection, the GMC would
not move. Policeman got mad, tow truck was on the way, but he
wanted the GMC out of the intersection RIGHT NOW. We did
some quick thinking and pushed the GMC with our tow Jeep. We
had the GMC fixed at a truck place. They said Differential went
out. Had Differential rebuilt and rebuilt Transmission installed
(upon recommendation of the mechanic). 3300 miles later we were
about 90 miles from home and the GMC did the same exact thing.
This time we were on a freeway in rush hour traffic. We had it
towed back home. We had someone else come out to the
motorhome (we were full-timing by then) and fix it. He found the
left flange had disengaged from the Differential. The first place had
left the center bolt out. About another 1000 miles the same
symptom happened. The axel on the left side broke. At this point
we knew about the bearing problems with the GMCs. So we had
the bearings replaced while fixing the axle. Since fixing the
bearings, we have not had another problem. That was, three years
ago.

Since we owned the GMC (December 93) it had an occasional
"pop" from the front end when turning sharply, say into a camping
spot. We had asked Zeb's son in Atlanta (Southland) and he said
they just sometimes do that. This past March we had replaced our
shocks and in the process the mechanic found that our A arm
bushing was worn out. Since replacing that, we have not had that
popping noise.

During the process with the Differential/Transmission/Bearing, we
were taken financially. At the same time, we did learn that not
every one can work on a GMC. But, we also learned that you don't
have to be a GMC specialist to work on one. Through the 5 years
of owning this motorhome we have learned that we can do a lot
ourselves.

>
> Sorry folks I have to do this. Lets hear from all of the people who have
> had a front bearing go out in a big way.

Les & Des
Living Praise Ministries

mailto:lpraise
Visit us at: http://www.livingpraise.org

 

[chuck will]

Are you talking about the bearing in the HUB/KNUCKLE? Chuck I replace both
about 30 K and will do so again very soon. After inspection will check the
K/H and if they are ok. The last time the left side were just about ready to
be replaced I did so with the K. But the H was ok. I had to replace one of
the rotors at that time too. Chuck

> We don't know if this classifies as a "big way," but here goes. We
> had owed our GMC for a little over a year, and were almost home
> from a trip. Right in the middle of an intersection, the GMC would
> not move. Policeman got mad, tow truck was on the way, but he
> wanted the GMC out of the intersection RIGHT NOW. We did
> some quick thinking and pushed the GMC with our tow Jeep. We
> had the GMC fixed at a truck place. They said Differential went
> out. Had Differential rebuilt and rebuilt Transmission installed
> (upon recommendation of the mechanic). 3300 miles later we were
> about 90 miles from home and the GMC did the same exact thing.
> This time we were on a freeway in rush hour traffic. We had it
> towed back home. We had someone else come out to the
> motorhome (we were full-timing by then) and fix it. He found the
> left flange had disengaged from the Differential. The first place had
> left the center bolt out. About another 1000 miles the same
> symptom happened. The axel on the left side broke. At this point
> we knew about the bearing problems with the GMCs. So we had
> the bearings replaced while fixing the axle. Since fixing the
> bearings, we have not had another problem. That was, three years
> ago.
>
> Since we owned the GMC (December 93) it had an occasional
> "pop" from the front end when turning sharply, say into a camping
> spot. We had asked Zeb's son in Atlanta (Southland) and he said
> they just sometimes do that. This past March we had replaced our
> shocks and in the process the mechanic found that our A arm
> bushing was worn out. Since replacing that, we have not had that
> popping noise.
>
> During the process with the Differential/Transmission/Bearing, we
> were taken financially. At the same time, we did learn that not
> every one can work on a GMC. But, we also learned that you don't
> have to be a GMC specialist to work on one. Through the 5 years
> of owning this motorhome we have learned that we can do a lot
> ourselves.
>
> >
> > Sorry folks I have to do this. Lets hear from all of the people who have
> > had a front bearing go out in a big way.
>
> Les & Des
> Living Praise Ministries
>
> mailto:lpraise
> Visit us at: http://www.livingpraise.org

 

[les & des]

[ADMIN note - this one bounced as a non-member submission. Be
sure to use your "subscribed" address when you post. Patrick]

> Are you talking about the bearing in the HUB/KNUCKLE?

Sorry it has taken us so long to answer you Chuck. We traveled
the month of September, and we are still catching up our GMC e-
mail. The bearings were the front wheel bearings that are in the
hub.
Les and Des
73 Painted Desert
Rocky Mount, NC

mailto:lesndes
vist us at: http://www.livingpraise.org