East Tennessee finally had 3 days without rain, so I took my '77 out yesterday to fuel up and get the cobwebs out. Since it hadn't been run in awhile
I checked all fluids, lights, etc. The engine started right up and sounded good. I then went forward and reverse a few times in the driveway to make
sure the brakes were good. Everything checked a'ok. I proceeded to drive to a service station I frequent about 10 miles away. Gas was cheap plus I
got $.70 per gallon discount. I even sprung for 93 octane. Life was rosy as she hummed back down the road until I started up a hill about 3 miles
from my house on busy, narrow US-11. Suddenly she revved up and quit moving forward and started rolling backward. I braked, threw on the flashers,
put it in low and it just revved. I let it roll back and half way out of the south bound lane (it's only 2 lane highway at this section). There was
a big ditch beside the road that I actually got to within 1 foot of dropping in. I put on the emergency brake and got away from the coach. I called
Good Sam road service and they got on the job finding a wrecker. I was lucky in that a deputy sheriff came by and started directing traffic. He was
not happy with the Good Sam wrecker ETA so he called another wrecker service that arrived within 30 minutes with a small wrecker. He hooked a chain
to the GMC and pulled me about a quarter of a mile to an empty parking lot just to get me out of traffic. The wrecker that Good Sam dispatched
thought that he was supposed to pick up a pick up truck. I explained 3 times to the customer service guy in India what I had and he still got it
wrong. I waited another hour for the right equipment to arrive. I did get to enjoy a can of pork n beans and crackers while I watched TV in the
coach. Luckily, the truck arrived, he scooped up the GMC with the bar under the front wheels, and we were ready to go. He said back in the day he
had towed many GMC Motorhomes so he knew the proper way to hook them up. He proceeded to take it to my house, backed it up the drive way and put it
exactly where I wanted it. The whole episode only cost me 3 hours, tips to the drivers who at first refused, and one transmission. After it cooled
down, I get forward movement and good reverse. However the black fluid suggests I put some of my training I received at Chuck Boyd's barn to good
use. Good Bye new wheels, hello transmission. Anyone have one that they would trade for 4 rolls of toilet paper, negotiable?
Jerry
--
Jerry Sitzlar..... 77 Eleganza II, Twin bed, dry bath......
Lenoir City, TN (near Knoxville)
I checked all fluids, lights, etc. The engine started right up and sounded good. I then went forward and reverse a few times in the driveway to make
sure the brakes were good. Everything checked a'ok. I proceeded to drive to a service station I frequent about 10 miles away. Gas was cheap plus I
got $.70 per gallon discount. I even sprung for 93 octane. Life was rosy as she hummed back down the road until I started up a hill about 3 miles
from my house on busy, narrow US-11. Suddenly she revved up and quit moving forward and started rolling backward. I braked, threw on the flashers,
put it in low and it just revved. I let it roll back and half way out of the south bound lane (it's only 2 lane highway at this section). There was
a big ditch beside the road that I actually got to within 1 foot of dropping in. I put on the emergency brake and got away from the coach. I called
Good Sam road service and they got on the job finding a wrecker. I was lucky in that a deputy sheriff came by and started directing traffic. He was
not happy with the Good Sam wrecker ETA so he called another wrecker service that arrived within 30 minutes with a small wrecker. He hooked a chain
to the GMC and pulled me about a quarter of a mile to an empty parking lot just to get me out of traffic. The wrecker that Good Sam dispatched
thought that he was supposed to pick up a pick up truck. I explained 3 times to the customer service guy in India what I had and he still got it
wrong. I waited another hour for the right equipment to arrive. I did get to enjoy a can of pork n beans and crackers while I watched TV in the
coach. Luckily, the truck arrived, he scooped up the GMC with the bar under the front wheels, and we were ready to go. He said back in the day he
had towed many GMC Motorhomes so he knew the proper way to hook them up. He proceeded to take it to my house, backed it up the drive way and put it
exactly where I wanted it. The whole episode only cost me 3 hours, tips to the drivers who at first refused, and one transmission. After it cooled
down, I get forward movement and good reverse. However the black fluid suggests I put some of my training I received at Chuck Boyd's barn to good
use. Good Bye new wheels, hello transmission. Anyone have one that they would trade for 4 rolls of toilet paper, negotiable?
Jerry
--
Jerry Sitzlar..... 77 Eleganza II, Twin bed, dry bath......
Lenoir City, TN (near Knoxville)
