>
> Thanks for our first look! Now PLEASE tell us the rest of the story.
Gee, how I spent my summer vacation in 100 words or less...
I'll try.
First, it was great to already know so many GMCers as a result of
GMCnet. Made my first rally a GREAT experience meeting these guys and
gals face-to-face. I won't even try to name any names. I'd forget a
bunch of people if I dared try. I didn't get nearly enough pictures as
we'd just be chatting along and I'd forget all about the camera - sorry!
After being accustomed to seeing one GMC on the road from time to time,
seeing 400 at one time is a little overwhelming. Really surprising was
the number of 23 footers there. Probably 10% of the total. Of course,
there were some incredibly nice coaches there. The open house was very
helpful as many GMCers do their own interiors and they were more than
willing to tell you how they did it. Saw an Explorer GMCII and an
Avion(rear twin - nice!). There were several "stretches" - hard to
imagine doing that to a coach.
Most of the tech sessions were great(a couple were pretty lame), but
some of the old hands were complaining about it being the same stuff
year after year. I guess there's nothing new under the sun, but it was
great to be able to talk to some of the "legends" of GMCdom. Dick
Patterson has an amazing amount of experience in racing and engine
building and some great contacts in those areas. Great guy - will talk
to you all day long on any subject and never talk down to you. Same
with Ken Thoma and Leigh Harrison - as we say in the south, "just plain
folks". I was a little disappointed that there weren't more GMC
vendors, but they tell me that there were more this year than last.
According to my regional VP, they've got a guy on the rally committee
that's taken this to heart and it should get much better.
Speaking of Leigh Harrison, his coach is amazing. Rock stable, great
acceleration and stops on a dime(just check out the disc on the front
bogie if you haven't already). Of course, getting it this way wasn't
easy and I'm sure there's more to it than just his upgrades. The coach
is obviously well maintained to begin with.
Didn't see much really *new* stuff. Although one Canadian GMCer, Dan
Stuckey, is selling replacement frame rails for $1,700US a set. 3/16
steel instead of 1/8 and two-part epoxy primed and painted. He quotes
$5,000 to replace a set of rails, not counting any repairs required to
other frame components. He did a tech session on frame replacement, and
while it's serious surgery, it's not out of the realm of reality for the
serious backyard mechanic. Might try to get some of his pics on the web
site too.
Duane Simmons did a really good tech session on ignitions with a good
handout. It's got a copyright notice on it and I'm gonna check with him
to see if he'll let me post the info on my page. Also, as Manny has
mentioned, Duane did a session with Zay Brand regarding the dash heating
and a/c controls. Again, good handout and ditto trying to get
permission to publish.
I mentioned earlier Chuck Stoddard's tech session on suspension and
highway stability. No handout though
While a little of it was
self-serving(as were many of the sessions - these guys do sell this
stuff ya' know), he had some interesting ideas. Basically, he feels
most of our problems stem from improper coach balance, improper
alignment and worn out suspension and steering components. Hard to
argue with a lot of that from what I've seen.
GMCMI did a great job on organizing the rally. A few people complained
about the catered meals, but imagine trying to feed 800 people in 30
minutes and not having a few complaints. I thought the food was pretty
good. The only real problems I heard of related to some heavy handed
enforcement of rally rules, but since I wasn't involved personally in
these instances(friends of mine were), I won't comment further on that.
Whew! Too long and I probably left out as much as I covered.
Definitely was worth the trip! Already making plans for Myrtle Beach!
Patrick
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Patrick Flowers
Mailto
atri63
The GMC Motorhome Page
http://www.gmcmotorhome.com
