by papmom35 » Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:41 am
Gus, thank you so much for trying to help me work this through. I can't tell you how great you, Frank, EG and others have been to me with all your time and advice. You're in good company with the confusion, beleive me!! I have no idea what I'm talking about. The lingo is all new to me so let me try to summarize what I've learned so far:
As it stands right now, I have a 1982 Play-mor that apparently has an axel and rims/hubs (I assume both parts make up what we call the wheel?) that are not only obsolete but the likes of which most people have never seen, including the RV guy (oh yea-thank you Play-mor).
When I initially talked to the RV guy up in Maine about putting brakes on the rig, he said it would be virtually impossible to find a pair that would match and fit my axel and wheels (rims/hubs). When he went to call Dexter to order a new axel, they told him they happened to have 2 pair of brakes/drums that would actually fit the axel and wheels. They apparently are the only 2 pair left in the country. He didn't order them right away, he called me first with the good news that I didn't need a new axel after all. In the time between talking with Dexter and calling me, he found a brake/drum set in his storage barn he didn't know he had that would fit my setup for $75 (the set Dexter had would cost me $125 plus shipping) and he would only have to order one set from Dexter, not 2. As I was digesting this information, which seemed like great news, I got the news that my OB was not suitable for towing unless I wanted to throw $5K into it and even then I would be putting great stress on it. All this happened within 2 hours on the same day.
Since I now could not use the OB to go up to Maine to tow the rig back to MA, I decided to go with a transport company. The transporter had a big ass truck and he didn't need to have the brakes installed on the rig to bring it down to me. I decided not to spend the money at that time and told the RV guy just to change out the tires as he had also decided that the wheels were fine as is (I had originally thought they were not and would need new ones). The RV guy said that he would sell me the brake set he had for $50. Since I knew I would have to get a new TV, my plan was to get one large enough that I wouldn't need the brakes. Hindsight tells me I should have added the $50 to the bill and asked him to throw the brake setup in the rig for the transport down. I have since realized I can't afford a TV large enough not to need brakes on the rig so I am thinking of calling the RV guy and buying the set he has and I will have a friend bring them to me in July when I meet her at a trial (where I will be moteling it, not camping).
Your thought is that I need to make sure that what the RV guy has and what Dexter has match up. Is that correct? And, because I also need a whole new spare tire/wheel set, I will need to make sure it will match up with the brake sets. However, that may be tough as a new spare setup will probably NOT match up with the brakes I buy OR the axel I have and therefore, should I need to change the tire I will be operating on one brake which is not safe. So, because I need a complete new spare setup, it would be prudent to get 3 sets of wheels that match which would mean I would need to change the axel to match those wheels. Then it will be easier to get brakes that match all the new equipment. My preference would be to get wheels that match the tires I just bought but that may not be possible.
It now looks like I am looking at a new/used axel, 3 new wheels, 2 new brake/drum sets and possible 3 new tires. Which puts me back to where I was the day I bought the rig and had it inspected.
How did I do?
Pappin' in Pink (well, we will be sometime in the future when I can paint my new Paphut!!)
!!