Wilson Price Hunt Trail (‘Astorians’) 1811 — 1812

Day 6: August 18th, 2006 Pittsburgh (Car Work)

The first thing in the morning is to drive over to Radio Shack. But they open not before 10am. So I drive over to Wal–Mart to get my silicone. Then I drive back and wait until Radio Shacks opens. There I buy my CB connector and drive on to Home Depot. All in all I need a better counterpart for my antenna on the roof: The small holding area will tear my roof apart. I find a suitable washer and some seals where I think I am able to build a useful construction for this antenna mount.

Then I drive back home and at 11:15am I leave for Truckoutfitters. Unfortunately they are at the other end of Pittsburgh. This takes me around 45 minutes to get there. Exactly on time I arrive there and we briefly discuss the work. In the meantime I can take a seat in the waiting area and the guys start working on my truck. When I hear the grinder working, I am glad, that I didn’t tried it myself. I am sure, I would have not been able to finish the job.

After 2 hours of work the guys have finished the work and they needed to cut the U–bolts apart, as assumed. They had no chance to get the screws loose, even with all my spraying. On my way back I pick up the spare tire latch at my Chevrolet dealer in Wexford, which has finally arrived. Using the opportunity, I ask for the connection of my rear window defogger, because the connecting wires are completely corroded.

Bumper–to–Bumper has a special repair kit, which I pick up on my way back. Then I drive over to David and fix my antenna mount. After I have fixed the mount and sealed it with silicone (the grounding was really causing issues), I take the spare tire off and replace the latch.

Then I screw the new spare tire on and rearrange everything in my truck, as I need it for my journey. Because of getting the tires in my trunk for storage, I had to rearrange a lot of stuff.

Finally I take a look at the loose contact of my engine compartment illumination. Unfortunately I must realize, that the issue is with the positive line. These are now two many options, where the problem might come from. Because it is working at the moment, I assume that it is just an easy contact problem.

When taking another thorough look at my truck, I figure out, that my rear differential is leaking heavily. But this time it is not the cover but the shaft seal! I definitely don’t have the time to change it now, because I must leave tomorrow. This is something the guys at my Chevrolet dealer in Wexford should have seen!

Finally I try my luck with the repair kit for my rear window defogger. But the wires did not hold up. So I crimp two connectors on the old wires and push them below the metal of the rear window defogger and hope, they will have sufficient contact. Next year I will do it right!

The adjustment for my antenna must happen tomorrow. I drive over to David’s house to tell Lisa, that I will not be here tomorrow. I meet here with her friends at the whirlpool. They have a girls day and enjoy the evening with sparkling wine and some snacks!

I drive back home and jump under the shower. Then I drive again to the Outback Steakhouse. Tomorrow I still have to prepare some stuff and then my tour starts — and it seems I will stick to my emergency plan to only drive to Columbus, Ohio…