- At this time, it's difficult to write new log entries because the car and trailer are being prepped for departure for this upcoming recreational trip.
- As far as I can tell, my Nishiki Colorado mountain bike is running at peak efficiency. The 3" wide chubbys are mounted on the rims at the moment. Chubbys are tires that hardly have any tread. So, they're like road (racing) bike tires, but they're as wide as traditional mountain bike all terrain tires. The first three days of cycling on the American Discovery Trail in Ohio will be on improved surfaces.
- I just disposed of the rear tire that came stock with the bicycle about 2 years ago. I damaged the sidewall using a screw driver to dismount the tire & tube. These days, I use two tire levers and they work so quickly and well that I swear by them. Nonetheless, both front and back knobby (all terrain mountain bike) tires need to be replaced because I don't think that the chubbys have the traction to handle the backcountry roads in Southern Ohio.
- The rear left drum brake system in my 2008 Chevy HHR LS was giving me problems. After the tension bar fell out for a 3rd time, I got a new kit and put it back together. The problem is that if you unscrew the brake shoe separator too much, the drum won't fit back on, or it will cease. If you screw it in, the brakes will clear the drum, but a spring that spans from what I like to call the "ear" (which is mounted to the left brake shoe) to a hole on the right shoe. If the hook of the spring merely sits (and is not tautly clipped inside) within the hole, it will eventually fall out. That in turn will cause the ear and brake separator to fall. The system will then rely on the "W" clip to force the brake shoes and caliper back, but it's not good enough. Eventually, the contact on one of the brake shoes will come out of the caliper's groove, causing the "W" clip to bring it back cockeyed. The next time you press the brakes, one of the pistons is going to make contact with the misaligned shoe. And with enough pressure from the master cylinder, it will cause it to come out, bend and break, spewing brake fluid inside the drum and causing the car to loose the ability to brake until the system is entirely out of fluid.
What I did this time was got one of the forks on the separator unscrewed as much as as the drum could handle with out ceasing. Afterwards, I used the teeth that the tensioner uses with my fingers to expand the separater out more until the the hook in its hole pulled tight. The drum mounted afterwards, but the car failed it's next braking test on Seeley Road in LeRoy Township of Lake County while pumping them coming down a hill. For those of you who don't know, Seeley Road has the steepest hill on a dirt road that also includes two 90° hairpin turns on it, plus a road surface that closely resembles that which the Chevy will be driving on in Southern Ohio in the upcoming weeks.
I was caused to remove the rear left wheel and remount the spring on the shoes in a trailhead before I turned and came back home. The next day, I went back there to repeat the test, but this time, I didn't pump them. The spring maintained its mount in the brake shoe hole. But I think I might have a potential problem with the tensioner while pumping the brakes. Basically, take your left hand and cause your fingers to make the first two bends, but not the third. Rest your thumb flat on top, but extend your pinky finger completely out. This is what the tensioner looks like, but it's smaller. The part that is your pinky finger is what makes contact with the gear teeth that affection the tension of the brake separator. And the other end of this spring is connected to this "ear" piece somewhere above there.
- Electrical conduit has been installed on my Harbor Freight Tools 4' x 8' Utility Hauling Trailer around as many wires as was feasible.
- A new hole was drilled in the hull of the doughnut/ battery compartment. I fed the wires for the new trailer lighting harness through them, wired them up and siliconed the remainder of the hole shut.
- A new mount was installed on the bar of my trailer hitch to keep my new outdoor trailer harness in place while I plug, unplug it and tow.
- And in the midst of everything else being done, I've been packing my own personal belonging here at Home Port, transporting them to Storage B and helping my family put my grandparents condo on the market and making runs to the landfill.
