From Part I you know that I was interested in the EBay process especially as it has to do with motorhomes. Looking at the three GMC’s on the auction block, I decided to try to contact the seller of the one that matched our requirements the best and he was in Louisiana to ask him about the condition of this classic. Ebay allows you to email the seller, which I did and he immediately sent me his phone number. I’ll call the seller Bill. It had belonged to two people, a first time owner for 23 years who kept the coach in a garage except when being used. The second owner was Bill’s father, who had passed away for 2 years. His father had kept in a carport like place when not in use. Bill, being from the South, wanted to talk about a lot of things besides the motorhome and it took me a few minutes to get him zeroed in on the coach. He indicated that the engine had been replaced along with the transmission rebuilt 3,000 miles ago. Bill also said that the front end had also been rebuilt including brakes, cv joints, steering components etc and that it drove and handled very well. He had also just had the air conditioners recharged and the generator serviced. He had the rear brakes rebuilt also. The only thing that he said that it needed to be driven back to Seattle was a new set of tires. I asked Dave to take some more photographs for me and he agreed. I had him remove the skirt that hides the rear suspension, and take some close ups. I have been told that this is where these rigs rust first. I also asked for shots of the battery compartment and other places that I had been told to look closely. The photos showed no apparent problems. This is obviously not as good as being there, but it was the next best thing I could do, if I wanted to get involved bidding on this coach. Ebay offers a “vehicle inspection” at a cost but there was not time to get this inspection arranged.

This information was encouraging because even though the coach was a Palm Beach Model, Lime Green, it sounded like what we were looking for. With the driving components recently repaired or rebuilt, I felt confident that I could drive this classic home to Seattle. All I needed was a cheap air line ticket to get me down there and five days to drive it home. I realized that I would probably be going somewhere to pick up some GMC since I had not found a suitable one in Seattle. With this information in hand, I started to bid on this unit because there was no reserve and no starting price. The excitement of doing something new was invigorating. Someone bid $7000, so I upped the bid. This process continued, with two other bidders jumping in. I decided to set a $10,000 limit for myself feeling that, anything below that would be a good deal. The bidding stalled at $9000 two days before closing and we were headed out to a rally, so I put in a proxy bid in for the $10,000. The way this works on Ebay is that they accept a “bid not higher than price” which only you and Ebay knows about. Other bidders, just find out there is a proxy bid in when they try to bid the next price and are immediately topped. At a few minutes before the closing, there was one bid for $9200 and my proxy kicked the bid to $9300. When the bid closed, I was the winner. Wow. The only other thing I had ever purchased on Ebay was a few hundred dollars for some computer software so this purchase provided a whole new experience for me. Now I had to work out all the logistics of sending the 15%, before third day payment, and arranging transportation, final payment and insurance for my drive back including towing.

Using the internet I found a $202 air line ticket and a few emails and phone calls took care of the other items. I arranged for the new tires to be installed soon after I picked it up. Bill said that he would meet me at one of three airports with the rig, so I chose Little Rock Arkansas. The adventure continues with an uneventful flight and sure enough at the appointed time, Bill drove up with the Green Machine. My first real look was confirming of the impression that I got with the photos but the tires were really bad, so getting them replaced right away was necessary. I dropped Bill off at one of his relatives in Little Rock and began by trek. It was about 3 pm on Sunday, so I drove to the location where I had arranged to get tires. The generator indeed worked and one of the air conditioners put out cold air, so even July in Arkansas was OK. The dash air did not work, but I was comfortable with the ac running and one air condition. I first noticed that the windshield wipers were shot, so a stop at an auto parts store was in order. Of course the wiper blades used in 1976 are not available at Flying J. So I had to improvise adapting available parts to the old wiper arm. I wanted to have wiper blades in place because there were some thunder storms in the area.

With full tank of gas and new tires, I said a short prayer, and started driving northwest. It was hot and humid. In about 3 hours the old air condition stopped putting out cold air. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a short sewer hose and fashioned an air collection system fastened to the front mirror that brought ram air into the small window on the driver’s side. It provided a nice flow of air and with 60 mph duct tape holding it in place, I was in business. I decided to drive mostly at night in the cooler air and stay in a motel in the daytime when the heat and humidity were at their peak. If the GMC’s air condition was working I would have stayed in the rig. The coach did indeed run and drive well. In the first few hundred miles I stopped often to check on things like anything getting hot or any fluids coming out. Everything checked out. I was getting comfortable with the nuances of noises etc that emit from 26’ 26 year old motorhome and headed northwest and home.

Now you know that I have been leading up to something and here it is. Near North Platte Nebraska at about 5 am in the cool morning air I was going a comfortable 60, and I heard a pop-pop-pop-thump. The coach slowed a little, but I did not feel anything. It was still dark and I did not see anything unusual. I slowed and got off to the side of the road, and with my flashlight got out the check on things. The front (center) tandem wheel, brake drum and hub on the right side were gone. All that was left was a red hot spindle with the wheel nut still in place. The rear suspension held up the failed wheel sprocket so that almost nothing touched the ground, even though the whole assembly was gone. Hence no further damage was done. This bearing had failed getting hot enough to melt the brake cylinder. Luckily my cell phone had 3 bars with the battery charged and I called 411. This is a directory service offered by AT&T. In a few moments I was talking with the dispatch operator at the Nebraska State Police Dispatch center. I was talking with the tow truck operator within minutes and arranging for the proper equipment to get this rig into North Platte. The tow truck operator knew this coach and immediately said that it will require a flat bed trailer. A quick call to my insurance company assured that they would pay for this claim for emergency road service. With all the arrangements made, my thoughts wandered and soon I thought that I should have had the bearings checked on myself before departing. Then I mentally listed all the other things that could have failed. This mental list got longer and longer and then I thought that I could never think of all the things that could have caused me to be off the side of the road that I SHOULD have done. Enough of that and I decided that I could probably not have checked everything that could cause me to be at the side of the road. Within minutes I got an automated call from my insurance company indicating that a company had been selected and would be there at about half an hour after dawn. So here I wait for the Tow Truck to arrive.

The above paragraph was written minutes after the incident. It turns out that I had talked with Gary Herbst (tow truck operator) the owner of Herbst Towing to arrange the recovery. He was in fact the Recovery Operator and showed up right on time. I watched with admiration the way he got my coach up on that flat bed without even a scratch. In arranging the details of the recovery and subsequent repair I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had experience with GMC’s and knew about Cinnibar. It turns out that this is not the first GMC that Gary had rescued. His shop does lots of repair work, but not on a tight schedule. Wow, that fit my needs perfectly since I had previously decided not to wait in North Platte for the repair to be completed. I found Gary to be a very pleasant and competent service person. He got there when he said he would and did what he said he would do. He has been in business in North Platte since 1977 almost the year my coach was made. So Gary will do the repair. Now getting the right parts ordered and shipped would be my next challenge. With the help of Denny Allen, president of the GMC Cascade Cruisers FMCA Chapter, I ordered parts to replace the failed spindle/drum brake. I was already planning on replacing the center axle drum brakes with disk brakes, sold by Leigh Harrison, so that decision was easy. I just ordered the new disk brakes. I had read that changing to disk brakes on the center axle of the GMC increases its braking efficiency by 60%. As all of you know, I am a safety bigot, and nothing stops fast enough for me. At the same time Gary is putting new shocks, replacing a leaking air bag, and doing a complete and thorough safety check on the rest of the chassis. If I had this to do again I would have had a complete safety inspection done in Little Rock before driving back to Seattle. All in all, I am thankful that if I had to break down, that it was where the reset of the pieces fell into place to get my coach repaired. I returned to Seattle by Air and in a few weeks, will return to North Platte to continue my odyssey. Gary told me that ironically, he had towed two other motorhomes in the last week also with axle failure motorhomes. One was an old Airstream on a Chevrolet Chassis and the other was an older converted bus. There is one more thing I have to tell you and that is these other motorhomes were also purchased from you know where: Ebay.

I found an inexpensive flight with the help of the AAA Travel Agency, and an agent called Deb, to get me back to Seattle. Add $380 to the cost of this adventure. Everyone one in this small Nebraska town was very nice and did things to make my situation better. Gary gave me a ride to the airport, the ticket agent for Great Lakes got me on the early flight, and I look forward to coming back to pick up the repaired Green Machine.

I remain positive about this great lifestyle and all the experiences and excitement it offers. Volume III will describe my continuing efforts to sell my Monaco Coach and maybe about getting the soon to be repaired Green Machine from Nebraska to Washington.

Bob

BACK

MAIN MENU