So, we were finally ready to begin our shakedown trip and head west to Burl for final prep and then on to Mexico,  and then we hit a snag.

As we were running some final errands we start to hear a growling noise from the rear wheel.  At first we think we have something caught in the wheel.  Then we through maybe a rock caught under the skid plating of the driveshaft. And ultimately,  we did what we were dreading,  jacked it up and checked for play in the wheel…

.. sure enough, there is play in the wheel.  Ugh. The day before we are set to leave,  we have a problem with the one part that we have not replaced or overhauled. Time for a bearings job.

The problem though is that most of the heavy tools are stored away in a storage unit and we knowledge have a ‘house’  outside of the van.  So it’s time to think.  We need a press to press out the old bearings and press in new ones.  Stay tuned for more on that in a day or so… 

On a fun note we got to use our on board air system to air up another vanagon named Baby Blue.  Baby Blue had a flat front tire.  About 35 seconds later we were at 45 psi.

As we like to say,  better here than Mozambique.