Part 2 of Our Visit to Vonore, Tennessee

Note: I have no idea what is up with the font on this post. The size is all over the map with no rhyme or reason. It looks fine until it is published.

As I mentioned yesterday, when I took the BoggsMobile to Vonore, Tennessee, there was one main reason for doing so. We were determined to get the AquaHot system replaced and be finished with the whole thing. Even though it did not work out as hoped, Jeff worked diligently and he will get it eventually. It really was a great visit.

Jeff also fixed a bunch of things that you can not see. Air leaks are a constant battle on a coach like ours and Jeff took care of some of that on this trip. He replaced a few air fittings and one of the ride height valves and generally looked things over and tuned things up.

ANY time Jeff lifts the BoggsMobile in the air, he examines the underside of the chassis carefully and that attention to detail caught what could have been a major failure!

I have six tires on the BoggsMobile that were replaced 9 months before I arrived in Vonore. They are in great shape. This is one of them.



That is great looking tread with years and years and miles and miles of service left on it. Except for this broken clevis sticking in the tread!

Ouch! That clevis had broken off of the lift chamber assembly for the tag axle and some how ended up in the tire. The tire still had air in it so it probably happened on my way from London, Kentucky to Vonore that night.

If that had happened out on the road in the middle of a long trip, it could have had catastrophic consequences. I hated replacing a tire with lots of life left in it but the alternative option would not have been pretty. Do you understand part of the reason why I thank God for Jeff Rowe every day?

Another item on the agenda was repairing a boo-boo that I have not mentioned here on the blog. Late last year I was doing something that I try to never do when driving the BoggsMobile. I was in a hurry.

I know better than to let anything rush me when driving something this big. I learned that when pulling fifth wheels many year ago and I have carried that over to the bus. Do not rush. Do not allow beeping horns, impatient drivers or time constraints cause you to drive this thing in a hurry. You will live to regret it.

I violated my own rule late in 2016 and I paid the price for it.

I had traffic waiting on me to get out of the way and I allowed the pressure to push me without carefully considering my options. It was no one's fault but mine when I swung the bus around into a wooden pole while backing into a place.

Prevost would have replaced the door at a tremendous, unbelievable cost but Jeff knew the bottom part of the frame could be replaced along with the bottom piece of stainless. It went from this..

To this!

The stainless along the bottom has a strip of green paint and a strip of blue paint. They will have to be added later on the new piece.

Here is a picture of how the paint looks on the rest of the doors.

I had some stainless rub rails that were loose in three other positions. There were two on the driver's side in addition to the door with the boo-boo.

There was another on the passenger side. 

Since they were loose, I removed them and prepared the brackets to reinstall them. Only when I had them removed and prepared, did I realize I had the wrong adhesive.

Jeff put those on while he was at it. Here are pictures of the driver's side with the rub rails replaced.

It sure looks a whole lot better with all of the teeth replaced! That wraps up our latest visit to East Tennessee Luxury Coach. 

Thanks for reading today.

Davy

A Super Great Visit to Vonore, Tennessee

Thank God for Jeff Rowe, the owner of Tennessee Luxury Coach in Vonore, Tennessee. Jeff has done a bunch of work on the BoggsMobile the last three or four years and has been a tremendous boost to our family and ministry as a result. I really do thank God for him.

First, he knows buses inside and out. Second, he is honest and dependable. If he says it needs to be done then it needs to be done. I can not tell you how rare that is in the bus industry AND how valuable that is to us. Third, he has become more than just a business man that we know, he has become a friend.

Here is Jeff with Odie last week.

We took the BoggsMobile to him while we were in London. We needed several things completed but the main thing was to change out the AquaHot. Our AquaHot system has been on its last legs since we have owned the bus and I milked it for all it was worth. 

It finally failed catastrophically earlier this year. I plumbed in a small house water heater to get us by for about 5 weeks and then took it out before going to Jeff's.

Jeff was rebuilding an old AquaHot for the BoggsMobile. He is trying to perfect the complicated process and trying to save me some money too. The price of a new AquaHot is unbelievable and makes no sense at all.

First, they removed my 22 year old unit and took it apart.

This is the end of the boiler with the case taken off. The rust is terrible.

A closer look.

Then they removed the copper tubing around the boiler. This is the bottom of the boiler!

My boiler was obviously beyond saving but Jeff had another that was in very good shape. He had a good local shop go over it to make sure it was OK and then pressure test it. It seemed ready to go.

It fired and ran fine. It heated and circulated coolant though the bus fine. But after many hours, the repaired boiler began to seep a little coolant in places it had not leaked before. 

He sent it back out to the local shop but it could not be repaired properly. All the time put into that boiler was in vain but it was no one's fault.

Jeff is going to try to source another good tank or maybe even have one fabricated. Then they will go at it again. I appreciate all the diligent effort put into this project for us. For now, we are using an electric water heater again but Jeff and his guys will conquer this eventually.

I have more to tell about our recent stay at Jeff's place but I will save that story for another day. Suffice it to say that the BoggsMobile is looking good now.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

Thank God for Trinity Pentecostal Church in Central City

God has been blessing every service here at Central City, Kentucky and there is an expectancy in the air that He is going to continue to do so. We missed coming here in 2016 and we are very glad to be back.

We missed last year because of our City Reach schedule. In fact we missed most of the places that we normally stop and we are thankful for understanding Pastors and churches. There was no way to fit in 40+ revivals into the mix when we were trying to focus on souls in cities with the Blue and White Gospel Tent.

When I told Pastor Alan Harris about our plans for City Reach, he immediately caught the vision and began to think of ways to encourage us in the work. He thought of a very tangible way to contribute and it was one of the greatest blessings of the whole year for us.

Bro. Alan scheduled a prayer revival to correspond to a week of City Reach Phoenix and even sent out flyers to their local fellowship advertising the revival. They met every night at 7:00 PM and prayed specifically for City Reach across the nation and for City Reach Phoenix in particular.

God met with Pastor Alan Harris and Trinity Pentecostal Church in a mighty way each night. As a result of them touching God, God touched the Phoenix area City Reach in a tremendous way! They would pray about an hour at 7:00 Central Time and then we would begin service on Pacific Time about an hour after they had prayed.

I am telling you friends, it was amazing to watch the result of those prayer meetings unfold right before our eyes! God answered their prayers and reached for lives night after night after night.

City Reach Phoenix area lasted nearly three weeks and there was someone new under the tent praying for salvation every single night. It was an amazing time of revival for us, the churches, the Pastors and the new folks that came.

God moved that week and God moved throughout City Reach as a direct result of the prayers of the saints across America. These saints in Central City set aside an entire week of prayer and loaded that on top of the diligent prayer they had made for City Reach for over a year prior. God honored those prayers and paid dividends in saving lost men and women! Praise God!

During the prayer revival for City Reach, Pastor Alan Harris and his church also received offerings each night for City Reach. When the week was completed they sent a City Reach offering just as if we had preached revival for them. They were a tremendous blessing to us and to the whole project of City Reach.

It is no wonder that God helped so many folks last year! God was responding to the sincere cries of His people. He always does!

All of that piles onto all of the other reasons that we are super glad to be back in Central City, Kentucky! It would be awesome if some of you that read this today would return the favor to Bro. Alan and his church. Ask God to cover us up with his presence in a fantastic fashion!

Thank you for reading today.

Davy