Good Volvo Service in Portland, OR

[Jemstone]

The transmission on my 2010 Volvo 730 would not shift into gear two days ago. I got Good Sam, my roadside assistance service to use a highly recommended towing service in the little town of Richfield, WA where we broke down. TLC Towing did a good job getting us into Portland's TEC Equipment the Volvo and Mack dealers for the region. TEC got the truck into the shop in the afternoon and fixed several tranny issues plus a recall fix that the previous owner did not take care of. We were on our way the next morning.

 

About 20 miles north of Portland I had a motorist on my left frantically pointing at the trailer tires. The brake on my right rear wheel was on fire and had started to melt the plastic fender skirt above. It now has a wavy, frilled appearance. A chemical extinguisher did a great job three times, as the area was so hot it reignited twice. While I was putting out the fire our TLC Towing driver saw me in the opposite lane going the opposite direction. He honked, turned around at the next exit and came back to help me disconnect the trailer brakes. Would not accept any money and actually seemed pleased to be able to help us. Long Live TLC Towing.

 

We are currently camped just north of the fire site. I'm sure that, despite the tire still being in use, the wheel is compromised, the bearings are scorched and the brakes are history. That tire is also suspect. Other serious damage is possible and likely. Naturally the local trailer shops are booked for two or more weeks. Thus, I'm waiting for a mobile repair person to appear and assess the mess. My mechanical skills helped cause the trailer brake problem. In fact, there are several cartoon characters who have demonstrated better mechanical skills than me, so I have learned to keep my hands off the mechanical problems. In the ten years we have been on the road halftime I have made almost every towing mistake possible, the most recent being forgetting to pull the safety braking switch cable off the truck before unhitching. After making that mistake, I thought I had disconnected the trailer brakes till I could get to a repair shop. Daffy Duck would have done a better job, if he were not under contract to Warner Bros.

 

When I was younger these situations added adventure to a trip. Not anymore. That's why encountering a good dealer is a real treat while on the road. Now for a good repair tech for the trailer.

[noteven]

A zillion vehicles on the road that day and one of them is your TLC Towing driver going by . Hope the repairs go as smoothly.

 

I had brakes on fire on each end of the same axle on a tank load of gasoline back in the olden days. We got busy with a couple 5 gal pails by a ditch full of water and had the fire out pretty quick. A release valve had failed and did not release the brakes on that axle, then a couple miles of gentle downgrade with them dragging did the rest... recall notice for the valve was in the mail at the time...

 

Anyway later at the café a couple old hands commented that brake fires are best put out by water - lots of steam created starves the fire for oxygen and the water cools the components to stop re - ignition...