Waiting on parts...

We are still at US Coach, waiting on parts.  Great progress has been made on all our service items, and miracle Mike-the-parts-guy was able to track down third-party replacements for our shocks and tag axle damper.  The tie-rod ends, however, have proven more of a challenge.

When Mike called NeoPart to ask about them, providing our model, year, and even VIN, they came up with a part number that is out of stock and no longer made.  The shop pulled the tie rods off, mic'ed all the joints, and started calling around for aftermarket replacements, to absolutely no avail.  As a last gasp, we opened up our trusty parts book (for an '84 coach, even though ours is an '85), and found a NeoPlan part number.  Armed with this information, lo and behold, NeoPart found three in stock (out of the four we need).  Unfortunately, by this time it was Friday afternoon, so, even with overnight shipping, they will not be here until tomorrow.

We will end up with three new ends, and pick the best of what comes out for the fourth.  (We will also look into whether the two on the rear axle are the same spec, in which case we can pilfer one of those if it is in better shape.)  I'll keep the best of whatever is left over to see if, in our travels, I can match it up to something new.

Once the tie rods are done, they will replace the shocks and set the alignment, which, we hope, will cure our front-end shimmy problems.  That should wrap things up here, and we hope to be on the road Tuesday morning, just a few hours shy of a week after our arrival here.  A quick stop at Flying-J in Carney's Point for fuel and tank dump, and we'll head back out of NJ.  We've decided to cut across the Delmarva peninsula and across the bridge into Annapolis, rather than plow through Baltimore to reach DC.