We had a short weekend trip planned to Chillicothe, Ohio. This is about 2 hours from our home. The main purpose was to visit the indian mounds of southern Ohio (National Park). It should have been a very easy and quick trip; something that rarely gets planned by us. In the end, I am glad it happened this way because I would not have wanted the truck to break down (again) a long way from home.
So we were on our way to the campground in Chillicothe. We were following GPS, which, not surprisingly, did not know the exact entry point of the campground within the state park. Over the hill and through the woods (literally) and in a torrential downpour, we went past what GPS thought was the entry to the state park. So we now knew we needed to be somewhere else. We decided to head back toward town and regain our bearings. Just as I pulled away from the stop sign at the bottom of the hill...KABOOM...from under the hood of the truck. Sadly, I had heard this sound before and knew exactly what had happened. The engine blew a spark plug. It is a common problem with Ford 5.4L and 6.8L engines made between 1999 and 2003. I had it happen on the same truck 60k miles ago. At that time, I had a Ford dealer repair it and figured I was good for the remaining life of the vehicle. Not so.
We got off the road at a safe point and called roadside assistance. In the end, the tow company escorted us (me pulling the Airstream on 9 cylinders) to the nearest Ford dealer. We camped in the Airstream overnight in the dealership parking lot without hookups on a very humid night. I expected in the morning (Saturday) to get into the shop and have the spark plug hole repaired and fixed. Well, turns out on Saturday all the dealership is prepared to do is oil changes. The technician that has the repair tool was out of state for the weekend. We called local shops...no luck. We called Ford dealers in neighboring towns...no luck. So, I was preparing to go to the local car rental and rent a car to get the family home and come back later with a surrogate truck to pull the Airstream home.
I noticed a nice 2014 Suburban on the used car lot in LTZ trim no less. I asked if I could talk to someone about it. So they got a salesman to high-tail it in to talk to me. In the process of discussion, the salesman commented that many people come in and have discounts such as Tier 1 and it makes new vehicles very affordable, especially with model-year change sales. Hmmm. So I said, "I am Tier 1." To which the salesman replied, "Then you can buy a new truck cheaper than that used one [the Suburban]." So we talked. 6 hours later, we were loading all of our camping gear out of the Excursion into a 2014 F150 Platinum. I would have never chosen the Platinum outright, but based on desired options and dealer availability, this was one of three trucks on the lot (two which were Platinums) which fit the bill. The third was an obnoxious shade of red and had absolutely ugly wheels, so that wasn't happening. We negotiated and agreed to a deal.
The owners manual recommends no towing until after 1000 miles. So much for that! We had an Airstream to get home. Actually, we went to the campground; then home. We had to abbreviate our tour in the area, but we did get to see the mounds. Best of all, we have a brand new truck. Worst of all, we have a car payment (which we had no car payments at all before this). But at least we can be confident in travelling now and not having the tow vehicle break down. That's worth it all, I think. Below is a pic just after we hitched-up at the dealership (with 3 miles on the odometer!)
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A small camping trip soon after purchasing the truck was with some new local friends that we met on the Airforums. Again, a local trip only 30 minutes from home. The main purpose of the trip was to be with friends and let the kids be with other kids. It was a successful trip. The boys got to go fishing with their new friends which was an adventure for them because Andrea and I don't fish at all.
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