This stop is a detour from what would be our normal path to Florida. Since our Discovery is a model year 2006 bought in 2010 and devoid of any recorded service history, we really don’t know what items may need attention. Our suspicion, based on the low initial miles of 11000 (as of this writing we now have 18000+) is that no service has been performed at all except perhaps ordinary oil/filter changes.

Note: the next 4 photos were taken from Discovery’s on board webcam while the service was being performed – the view is out the front windshield, you can see part of the dash in the foreground.

Since many of the sub-systems on a diesel chassis require more attentive maintenance based on time and not just usage, we wanted to set a service  baseline going forward, so elected to have a major preventative service level performed. Freightliner calls this a level 3 maintenance or M3 and it includes pretty much everything.

An example of an item that can degrade over time is the desiccant in the air-brake dryer system – if the desiccant decays too far, bits of it get into the brake lines and create a very expensive repair. Similar deal for the air filter, where bits of paper can get into the turbo and wreak havoc.

The M3 service is an all day affair, we will need to have the coach ready to go into the service bays by 8am on Wed morning 1/4. On the bright side, we do not need to clean out the bedroom or bedroom closet as I thought – this service facility has a full lift system, so all service points (except for some on the radiator if it has issues) can be done from underneath. Otherwise, access is required via under the bed and the bedroom wardrobe floor which would have required us to move a lot of stuff.

The trip to Gaffney, SC from Roanoke Rapids was mostly uneventful and a bit less grueling than the previous two days. We continued down I-95 exiting on US-64 West to the Raleigh area where we followed the I-440 beltway then to I-40 and finally I-85 south to exit 92 at the Freightliner Training and Service center on Campus Dr. Roads were mostly top notch except for a couple of construction areas.

This facility provides motorhome sites with parking with 50A electricity for no extra charge. There is free water and a sewer dump on site as well. Nothing exciting, but the price is right.

Tuesday night was the coldest we have experienced yet and I think the furnaces ran most of the night. It warmed up nicely though by Wed afternoon hitting 45 or so. I think the forecast is for the temps to gradually moderate although there are freeze alerts posted for some Florida locations tonight.

Wednesday morning involved setting up our “playpen” in the back of the Odyssey, packing up all the kitties and moving them, their food and toilet facilities out to the van. We spent the better part of the day riding around and checking out the local points of interest and doing errands. At this time it is about 3:30 and we are waiting in the comfortable Freightliner Oasis service lounge – it should just be another 45 minutes or so.

Linda will write more about the “Peachoid” as well as our visit to Cowpens Battlefield which was quite nice.

Cheers for now, tomorrow we may elect for a short run, but should be somewhere in GA tomorrow night.