Birds, Bugs and Bushings

 A pretty quiet day here in the desert.  

Some Gambel's Quails came by to check out the URRV but did not tarry.  Sorry but the camera in my Pixel 4a, as with most camera phones, is lacking when it comes to zoom function.  The below pic is shot at 2X zoom, I think its optical, but not sure.

As to bugs, there have been very few flies this time around, probably the cool temperatures at night killing off any remaining flies from summer/fall.  There are however, enough black beetles crawling around, to get one's attention when walking or sitting outside the URRV:

These beetles, when they detect your approach, freeze and stick their butt up in the air.  Not sure why but I'm guessing they will spray something at you from that end if they sense an attack.  I basically left them alone unless they were headed towards the URRV, in which case I scooped them up with a shovel and carried them away from the site.

As to bushings, I finally remembered to send some pics to RichardM to help me identify the rubber bits in the picture below.  Turns out they're the Sway Bar Bushings and while not exactly falling apart, should probably be replaced with newer/stronger ones.

I occasionally hear a metallic "klunk" while the URRV is moving and am hoping it's these bushings which appear to be quite "squashed".  I plan to work on replacing them when next I am home with the URRV.

Speaking of home, the plan now is to start heading back to Colorado as soon as this Friday/Saturday to take advantage of a period of "warm", snow-free, weather forecasted for my route back there.  I'll be taking the I-10/I-25 route through Albuquerque, NM...probably overnighting in BLM land near the town of Truth or Consequences, NM.

Before that, I have to turn in Fiona's title to the insurance office in Phoenix tomorrow and hopefully also have time to remove the gearbox and final drive from poor Fiona.  I'm hoping these components are salvageable and got permission from the insurance rep to do so.  The insurance settlement has been finalized, they await only the receipt of the title.

The amount of the settlement was higher than expected so that's good.  I'd still rather have Fiona in one piece and working but it is what it is.

Update: DEC 3

The process involved with just gaining access to Fiona at the Insurance Auction Yard run by IAA which my insurance company uses proved to be quite the PITA!  All this to access components whose condition might not be worth the time/effort to get into sellable condition.  I realized, afterwards, that I was just being greedy.  So, the effort to recover the gearbox and final drive is at an end.

I did get the title to Fiona dropped off though, it was of course on the opposite end of the Phoenix Metro Area but traffic wasn't bad at all.

I'll resume my drive back to Colorado tomorrow.