Expedition trucks need lots of love and attention, especially when you are getting ready to drive the Continental Divide.  During a week of routine maintenance, a single drop of fluid was on the shop floor right under the gas tank.  It was obvious that it was diesel, and on closer examination the source was identified.

The smallest of nicks was the source, the drop would form and then slide down to the lowest point of the tank and then drop off.  It appeared to be very slow, maybe a drop or two an hour.  There appeared to be no other signs of damage. We were expecting rock damage or some type of external indicator of how the damage occurred, but none was found.  The Tortuga was eager to get out and stretch her legs over the weekend, in preparation for the 10,000 mile trip in July, but that would not be the case this weekend.  The only place the Tortuga Truck was going, this weekend, was to Houston and Ferguson Truck Center.  The Ferguson Truck Center has become the home for the Tortuga for all heavy truck repair and a leaking fuel tank would be no different.  Inside the tank, there was a single point of corrosion below the filler cap.  We concluded that the chain that held on the fuel cap and the fuel sending unit had significant rust on them, and that rust sat in this one spot causing the tank to corrode from the inside.  Well, not sure at all, but that is the answer we are going to stick with, until we come up with a better theory. In less than a week, the tank was off, flushed, repaired, and pressure tested. While the tank was being fixed, the Tortuga Truck and the Cummings Generator received a service. Also took the opportunity to build new battery cables to give the batteries a little more room to bounce around on rough roads and not damage the battery terminals.  Repairs made services completed, and eager to get back on the road. When all said and done going to Ferguson is like a day at the spa for the truck, the Tortuga loves the attention.

Houston is a transportation hub for the petrochemical manufacturing industry in Texas.  Ferguson Truck Center has a very heavy workload servicing the thousands of commercial vehicles that make up the expanding economy, but Scott has always been able to make time to fix the Tortuga.

There are a few overland expedition trucks roaming the gulf coast region and to find someone that will take on the challenge of repairing something different is difficult. But Scott has taken on the challenge.  I think it has something to do with his Overland Motorcycle Adventures back when he was not too busy with his business.

So, for all those big truck expedition adventurers passing through the Houston, Texas area in need of an oasis of assistance, Ferguson Truck Center is not a bad place to stop.