The Coach is Done - Part 2

Well the bushings have been delivered to the shop and can be installed. That's a good thing right?

But, since I am trying to rehabilitate a twelve year old coach I thought it would be prudent to ask Arkansas Diesel to check the serpentine belt and all hoses to insure good condition. However, as this saga seems to go, there is always a "but."  During this inspection the mechanic noticed powdered metal on the belt.  Upon investigation, they found a bearing on the fan assembly was going bad and slowly shredding itself.  Leaving this in disrepair would cause eventual failure and lead to overheating and other possible problems down the road. So, you guessed it. The coach will not be done again today.

Arkansas diesel is running down parts at the moment and the job is reportedly a half a day of labor to affect a full repair. Yeesh....I am thinking of going all Jesse James to get the money I need to repair this stuff.

One could argue bad luck, but I choose to look at this as a necessary repair that was caught during normal preventative maintenance. We purchased the coach at bargain basement prices and knowing it's age we assumed the liability of the associated repairs that would required to get it back into prime condition for the road. If we can't laugh this off as due diligence we might as well stay home.

As for how I feel about further delay? Well I am not a good "waiter."  Ugh.

The Coach Is Done - It's Not - The Coach is Done - Wait...It's Not

No Parts, Wrong Parts, Some Parts - In These Parts

We were promised our coach would be back on the last Sunday. It is now Tuesday morning and we don't have our coach back.  The coach sits on a Freightliner XC chassis. This is a very common chassis that luxury RV's are built on. But, there is a caveat. It has three frame rail configurations. The rail on my RV is an XCR rail with an I-beam front axle with independent suspension. I have an inkling that this is why our parts came in and were wrong.

The parts delay started with a late day order of parts last Friday the 7th. Apparently the order was received at the Springdale, Arkansas Freightliner dealer in time before they closed for business that day. However, from what I understand they discovered an inventory error and were only able to ship two of the eight sway bar bushings. These arrived on Sunday at Arkansas Diesel and Repair (my shop). When the crew came in on Monday of course they knew the order was short. So, Sprindale Freightliner scrambled to get the remainder of the parts (which still weren't at my shop as of 6pm yesterday (Monday).  So, Arkansas Diesel hedged their bet and ordered six more bushings from six different suppliers to insure delivery today.

I can't say enough good about the efforts on behalf of Arkansas Diesel to get us back on the road. They have gone above and beyond.  I was informed by their marketing manager Brian that they felt bad about the delay so while the coach was in the service bay, they washed it. I was going to have to do that anyway. So, kudos ...so far.

So, we sit. Waiting in anticipation of completion.  Hopefully it will be done today. Brian and Jacob (the owner) said they tought it would be completed by noon today. We'll see.