Camp Gregory

[fe2_o3]

  Found a beautiful camp ground in Roseburg, OR. The camp hosts are friendly but it's expensive. Staying here a couple of days at Southern Oregon Diesel will cost several hundred $ plus parts. But I'm told the work will be top notch. Any one care to comment? Hope to see lots of you in Rickreall...Cable

[pvcces]

That's been our experience, too. David and Dennis seem to want their customers taken care of. If you do run into trouble, don't be too shy to mention it. I think they will try to keep you happy.

Tom Caffrey

[Sean]

... Any one care to comment? ...

Sure.  My comment is that David is a nice guy, but is very selective about what bus work he will accept in his shop, and therefore I can not in good conscience recommend him to anyone.

Several have had good experience there in the past, but having been turned away in a time of need (stated reason: we are getting away from working on converted coaches), and having anecdotally heard of others in the same situation, gives me pause.

FWIW.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[gumpy]

... Any one care to comment? ...

Sure.  My comment is that David is very selective about what bus work he will accept in his shop, and therefore I can not in good conscience recommend him to anyone.

Several have had good experience there in the past, but having been turned away in a time of need (stated reason: we are getting away from working on converted coaches), and having anecdotally heard of others in the same situation, gives me pause.

FWIW.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

Hmm, I don't have any personal experience with them, but I didn't know they did conversion work. I always thought they worked on Detroit engines. Trying to figure out how a conversion and a Detroit engine are related, other than they are part of the same chassis. Typically, a conversion doesn't affect the the power train, so I wonder why the would turn down work on converted coaches, if what they do primarily is engine work. I guess what I'm saying is from the engine perspective, how is a conversion any different from any other bus?

I had a "Detroit mechanic" turn me down one time when he heard it was in a bus. Didn't make any sense to me. A Detroit is the same whether it's mounted in a bus or a dump truck.

[Eagle Andy]

I have seen shops that will work on any motor , However some shops have different rates for a bus then a truck . They have this thing about standing on there head when working on a bus lol

[Sean]

Hmm, I don't have any personal experience with them, but I didn't know they did conversion work. ... I guess what I'm saying is from the engine perspective, how is a conversion any different from any other bus?

Craig, to be clear, I did not suggest they did conversion work.

I, too, tend to look at a converted bus as fundamentally no different than other buses, but I can tell you from experience that many shops take a different view.

We have been charged the "motor home" rate rather than the "bus" rate at several engine shops, some of which are actual Detroit distributors (and would someone please explain why there is a higher hourly rate for buses and motor homes in the first place? If it takes longer, they bill for more hours anyway).  And once when we pulled in to a commercial tire shop, which was happy to work on buses, they refused to serve us because we were clearly a motor home.  (We eventually persuaded them to do it.):
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2007/10/day-of-frustration.html

There is actually a reasonable basis for the refusals: motor home interiors are much less tolerant of mechanics and their outerwear than either trucks or buses, and many service items require access through the interior.  Some shops are afraid of large cleaning bills (don't laugh, it happens).  Additionally, conversions often have made access to certain things more difficult, by placement of furniture, cabinetry, etc..

More than once, we've had technicians remove their footwear, walk through the coach, then put it back on as they climb down a hatch over the transmission, only to have to repeat the process several times during the procedure:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/01/our-moose-is-gone.html
Things are generally easier to get to in a seated coach, and the flooring and even the upholstery is more tolerant of the occasional greasy footprint or dirty hand.

I can't really speak to what the underlying reasons were at SOD, I just know for a fact that we and others have been turned away there.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[gumpy]

Well, I can understand the reasoning behind some of that. Unfortunate as it's getting harder and harder to find a good 2-stroke mechanic.

[oldmansax]

FYI, there is a good 2 stroke mechanic near Salisbury, MD. He used to have a shop here but sold it & bought a REAL nice service truck. Now he does a lot of marine work. He will come to you. He said he would work on T-drive buses but was not very fond of V-drive, although I think you could talk him into it if you were in a bind. Very nice guy. I have his number if anyone needs it..

TOM

[Sean]

It is true that good shops with 2-stroke experience are getting harder to find, and ones that will work on buses, let alone RV's (whether converted from buses or not) are even rarer.  We have found lately that even the Detroit distributors are short on 2-stroke expertise.

And I should clarify that we were turned away at SOD several years ago.  Times were booming then, and I'm pretty sure they had a steady supply of all the work they could handle.  Now that times are a bit leaner, perhaps they are being less selective.

My experience was just that, mine, and, as they say, YMMV.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com