Bad Day

[plyonsMC9]

Yes, we too have worked w/ IBP over the years.  Good folks.  Also purchased a number of items from a (former?) advertiser: Complete Coach Works.  Not sure what their status is though.  They have a ton of used parts/pulls.  We've purchased radiators, a bay door, and the list goes on..

https://completecoach.com/

I would ask for Mando. 

Hope this helps!, Phil

[belfert]

how come so long ?

I could never leave my coach that long at a repair place

Six weeks in today's world doesn't seem like long.  There is probably a line of buses ahead of his.  It will probably take time to get the parts and then they have to install them.

I called some local truck shops about getting some simple work done on my bus last summer.  The wait time was anywhere from two weeks to five weeks before they could even look at it.  Luckily, my friend figured out the issue after he looked at it.  (Something was hitting back of wheel and it turned out the clamp holding the brake chamber together needed to be rotated 90 degrees.)  It was making so dang much noise after getting new wheels and tires I thought something was really wrong.

[Tedsoldbus]

Hang in there with those guys  Fred. I challenge Luke a little bit every time I give him a list because like you I have a 1980 Prevost. I bet the place you left it will find the parts or can carve new bay doors for you. My Chat guy still thinks his pile of doors won't fit your bus and I can't get him to go measure. I asked if I could go measure and he got grumpy. Glad he is my mechanic!!!
Best of luck with it my friend. They will fix all the gremlins.

[uncle ned]

For everyone hat has seen the big 45 ft. scenic cruiser belonging to Pat McNeil.

All the beautiful siding on it came fro IBP I pretty sure of.

uncle ned

[freds]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the commiseration and helpful suggestions. I seem to be an cautionary tale of what not to do to you other guys LOL!!!



I tried to turn around mid block in order to get a street parking space before it disappeared and managed to get the bus high centered. I should have gone around however many blocks it took instead.

Ended up pulling out the air jack and placing chunks of wood under the drive tires to get out of the situation.

In time that it took to do this the parking spot disappeared and then cleared once I was out.

It was just embarrassing and I am glad that I didn't have to call a tow truck to help out or explain myself to a police officer...

Having the side panel off also made it easy to see where I needed to place the air jack (groan)...

[6805eagleguy]

Freds you seem to have a lot of adventures 

[Tedsoldbus]

My 1980 Prevost blood brother: It will all be ok buddy. And just let the weather loosen up a bit in middle America and maybe a little drop in Fuel prices, and the fleet will be back on the road. You will not be the lone ranger on the next episode of
" I crinkled my bus!!!!".
The only way any vehicle stays pristine is if it never gets driven.
Tough lessons, but you will be a much better driver when they hand your fixed bus back over to you buddy. And good on you for having the courage to share.
Hang in there.

[freds]

Ok a quick follow up.

I left the bus at the Prevost maintenance facility in LA and flew home to Seattle with an estimate that it would take about five-six weeks to repair and that they would manage everything for me.

Since it was also at their location I asked for a safety inspection and estimate of other things on the bus that I wanted to get fixed. Anyway after quite a bit of sticker shock on the entire list. I trimmed it back to just the safety items plus one other item.

The collision repairs are still up in the air almost 60 days later and I am going to start calling the nearby collision repair shop daily (talked to them three times in the last week) to try and move that phase along.

Goal is to get it moved to their shop where they can't ignore it.

[chessie4905]

unfortunately Official Prevost repair sites are for owners of newer rigs with deep pockets.
At least you got estimate on repairs first

[windtrader]

sounds right - just like all other high end car brands - BMW, Mercedes, etc. you just expect to pay multiple times the cost to take it across the street to Joe's shop. But OEM parts cost a lot no matter who does the wrenching
Fred - did the actual driving capability of the bus affected or is that mostly cosmetic (from the pics). I'm thinking it was not drivable back to Washinton or you would have done that.

[freds]

The bus was drivable.

Though I had a very serious braking problem that developed while I was driving where the tag axle circuit sprang an air leak and my air pressure dropped to 80PSI (just above the alarm thresh hold) which reduced my available braking power.

As a result after standing on the brakes I wound up stopping in the middle of a large intersection, luckily the other drivers saw me coming and didn't pull out in front of me.

This was about two miles from the Prevost facility. Raising the tag axle restored the system pressure back up to 120PSI. So the first thing I asked for after I rolled into their facility was for a full safety inspection.

When the brakes were not delivering full power because of the low air pressure. I should have pulled the e-brake knob and let the spring break functionality take over.

Turns out there was a screw (in an area that I never worked on) that had penetrated the hard air line back to the tag axles that was causing a major leak.

The reason that I left it with the Prevost LA Facility was that they were going to handle everything for me and was supposed to interface with the body shop for the collision repair as a one stop shop.

[Van]

 

[buswarrior]

When you get the coach back, on a quiet street, pull the parking knob at 25 mph.

Repeat at higher speeds.

It ain't going to do what you think it might...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[windtrader]

For sure, I will learn that capability in case of primary service brake failure or serious weak pressure.

[freds]

When you get the coach back, on a quiet street, pull the parking knob at 25 mph.

Repeat at higher speeds.

It ain't going to do what you think it might...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

Good Advice!!! After I posted I was wondering if I would have a cascade of objects moving forward....