LEAVIN LAS VEGAS

boxcarOkie · September 12, 2011, 10:02:59 PM

You never know where it is that life is going to take you.

Here is another one, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I am sorry, but I don't remember who it was that said that. It could have been A Tale Of Two Cities which was a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London during the French Revolution if memory serves me well?

So I am home, my trip was aborted early because of bad roads and equipment failure. I am out another two grand and I am not a happy camper. You know when your old bus is running right, and the highway before you, is in reasonably good shape, all is well in the universe. When all these items are not in sync, it is one miserable, lousy, experience. Something akin to being an Alzheimer patient in a whore house, you know you have been take care of, but you really do not understand who, what, where and why.

So with all we say and do, there is always something called the "take away." You learn, you live, you move on. So here it is in a nutshell, where the rubber meets the road. I hit some really bad road in Arizona, the bus bottomed out, and I shelled out my air bag mounts, one air bag and lunched a brand new tire. After discovering the problem, I did two things. I called Van Hagan (who we had just visited with) and Coachnet.

If you have Coachnet, you might want to rethink it.

Coachnet is about "towing you somewhere and that is about it." After conferring with them during my emergency, they made the determination that it was "an accident" so therefore, they were not responsible. They had no qualms about my paying for the entire ordeal and there attitude was less than stellar, their service the same.

First I was bombarded with unnecessary questions about my coach, my engine, my chassis and other "non related items." In order to update their files. I sat in the Nevada sun baking like an Idaho potato in a gas-oven on slow broil for over four hours before someone actually appeared to render me assistance.

I had to pay for a service truck, a welder, a tire man and a RV Specialist. This was to make temporary repairs necessary to get me back to Oklahoma. My only saving grace thru all of this was Van Hagan, who rolled up his sleeves and got down and dirty and helped me line out these people while I was running down parts in a strange city, with high volume traffic, and parts that were some 28 miles away (one way). I had to run them down, because the service specialist that Coachnet sent me, had a broken down service truck, and was "really in a bind" at the time, as he put it.

One last thing: (As I am not into vendor bashing and it is not allowed on most sites) "After diagnosing my problem as an accident, and being fully assured that I would pay for all services, Coachnet dispatched this bozo that arrived four hours later, and NEVER even checked back to see if he arrived or if we were still in need of assistance."

Wait it gets even better .... Take a lot of cash, this guy they sent didn't take VISA the service call was $110 and he charged $125 per hour, he was a little over 4 hours doing the work.

Speed was not a factor, it was rough road. South of Hoover Dam we bottomed out violently, and the weight issue and the down force of bus body on the suspension led to metal fatigue and our problem. When you get all of this heavy structure bouncing around on the road, it will lead to problems, such is the case was here.

The roads in Arizona and I suspect other places are in terrible condition and there is more ... we discovered more of it eastbound outside of Holbrook, Arizona. Roads in the Flagstaff area are beautifully maintained and in good shape. I suspect this is because the majority of foreign visitors to Arizona travel in this area, and we want to put our best face on it, so they are okay.

The rest of it, can be real bad in spots, be advised.

I weighed my coach, how many of you have done that? Surprisingly I found out, my coach, much like myself, "needs to go on a diet and thin down some." So that is in the works. I have stopped clearing trucks and truckers, they seldom say thanks, it just puts strain on my equipment to do them a favor which they do not return and that is now history.

I usually drive 5 to 10 mph below the posted limit, but occasionally I can hang a truck out there and they cannot get back in. One thing I am changing, this is new. I am also not backing out of it anymore, "if they get their dumb ___ out in the hammer lane and cannot get around me, that is their problem."

Some of 'em need to learn this Rule of thumb, "high rpm's do not necessarily mean high mph." It doesn't work that way.

They clear the truck in front of me, but they do not clear me, bus people are not truckers friends and this new breed of trucker leaves a lot to be desired. The CB radio is now virtually useless and you can live without it. Just a few nuggets that I found sprinkled on the path, and here is the take away:

Like I said: "If you have Coachnet, you might want to rethink it."

Call Van Hagan instead.

A friend of mine yesterday asked me how it was and I said: "Y'know, when it is running right, and the roads are okay, it is the greatest thing in the world. When a bus is operating in a correct fashion, and all of your hard work is paying off, well, it is like flyin' to Paris for breakfast on a Learjet. When it isn't working, it is like the loss of your first bicycle at school from the bike rack or a really bad case of the flu."

So that is the way it was. Not much fun.

It is now home, parked in the shop, I am sick of it, it has once again "ate me out of house and home" because it is old and the roads are in lousy shape. Once again I was forced to pay thru the nose in order to enjoy my hobby. Needless to say, "I am not a happy kamper."

BCO

jjrbus · September 12, 2011, 11:10:47 PM

Sorry to hear of your misfortune! At least if you would have lost the $$$$$ in Vegas it would have been fun

I only had a "premium" road service for a short time. I kept hearing similar stories to yours and went with the ERS ryder on my insurance policy.

JIm

desi arnaz · September 13, 2011, 12:01:17 AM

try Allstate motor club for rv's i pay 7 bucks a month and because my last tow was from a broken nipple and not an accident they would not pay for the hotel but paid for the tow. $1089.

robertglines1 · September 13, 2011, 05:42:23 AM

Easy to get down: noticed you were in and out of chat room last nite without much to say; Been there! To tell you it will pass is bull. Life is a adventure-just look what you have accomplished! See ya on the big slab. Bob

boxcarOkie · September 13, 2011, 05:56:11 AM

Quote from: jjrbus on September 12, 2011, 11:10:47 PM
I only had a "premium" road service for a short time. I kept hearing similar stories to yours and went with the ERS ryder on my insurance policy.

JIm

I am now seriously looking for something else.

Thanks,

BCO

boxcarOkie · September 13, 2011, 05:56:44 AM

Quote from: desi arnaz on September 13, 2011, 12:01:17 AM
try Allstate motor club for rv's i pay 7 bucks a month and because my last tow was from a broken nipple and not an accident they would not pay for the hotel but paid for the tow. $1089.

I will look into it.

BCO

luvrbus · September 13, 2011, 05:58:19 AM

Why didn't you use Coachnet and tow it to Gary's place and let him fix in a shop you are going to get ripped on repairs in a parking lot,Coachnet or any other service is not going to pay for repairs.
Coachnet would have towed it to my place and Van could have done the repairs here I couldn't help this ear deal has me down big time

good luck

boxcarOkie · September 13, 2011, 06:00:04 AM

Quote from: robertglines1 on September 13, 2011, 05:42:23 AM
Easy to get down: noticed you were in and out of chat room last nite without much to say; Been there! To tell you it will pass is bull. Life is a adventure-just look what you have accomplished! See ya on the big slab. Bob

Most of the time, I try my level best to put my best foot forward and keep a good working attitude toward a lot of this, that would be a given. But there are times, such as right now, I think to myself, "How much of this are you willing to soak up, how much more before the Ice Man's Head finally melts?" When you are averaging about $1,500 per trip just for repairs on trips of 2,000 more or better, I can assure you, it is just not worth it.

Each trip (with no exception) it is always something and believe me brother .... It is getting old.

BCO

boxcarOkie · September 13, 2011, 06:06:53 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on September 13, 2011, 05:58:19 AM
Why didn't you use Coachnet and tow it to Gary's place and let him fix in a shop you are going to get ripped on repairs in a parking lot,Coachnet or any other service is not going to pay for repairs.
Coachnet would have towed it to my place and Van could have done the repairs here I couldn't help this ear deal has me down big time

good luck

You have said repeatedly on this medium and others that they rip you to pieces on the road, no issue with that. When in Rome, do what the Roman's do I guess? Gary was not an option, we called Gary. For the record, the bus was not tow-able, the inside dual was gone, the only tire left was the outside dual supporting all of the weight, I didn't want to chance it (a complete failure). Even after changing out the tire, we would still have to contend with the air bag housing ripping the new tire up, it was bent way out of shape.

We called Coachnet at 10:30 a.m. and the tire guy didn't even show until way past 3:30 p.m. I drove into Boulder and ordered the tire myself.

We did the best we could with what we had. It worked for me, I got it home, and it is now history. I am not complaining about the cost so much Clifford as I am the lousy service. You don't often get what you pay for anymore and in this case it was exactly that.

I hope this answers your questions?

BCO

luvrbus · September 13, 2011, 06:22:10 AM

Coachnet would have sent you a low boy you never want a tow anyway and none of those services will bring you a new tire they will come change over to the spare I have had about all over the years.
The owner of Coachnet sold it 2 years ago and I am sure the new owners are making changes but I can say I have use Coachnet since 1999 and it was the best I ever had fwiw.
One thing about the highways in AZ they are FREE in OK it is hard to go to the drug store without paying a toll,you will get over it just think about it could have been a drop box or a engine you just had a small hiccup lol,count your blessings man at least you have the rescourses to pay for repairs on the road some don't have that luxury they would have spent days looking for a used tire

good luck

Van · September 13, 2011, 06:24:36 AM

Now now, Hang in there kid. Very easy to get discouraged in a situation as this, but in fact there is light at the end of the tunnel. Been there done that! got the greasy T-shirt. Gotta get ready for work (yes all I am working again, Hoorah!) and will share some more words of wisdom here when I get back home. Cheryl and I are certainly glad ya made it home safe.

Van

pabusnut · September 13, 2011, 06:31:52 AM

BCO,

Sorry to hear about your breakdown in AZ.

Sounds like you were on 93S.

I thought Eagles had Torsoelastic suspension?? Who designed and built your air bag mounts? Maybe the mounting points aren't structurally strong enough to support the shock impact(dynamic load) which can be exponential to the static loading. I would think about having the front torsoelastic suspension rebuilt as a permanent fix.

Maybe you should move that heavy toolbox (with all those screwdrivers in

) to one of your back bays!!!!

Steve Toomey
PAbusnut

luvrbus · September 13, 2011, 06:46:38 AM

Steve those guys with model 10S are in about the same boat as 01 owners the suspension is different from other Eagles and are very hard to find and some install the standard model 10 torques and they just are not strong enough for that bus so they add air bags

good luck

desi arnaz · September 13, 2011, 07:03:15 AM

speaking of tolls ,on our last trip to Viagra falls my wife took a trip to Toronto on the 407 in a rent a car the toll came on our credit card for over $19 plus $11 admin fee from budget.

wal1809 · September 13, 2011, 07:06:49 AM

I love the way you write Boxcar but be it I speak redneck I have no clue as to what actually happened. What destroyed the tire? I for one hope you don't sell your bus. I enjoy the bus porn you post especially after you post a pic of your latest project.