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Basic Maintenance
Well,
I finally got to take my first look at a ’99 Prevost Liberty, courtesy of Phil & Joanne. Thanks so much P&J! After two hours of questions, I have many more, but I won’t ask them all now.
However, one question I will ask: If you do not have a barn or garage where you keep your Bus, or you full-time like we plan to do, where would you perform any “basic maintenance” on your Bus, since presumably campgrounds frown on changing your oil in their campground, which I understand you would have to jack-up your coach to simply change the oil.
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7 Replies
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As much as I would like to do all my own work on my coach, if I did not have my own garage I would have to use others to do maintenance or find a friend that would allow me to use his garage.
It is not just about having a place you can use to get under the coach. You need tools. Just to change oil you need a large drain pan and a plan for disposing of about 8 gallons of oil. You need to dispose of oil filters (2 big ones), fuel filters, possibly an air cleaner. greasy rags, etc.
You need a grease gun. A hand pumped gun will grease a coach, but it makes greasing very time consuming and difficult. So at the very least you need a battery powered or air powered gun. It takes just over a cartridge to get all the fittings.
You need tools. Filter straps, big wrenches for the oil pan plug and differential plug. You need a hammer and a punch to drain the filters before removal. If you get an XLII you need to remove some baffles just ot get at the oil filters. You need to change coolant conditioning filter if you use 2 year coolant. You need a trouble light. You need to consider routine maintenance will on occasion require coolant changes and Transmission Fluid changes. Both of them are very time consuming and you need a big pan or lots of containers.
Laying on your back to do this sucks. I did it for 10 years. When I built my house and the bus garage had a pit I could not believe how much easier servicing the coach was. Knowing that I would urge a full timer that wants to do as much of his own work as possible to rent the use of the pit at the local truck stop, or find a friend with a coach that has a garage and work together on each other’s coach. But do not expect to do routine service without having a plan for everything, including handling and disposal of fluids and filters.
If I was full timing the last thing I would want to put in my bays would be the stuff needed for routine maintenance. My tools, grease gun, oil drain pan, etc are a greasy mess when I am done. I have a drum to collect solvents, fuel oil, etc so I can drain and clean everything. I don’t see that as practical full timing in a bus.
Unmentioned above is a strong word of caution. Never ever get beneath your coach, for any reason, even for a short time unless the coach is supported at the chassis support points on suitable stands or appropriate jacks. NEVER EVER. If you intend to do your own work you need to invest in them and have them available.
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I have done a lot of small projects in campgrounds. Just keep things neat and clean and try not to make it look like a major project and usaully had no problems. I have even changed fuel filters in a high class campground with out issue. Just use a drop cloth (old shower curtain) to contain any spills. In a few places I have been they would allow a mobile service to come in and change oil. But a stop a Prevost once a year would be a better solution.
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Jon & Andre raise a good question,
It seems like oil changes, lubing grease fittings, etc., may not fit in a full-timers schedule to do in a campground or bring back to your garage/barn (which full-timers don’t have).
So, let me ask: What “basic maintenance,” if any, can a full-timer do, i.e., maybe a Rayco Fuel Filter change, change belts, maintenance on batteries, air filters, house filters, cleaning raditors with air pressure, etc. that is possible while moving around the globe, or at least North America?
Has anyone compiled a list of basic maintenance items that anyone can do without the powered grease gun or pit, etc.? I looked at Jon’s pre-inspection list and there are things on there I think someone could do without getting under the coach or have specialized tools/equipment, but definitely great advice Jon not to go under Bus without proper jack support.
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Start with the Craftman 540 piece set of tools, add to it all the large combination wrenches above what is in the set. Add to that a good multi-meter (like a Fluke or a Klein CL1000), a good battery tester (like a Midtronics PBT-200), a case of duct tap, a couple of expandable LED flashlights with a strong magnet on the butt end, a good wire strippers (like a Klein), good wire connector crimper, a large assortment of crimp/solder/heat shrink wire connectors (butt connectors, spade connectors, ring terminals, etc.), large assortment of heat shrink tubing, a heat gun or butane torch, 10 feet of 0.250″ DOT air line, an assortment of 0.25″ DOT compressions fittings, extra ferrals for the DOT compression fittings, a couple of magnets on a stick (short and long sticks), a set of Vise-Grips (small to large), a HUGE assortment of tie wraps (small, medium, good sized), an assortment of gommets, an infrared heat gun, four digital temperature probes, if the 540 tool set doesn’t have an assortment of chisles, punches, and drifts get the Craftsman set, and a tool box to put all this stuff in. That should get you started.
You’re probably going to need a variable speed cordless drill (I recommend the Craftsman C3 series with Lithium-Ion batteries) along the C3 right angle drill and of course a very comprehensive set of drill bits.
This sounds like alot of stuff and you’ll likely only need 20% of it, but the problem is you don’t know what you’ll need until you need it.
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I don’t doubt you can change fuel filters as Andre points out, but when you even do a simple task like that you not only have to concern yourself with preventing a spill from reaching the ground, you have to have a container to hold the old filters and fuel until you can dispose of them, and you need a one or two gallon supply of fresh fuel to prime the filters. My previous coaches had two spin on filters and a Racor so there was a lot of fuel involved.
Then of course you have the need for the tools and while Dick’s suggestion is correct I have a hard time envisioning a full timer giving up that much bay space and carrying that much weight just to do occasional maintenance.
As an example, most fuel filter changes are non-events. A little effort to loosen the filter if it is a spin on, or a little care pulling the pleated filter from the Racor and you are almost done. But in the real world on occasion there is going tobe that stubborn spin on filter that will not come off. By the time you get it off you may have needed a lot of the tools Dick suggests. Then there is the smell. I don’t know about how you might feel, but I don’t want my coach to smell like a truck stop inside and getting diesel fuel on my hands and clothes almost insures until I can scrub the stink off or get my clothes cleaned in a commercial laundromat that stink is going to be with me. I just cannot see a full timer without access to a pit or garage doing much of anything in a campground.
As to the suggestion you take a coach to Prevost once a year, I really have a problem with that concept unless you only travel about 6000 miles annually. Every coach has a requirement for lubrication of fittings at that interval. If you travel 12,000 miles annually you are only doing lubes 1/2 as often as required. I think I am on the losing side on that issue however because a whole lot of folks think an annual trip to Prevost constitutes good maintenance.
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A lot of tools Dick and Jon makes some good points, especially as it relates to full-timers.
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We live full time in our coach also. First thing is to find a reliable shop. I feel we finally found one to do most maintenance issues such as changing oil and those things. For engine/transmission issues, they recommended a shop that they use with their coaches. They rent entertainment coaches to people. They also do coach modification if you need that. I got their name off this site, Taylor Coach north of Phoenix. We winter in Mesa, AZ.
One tool that I didn’t see mentioned here is a dremel tool. I have the small one that has lots of attachments and I have a slightly larger one that can cut wood and metal that is not too thick. There are days, I use both a lot. My coach is older so I have to do more work on it at times.
I’ll work on my coach except for the AC, engine and transmission. I don’t have the ability to crawl under the bus and I have heard of too many people that have been crushed. So until I find a pit that I can use, I’ll go to places that have the right tools so they can crawl under it safely.
I completely remodeled my old coach (well my wife and I did the work). If you know of anyone that is looking for an older non-prevost bus, send them to 4905forsale.com. Like my Prevost, but there are a lot more equipment on this coach than on my last coach.
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