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Ramco (Crapco) Mirrors
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Coming out of Elkhart, In today my drivers mirror started the shakes. I was perplexed as to why all of a sudden it started this , so I pulled over got out , only to find out the mirror lost it’s seal to the motor, I got out my Macgyver hat, some silicone, Gorilla Tape, and some shop towels, 2 1/2 hours later I had a perfectly functioning drivers mirror.
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I received an email from Gaetan Bolduc, president of Prevost indicating their records indicate the Ramco mirrors are in fact exhibiting the problems we have identified on this thread. He indicated Ramco problems with vibration have fallen of to almost nothing in the last two years apparently as a result of changes made by Ramco.
Based on that it would appear Ramco has resolved that problem. It does not appear issues with the plating problem have gone away. If Ramco is still seeking a response to us it would be nice to learn if there will be any way we who have been dealing with the issues can get some relief.
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I don’t have a shaking problem (I think Truks problem may be alcohol related) but I do have a peeling chrome, inoperable drivers mirror problem. I don’t think anyone with a coach out of warranty is looking for a free ride, however I think Ramco would be well advised to put together an exchange/rebuild program at a reasonable cost since so that those of us who have their product can get some resolution to the problem.
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One of our members, previously mentioned by Les, owns Space Coast Plating. We have had had several emails and it appears that he will announce a service to replate the Ramco mirrors. The cost to replate the mirrors is extremely small compared to the cost of replacement. It has been stated that the plating quality exceeds that of the original quality and owners should expect a much longer life than is now being experienced.
The mirrors must be dis-assembled prior to shipping to Melborne FL. In the near future details relating to the program will be announced, and we hope to be able to put together a photo tutorial on removal and the dis-assembly of the mirrors for shipping.
PC members will receive a discount from the already low cost to replate. Stay tuned because as we do all that is necessary to put this program into effect we wil post the progress here.
In the meantime if anyone has removed their mirrors and has a summary, including photos, of the process we will be very pleased if you could make that available to PC members via an article or copies of photos that can be made into an article.
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I have been waiting to see what Ramco has come back with on this.
I guess I see how concerned they are with the quality of the products they offer.
i hope Prevost as a company understands the position Ramco has taken here on PC with the issue
that they said they were concerned with.The Great Part about this is the fact that the power of this group creates the abilit to address a bad situation and try to make it more palatable.
strike out for RAMCO.
first base PC, with potential win for members.
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I think you’re right Paul, the guy that posted on here, Mark with Ramco, may have had good intentions only to be shut down by his superiors. My experience with Ramco over the years trying to get help with the shakes and chrome has been piss poor.. Appears nothing has changed..
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what if anything has anybody gotten from Prevost as far as the new and future. Buses that they build.
Is the Ramco Product still and will continue to be there supplier.
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I don’t know Prevost’s future plans, but I do know the vibration issue has apparently been resolved with respect to newer mirror assemblies. I have no information regarding the quality of the chrome plating on new mirrors.
Again………..anyone out there in PC land have any photos or instructions they are willing to share on how to disassemble a Ramco mirror?
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FYI: I live about 4 miles from Space Coast Plating and am willing to assist any PC member should they need assistance regarding SCP.
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I have used Space Coast for some chrome jobs on motorcycle parts, and I can vouch for their quality and customer service. Most new chrome jobs look good…the issue is longevity. SCP’s chroming has been good quality for me.
I met the owner a few years ago, and he is a nice guy. He owned a “plastic coach” at the time, as did I, and he was an avid RV’er.
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I share your pain on the RAMCO Chrome Blistering/Peeling problem on the mirror arms and bases. Monaco uses VELVAC mirrors and the problems are the same. Our VELVAC mirrors were replaced twice under warranty within 15 Months. After the second pair started to blister within six months of replacement, I decided to remove and restore them myself. That was over six years ago and the arms and bases still look like new. Space Coast Plating, Inc. can re-chrome the metal mirror shells, but cannot re-chrome the plastic mirror shells.
We presently own an 05 Monaco Executive equipped with a DD 60 series engine, bought new in November 05. I belong to several Monaco Coach Owners Groups, I am one of the Tech Advisors for the Monacoer’s group in which we now have presently 4800 members. Even though our Coaches are different they are the same in many ways.
Sandy and I own Space Coast Plating, Inc. located in Melbourne Florida. The web site address is; http://www.spacecoast-plating.com. We are one of the largest Custom Chrome Plating shops in the SE-(15000 square feet). We restore and re-chrome everything from Antique & Classic Cars, Bumpers, Motorcycles, Antique and Classic Boats, Aircraft, Motor Coaches and anything else if it is made of metal.
Some of our customers are; Parlament, Liberty, Featherlite/Vantare, Classic and Creative Coach. We do a lot of restoration and re-plating for these Coach Builders and Chrome Engine Packages for Featerlite/Vantare.
We do the True Copper, Nickel and Chrome Plating Process (TRIPLE CHROME PLATE) and we have our own Proprietary Aluminum Pre-Plate Process. Our Warranty is Two Years against pitting, peeling and blistering on all parts done in our shop.
The mirrors must be completely disassembled before sending them to us for restoration. We do not and are not in the disassembly business. If for any reason there is a problem disassembling the arms from the bases you should call me first for further help. If by chance your mirror heads are metal and need restoration, all of the mirror head components must be removed before shipping them to us. “I WOULD RATHER YOU BREAK IT TAKING IT APART THAN ME”. Any Member can contact me at 321-254-2880 if there are any question or concerns.
If any of the members are interested in restoring their mirrors I will be offering Special Pricing to PC Members to do so. Average pricing on the most common three piece mirror assemblies range from $1000 to $1350 each for the bases and from $1250 to $1650 each for the arms-(price is dependant on the lenght of the arm). We will call you with a firm price once we have received and inspected your parts and for your permission before starting the resoration of your parts. Turn around time will be approximately 2 to 3 weeks from the time we receive your parts.
We have also restored many of the Chrome Plated parts on the Prevost Coach such as, Dock light bezels, Rear Engine compartment door hinges and latches to mention a few. We also offer straightening and polishing of Stainless Steel Components. Members will have to call for more information about this service.
If I can be of any help let me know or contact me. I hope I will be able to contribute some of my knowledge and expertise to your group.
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David, good to see you on this forum. You can help a lot of folks here.
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Still no response from Ramco? Is Prevost still using Ramco mirrors on new coaches?
I would think that a good company would offer some kind of a fix for the vibrating mirrors. I can understand that on a 17 y/o chassis like ours that we shouldn’t expectd a “free” kit to stop the vibrating. But you’d expect they would do “something”.
I went to CW the other day to dump, their Saukville store is only five miles from our house and being a CW member I dump for free. There was a 40′ S&S coach parked next to the dump stall. I noticed it had cameras built into the mirrors as well as turning signals front and rear built into the mirrors.
Now with thousands of older Prevosts out there, you’d think that Ramco would see a business opportunity to build a replacement mirror for those of us with older coaches that would include built in cameras and turning signals with a promise (and maybe guaranty) of much better fastening of the mirrors (no jiggle) and lifetime guaranty on the plating due to a much better plating process. I’m sure many of us would opt to upgrade.
I wonder what happened to the guy at Ramco who agreed to take on issue of the jiggling and/or plating.
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Space Coast Plating will strip, repair and replate our mirrors for around $800. They will do it right for many years of use.
They will not take the mirror assembly apart. The only problem I see is the turnaround time may be too much for those of us that use our coaches often.
Prevost informed me Ramco did fix the mirror vibration problem within the last year or two, but I am not aware of a kit that could retrofit old mirrors with the revised adjustment mechanism. Mark might jump in here because Liberty cured his problem recently and he might be able to offer some insight.
As to upgrades, Ramco just does not care. They are unresponsive to requests, but would gladly sell you a new set for serious money knowing the new ones have plating that is just as lousy as the old ones. If I could find an alternate set of mirrors made to a quality lever Ramco refuses to meet I would have them on my coach in a NY minute.
Ironically the key to good plating is if they add one more step, a copper plating, to the total process. I doubt if it would add much to the cost.
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While at Liberty Tuesday, they did a Prevost approved fix on the driver’s side mirror. Basically, they remove the glass and use a bunch of Sika on the motor and gears. I could not see everywhere they put it, but they had a Prevost generated diagram on where to use it.
Long story short, it worked pretty well. Does not stop shakes completely, but it is MUCH better than before.
I had a complete housing replaced on my XLII at Nashville and new out of box it had about the same shake as this repaired one does, so it may be as good as it gets.
The passenger side does not suffer from the same amount of movement, and I think it may be related to the fact it is mounted out front of the bus instead of tucked in at the corner like the driver’s side…not as much wind buffeting.
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