Ken
Forum Replies Created
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Kevin & Deb,
Congratulations, great looking Marathon. Thanks for the kind words, the folks that visit and post on this forum are the real deal for new owners and people considering a Prevost purchase. Now the fun begins, we will expect you on here just about everyday with lots of questions and you might even get a correct answer every now and then.
Lots of Marathon owners on the forum, so you’ll get plenty of help.
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Spotless and pride are not necessarily indicators the Prevost owner whose coach has a problem with the level low is going to get a tech that can immediately grasp the cause and fix the problem.
For some owners who have opted to take Prevost specific problems to a local truck or RV shop a considerable number of them have paid dearly for on-the-job training. Over the years there have been many posts by owners who spent serious money to have a tech go around under the coach with a squirt bottle of soapy water looking for a reason why the coach would not come up to the drive height or would lean overnight.
I don’t doubt there are good alternatives to Prevost service centers for chassis repairs. But I think an owner has to be very selective about where he brings his coach and for what type of repair. I would be comfortable bringing my coach to an other than Prevost (or converter) shop for brake work or air bag replacement for example, and maybe even some engine or transmission work if they are a Detroit or Allison shop, but I would be reluctant to bring it to other than Prevost or a converter for repairs to the OTR, or level low or XLII windshield replacement for example.
By the same token there is no chance I would take my coach to Prevost or any of their certified repair centers to address issues with my conversion part of the coach.
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Terry Blankenship at Visone Automart says he has a fix for the Country Coach Glass Dash. I don’t know any details, just putting it out there as an option.
He also has several salvage Prevosts he’s parting out.
http://www.visoneautomart.com/
Ken
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STEVE…I think Sandy has answered most of your questions. My feeling does not parallel yours. Prevost is ducking the problem as best as they can. Does anyone want to answer the question,”why a cut-off is at 5 years or 6 or 7″? It is obvious that the expotential rate of failure repairs would skyrocket as the owners finally discovered what was going on. When we purchased our 2001 Royale, I had some knowledge of the panel delamination so I did my du-diligence by contacting Royale Phoenix. I was told Prevost had sent a crew to their plant and repaired ALL buses in their stock. I have since been told by people at Marathon, that when it was pointed out to Prevost back then, the epoxy was too hard and not flexible and that Sika would be a better repair fix. They were told to continue using the Epoxy anyway. Guess what they are NOW using, 12 years later, to do the repair? SIKA
JON…. I made a video of sliding a knife across the bottom of a panel with little or no resistance. Yes, the rust shown in the photos is on the frame side. The Non-rust side is the panel side.
The 2 coaches being repaired, which I watched at Prevost JAX, they did not remove the panels. If that had been done, the risk of damage would be too high and new panels would have to be used. Therefore the cost would have increased to over 60,000 to $70,000.
Unless you are an attorney… You are going to be content with the”behind teat”.
As Tom states, “Rivets Rule”.
CAPT MOGUL (Ed)
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Hey Rocky, a banjo player walks into a Walmart and realizes that he’s
left his banjo in the backseat of the car and forgot to lock it! So he runs
back out to the car as fast as he can, but it was too late …there were already three
more banjo’s and accordion!Have fun with your “new to you” coach, the guys on this form are very good at advise and sometimes they are right too!! J/K!
Fred
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I can view them in Safari just fine.
Rocky
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Much better threaded rod, that should do the trick.
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A great starting point for buying a coach is to start with the coaches listed on the internet for sale. There are a lot listed here as well as on other sites on the internet.
Reading the posts on forums such as this one, and asking questions will help get you pointed towards coaches that meet your needs. Price always enters into the buying process and here is another area you have to sort out. There is a lot to these coaches and the cost is completely different than the price. A lot of folks have had very good experience purchasing their coach, and an equally large number have ended up with their dream ending up being a nightmare so you also have to have a plan for inspecting your coach as well as a plan for identifying it.
All you have to think about is mind boggling. But it is a lot of fun.
You suggested by your comment about slides that you might work on your own coach. You will find a lot of owners are very involved in their own coach maintenance so if you do choose to do your own work you will not be alone. There are a lot of us that can help with advice and hints.
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August 14, 2012
Jon,
I know that we have seen some of these carriers on motor homes. Most are installed without talking with Prevost. Most do cause you to exceed the tongue weight and distance and that’s will usually cause the hitch to develop cracks in the hitch and possibly in the frame pieces to which the motorcycle carrier is attached.
The hitch we install is for pulling purposes. It is not expected that the down weight on the hitch will be that great. Plus the weight is cantilevered out from the rear bumper and places additional stresses on the entire engine cradle as the unit goes down the road with the ups and downs of the pavement.
We have seen cracks in the hitch and the sub frame members. We do not do any repairs to the cracks due to the liability issues involved.
Another issue is the ride in the rear of the vehicle. It is usually more rough. Plus there tends to be more problems in maintaining normal road height in the rear of the vehicle.
We have always cautioned people about these hitch additions and told them we will accept no responsibility for damages done to the coach or hitch because of the bike carrier. Plus in most of these cases the owner is also pulling a car or trailer behind this bike rack addition. This stresses the engine cradle and sub frame.
As I have mentioned many time to the owners of the conversion coaches we built a shell for a motor home and gave it the ability to pull along a car or a trailer with a car in it. We are not making a truck out of it. As we are asked to be able to carry more weight we begin to move from motor home shell to commercial truck and you get the appropriate ride degradation and stiffness.
I guess we will wait and see.
William Jensen | Service Manager, Shell Division
That is a copy of an email I received yesterday. Nothing more needs to be said.
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I think it is a bad idea. You may not. What is the weight rating of the hitch on the bus you have? What is the allowable tounge weight, and at what position? How much does the hitch, bike and kitchen sink you want to put back there weigh, and where is the weight?
I really don’t care if you or anyone else has seen someone doing this. There are lots of people out there who do things they shouldn’t do. It doesn’t make it right or smart. If what you want to do exceeds the specification ratings of the Prevost trailer hitch, you are asking for trouble. It isn’t worth it just to lug more crap around. But like I said, it is your bus and you can do as you like. Just know that something bad can happen that could be VERY expensive, and possibly unsafe. Are you willing to do it just to haul more crap around with you? Only you can make that decision.
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O.K. So we are getting what we paid for. How many other things in this life do you get to passionately debate from a position of strength, “Who is Righter”?
Dang, Good for us!!
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This is not likely to apply because of the changes in the driver’s electrical box, but I had a failure of the courtesy lights on my 87 coach and the problem was a failed relay. Don’t know about chimes.
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Greg, this is long shot.
I was at a CC rally many years ago and a brand new Affinity started up one morning and WHAMO, fan through the radiator and tow truck was called. A possum got up in the shroud overnight and when he started it up, the possum went bye bye the hard way.
I only mention this because your fan is full time on the 8V and could have caught a critter sleeping. The series 60 wouldn’t have been a problem as the fan would have been on idle.
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Sounds like a winner to me…
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Found the culprit. Bad 24v relay in the engine bay compartment. Up and running again.