Ford Chassis Service - am i wrong here

[michael j]

good morning to all
as a retired bmw tech , my fiancée and i opted to do some rving , and we purchased a 2014 winnebago vista 35f , it had extremely miles and in superb condition , as being a retired tech i do believe in doing maintaince on a regular schedule, not waiting for an issue to occur ,then do it
my issue is this , having been in the auto business for many years and having worked at a ford dealership , we used to always have class A motorhomes in for service and or repair ,chassis only, now that dealership no longer wants to work on class As any longer , now myself and other rvers must travel great distances to obtain service whether customer pay or warranty , make appointments numerous months in advance , and there are to few dealerships who want to work on them
as far as i see it , and i could be wrong here BUT if ford wants to sell their products to rv builders wether winnebago , jayco , newmar , what ever the brand may be , that they need to have sufficient amounts of dealer in their network , im reading on facebook and speaking with people , this is becoming a big issue , my camping world where we purchased it will do some minor work like oil changes , but as far as heavy duty maintaince, no way ,, when i was at the ford dealership, we hactually had a lift , a alignment rack to service the product, i feel ford needs to step up to the plate in reference to this, i have even contacted winnebago, they stated to reach out to ford motor company , but on a peronal level, i would mean nothing and if winnebago and other rv builders would reach out to ford on their consumers not being happy , on a grand level, maybe some changes would be made ,
this affects all of us , and with the new ford f53 chassis and being far from perfection with recalls and problems , and with the upcoming season approaching all of us , how long will you have to wait and how many miles will you have to travel , it seems there are fewer and fewer ford dealers to do the wrong and more rv s out there , and being basically too few dealers, it will at one time or another come to a head , being honest as i am , i even contacted the new jersey attorney generals office to see if this is legit , what responsibility does ford have , ???
as stated , this affects all of us , and with GM no longer making class A chassis any longer, ford is controlling the shots , maybe im reaching here and venting , but maybe im looking at it differently than most
if ford dealerships was to do this with her passenger vehicles , i actually would think people would have a few things to say and not being good
safe travels to all
michael

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Michael-

You have the advantage of having worked in vehicle repair shops- something I haven't. Here are a few layman observations/experiences:

1) I took my coach to the same mechanic that fixes our cars. Yes, he doesn't have a lift large enough, or an alignment frame, and he had to service the coach outdoors in his "dooryard," but in all cases except tire and brake replacement that was enough.

2) For items that require lifting the wheels off the ground, there are heavy equipment shops, truck tire replacement companies and a larger RV service shops (such as Camping World in our neck of the woods) that can do that work. I needed that level of service once in a blue moon. The heavy equipment shop a few towns over once dispatched a truck and tech to my driveway to replace a faulty tire valve. It wasn't cheap, but it was well-performed.

3) Finally, one currently fights against the shortage of competent manpower at all repair companies. When the companies can't hire and retain staff, they start restricting both the amount and the kind of work they'll do. In the short and medium terms, this means long waits. In the long term, one can hope that new folks get into the repair business, and/or demand decreases.

For my two coaches and 30-35,000 miles of use, I only had one Ford failure. That was a failed oxygen sensor on the C-class coach built on the E-450 Super Duty. I was stuck in an RV park in Houston. The mechanic diagnosed and replaced the sensor at my RV site, for short money and adding only two-and-a-half hours to my travel day. My conclusions:

1) The Ford E-series and F-53 are fairly reliable, and
2) A decent mobile mechanic is a great find

Of course, my sample size is very small! "Your mileage may vary."

[michael j]

many thanks for your reply back to me
my major issue is this acceptable ??? even thou the ford dealership is NOT selling the product , what responsibility does ford have to the consumer and to the rv builder to the product they manufacture ??to have less and less ford dealerships wanting to service the product , and more and more rv consumers out there , where do we draw the line, i have read where people with brand new motorhomes having issues , like abs warning lights on, ses lights on, and they need to be reprogramed by a ford dealership not a truck repair center , to me, it seems ford wants to sell the product and walk away , wipe their hands clean ,,and leave the customer , they do have a 1 800 number for motorhomes to put you in the direction , but with so few dealerships out there wanting to work on it , to me its about totally useless , as a stated , they have no competition now and they do as they please , my final words would be , i sure do wished my winnebago chassis was a built on a GM chassis

[deckape]

You need to find a heavy duty truck repair shop or a mobil mechcanic . No local car/light duty truck dealer wants your RV ,as you have found out . That was why I bought a coach on a Freightliner classie . Another thing to think about when getting into RVing .

[michael j]

im finding that out , but if you have anew motorhome under factory warranty , then what , ???? ford is getting away with murder to be honest

[deckape]

If it's under warranty ,then you have to go to a Ford repair place that can handle it . Would think most dealers would do engine work if needed if they sell commercial 350-550 trucks .

[bigb]

This was a concern when buying my Winnebago on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis as Mercedes dealerships that can service a motorhome are few and far between. I read over and over again that the Ford would be better since "anyone can work on a Ford". It seems that the tables have turned, at least post Covid, as I now hear all the time how hard it is to get Ford service on a motorhome. It looks like most Ford chassis owners will have to resort to commercial truck shops for anything not related to warranty work. I found one here that works on all brands of motorhomes, however they cannot do any major engine work. They did my tires but so far everything else I have been able to do myself.

[creativepart]

RVs are built on the Ford F53 chassis which is a “commercial truck” chassis. It’s a dump truck/box truck chassis. So yes, you need to see a heavy duty commercial truck shop for chassis work. And yes, from a consumer point of view, Ford is negligent in insuring that there are servicing dealers available for warranty work. But unfortunately there’s not much anyone can do about it except to deal with it.

[fyreplug]

After reading the previous post, I find myself to be extremely fortunate to have a Ford RV dealership about 2 miles away that can service my V10. Having just bought the 2014 Itasca Suncruiser, I found out that this dealership put in a new V10 in 2019. So they are familiar with the engine and the coach.
I was told that they have the only lift within a 100 miles radius for RVs to work on the Class A's. I cannot confirm or deny their claim. Just happy they are near.

[danhannah]

Originally Posted by fyreplug

After reading the previous post, I find myself to be extremely fortunate to have a Ford RV dealership about 2 miles away that can service my V10. Having just bought the 2014 Itasca Suncruiser, I found out that this dealership put in a new V10 in 2019. So they are familiar with the engine and the coach.
I was told that they have the only lift within a 100 miles radius for RVs to work on the Class A's. I cannot confirm or deny their claim. Just happy they are near.

Is it a long wait to get an appointment? Where are you at?

Thanks.

[fyreplug]

I made an appointment to get some regular chassis maintenance done and had no issues getting in. The place is in Dewey, AZ which is actually considered a Village, not a town or city. They have a Constable. Nice rural area and we wish to keep it that way.

[michael j]

Originally Posted by creativepart

RVs are built on the Ford F53 chassis which is a “commercial truck” chassis. It’s a dump truck/box truck chassis. So yes, you need to see a heavy duty commercial truck shop for chassis work. And yes, from a consumer point of view, Ford is negligent in insuring that there are servicing dealers available for warranty work. But unfortunately there’s not much anyone can do about it except to deal with it.

thank you for your honesty here , it seems more and more of becoming an issue , and mark my words, come spring time when people are trying to make plans on getting their coaches ready its going to be a hurry up and wait scenario. ive already made a appointment for de-winterization and check over for early march ,
but what really bothers me is that i used to work at a ford dealership that used to have class As in there all the time , now they dont want them , my issue or question is , is this ok for ford to allow this , what legal obligiation does ford have ??maybe im searching but right is right

[creativepart]

MJ, the answer is that you don’t need a dealer, not Ford or Winnebago, for dewinterizing or to check things out, for that matter. RVs are not that difficult.

Here’s what most of us do, we find a great local independent shop to handle all the jobs that are over our ability level or we just don’t want to handle. Shops with little to no wait and are trustworthy and eager to become your go to repair partner.

I wouldn’t trust an area Ford dealer, if there was one that worked on motorhomes, or the nearest Winnebago dealer either.

But mostly I do the work myself. If I don’t know how there is always a YouTube video to show me how. For jobs like oil changes that are easy enough but too messy I go to one of my two independent shops.

You’ll get the hang of it. Honest.

[4RLABS]

MJ I see your point and compleatly agree. Our new Minnie Winnie on a E450 needed it's 1st oil change. I wanted to establish a relationship and service paper trail with a local Ford dealer. I contacted Ford and they gave me 2 dealers they thought still worked on motor homes. Neither did. They they referred me to FORD Motorhomes who gave me the third and last dealer in the area. Guess what. That dealer referred me to Camping World! Yes the simple things can be done buy the local or mobil mech but it's the warranty issues that scare me.

[Ray,IN]

You aren't wrong, but this is a changing world since the pandemic drastically changed nearly every aspect.



Locate an independent HDT repair shop that is authorized to perform Ford warranty work; this is not limited to "Ford" dealers. Ask questions before needing repairs, it's called laying the groundwork.
If Camping World is a Ford warranty repair shop, surely others can qualify too.

[Sullivanclan]

I use a independent mid size truck repair shop recommend by a local truck tire shop. I would avoid dealerships at all costs. I usually I start by taking my motorhome to a shop for something rather simple in order to get to know them and as a trial run.

[ChrisTravato]

Problem is not only with Ford. I have a Travato on a RAM Chasis. RAM sent a recall notice involving the seat belts, but our local dealer refuses to work on motor homes, and the nearest dealer in a much larger community won't even answer my on-line inquiry.

[bigb]

Originally Posted by ChrisTravato

Problem is not only with Ford. I have a Travato on a RAM Chasis. RAM sent a recall notice involving the seat belts, but our local dealer refuses to work on motor homes, and the nearest dealer in a much larger community won't even answer my on-line inquiry.

Tell them it's not a motorhome, it's a van.

[4RLABS]

That will work for class Bs but not Cs. I have tried ,without success in New Mexico, Ford Motorhome Assistance Center 1-800-444-3311. Also fordcommercialvehiclecenter.com. Good luck