Does any one personally service their Diesel Pusher

Swannee · 02-21-2010, 08:31 PM

We are planning to buy a nearly new Diesel Pusher with in the next year. One of the many questions I have is does anyone actually do hands on service of their coach?
To save money, or know its done and done right.

powerboatr · 02-21-2010, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swannee

We are planning to buy a nearly new Diesel Pusher with in the next year. One of the many questions I have is does anyone actually do hands on service of their coach?
To save money, or know its done and done right.

I am pretty broken, but i do the chassis grease evolution because it requires no heavy lifting and i can pretty much stay on my back and

as for oil changes, my local ford dealer gives me a good deal IMO
i provide the oil and filter and he does the labor for 100 bux
this is all filters, fuel and oil etc.torque wheel nuts, inspect brake shoes.

Mike Thomas · 02-21-2010, 09:02 PM

I have a Freightliner semi tractor that my son in law drives. He pulls a refer box, coast to coast. I do the service on it. It is not difficult. We service about once a month or every 12-15,000 miles. Service usually includes, change fuel filter, oil filter, oil, grease the chassis. Air filter and cab filter are changed less often. The rest of it is just check belts, and other fluids, look for loose or worn things, check brake linings and tires and air pressure. None of it is hard, but if you had someone to show you what to look for how to fill the fuel fiters and oil filters before installing would really help. We used to have it serviced on the road, but sometimes, the service people were not always honest. They always seemed to find other things that needed replaced or fixed, at an extra cost of course. When we did it ourselves, we knew what was going on there. After a while you feel much more confident about the rig you are driving.

The biggest thing is finding something to drain 11 gallons of oil into, and then how to transport it to dispose of it. I also bought a battery operated grease gun, and the somewhat special tools for filters.

Bottom line, get a good mechanic to show you how to do it properly, and what else to look for while you are under there, and you will be much more confident while driving.

indiana journey · 02-21-2010, 09:43 PM

We bought our 2004 Winnebago Journey new in 2004. Since the first year service I have done the regular maintenance and upkeep on the Freightliner Chassis and the Cummins 5.9 ISB and the Allison transmission and the Onan 7.5K generator. I change all of the filters and fluids, I check and lube the brake parts, I rotate the tires, lube the chassis and try to do anything that I can personally handle.
I enjoy doing this type of work and have a nice place to do it, inside a pole barn with a concrete floor. In the winter I use a salamander to keep everything warm while working.
If you are mechanically inclined you can do just about anything on your coach in the way of routine maintenance. If you have a place to do the work.

Good Luck,
Indiana Journey

autofish · 02-21-2010, 10:54 PM

I have done my own service on our DP since it was new. It helps to have a nice place to work, a good set of manuals and tools, and the ability too read the manuals. And a lot of time. Most of the service is not hard just dirty and time consuming. I put about 15k miles a year on the coach and spend about 8-10 hr per mo. doing service. The nicest part of doing your own service is knowing it was done and done right. Have been rving for over 40yrs always doing service myself and have never had an on the road break down--just good luck or good sevice........ so I would say buy the manuals and get to work and enjoy many yrs of good rving cus any day rving is better than any day working...................

RedT · 02-22-2010, 06:17 AM

Purchased an '04 Meridian in October '03 and have done all maintenance and servicing except tire replacement and ride-height adjustment/front-end alignment. After 62K miles, my feeling is that I have saved quite a bit, and know what has been done. I also feel confident in doing the work myself.

RedT in Glendale, AZ
04 Meridian
03 Jeep Liberty
M&G Brake Sys

smlranger · 02-22-2010, 12:59 PM

I have done routine service on my 2002 Journey. I don't have a great place to do it and, as I get older, I am less inclined to do all the stuff myself. Oil, filters, genset service and chassis lube is pretty easy if you don't mind crawling around under the greasy beast.

I am more inclined now to stop by the Freightliner Chassis service center in Gaffney, SC when we take our usual trip to Myrtle Beach. They do great work and are less expensive, especially with the Freightliner chassis owners club discount.

Swannee · 02-22-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlranger

I have done routine service on my 2002 Journey. I don't have a great place to do it and, as I get older, I am less inclined to do all the stuff myself. Oil, filters, genset service and chassis lube is pretty easy if you don't mind crawling around under the greasy beast.

I am more inclined now to stop by the Freightliner Chassis service center in Gaffney, SC when we take our usual trip to Myrtle Beach. They do great work and are less expensive, especially with the Freightliner chassis owners club discount.

Freightliner chassis is my choice, after all a truck is a truck and a school bus, well.
I have heard horror stories about the money that had to be spent on services. A thousand bucks at one point of the service cycle.
Another thing how accessable are things around the engine and trans axel area. Do sections open-up to get at vitals or is it all on your back? (under your greasy beast).

EngineerMike · 02-22-2010, 02:17 PM

I haven't done a full oil change due to the volume of fluids to deal with; there is a drive-thru truck oil change place where engine oil change is $110 w/filter (22qts iirc).

Other than that, I like to know stuff is done and done right, and I like knowing my rig intimately. Like said above, most things are not hard, just messy (OK some are filthy, but that's what soap & water are for). The electrical stuff can be screwed up by practically anybody, why not me? I won't feel good when I burn something up, but I'll be furious when somebody else fries my inverter and then wants to charge me for doing it under the guise of "it was going bad anyway." I see that all the time.

Another consideration is the time to move a DP around & leave it for service then go back & pick it up, and the need to haul all my valuable junque out of it so it doesn't go missing each time I need to leave the coach for service. I can frequently save time by doing things myself (after I include these overhead items attached to professional service), particularly w/the good experienced advice available here on iRV2.

GaryKD · 02-22-2010, 02:28 PM

Hi Mike,
Like others who have posted, I do all the servicing of my coach. If the job requires no special tools and it's a one person job, then I do it. I put about 15K on the coach each year. All chassis maintenance is done in January (I live in South Florida). Coach servicing is done when stuff breaks (which is way too often). The coach gets 4+ waxings a year. Roof is cleaned once per year.

smlranger · 02-22-2010, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swannee

Freightliner chassis is my choice, after all a truck is a truck and a school bus, well.
I have heard horror stories about the money that had to be spent on services. A thousand bucks at one point of the service cycle.
Another thing how accessable are things around the engine and trans axel area. Do sections open-up to get at vitals or is it all on your back? (under your greasy beast).

Unless you have a lift or a pit, most of the service will be laying on your back. Most of the grease zerks are fairly easy to access except those on the rear brake slack adjusters. Also, it helps to have an air-powered or electric grease gun so you can use one hand to keep the nozzle on the zerk while pushing a button to dispense the grease.

Another option is Speedco. I hear a lot of good things about them...no appointment necessary and they pretty much get you in and out in less than an hour. They can do on-site oil analysis. They are usually found on interstates near truck stops. You can check their pricing on their web site.

Annual stuff (oil, filter, fuel filter/s, chassis lube) isn't too expensive considering 22 - 25 qts. of oil, big filters, etc. If you come up to an interval where you need to replace your air cleaner, change rear diff lube, tranny service, air dryer service, coolant flush-fill, then it does add up.

Navy Flier · 02-24-2010, 08:37 PM

I am one of those on the other side of the issue. I do not do any of the maintenance. After having done all of the maintenance on all of my vehicles for 40 years I decided to let someone else do it from now on. I have made a concerted effort to build a good relationship with my local Freightliner shop and that has paid dividends. I know what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and what the parts cost. You just need to be a smart owner. Having someone else do the maintenance does not mean you don't educate yourself. Some diesel maintenance requires tools most typically don't have and at this point I don't need more tools. You have to want to do this. It is not something that you talk yourself into. Some of what you pay for is expertise and disposal.

Chuck 1935 · 02-24-2010, 10:00 PM

I love doing my own work, It gives me great satisfaction plus I know it's done right. If you are a little handy you can do it.
However, I do comiserate with those that know how to do it but choose to farm it out. I just haven't reached that frame of mind yet.

rowesort · 03-09-2010, 07:15 PM

I used to pay to have mine done, then I found out that a lot of stuff was not being done even though I was paying for same. I have had a lot of M/C and wrenching on engines was easy for me. The new cars are almost maintenance free so I got away from doing my own servicing, and as long as the service was under $30 why bother getting dirty? Back to DP I went to all of my owners manuals, Chasiss, IFS etc and recorded all of the maintenance details on to a check sheet. bought an air powered grease gun $25.00 bought the filters at https://www.rvchassisparts.com/Rally.asp $58 for Oil, fuel, water, Changing the oil was nothing. I used a rubbermaid container the one that is 12" H 18" W 24" L to catch the oil $7, bought the correct oil filter wrench $25 the one you crank with a socket wrench, fuel filter wrench $8.Greased all 27 zerks including driveshaft slip joints, brake s cams and IFS points, powered grease gun made it easy. I found you get real dirty the 1st time looking for all the lubrication points but next not so bad as I had cleaned up the lubrication points. Oil changes at 15,000 intervals or 1 year I never get the miles so ended up changing every 18 months. (My M/H covers 2,000 for 2 weeks every 5 months so engine is subject to minimal condensation ie travel south in fall back in spring south then change) Coolant filter every 2nd year ie 15,000 miles everything else when I change the oil. I bought some disposable coveralls for $3.00 easier than cleaning. I paid for all the tools on the 1st service and now I have great comfort and satisfaction that is done right. And for the record the coach runs BETTER now than when it was new. I let Allison do the transmission.

Chuck 1935 · 03-09-2010, 07:39 PM

ROWESORT
The allison is the easiest part of it. It's much cleaner than dropping the engine oil and if it's the 3000 and you change both filters and the fluid, it takes 19qts.

RVThere · 03-09-2010, 08:10 PM

I have the 'pit crew' home this weekend to help me put in motion control units, replace the bell housing, grease the chassis and replace the antifreeze in the genset.

The two older boys are supervising while the youngest one does all the work!

ULTFREQCCA · 04-03-2010, 10:32 AM

Rowesort - I have a 2001 U/F 40WD -
It doesn't seem to have a sight glass to check for water.....I have 2 fuel filters - 1 just up under the starter - had them changed 3000 miles ago but get concerned about water in fuel! Like you put on 2000 miles in spring and fall. Are the fuel separator sight glasses sold separately or with the filter....or do you even have one. Do you use any additives to eliminate water?
Where are the coolant filters?
How many miles on your U/A?
I have 35,000 on mine, bought it used last Spring, so not sure what all had been done - it appears to have had regular service, but didn't get all the paperwork, so don't want to take any chances!
At what interval did you change ATF fluid and filter?
Sorry for all the questions, I have always done maintenance on my cars, M/C, SkiDoo's etc, but am new to Diesel maintenance!
Appreciate your input,
Gary

Jimmyzw22 · 04-03-2010, 12:00 PM

I have always done all of my own work. Bad to say but I do not trust other mechanics. I ran a shop with 104 mechanics and would not have trusted a one of them with my personal stuff. To them it is just about time, the time they have to be there to make a paycheck. I am not saying all are like this but most I have found are. I am a Six Sigma Black Belt so I go into companies and look at their inefficiencies and lack of standardized auditable work. If you can find a shop that has been through a Lean Manufacturing Transformation that has documented standardized work where a layered audit process takes place weekly if not daily to make sure each mechanic is following the procedures properly, then I might let them work on my vehicle. I have seen too many times where a shop says they did something and when you look a wrench was never even placed on the bolt. They know most people do not understand enough to check if it was done. Blind faith is what most go on. It is sad but a reality. This is just my opinion so please don't through tomatoes at me.

CaptPat · 04-03-2010, 12:17 PM

I now let SPEEDCO do the annual oil and filter change along with the fuel filter changes and greasing the chassis. They also check the coolant and rear differential all for about $250. The owner/driver is allowed in the service area and in fact is asked to check several critical points of the service. I found that it cost a little more than doing it myself but then again I didn't factor in my time to get the parts, perform the maintenance and having to deal with 28 qts of used motor oil etc. This is not to say I couldn't do it, just that for me it's more cost effective to let SPEEDCO do it.

Other items like servicing the genset and the annual service on the aqua-hot I do myself.

smlranger · 04-03-2010, 05:59 PM

I just recently used Speedco for the first time and was generally impressed with the results. They were courteous and seemed to work efficiently. The price was reasonable for what they did including an oil analysis. I did not ask to go into the pit so my only question is if they hit all the grease zerks.