BUS REPAIR FACILITIES

[Denny]

Many times on POG we have heard "take your bus to a bus repair facility" or a "charter bus company". If we are home it is a little easier to find a bus repair facility but on the road when a break down occurs it can be most difficult. Most recently I heard of the Bus Garage Index book and ordered it. It arrived today and has a very thorough listing of over 1200 bus repair facilities across the USA and Canada. The repairs centers are listed by state, province and alphabetical.

It is published by Bus Ride Magazine, a trade journal for charter bus companies. They too can break down or need service work while on a trip in an unfamiliar area. I believe it is a very valuable tool to have on on buses in case of emergency.

It can be ordered by calling 602-265-7600 ext 212. The cost is $40 and that includes first class shipping.

Since they are not sponsors, I hope this post is not censured as I believe it is a very important reference resource to carry on the bus.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Here's the link: http://busdirect.bussolutions.com/companies/bus-garage-index_id124321.html

I looked at this and I think Denny has hit upon an excellent resource to carry in the coach.

But, the parent magazine is also a great resource for information. http://busride.com/2010/08/front-tire-failures%e2%80%94-the-rest-of-the-story/ That link is one of the articles from the magazine and it is a very comprehensive article about tires and it contradicts a previous thread in which we discussed blowouts and how to handle them.

It's no surprise that if we run into mechanical problems on the road would could be in a world of hurt trying to find a mechanic familiar with a bus. There is likely no better place in an emergency than a charter company that runs a fleet of Prevost coaches. Good post Denny.

Jeff Bayley, I know you recently had a good experience getting service at a bus company. Perhaps you can include these links in you resource collection.

[Denny]

Thanks for the additional info Jon.

[merle&louise]

I keep a copy of Trucker's Friend in my coach. It has a lot of useful info; where to buy tires, road service, towing, etc.

http://www.truckstops.com/

[Jeff Bayley]

I appended the posting for the resources to include these links as suggested including Tuga's, Denny's and Jon's suggestions. Thanks.

[Sid Tuls]

I was just reading in Bus Trader about a company in Southern Caif. and in other states as well that services on Buses. ABC Companies. I looked them up on the internet and looked impresive.
abc-companies.com It another resource don't know about Prevost parts?

[Ray Davis]

Steve Bennett recommanded ABC to me, and I have had my bus serviced there for the last two years. Ken Z recently had a lot of work done at ABC as well. I have been very happy with them.

Ray

[pcb50]

I just received my copy of Bus Ride Index that I ordered late last week. They are now on sale $25pp. Paul.

[Yankee802]

Ordered mine today, she said it's called "Bus Garage Index", and it's still $25 total. Very happy to have this resource onboard. :)

My turn to share.....

On the way home from Kerrville, a kind trucker gave me a copy of this book: "The 2009 National Trucker's Service Directory" (obviously it's a yearly publication) This book has everything you would want to know when traveling on the highways. Very well laid out, consice information at a glance about all exits with truckstops, what they have available, rest area mile markers, exits with Walmarts & Sam's clubs, etc, laid out by state, then road. VERY handy!

I couldn't find this in any of the truck stops we went to, but on the cover it shows $12.95 and the number on the inside cover is 828-238-9612 or 863-258-5108 or 417-623-0315.

Ok, found an electronic version here (http://www.dieselboss.com/directory_trial.htm), same price.

[dogear]

Hi everyone. Maybe everyone already knows this but I had to figure it out the hard way. The service centers listed on the Prevost web site are not created equal. Had a really bad experience with a service center in Rapid City, South Dakota which was listed as a class 2 service center meaning that they supposedly can do chassis work as well as engine work. I had been chasing an air leak in all three air tanks and took my coach there for repairs. The service manager assured me that they were able to work on Prevost buses and that they had worked on a number of them before. I should have known that they weren't up to it when he insisted that they had a Prevost motorhome in there "just last week" with a volvo motor in it. First off no jacks they just drove the coach up on blocks to gain access underneath it. They did locate a number of leaks but after talking to the service people it was clear that their pneumatic systems knowledge was way under par. The tech at Prevost Jacksonville who I have had a long dialogue with concerning this leak felt that it was in part due to a faulty pressure protection valve. The guy at the Rapid City service place insisted that this valve was the same as a tractor protection valve on a truck which apparently is a very different animal. The Rapid City place also felt that the two ABS modulator valves on the left and right drives were leaking. Apparently these port air any time you have your foot on the brake. The Prevost tech said that there should be no air going back to these modulator valves when the bus is just sitting there with the park brake on. Because of this symptom the tech suspected a bad brake modulator valve which was bypassing air to the R14 valve and then out to the two rear ABS modulator valves. In short the two ABS modulator valves were behaving as advertised and were not leaking. Never the less the Rapid City people ordered two ABS valves anyway. That was the last straw and I took the coach out of there. When I complained to Prevost about the level of their service center they apologized and said that many of the centers listed on their site are Volvo dealers who may not be well versed in systems knowledge on the body and chassis. It was a very expensive lesson as they had ordered over 1000 bucks worth of parts. I also had to pay them for crawling around underneath the coach for almost a whole day! Point of this diatribe is that even though these service centers are listed on the Prevost web site they are not all created equal. Cheers........JR

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Welcome to Volvo-land. I looked at the Prevost web site recently and saw that every Volvo truck dealer is now a Prevost Service Center.

Forgive my cynicism, but if Prevost (Volvo) is having a hard time keeping and training skilled Prevost mechanics, the odds they will have well trained mechanics at their truck dealerships is slim to none.

I am sure some executive at Volvo was instrumental in listing their truck dealerships even though he had no clue about the differences between a coach and a truck. Gee, they both have big engines so they must be the same right? A Prevost bus fleet owner is highly likely to be able to provide good service, but possibly with limited experience on the level low system.

[Orren Zook]

When I was at Prevost Jax to pick up some parts last summer, I noticed that the only new buses on the lot were Volvo coaches..... maybe a harbinger of things to come. Any old timers remember when Volvo entered the US heavy truck market by purchasing White Motor Company and GMC's Truck Division? Then marketed vehicles with the Volvo-White-GMC marquee?

[Mark3101]

When I was at Prevost Jax to pick up some parts last summer, I noticed that the only new buses on the lot were Volvo coaches..... maybe a harbinger of things to come. Any old timers remember when Volvo entered the US heavy truck market by purchasing White Motor Company and GMC's Truck Division? Then marketed vehicles with the Volvo-White-GMC marquee?

Yep! Was a joke then, and has gotten better, but I wouldn't take my coach to a Volvo dealer anywhere around here. They know nothing about a Prevost. Maybe if it is a leaking brake can or something like an engine water leak they would be ok, but nothing captive to Prevost.

[dogear]

Sure wish I had talked to you guys before I made that monumental mistake! I even called the guy at the Volvo service store who basically lied and said that they had worked on a lot of Prevost buses. As I said in the earlier post the guy had no clue as to the intricacies of the Prevost pneumatic system. BTW there is a pretty good maintenance publication, complete with schematics of the pneumatic system, on the Prevost website. I now know waaay more than I want to about the pneumatic system on this coach! In the end that knowledge I think saved me a lot of trouble. The Jax tech guy actually suggested that I pull the bus out of that shop. Cheers