POG X TECHNICAL SESSIONS / Questions for Prevost

[Jon Wehrenberg]

We will have Prevost participating in our planned POG X rally in Austin. To take advantage of their expertise I would like at least one of the technical sessions to be exclusively Prevost.

To get as much benefit to our rally attendees as possible I would like to provide Prevost with a list of questions POG members have. I envision providing Prevost with these questions in advance so if they need preparation they will have time to pull together the resources they need, such as researching VIN numbers or gathering technical publications. When the questions have been answered I anticipate we will throw the session over to questions from the floor.

So here is your chance to ask questions. get your questions to me via the forum, a PM or email. I will sort them and based on the amount of interest in each topic or question I will present Prevost with the list and give them an opportunity to prepare.

Just so everyone knows the importance of Prevost, their participation and ability to prepare we raised a question about issues with air bags at the OKC rally. Unfortunately we had not allowed Prevost to anticipate the questions or prepare. But in the end we found owners were getting the wrong air bags for their coaches because part numbers of air bags had been transposed. So send me your hard questions or post them here. Just so everyone is clear on this, Prevost is helping us a lot at this rally and it is not our intent to make them uncomfortable with questions you might have regarding service issues or conflicts between you and Prevost. Those will be passed along, but for the seminar we will not air them. Those should be handled privately.

Questions that will be asked:

Will Prevost set up a program to manage the maintenance on my coach, including reminders of needed service?

How can I find the service history of a coach I am interested in buying?

Based on how many miles we put on our coaches annually is the recommended oil change interval realistic? If not, what should it be?

Ask away folks.....this is your rally and we want you to get as much out of it as possible.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Folks, This will be your rally. We have an opportunity to ask questions of Prevost in a technical seminar specifically for Prevost questions.

These can range from how often to change oil to whether something might be covered under warranty. When we have your questions we will put them in some sort of order and send them to Prevost so at our rally they will be prepared to give accurate answers.

But first you have to ask the question.

[truk4u]

I'll get this kicked off...

1. At what age/miles should shocks be changed out, or do you wait for them to leak

2. What are the specs to determine if King Pin's have reached their service life

3. Identify for the members the zerk fitting on the caliper that should not be greased and the consequences of greasing that fitting

4. Hub & Differential Oil - Should we change over to synthetic

[Alan__]

1. How long should we expect the slide seal to last? What is the estimated cost of time and materials for replacement?

2. Does warranty cover the cost of water leakage from a slide due to delamination of either the roof or side panels?

3. How crucial is pin alignment on the slides? If one or more pins "pop" into place with a bang before aligning is this acceptable?

[Jerry Winchester]

1. Is there any preventative maintenance for slides?

2. What is the number one or maybe top five owner induced coach problems? (not house problems)

3. Tag axle manipulation - when and why?

4. Is there a "must have" Prevost update or coach improvement?

5. What can an owner do to ensure the best service from Prevost? ie. Best time to schedule service, how to effectively communicate the problem or your expectations, etc.

6. Any suggestions from Prevost on recommended parts to travel with.

[rahangman]

To add to JDUB's list, #6 "Parts to travel with" to differentiate between Series 60's and our older (but reliable) 8V92T's and older coaches.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Keep them coming folks. Feel free to repeat questions because the more people ask the same question it will indicate a high level of interest.

[Woodscrapper]

Jon, I just woke up and found your call for Prevost questions. Trust I am not too late for the following to be considered.
1. What does Prevost consider/recommend as the bare essentials one should carry in their spare parts chest?
2. What slope, height, and landing surface area should be used in building bus ramps?
3. How does one go about getting accurate pneumatic diagrams for older buses?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

All good questions. First, for everyone a little insight as to what is planned.

I was never aware of all that Prevost offers on their web site until I participated in some recent training. They have extensive information relating to pneumatic and electric diagrams, parts lists, technical information, Webinars, etc. Bill Jensen from Prevost is going to begin his seminar by teaching all that is availble and how to access that information. The information is detailed enough that you can research parts and diagrams right down to your specific VIN number. You can imagine how beneficial that will be if you are stuck on a dark rainy night and you don't know why you cannot get the starter to engage. There is also a substantial amount of valuable information ranging from maintenance schedules to actual how-to Webinars. This will be very valuable information about how to access all of that which is available

From that Bill plans on going into the Q&A period. I am going to provide him with the list of questions in advance so he has the opportunity to gather any additional information so his responses are complete and accurate. The questions are going to be ranked by their importance based on how many have asked for the information or information related to a specifc topic.

This is everyone's opportunity to aks any and all questions. Some might not be for Bill, but we are also going to have Bob Jones from Prevost. Bob is responsible for the sale of shells so if there are any customer service or warranty questions that go beyond Bills area we can get those answered as well. So again, do not be shy with your questions. Prevost is making a huge contribution to our rally in the form of offering a lot of expertise and additional help so please take advantage of that.

If the questions are especially numerous we may even add a second session to be assured no questions go unaswered.

We also will have a round table discussion as we have had in the past. The round table will include Prevost, converters and after market support folks. So plan on getting conversion specific questions answered as well. Nobody should leave Austin with unanswered questions.

[Reagan Sirmons]

Jon, did you ask Eddie Braley of National Indoor re their offer to give a presentation on tires and batteries.
I sent you an email during the week you were at Prevost. He is a great guy and super informed. ((469) 277 1330 out of Lewisville, Tx. Let me know if you need help contacting him. At present, we are planning on attending the rally but may have to change that.
Pres

[Woodscrapper]

Jon,

Sounds great! I look forward to the sessions in Austin.

Many thanks,

Tom Roberts

[ajducote]

I have a question for Prevost that is a little hard to explain but I will try. It concerns the IFS on late 90's early 200? buses. It seems that we have seen a lot of forum traffic about rebuilding front suspensions on buses with what I would consider low miles, less then 200,000. I would like to hear from Provost there explanation for this and if all the rebuilds were really needed. I have heard from 1 source that there is a Tech Bulliten that has some sort of procedure to test a front end to see if it really needs a rebuild. I suspect that at least some were rebuilt due to the rubber bushings looking bad on the surface, but is that reason enough to spend a great deal of money to rebuild the whole front end? I would hope that a "million Mile" bus could go at least 500,000 miles before a front end rebuild.

Now this is why I ask. I will go over 200,000 miles on the next trip. Some of my rubber bushings look a little rough around the edges. But I have no weird front tire wear and the bus tracks straight and handles great. I will spend the money if it is needed for safety sake, just don't want to waste money on something that might not really be needed.

Might be a good time to ask about sway bar bushings? Seems like there has been some issues with those also.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Keep the questions coming. They are being compiled into a list for Prevost to answer in Austin.

[BrianE]

Andre,

I Recently finished replacing rubber safety related parts in our bus. I considered safety related parts to be brake chambers and hoses, airbags, and shocks. After inspecting the upper sway bar bushings and rear radius rod bushings (there are none in the front), I came to the conclusion that they are much less critical as safety items plus they showed no sign of cracking as did the airbags and hoses. The lower sway bar bushings or "dog bone" bushings seem to be much more prone to wear than the larger upper bushings or radius rod bushings. The dog bone bushings have been replaced twice in our 120,000 mile bus. My experience was when the dog bone bushings wear out they cause a definite clunking as the suspension flexes.

The general criteria I have used when replacing rubber parts has been a visual inspection for cracks, easily seen on bushings and airbags. As to hoses and brake chambers, age is the main criteria I have used. Prevost, by the way, calls for replacement of brake chambers once a year or every 100k miles. Additionally, hoses can be checked for flexibility. Our bus like yours is approximately 14 years old and an inspection of the parts I replaced revealed that they were all original equipment.

Looking at your original question, I would observe that the IFS exclusive parts of our buses, aside from the dog bone bushings, seem to be pretty trouble free. I did replace the A arm bushings and one upper ball joint which was badly worn and galled due to a clogged ball joint grease fitting. I did not see excessive wear in the A arm bushings and would expect to have seen uneven tire wear had they been in serious need of replacement. I can imagine that the A arm bushings would probably have easily lasted another 100K before causing any trouble.

Hope this helps.

[Coloradobus]

Here's a question we have.
With introduction of the X3-45, will this open the door for a 40 ft chassis shell for conversion. Since behind the rear wheels would be the same, and the radiator area would be the same for a 45 or a 40 was this a possibility? All they would have to do is shorten the wheelbase!

[bluevost]

Hey Jon,

I'd like to know if the "audible' alarm for the tag axle can be changed to something louder. I can't even hear mine with my hearing aids in!!

Also, I kick myself for not remembering to ask at United Engines at POG VIII, what does Prevost say regarding fuel additives in older Series 60s. I have read plenty of posts on this site, but I would like to know if they have a position one way or the other.

Ken

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Ken, you mean to tell me, that Janet doesn't just come up and knock you upside the head when the tag alarm is going off?


Gary S.