Posting for Lew Popp

[Jeffery Raymond]

While travelling from Clearwater to Tampa, Lew Popp and his wonderful wife experienced a breakdown on I-275 and were off the side of the road.

They arranged for towing and are now at Parliament. Lew Popp asked that a message be posted on his behalf and here it is:

"I hope we are on the way to recovery. I am in the yard jacked up since Monday morning after spending nearly 7 hours on the Tampa bridge.

I busted an axle and it was first thought the whole assembly, housing and all would have to be replaced.

Fortunately, Robert Hitt, Prevost service manager came by to solve a problem with the X3-45 and was button-holed on my job. He had seem the same problem before and made the right parts contacts and we should receive them Wednesday and the axle will be pulled by the axle doctor on Thursday. It was originally thought it would tke 2 months to get the major housing, so I guess we're lucky...."

"You might want to enter this information on batteries I got from Parliament Parts today on Lifeline batteries: Lifeline 8D $336.15, Lifeline 4D $325.08, Lifeline 2700T generator start $172.24, SRM-77 lead acid $86.90."

Send good thoughts to Lew Popp and he should be on the road again, soon.

'On the road again...?' Hmm, maybe we should right a song about that, has a certain ring to it?

[MangoMike]

Lew,

Good luck, we'll be thinking of you. Now we know why you had to use the macenator.

Hopefully the bridge in Tampa wasn't a Toll Bridge with an hourly rate.

Mango

[ken&ellen]

Lew, Good luck goes without saying. As a newer owner I would be interested in what was the root cause of the axle failure. Maybe once you are back on the road you could post what you have learned. After reading an article on towing posted on Prevost-stuff it would be informative to get the " man on the street " view of the process. Keep us posted as to your progress. Ken & Ellen

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Coaches equipped with the 8V92 and the Allison 700 series transmissions can generate a lot of torque in reverse. I do not remember where I read it, but I do recall a precaution to not apply excessive power in reverse with the brakes applied because it could result in the failure of drive train components.

There could be a lot of axle failure causes, ranging from a defect in the metal to a defective weld between the shaft and the hub cover. Needless to say sudden shocks on the drivetrain or pulling excessive loads could contribute. A vehicle in snow and experiencing wheel hop with a wheel spinning is a perfect example of shock loading that could cause a sudden failure.

[MangoMike]

Probably from popping "wheelies" in Arcadia at the busnuts convention.

[Jerry Winchester]

You reckon Lew said, "This is JF Lovely" when his coach crapped out on the bridge? Then he had to fight that traffic trying to hook the macerator hose up on the driver's side to pump that honey overboard at the bridge; what a crappy day.

Serves him right for posting that cheap battery price after I bought 5 of them last week. I usually don't have buyer's remorse until after I take delivery of said item.

[lewpopp]

Update.

Part of the parts came in today so nothing was done.

Except....I am standing around spending money. Installed new start batteries. Deka's

Replaced the generator start batteries with Lifeline because the Interstates I had were being over charged at the same rate the main storage batteries were. I have had to add water every month if I remembered. Jeeze, does it ever end.

As I was installing the Lifelines, a tech walked by and said the main storage batteries looked very old. I have a weight problem and if I buy the six 4D's, I'll have to stop eating.

I am not loaded like Jeff.

Hopefully they'll do something tomorrow. I'll take a picture if I can beat the press off.