Wanda the Wandering Bus! - Page 2

EastCoastCB · 03-11-2016, 04:55 PM

Yeah, 20" rims are definitely something to avoid. Sorry to hear about your stress, just try to smile and stay positive.

WanderingLass · 03-11-2016, 05:46 PM

At the very least, someone will learn from our experiences!! For now, I've got pizza on order and cold beer in the fridge!

And, in true mumbledymumbledy-year-old fashion, I called my Dad to cry on his shoulder.

Who is still supportive of this idea and will send us a check for 6 new tires on the rims so we can save up to convert the rims in a couple of years. We plan on driving her once a month at least to prevent all these issues from cropping up again. We know a lot of them are a result of her being "ridden hard and put away wet" - she was driven once a year, 70 miles to the coon hound trials, parked for a week, and 70 miles back home again to be parked until the next year. Poor old girl.

cowlitzcoach · 03-11-2016, 05:51 PM

Do you have spoke or disc wheels?

You should be able to find replacement wheels and tubeless tires for about the same price as a new set of tube type tires and a set of tubes.

Good used steel wheels are usually available for well under $100.00 per wheel and brand new ones for under $200.00 per wheel.

WanderingLass · 03-11-2016, 06:02 PM

They look like disc wheels in the pictures I took which are not very good pictures at all. I figured she'd come straight home, after all!

Time to google!!

cowlitzcoach · 03-11-2016, 06:11 PM

If you have disc wheels you will need to know if they are hub piloted or stud piloted.

Hub piloted wheels will have two piece flange nuts and the holes in the wheels will not have a chamfer for the lug nuts need to seat. The rear wheels will have a single two piece flange nut holding the dual wheels tight.

Stud piloted wheels will have lug nuts that will seat into the chamfer/bevel in the wheel. On the rear wheels it will have a double nut--an inner thimble will seat and tighten the inner wheel and an outer nut that will seat and tighten the outer wheel.

If you have spoke wheels the wheels will be held on to the spokes with a wedge and a nut holding the wedge in tight. When the wheel is off there is no center to the wheel.

WanderingLass · 03-11-2016, 06:13 PM

When we finally get her in the driveway, we'll do some digging! Thank you so much for the information!! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and y'all are really helping me cope!

Docsgsxr · 03-11-2016, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WanderingLass

When we finally get her in the driveway, we'll do some digging! Thank you so much for the information!! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and y'all are really helping me cope!

Don't feel bad, I dropped my bus off in July 2014 for a blow by issue, a motor swap and a radiator rebuild later.... I was supposed to go pick it up today, but the weather was so bad through out the southeast, I got delayed another week.....talk about frustrated!!!!

-Doc

WanderingLass · 03-11-2016, 07:57 PM

Oh no!!

al perna · 03-12-2016, 09:19 AM

as to your radiator , you should be able to have it Recored at a Radiator shop . Years back I put a hole in my radiator and none were to be found , so we removed it ,had her recored and she is still cooling .
Great story , hope you make Lemonade out of those lemons

WanderingLass · 03-12-2016, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al perna

as to your radiator , you should be able to have it Recored at a Radiator shop . Years back I put a hole in my radiator and none were to be found , so we removed it ,had her recored and she is still cooling .
Great story , hope you make Lemonade out of those lemons

My understanding is it's the baffles? on the outside that are also bad - as in Ohio snow/ice road treatments got the better of it and they were falling off as they were working on it? I'll ask WanderingJuggler when he gets home from work.

And he said they're spoke tires, not disc. I hope that doesn't make too much of a difference on the estimate I received.

We're definitely making lemonade! Mid-April we'll be in a small, coastal town in Washington and we plan on enjoying every minute of it!

al perna · 03-12-2016, 02:07 PM

she is 47 years young .

WanderingLass · 03-19-2016, 03:02 PM

Just an update - Wanda is not home yet. For such a wonderful reputation this place had, we sure do not feel like we've gotten anything that remotely comes close to good service.

Sat, Feb. 20-gets towed to shop and we're told will be looked at Mar 1.
Mon, Feb, 22 - I call, ask them to also do a DOT inspection and look at the rear fuel tank.
Tues, Feb 23 - we hear nothing.
Wed, Feb 24 - We hear nothing.
Thurs, Feb 25 - WJ calls and is told it will be looked at that day and he'll get a call.
Fri, Feb 26 - WJ calls again, they replaced the alternator and gave us the total which seemed lower than planned for the work we asked them to do on Monday.

Mon, Feb 29 - WJ unable to call to ask them about invoice total.
Tues, Mar 1- WJ unable to call to ask them about invoice total.
Wed Mar 2 - I call, Service Manager emails invoice - no inspection nor rear tank exam done. I call back, he talks to tech, says there must have been a miscommunication but he will get it done this afternoon and will call. I thank him and let him know we'll figure out how to pick it up when it's done as we don't have a car.
Thur Mar 3 – We hear nothing.
Fri Mar 4 – I get an email with the inspection results. (I almost never check my email at work - it's a good thing I did!) I forward to WJ who asks Service Manager how to prioritize given our time and budget. Results were: All drive tires rotted, Rear end input seal is leaking, Radiator is corroded and disintegrating, Lights are operational, Brakes are fine. Service Manager indicates radiator is a must do, rear end input seal can wait as is is just barely leaking, more of an ooze. No mention of tires. Also? They can't find a radiator. We tell him we'll do some digging and get in touch Monday. Shortly after they close, I find a radiator through another parts company that will work according to their tech line.

Mon Mar 7 – WJ unable to call to tell them we'll pick it up.
Tue Mar 8 – Service Manager emails me quote for radiator recore and rebuild - $1,391.
Wed Mar 9 – WJ unable to call them to tell them we'll pick it up.
Thur Mar 10 – WJ calls, explains we found a radiator and will do it ourselves and he'll be there Friday to pick it up once he figures out how to get out there. Service Manager says he'll have updated invoice at the front desk for him.
Fri Mar 11 – WJ rides his bicycle 18 miles, arrives at 4pm (posted hours are 8am-5pm) and no one is there. He calls the number on the note on the door (that just says to call this number) and is forwarded to Service Manager. Who has left for the weekend so call back that number to have someone sent out. He does, he calls me, he walks around Wanda and realizes there is no way this one tire is going anywhere. I take the tire info, tell him to call them back as it's now 4:50 and they've not called him yet. I get what I feel is a great estimate on the tires ($1200-1300), WJ is told no one will come in but did he know they have a pick up service he could have arranged? Ummm....NO. If we had, we would have! Those times when we said we have no car might have been very good times to mention that.....

Mon Mar 14 – Safety is a concern, so we ask them to quote the tires. He gets an apology from Service Manager for Friday. (You can imagine what I think that apology is worth....)
Tues Mar 15 – No call back.
Wed Mar 16 – WJ is told at about 3pm that they can get the tires for $205 each plus installation which should be fairly easy (they only bill hourly) and can be done by Thursday. And they couldn't call Tues because of a power outage (which doesn't explain why they didn't call first thing Wednesday). 3:30 WJ and I discuss, and for safety sake, agree to let them do the tires. He calls back, and Service Manager has gone home for the day so he'll order the tires Thur.
Thur Mar 17 – I ask WJ to call to make sure they've ordered the tires. They tell him they misquoted – the tires are $285 a tire. Verbal quote – Corporate won't make them honor it and says that commercial tire prices fluctuate very quickly. (Side note – I asked a couple other places and they said yes the prices do fluctuate, but never overnight like that and they honor the quotes for 30 days even if the prices change.) We authorize only 4 tires and are told it will be done by 1 pm Fri and to schedule a pick up.
Fri Mar 18 – WJ is waiting call for pick up – 2:30 he calls and is told......they didn't confirm the tires came with tubes and those are looking like another week to come in. WJ made several phone calls and no one can get them in sooner.

They are fully aware that we will be homeless April 1 – the landlord will not let us stay on another month. And all of this? Should have been done that first 1-2 weeks. Oh, and we still need to replace the radiator. We have one weekend left after this one in which to do so.

New plan possibility: Yard out sofa bed, fridge and microwave, load up bunks with stuff, strap mattress in front of bunks, toss everything else in the back end and sleep on the table bed until we get to my Dad's house – we'll have a week there with access to his tools and scrap lumber to build the bed up and paint her.

In the mean time – I am strongly considering sending basically this entire post to their corporate office, social media, and the BBB.

EastCoastCB · 03-19-2016, 03:50 PM

Sorry to hear about all that!
I hate being at the mercy of that kind of place.

WanderingLass · 03-19-2016, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Sorry to hear about all that!
I hate being at the mercy of that kind of place.

Thank you.

They've been such a huge frustration - we've owned her for a month and only had her in our possession for the first 2 days!

cowlitzcoach · 03-19-2016, 06:00 PM

How unfortunate for you that you are having to deal with a company that is so tone deaf to your requests.

Unfortunately, I know exactly the sort of frustration you are experiencing and I am not surprised at how you have been treated. Customer service seems to be a bad word these days.

The rear end seal leak is something that can be put off in the short term but something that will need to be addressed soon.

The leaking radiator may or may not need to be addressed immediately. I have seen some pretty rotten radiators that were babied quite a ways so that the repair could be done at a convenient time instead of right now. One way to get it to go a little further is to run with the radiator cap off. Reducing the pressure inside will baby a rotten core a little further. Unfortunately without looking at it I can only guess if it will last five miles or 5000 miles. DO NOT use stop leak--it will tend to plug up the block more than the radiator.

Good luck on getting your tires installed, packing up, and getting to your Dad's place.

EastCoastCB · 03-19-2016, 10:54 PM

Agreed, NEVER use any "stop leak" product of ANY kind.

WanderingLass · 03-20-2016, 10:03 AM

Thank you and I'll keep that under advisement about the stop leak!

That's the thing - we haven't had a chance to re-examine any of it so for all we know, they could be bs-ing us on the radiator. But April 1 is literally right around the corner so....

We'll get there!

WanderingLass · 03-27-2016, 08:54 AM

Guess who still isn't home...

Monday Mar 21 - WJ has to call and is told there is no update, again.

Tuesday Mar 22 - WJ calls and is told by Service Guy again that there is no update. WJ makes numerous calls trying to find something that will work that can be installed sooner, to no avail.

Wednesday Mar 23 - WJ is told the tires are on the truck to be delivered.

Thursday Mar 24 - WJ is told that the tires are at the tire vendor and had been expected today and was assured that the mechanic that was in all day today will still be in tomorrow. I send email to corporate.

Friday Mar 25 - Tires are in, mechanic quit. Service Manager states he will personally bring in a roadside mechanic Saturday and they will be done Saturday morning.

Sat Mar 26 - WJ gets a ride out to the shop and is there at about 1:45pm. No one is there. It looks like part of a rim is missing. He gets Service Manager's voice mail. I call dispatch who claims to be in the same boat (she's working from home with only 1 phone to call - honey, your employer HAS our home!), and hangs up on me as I am asking her to reiterate we will be homeless in 1 week and I'm considering calling a lawyer. At 4:15 WJ texts that the mechanic is there and is there a point of sale limit on the debit card. Two hours later, the owner and 3 guys are onsite....

The sales guy (with whom World Truck does about $500k a month in purchases) ordered the wrong tires. He ordered front tires which are not 20" tires. And he ordered the wrong tubes (straight valve instead of bent valve, if I remember correctly). Owner left a very angry message on the voice mail and completed the message via numerous texts, boiled down to: You will get off your ass and have the right tires at my shop by 8am Monday morning. Owner assures WJ he will personally make sure the work is done if he has to do it himself.

Any bets?

EastCoastCB · 03-27-2016, 09:42 AM

Man, I really understand how it feels to be at someones mercy.

MANY truck shops are pretty much just like the one you're dealing with. They mostly all suck real bad to deal with, it sounds like you're having an unusually crappy round of luck with it. Could be worse... the owner sounds like he's trying his best at least. The few times I've ever mentioned seeking legal recourse to companies, they cut off ALL ties and told me to f off.

Sounds like all you can do at this point is try to stay positive and hope for the best.

WanderingJuggler · 03-27-2016, 01:11 PM

Man, its been a pain in the arse. If I ran my service department like this, I would be given a come to Jesus talk then fired. So we will have 3.5 days to get the rest together, on top of ten hour workdays. Wish us luck and send mojo if you all could. Thanks in advance!

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