freight-liner service vs. Cummins

Well, FL around here is $130 an hour for motorhomes and you get mediocre treatment for that. They overfilled my CAT which gave explicit information for and tried to charge me for a complete Transynd oil change for the first 5000 mile change when all they had to do was change the filter and top it off. They took that off the bill after I called Allison to verify.

Now I use an independent shop (Ultra Truck in Deland) and he is $80 for RVs (vs $60 for OTR trucks). Nice clean shop, the owner does most of the work and he knows what he is doing.

More $$$ isn't always better.

I don't know, but I have always believed that you get what you pay for. If you are trying to penny pinch, it seems like in the end you end up paying more then if you had taken it to mechanics that do that type of work every day.

My experience with FL shops is that the big ones are impersonal and you are just another guy with a problem taking up one of their 15 bays. You sit in a big waiting room and you cant even see if your rig is being worked on. When its done you go to the cashier and pay the bill.

If you find a small one, like FL Ocala for example, you sit down with the tech that will be doing the work and you can stand by the half wall and actually watch them work on your rig. Three bays.

My best experiences though have been with the small 1-5 employee shop, locally owned and has been in business for years.

Suggest you find online groups that are dedicated to your coach. And start by posting your make, model and year.

Jim@HiTek wrote:
I have, over 12 years with a Freightliner chassis, called FL several times for quotes for standard repairs...like master brake cylinder replacement. They have always been 2 to 4 times more expensive then when I got the same work done at a truck shop. So, from here, don't go to either FL or Cummins for chassis work. Go to a local shop with a good rep. Check at RVServiceReviews.com

This is very good advice. As much as I hate to admit it and like to keep RV money in RV's, when we are talking thousands of dollars on some repairs, time to save money. So many RV exclusive repair facilities charge a premium. Chassis issues aren't like some elite repair/maint.

A Cummins Coach Care center should have a site with power and they should treat the inside of your MH like a house and not a truck. Beyond that they may/may not have the experience or training to fix various MH problems.

If your turbo is bad they can replace it. But maybe not fix a problem in the electrical control. The same may apply to your dash gauges.

I'd get the gauges working and maybe that will also resolve the turbo.

If you can find a shop that has experience with your rig it should lead to less time/cost.

Cummins shops are now company owned. Cummins Coach Care centers are usually pretty good but they are all expensive. I agree that if you can find a good, reliable large truck shop that will service your coach, that is a good find.

I have, over 12 years with a Freightliner chassis, called FL several times for quotes for standard repairs...like master brake cylinder replacement. They have always been 2 to 4 times more expensive then when I got the same work done at a truck shop. So, from here, don't go to either FL or Cummins for chassis work. Go to a local shop with a good rep. Check at RVServiceReviews.com

Find a Freightliner Oasis Center they are MH oriented.

If under warranty they might not be able to service you for warranty work. A freightliner service dealer could. Cummins Bridgeway by us could not. Even though it's listed as one by Freightliner they stopped servicing them under warranty repair.

They will service the Cummins Onan generator as it is a Cummins product. Even under warranty. Nothing to do with Freightliner chassis.

They will service you if your willing to pay the bill on your chassis.