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1984 Fleetwood Southwind
454 Chevy with carb
Went to pick up my first motorhome in Georgia last Wednesday.I bought it from EBay,and the agreement was the guy was going to have the oil and filters in the engine and tranny replaced,the MH greased,oil in rear checked,brakes checked,etc,etc,etc in order for it to be ready for the 600+ mile trip home,and I would pay him when I got there. When I get there and asked him about it,he tells me he didn't have time,"but everything is ok". I get in it to check it out,and the first thing I spot is the brake light in the center of the dash shining at me. Brakes feel spongly but stop it ok,so I figured they just needed to be bled. I was wrong. I discovered this going into a town called Wren,Georgia when I was barely able to stop at the red light. They had worked fine for the 100 miles,and the light had even gone out.
Here is where the adventure begins. As I am stopped at the red light,I see a Goodyear tire store across the intersection. I was under the impression they do brake work,so I pulled off over there to get them to fix the brakes. I was told,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on cars and trucks. You need to take it to the diesel truck repair shop about 200 yards behind us." No matter how many times I told them that brakes were brakes and that it had the same brakes as a Chevrolet big truck,they just wouldn't listen. I go back out to drive over to the diesel truck shop,and my MH won't start. Battery is weak from bad wiring. Go back inside the Goodyear tire store and ask for a jumpstart,and they refuse. "We don't work on stuff like that". They tell me to walk to the diesel shop for a jump,even after I explain to them that I am handicapped and have trouble walking. The guy just shrugged and walked away.
I walk to the diesel shop,and the guy there tells me,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on diesel trucks." He agress that "brakes are brakes",but says he doesn't care because he still won't work on it,"and even if I did agree to work on it,it would be the middle of next week before I could even get started." He was nice enough to take his pu and give me a ride back to the MH and jump start it for free. He also told me my best bet was to drive it to Augusta,Georgia because that was the closest place to get it fixed. He said,"It's only about 30 miles."
I head out of town and spot the Chevy dealer. I thought I really had it made then,but was wrong once again. The service manager told me,"We don't work on stuff that big,and don't even know HOW to get parts for it!" I reminded her that it was a Chevrolet,and that Chevrolet had plenty of parts at the same phone number she called to order parts for other Chevies,and then she told me,"We don't even have the books to order parts for 1-ton Chevy trucks because we never sell anything any bigger than a 2500." I aked her,"You mean if I lived in Wren and came in wanting to buy a new 1-ton Chevy pu that you would refuse to sell it to me?",and she said,"Yeah.". Amazing!
I stopped at the NAPA store on the way out of Wren and bought a 1,000 CCA jumper battery pack for $85 so that I will be able to start the motorhome again if I have to cut it off for any reason. No big deal,since I consider these things a essential option for a motorhome that runs off batteries. It's just a good thing to have. I just wish I had been able to get to a discount store and bought one of the $35 ones.
The 4-lane road was practically empty,and since Augusta was the next town I came to,it wasn't that bad driving there because I went slow. Stopped at the first motel I found and got a room because it was after 5 PM by this time,and everybody was closed. Got up the next morning and called around maybe 8 or 9 places before I found anybody who would agree to work on it before the following week. Some just refused,including the Chevy dealer who also sold motor homes. He said they only do house work,not mechanical repairs. Can you believe that crap?
Anyhow,I found a garage in a northern suburb of Augusta who told me,"If you get it here today I will start to work on it today.",so I called the Good Sam Travel Help 800 number for a tow. This was at about 9:30 AM Thursday morning. I told them I had found a guy in north Augusta who would work on it today and that I wanted it towed there. They told me they only tow to the closest repair facility,and that any tow beyond that point was up to me. It ended up that they had me towed to this guys shop anyhow because nobody under contract to the Good Sam Club was willing to tow it that morning because it was raining and they said they were all too busy. Good Sam ended up calling the guy who said he would work on it (I had given them his name and number) to see if he knew anybody who would tow it,and he gave them the number of a guy close by who agreed to do it. This meant that he was the closest repair facility to the tow company. I found this out at 11:30 AM when I called Good Sam back and asked them where the tow truck was. Even then,this guy didn't show up until around 1 PM,and he was so stupid it took him a hour and a half to figure out that if he didn't have the right size wrench he couldn't take the drive shaft off. He kept trying different 13mm,1/2,and 5/8ths wrenches when he needed and didn't have a 9/16th wrench. He would get out from under my MH,go to his truck,and get a different 13mm or other wrench and climb under it again,to once again be amazed that it didn't fit any better than the other 13mm wrench he had been trying.
He finally gets me hooked up with the driveshaft still in it and the motor running in neutral,and gets me to the repair shop at about 3PM or so. Too late to work on it Thursday,but at least they get to look at it,figure out what it needed,and order the parts so they could work on it Friday. These are nice people,and they even give me a ride to a motel and then picked me up the next day when my MH was ready. They had it ready for me Friday afternoon,and I get out of Augusta at about 5:30 PM. They did good work and they did what they said they would do. I can't recommend them too highly. I get no money or anything else from recommending them. I am just putting this out here in case any of you who travel through Augusta ever need any repairs. You know that this guy won't jerk you around,do inferior work,or rip you off doing unneccessary repairs.
Quality Car Center
4293 Triangle Industrial Drive
706-651-8631
The next 500 miles went smoothly,and the MH is sitting out in my yard right now while I try to figure out what is wrong with the wiring.
454 Chevy with carb
Went to pick up my first motorhome in Georgia last Wednesday.I bought it from EBay,and the agreement was the guy was going to have the oil and filters in the engine and tranny replaced,the MH greased,oil in rear checked,brakes checked,etc,etc,etc in order for it to be ready for the 600+ mile trip home,and I would pay him when I got there. When I get there and asked him about it,he tells me he didn't have time,"but everything is ok". I get in it to check it out,and the first thing I spot is the brake light in the center of the dash shining at me. Brakes feel spongly but stop it ok,so I figured they just needed to be bled. I was wrong. I discovered this going into a town called Wren,Georgia when I was barely able to stop at the red light. They had worked fine for the 100 miles,and the light had even gone out.
Here is where the adventure begins. As I am stopped at the red light,I see a Goodyear tire store across the intersection. I was under the impression they do brake work,so I pulled off over there to get them to fix the brakes. I was told,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on cars and trucks. You need to take it to the diesel truck repair shop about 200 yards behind us." No matter how many times I told them that brakes were brakes and that it had the same brakes as a Chevrolet big truck,they just wouldn't listen. I go back out to drive over to the diesel truck shop,and my MH won't start. Battery is weak from bad wiring. Go back inside the Goodyear tire store and ask for a jumpstart,and they refuse. "We don't work on stuff like that". They tell me to walk to the diesel shop for a jump,even after I explain to them that I am handicapped and have trouble walking. The guy just shrugged and walked away.
I walk to the diesel shop,and the guy there tells me,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on diesel trucks." He agress that "brakes are brakes",but says he doesn't care because he still won't work on it,"and even if I did agree to work on it,it would be the middle of next week before I could even get started." He was nice enough to take his pu and give me a ride back to the MH and jump start it for free. He also told me my best bet was to drive it to Augusta,Georgia because that was the closest place to get it fixed. He said,"It's only about 30 miles."
I head out of town and spot the Chevy dealer. I thought I really had it made then,but was wrong once again. The service manager told me,"We don't work on stuff that big,and don't even know HOW to get parts for it!" I reminded her that it was a Chevrolet,and that Chevrolet had plenty of parts at the same phone number she called to order parts for other Chevies,and then she told me,"We don't even have the books to order parts for 1-ton Chevy trucks because we never sell anything any bigger than a 2500." I aked her,"You mean if I lived in Wren and came in wanting to buy a new 1-ton Chevy pu that you would refuse to sell it to me?",and she said,"Yeah.". Amazing!
I stopped at the NAPA store on the way out of Wren and bought a 1,000 CCA jumper battery pack for $85 so that I will be able to start the motorhome again if I have to cut it off for any reason. No big deal,since I consider these things a essential option for a motorhome that runs off batteries. It's just a good thing to have. I just wish I had been able to get to a discount store and bought one of the $35 ones.
The 4-lane road was practically empty,and since Augusta was the next town I came to,it wasn't that bad driving there because I went slow. Stopped at the first motel I found and got a room because it was after 5 PM by this time,and everybody was closed. Got up the next morning and called around maybe 8 or 9 places before I found anybody who would agree to work on it before the following week. Some just refused,including the Chevy dealer who also sold motor homes. He said they only do house work,not mechanical repairs. Can you believe that crap?
Anyhow,I found a garage in a northern suburb of Augusta who told me,"If you get it here today I will start to work on it today.",so I called the Good Sam Travel Help 800 number for a tow. This was at about 9:30 AM Thursday morning. I told them I had found a guy in north Augusta who would work on it today and that I wanted it towed there. They told me they only tow to the closest repair facility,and that any tow beyond that point was up to me. It ended up that they had me towed to this guys shop anyhow because nobody under contract to the Good Sam Club was willing to tow it that morning because it was raining and they said they were all too busy. Good Sam ended up calling the guy who said he would work on it (I had given them his name and number) to see if he knew anybody who would tow it,and he gave them the number of a guy close by who agreed to do it. This meant that he was the closest repair facility to the tow company. I found this out at 11:30 AM when I called Good Sam back and asked them where the tow truck was. Even then,this guy didn't show up until around 1 PM,and he was so stupid it took him a hour and a half to figure out that if he didn't have the right size wrench he couldn't take the drive shaft off. He kept trying different 13mm,1/2,and 5/8ths wrenches when he needed and didn't have a 9/16th wrench. He would get out from under my MH,go to his truck,and get a different 13mm or other wrench and climb under it again,to once again be amazed that it didn't fit any better than the other 13mm wrench he had been trying.
He finally gets me hooked up with the driveshaft still in it and the motor running in neutral,and gets me to the repair shop at about 3PM or so. Too late to work on it Thursday,but at least they get to look at it,figure out what it needed,and order the parts so they could work on it Friday. These are nice people,and they even give me a ride to a motel and then picked me up the next day when my MH was ready. They had it ready for me Friday afternoon,and I get out of Augusta at about 5:30 PM. They did good work and they did what they said they would do. I can't recommend them too highly. I get no money or anything else from recommending them. I am just putting this out here in case any of you who travel through Augusta ever need any repairs. You know that this guy won't jerk you around,do inferior work,or rip you off doing unneccessary repairs.
Quality Car Center
4293 Triangle Industrial Drive
706-651-8631
The next 500 miles went smoothly,and the MH is sitting out in my yard right now while I try to figure out what is wrong with the wiring.
