Has anyone done the Spartan or Freightliner Academy?
On the advice of my Newmar sales rep, I signed up for the Spartan Academy the first week of August and wanted to know if any of you had already done it or the Freightliner Academy which I would imagine would be similar. The course is a week long and looking at the items covered it doesn't seem as if it would take that long. Here's what they say on the web site, further insights would be appreciated:
• Personal on-the-road drive time with a certified instructor
• Driver Course consisting of driver hazard awareness, basic driver guidelines, hazard avoidance, control and recovery and the driver’s role
• Weighing your RV and adjusting tire pressures accordingly
• Personal walk-around and inspection of your coach with a qualified Spartan Chassis Technician
• Chassis Maintenance
• Spartan Aftermarket Parts
• Chassis Air Systems
• Spartan & OEM Integration
• Spartan Customer First/Warranty information
• Chassis Suspensions
• Chassis Electrical
• Chassis Troubleshooting
• Factory tour
Update on Edit: I took the class on the week of August 3rd and loved it. It's held in Charlotte, MI at Spartan's headquarters in a nice training room. They brought in a stripped chassis to the classroom and there is a pit under the chassis. Several times during the class, we walked around the chassis and the instructors pointed out several things.
Monday's class covered recommended service intervals, chassis air systems, a plant tour, and a walk-around of our coaches with a qualified service technician. The walk around was extremely useful. They took us to the service center where we had complete access to our coaches including walking underneath them in a pit. The techs pointed out every important system on our chassis and explained what it was for and how often to maintain it.
On Tuesday, we covered the suspension, electrical, engines and troubleshooting. Spartan has several interactive displays available in the classroom of most of the major components of the chassis. The best display is a complete working air brake system mounted on a piece of plywood and powered by a compressor.
Wednesday's class was dedicated to driving skills. We had classroom training in the morning and on-the-road training in the afternoon.
Thursday's class was split between on-the-road driving lessons and a wonderful seminar on brakes and tires. During the seminar, Spartan's brake and tire expert pulled out our individual weight slips for our coaches and explained to us exactly how to determine our starting tire pressures and why they are important. Mine turned out to be 20 PSI over in the tags and 10 PSI over on the steer axle.
Friday was open for those who didn't complete their road lessons.
Three other things were significant during the week. 1) Every coach in the class was brought into the service area and everyone had their yearly maintenance done plus any other repairs needed. Some people spent over $10,000 on very needed maintenance. The basic yearly maintenance on my coach was about $1,600. One couple arrived with a 20 year old coach that they got a great deal on but it needed some TLC. By the time they left, they were $10,000 poorer, but their coach chassis was in terrific shape with all components maintained and in good working condition.
2) The food was terrific. Spartan provided breakfast and lunch every day and even provided dinner on Monday and Tuesday.
3) Spartan listed all of the major components for each of our individual coaches and exactly what filters and belts we needed for each. Now we each know exactly what parts we need to keep onboard and when to do the maintenance for each component. This was customized for every individual coach.
Overall, I'd say the class was well worth the money and I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from my time there. I also had a great time meeting the other students.
• Personal on-the-road drive time with a certified instructor
• Driver Course consisting of driver hazard awareness, basic driver guidelines, hazard avoidance, control and recovery and the driver’s role
• Weighing your RV and adjusting tire pressures accordingly
• Personal walk-around and inspection of your coach with a qualified Spartan Chassis Technician
• Chassis Maintenance
• Spartan Aftermarket Parts
• Chassis Air Systems
• Spartan & OEM Integration
• Spartan Customer First/Warranty information
• Chassis Suspensions
• Chassis Electrical
• Chassis Troubleshooting
• Factory tour
Update on Edit: I took the class on the week of August 3rd and loved it. It's held in Charlotte, MI at Spartan's headquarters in a nice training room. They brought in a stripped chassis to the classroom and there is a pit under the chassis. Several times during the class, we walked around the chassis and the instructors pointed out several things.
Monday's class covered recommended service intervals, chassis air systems, a plant tour, and a walk-around of our coaches with a qualified service technician. The walk around was extremely useful. They took us to the service center where we had complete access to our coaches including walking underneath them in a pit. The techs pointed out every important system on our chassis and explained what it was for and how often to maintain it.
On Tuesday, we covered the suspension, electrical, engines and troubleshooting. Spartan has several interactive displays available in the classroom of most of the major components of the chassis. The best display is a complete working air brake system mounted on a piece of plywood and powered by a compressor.
Wednesday's class was dedicated to driving skills. We had classroom training in the morning and on-the-road training in the afternoon.
Thursday's class was split between on-the-road driving lessons and a wonderful seminar on brakes and tires. During the seminar, Spartan's brake and tire expert pulled out our individual weight slips for our coaches and explained to us exactly how to determine our starting tire pressures and why they are important. Mine turned out to be 20 PSI over in the tags and 10 PSI over on the steer axle.
Friday was open for those who didn't complete their road lessons.
Three other things were significant during the week. 1) Every coach in the class was brought into the service area and everyone had their yearly maintenance done plus any other repairs needed. Some people spent over $10,000 on very needed maintenance. The basic yearly maintenance on my coach was about $1,600. One couple arrived with a 20 year old coach that they got a great deal on but it needed some TLC. By the time they left, they were $10,000 poorer, but their coach chassis was in terrific shape with all components maintained and in good working condition.
2) The food was terrific. Spartan provided breakfast and lunch every day and even provided dinner on Monday and Tuesday.
3) Spartan listed all of the major components for each of our individual coaches and exactly what filters and belts we needed for each. Now we each know exactly what parts we need to keep onboard and when to do the maintenance for each component. This was customized for every individual coach.
Overall, I'd say the class was well worth the money and I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from my time there. I also had a great time meeting the other students.
