A repair facility worth remembering

[docj]

It's a long story as to how we came to be in Elkhart IN needing a number of significant repairs, but in the process of getting repaired I've had the occasion to interact with the technicians and management of a truck repair and maintenance facility that I believe is significantly outside the norm. What I find truly unique about their approach is that they aren't satisfied just to replace broken parts, they actually want to understand the failure mode to make sure that the root cause of a problem is identified. That attitude isn't all that unusual in science, but it sure is in auto mechanics, in my experience.

 

The particular situation that brought this to light was the failure of the air chamber/actuator for my MH's driveline-mounted parking brake. This was the second such failure in 3 years which was unusual, but the logical assumption was that the item was simply defective. But, in the process of installing the replacement actuator the technician noticed that the caliper wasn't responding properly. So far nothing was all that out of the norm, but when the tech called in the assistance of the shop foreman he began to dig into the issue and was quickly able to demonstrate that the caliper was exhibiting behaviors that would account for the dragging brake and rapid pad wear that the MH had exhibited for years without any repair facility having found a cause. Furthermore, once we had ordered a replacement caliper, he tore into the old one and soon discovered that there was an internal defect (broken part) that probably had existed since its manufacture, a defect that allowed the caliper to "sort of" operate, well enough not to seem broken, but, in fact, all the while it was seriously flawed. That flaw in the caliper resulted in the failure of the two actuators and the excessive pad wear.

 

It was this interest in "running things to ground" to find the root cause of a problem that I considered rather unique in my interactions with automotive repair facilities. I've dealt with good shops, but even they seemed content to identify broken stuff and replace it. Being interested in "what caused the problem" is simply not common in that business IMO.

 

FWIW, these folks have made a believer out of me. We're still sitting in Elkhart waiting for parts to fly in, but I'm confident that the repairs will end up well. If you're ever in the "heartland" and need service, I highly recommend Zolman Fleet Services, 2356 North Home Street, Mishawaka, IN. Zolman has lots of locations, but this is the only truck service facility. And, BTW they are a truck facility that doesn't see working on motorhomes as a nuisance.

 

 

[Kirk W]

Always nice to hear a story that has a happy ending! Thanks for sharing.

[TCW]

I suggest that you post on RV Service Reviews as not every RVer reads this forum, the search function of the forum is not all that great and the forum archive does not last all that long.

[Smitty77_7]

It really is a pleasure when you find a shop with staff that are more interested in getting it right, then getting the check:)!

 

Thanks for sharing this, we'll be in Indiana the end of May fro the 100th Indy 500. Will review our current maintenance schedule, and if anything is in need of service, we'll divert over and visit the shop...

 

Hope the rest of the repairs go well, and the new seats fit well too (Yeah, another shop...),

Smitty

[StarDreamers.us]

Thanks for the post and information on RV Services.

 

Safe Travels!

[docj]

It really is a pleasure when you find a shop with staff that are more interested in getting it right, then getting the check:)!

 

Thanks for sharing this, we'll be in Indiana the end of May fro the 100th Indy 500. Will review our current maintenance schedule, and if anything is in need of service, we'll divert over and visit the shop...

 

Hope the rest of the repairs go well, and the new seats fit well too (Yeah, another shop...),

Smitty

 

If you do go there, ask for Allen. He's an extremely competent "ticket writer" who had been a technician for many years so he knows how to interpret your comments and write them so the techs actually understand what they need to fix.

 

As for the new seats, they are very nice even though we have only driven a few miles in them. Bradd and Hall, where they were purchased, is a class act and I highly recommend them

[oscarvan]

We live in the greatest of times and the worst of times.

 

I'll be in that very city of Elkhart Indiana to have Heartland fix what should have been done right in the first place. (Frame flex on my Cyclone). Hopefully I won't also need a truck repair facility.

[docj]

I wrote the original post before getting the bill for four days of work and lots of parts. It isn't often that a bill comes in significantly what I expected, but this one did by quite a bit. Not only does the shop have an hourly rate of $95 (low by today's standards), I gather it has a sort of a "book rate" system in which technicians get a specific number of hours for tasks regardless of the number of hours actually spent (unless, of course, there are significant complications). The net result was that I drove away in a better mood than expected. Yet another reason to come back here for future service.

[sandsys]

I gather it has a sort of a "book rate" system in which technicians get a specific number of hours for tasks regardless of the number of hours actually spent (unless, of course, there are significant complications).

When I was bookkeeper for an auto body shop they used that book rate system. A side effect is each part of the job tends to go to the most qualified person to do it as they take less time thus the shop gets to keep more of the money.

 

Linda Sand

[docj]

When I was bookkeeper for an auto body shop they used that book rate system. A side effect is each part of the job tends to go to the most qualified person to do it as they take less time thus the shop gets to keep more of the money.

 

Linda Sand

 

That doesn't appear to be how this shop works since one technician did all of our work, but I gathered that he and management must have had to agree on the number of hours a task should take. The tech was an older individual and I admit to being a bit concerned about the speed at which he worked, but when I read through the invoice there are labor charges for only 13 hours despite the fact that the MH occupied a garage bay for more than 3.5 days and I observed what appeared to be continuous work on it for more than 13 hours.

[rdickinson]

I agree with the concept of running the problem to ground. It is fine to replace parts but the question is, what caused it to fail. My Trailersaver hitch replacement and its replacement as well. The same goes to why my generator, why won't it start. I know a fuse needs replacing but why did it blow in the first place.

 

Find the symptom when it is in the early stages rather when it explodes into a full blown problem causing massive damage. My 730 injector harness also comes to mind.

 

I have a firm in Melbourne to add to the Resource guide as well. They were recommended by Charlie and Randy.