Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 09, 2025 ...

Re: Part Numbers

Reply #25 – September 20, 2018, 04:33:47 pm

That bracket it to stabilize/limit movement due to vibration of that pipe.

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #26 – September 20, 2018, 08:15:01 pm

There are some hydrocarbon based refrigerants that can replace R-12 and are actually more efficient.

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #27 – October 08, 2018, 04:16:41 pm

So the latest update...

Had the AC Compressor replaced but to wait a couple of days for a replacement AC hose. Finally, Dash Air now working and cold.

While waiting for the AC hose, we left the V belt off of the compressor (per Brett's suggestion) to see if the screeching noise happened. Everything sounded pretty good on the drive back to the campground (~60 miles) but the squealing started up as we were about halfway through backing into our site. Was able to get a recording of it.

Let the repair shop listen to the recording and as a result they changed the serpentine belt and cleaned the pulleys. She sounded good at the shop even refusing to squeal when trying to duplicate "backing up" situation.  Of course today no noise when leaving the campground in Angola, IN. Got to our site in Shipshewana, shut her down, restarted to pull a little further forward and our old familiar squeal was back. It's so intermittent that we've pretty much given up on finding it for now. We are scheduled to be at MOT on Oct 31 and we'll let them finish tracking it down.

Coolant problems have been fixed and we ended up just using a Gates replacement radiator hose (see picture) with a with a high pressure clamp on one end.

Bottom line report, except for the occasional squeal, she's running great.

Work was done by N&J Auto-Diesel Repair in Gaylord, MI. Overall impression, Roadside Assistance charges were ridiculous (that's another story); at $100/hr, we felt in shop charges were reasonable (but watch the number of hours charged as they tried to charge us for 2 hours labor while were were sitting in their parking lot waiting for service); Bruce, our technician, was outstanding. Make sure he's the one to work on you coach.

Once again, thanks to all of you for your help.

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #28 – October 08, 2018, 04:51:38 pm

Most quality shops are 100$ per hr.

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #29 – October 08, 2018, 05:56:59 pm

Yep, no problem with the $100/hr, in fact given Bruce's work, would have been OK with a little more.

Big problem was the Roadside call. This may be standard practice but it caught us a little off guard. So the charges were:

$100: Service Call
$124: Mileage ($1.00/mile - 62 miles each way)
$250: Drive Time / Diagnose Motorhome (Assumes 1 hour each way plus 1/2 hour diagnosing the problem)

Now the issue: The owner was one of two fellows in the truck. He told us they had just come from another call about 10 miles north of us off of I-75 (their shop is located off I-75, 62 miles to the south of our campground) and got to us on their way back. Our guess is that the other call likely had to pay $144 mileage (72 miles each way) plus at least $200 for the time spent driving.

So it would seem that between the two calls they were able double charge for mileage and time driving. This includes being charged for 62 miles and 1 hr time to get to our campground when they were only 10 miles and 15 minutes away at most. However, like I said it, this may be standard practice so we didn't complain (especially given the quality of Bruce's work).

Just though it might be worth sharing as a lesson learned.

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #30 – October 08, 2018, 07:04:39 pm

My wife told me one time after I had an air leak on a 3day weekend to suck it up and pay the premium or sell the motorhome and stop complaining.. She was and usually is right.. $350.00 for an air valve but we had a great weekend with the kids and I didnt get killed trying to change it out and I still had the skin on my knuckles

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Re: Part Numbers

Reply #31 – October 08, 2018, 07:30:37 pm

Those charges can be quite common. When I did the roadside work I never saw the bills from the peterbilt dealer I worked for but I know it varied greatly on who was calling. Of course they know that they only have to be cheaper than a tow for you to be willing to pay. I was an apprentice at the time but the attitude there was that there was no better way to learn (there was alot of phone calls back to get advice) and then they weren't losing a guy off the floor in front of the customer. I learned alot at people who had no choices expense.

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