Velocity Not Working on Older Freightliner Chassis

[Kevin Means]

We developed an air leak in our 2011 Winnie Tour's air system the other day (Freightliner chassis) that was bad enough to cause me some concern, so I contacted Velocity Truck Center in Tucson and tried to schedule a service appointment. Velocity centers are independently owned and operated and have serviced Freightliner chassis for years. This time, however, the service rep said they are no longer working on RVs that are more than 10 years old, even if they have a Freightliner chassis, and he said it was because they were having difficulty getting parts for them.

I thought that was a bit odd, and I think it's more likely that they are just swamped with semi truck business, but who knows. I called Freightliner in Gaffney and they confirmed that they are seeing more and more of this throughout the country. He seemed somewhat embarrassed about it and a bit miffed when I told him that it was, supposedly, due to parts unavailability. He didn't believe that either.

Kind of caught me off guard, but it is what it is. I found another facility in Tucson that was happy to have the business, so I'll be taking it there. I just thought others would like to know about this.

Kev

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Maybe there are some unobtanium parts but it seems surprising that would be stated up front before the work even started. Business must be good if you can turn customers away before they even get there.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn the root cause is staffing. In the supply/demand model though the answer would be to charge more, not send you away so it would be interesting to know just what is driving this shop policy. I know in any service industry I've worked in if it wasn't warranty it was time and materials, and we can do whatever you can afford.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[John From Detroit]

Air leaks in the brake/suspension systems on any vehicle that uses compressed air.. Not a lot of parts change much (Tee compressor, valves and "Servos" (The part that operates the brakes may change. Air bags don't change much. But the leak is likely a tank or a line. (or an O-Ring)

Let us know what the shop finds please.

 

[95f5334j]

I just had Velocity change out the water pump tensioner and a flex pipe after the turbo on my '07 Cat C7 two days ago. There was never any mention of not wanting to work on my 17 year old coach, nor their inability to source parts. The starter relay was in stock and the tensioner & exhaust flex pipe were delivered that afternoon.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Business must be good if you can turn customers away before they even get there.

I think that's the bottom line. Most competent repair centers have a backlog of work and can afford to turn away jobs that might end up being problematic. Motorhomes fit that description and aren't their bread & butter business anyway, so limiting the number of motorhomes they work on is an OK thing.

 

[Kevin Means]

To answer your question John... We just got the coach back and the culprit turned out to be a failing dump valve that interacts with the HWH jack system. When the jacks are lowered, the first thing that happens is the air system dumps. When the jacks are retracted, the air system raises the coach to the correct ride height. The dump valve that interacts with the jacks was, apparently, leaking badly. I could hear it after parking the coach.

Everything was fine while driving, because the higher engine RPM kept the air pressure up high enough to keep up with the leak. In stop and go traffic, however, it got dicey, because the air brakes and air suspension sapped so much of the air pressure that the tank pressures went below 60 psi, which set off the alarm.

It took quite some time for them to locate the source of the leak, and getting to it was problematic, as it was somewhere under the floorboard of the driver's seat.

Kev

 

[SargeW]

I have never been impressed with Freightliner shops outside of Gaffney. I visited a Velocity shop in Kingman in 2021. I needed an alignment, which they did do (but struggled with it) and were supposed to check an axle flange gasket on the right rear wheel that was leaking oil. It's my common practice to simply any repair job as much as possible for the tech in hopes that they will address the issue easier and with less effort.

So when I dropped the rig off I had removed the wheel hub cap so the rear axle flange was exposed. Nothing to do before removing axle bolts.

When I got the call to pick it up on a Friday afternoon, the tech was gone, but the service cashier was holding the paperwork. The charge was around $800 as I recall. I was a bit surprised, but paid it and headed out. Thinking that the whole job had been done, I didn't carefully go over the paperwork until later that night. I found in the notes that the tech had "inspected" the wheel flange and there was no leak, so he did nothing. Then I noted an "inspection fee" of about $90 for "looking" at the flange. There was no cover! The inspection would have consisted of looking down.

I called up and complained, and caught the shop just before they closed. I told the service cashier that the charge was bogus, and that the tech had done nothing. She assure that the manager would have to call me personally as Velocity has a policy of "no refunds" for complaints. When I didn't hear from them the next few days, and after a few more repeat calls, I went on line with my credit card company and contested a portion of the bill that I was charged for, and fully explained the reason in my complaint.

A few days later I checked my credit card statement and there was a credit from Velocity for the contested amount. I never heard a peep from the shop. Needless to say I never darkened their doorway again.

BTW, when I drove home the 70 miles from the repair shop and parked the MH in the driveway, I came out the next morning and observed an oil leak from the flange gasket on the wheel they supposedly "inspected" . But after their stellar service, I sourced the flange gasket myself for $10 and did the repair myself in the driveway in a couple of hours.

 

[A Traveler]

For those of you who live in the Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania area, Fyda Freightliner will work on all Freightliner chassis. They are an Oasis dealer and all their locations are “Elite Support” certified.

I recently had them do a substantial amount of work on my 2006 Mandalay. I got good service and the work was done to my satisfaction. They are a bit expensive ($240 per hour on motor home labor) but you get what you pay for.