Helping Waterloo out with an inframe ...

[Waterloo]

(04-29-2018 )overshot Wrote:  WOW, that's sad Waterloo. I followed your 1st inframe. And thought, this poor guy. I'm glad Rawze and Mr. Hagg are helping you out. They are great!!

Last year i had to do an inframe on my Pete. I couldn't get to Mr. Hagg to get it done. So, a friend recommended a shop (not a stealershit) he uses. Which was closer to home, anyway. I went and talked to the shop owner. He answered all the questions, with all the right answers. So, i let them do the work. I told them what I wanted and how i wanted done (as i had learned on this forum & from Mr. Hagg & Rawze). No problem, I was told. So, I went home for a little R & R.

Being the anxious person that I am. I couldn't just stay at home. So, back to the shop I went. For the lack of a better title "the shop hand" was reassembling the engine. So, I started asking questions about what was done and how it was done. I was not exactly comforted by the responses.

In the end I just felt uneasy and worried is this thing gonna last. I didn't want to go through what you are now. Plus, i was just plain tired of spending money on this truck. OK Rawze go ahead and kick me in the arse. I went and bought a Freightliner Columbia S60 glider (not a Fitzgerald). Although I haven't had the maintenance cost as i did with cummins. I'm not jumping for joy. Fuel mileage SUCKS. With a Unilever tune it pulls dang good, but no better fuel mileage.

Anywho, I wish you luck and prosperity.

Thanks Overshot.

I don't blame you one bit for going with a new glider. If I was doing this again, I would look for an old Freightliner with a Series 60 or N-14 and go make some money. The cash outlay to own one of these EPA trucks is honestly beyond the pale, and it is easy to understand how they have bankrupted many an owner operator.

What do we do? Your shop, everything sounds good, until you see the finished product like I have. They say, we will do this and that, and come to find out they did not even get close to even what the manual says to reassemble. So many missed steps in my motor, parts that were reinstalled that should have went in the scrap can, lube and fastener procedures not even close to being followed from the evidence in front of our eyes. Hell, they put the wrong parts in the damn motor for Christ's sake!

Are there any shops out here doing this honestly simple work? When I say simple, it is all right there on Quickserve, with pictures none the less. These are mechanics, I don't drive on the sidewalk, why cannot they follow a few simple procedures to properly reassemble a motor? That is their JOB! This is not rocket science!

And when I say this is a simple procedure, I bet I could pull this off after my time with Rawze. Don't get me wrong, I am not running home and putting out a shingle saying come visit Mike the master engine builder, far from it. But, my confidence level is such that I could do this if I was in this position again. I truly believe that.

What pisses me off, going back to these shops and stealerships, is why do we have to stand there and tell them how to do THEIR jobs? None of us here on this forum need someone in the jump seat holding our hand every minute we go down the road, but apparently these shops do. Pretty sad commentary that there are only a few places in this entire country where it is safe to take a Cummins motor to have it rebuilt, any motor for that matter.

The only saving grace are men like Rawze, who have taken the time to figure these monstrosities out. Let's hope others come along. Or maybe one day some of us can get together and open a few shops around the country like Mr Haggs, where best practices are followed and the work is completed properly, per the book. If I had the money, I would certainly be looking in that direction. We need reliable shops and or at least advocates to do these jobs properly. I know I am getting sick and tired of being a full time mechanic, a mechanic that does not receive a paycheck. Hopefully by next week we will have this baby rolling down the road and me heading back to work. Thanks for all of the support! ;-)