LXi and WideBody PTO/Pump Splines

[al perna]

this was a upgrade I felt needed to avoid a possible issue one day . In my ownership of 3 BB, and 1 Prevost over the past 28 years, I felt eliminating grief was as important to me, and my wife who must be the sounding board for my rants .
In the 3 plus years and 125k miles of our stewardship, we have changed oil, and lubed her aprox every 6k miles or so . I also try to upgrade as I go along any potential items which may fail in the near future. I did not always approach my ownership in this manor , In fact I was one of those , " if it aint broke , don t fix it " kind of guys . Over the past 2 years, I have had my fair share of issues that with the assistance of David , Jim , Ed , Randy and many other members of WaGu & WOG , I would not even own a BB today . Do your research over there and here , and you can read up on all the upgrades and issues I have dealt with .
if you think there is any coach out there that one day you will not be having work done , then it must be the one that is parked and never used, for I assure you if you use it, it will need upgrades and improvements , its just the nature of a home on wheels .
Now as to my coach , I bought her from a man who loved her and spared no expense to make her as perfect as he could in his stewardship of her . She was represented accurately, and I was very pleased with my purchase . In fact, it would be over a year before I would face my first issue . In hind sight , I wish I would have been more like David , Chuck and many others who take the time to do the preventative maintenance, and system upgrades these fine machines deserve and need . But in the end, I did do what was needed , I only wish they would have been done when I wanted to ,and not due to a brake down on the road . and trust me, all the foresight in the world is no guarantee you wont brake down .
Now as to my issue with a potential buyer of our coach , all I can say is I don't sell coaches for a living , and in no way was I looking to make money, or unload a bad coach . I felt the post came across in a manor in which what I had said in private with multiple tex and on the phone was not trusted . I therefore felt it best to no longer continue with the sale , for both our good .
I would add that no mater how perfect a coach is when you buy her , in no way did you buy a new coach with a warrantee , cause as we all know, even a new coach can, and will brake down so if braking down is not something you can handle, then owning a motorhome just may not be for you .

let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions I failed to answer , but for now my 2 fingers are sore and I need to stop typing

[davidbrady]

Beautifully written Al, thanks!

All I can add is that there's something else to keep in mind about Wanderlodges, and this is very apparent after owning a Prevost. If you're at all mechanically inclined, Wanderlodges are very accessible meaning that a decent shadetree mechanic can do a lot on these buses. You don't need an abundance of specialty tools, the built-in HWH jacks are great for lifting the bus, there are no exotic or proprietary house electronics, the chassis is largely off the shelf class 8 stuff. You can do a lot in keeping costs down by doing as much work as you can on your own, and wanderlodge made it easy. For instance, I did my entire CAC and Radiator replacement on my own, by myself (solo), with a motorcycle lift I bought from Harbor Freight. Wanderlodges lend themselves to being worked on by the average mechanic. So roll up your sleeves and keep your costs down! And, if you need help, we're here to walk you through!

BTW, never, never, ever, crawl underneath one unless it's supported by cribbing or jackstands rated for the purpose; don't ever trust your HWH jacks, they're not made for this purpose. Always support the bus! Always! If you take shortcuts you're risking your life. They are very unforgiving in this way.

[mikebulriss]

I will echo David's sentiment: Well stated Al.

Not having seen the thread, I have no idea what your prospective buyer was talking about, but even brand new RVs are back in the dealers with broken or non-working systems after their first trip. Heck, we had a friend with a brand new sob rv "bus" not even make it home from the dealer because the diesel engine blew up on it on the way home!

I would agree that if you're not somewhat handy, or expect perfection, then maybe you should reconsider your purchase, because there is no such thing as a perfect RV that will never break. Or else have Coach Net on speed dial and a large line on your credit card. Also, on RVs like a Wanderlodge with so many options on them, there are features and systems that I have literally never used in my current bus (spotlight, satellite dish, docking lights, garbage disposal come to mind), or have used only once or twice in 10 years (heaters), so they may or may not work. On the other hand, I know that I can go over to the shop, back out and go to either coast without even thinking twice about it. To me, the stuff you use everyday to get you safely down the road is what counts. That stuff is the important stuff to worry about.

I once read that the average house weighs 40,000 pounds if you add up all the lumber, nails, appliances, foundation, etc. Hmmm, about the same weight as a Wanderlodge. I don't think the average house would fare well bouncing down the roads at 70mph.

FWIW

[cmillsap]

In a truthful and honest fashion, Al was making every effort to inform the buyer of what he felt would be the probable repairs and upgrades that should be done at some time in the future by the new owner. Any Wanderlodge of a similar vintage and average miles will need to have the PTO upgraded at some point.

I am not privy to the details of the deal but knowing Al Perna, I would bet that he has offered his bus to the buyer at a price level that took into consideration the needed repairs. If the buyer is handy, he could really save a lot by fixing some of the issues himself and end up owning a slide equipped LXi at a very reasonable cost.

[halkading]

Update on our 2003 LX 40 PTO/Pump spline check (56,000 miles). Thanks David! Spline on pump was down to knife edge. I wouldn't trust it to go another 50 miles. Pump has been converted to 1" male spline. Very easy to do. Now converting PTO to 1" wet spline - not so easy. Will provide detailed pictures etc. when complete. Thought I should make everyone aware pump is easy to convert as conversion parts are in stock at factory but new pump is 8 week delivery.

Question on 267 series PTO, does anyone have conversion instructions? Bearing pre-load information is needed along with torque specs for assembly cap screws.

Hal Kading 2003 LX 40 Las Cruces NM

[davidbrady]

Hal,

There's some specs in the attached document, page 16.