recall

[Macy Neshati]

Jerry,
thanks for the positive post on the generator move.

Regarding
the question raised by David Brady about the changes being made to their
coaches I will take the liberty of attempting to clarify what is going on.

First
very importantly as the current owners of the Blue Bird Wanderlodge and Blue
Bird Coachworks this is NOT and I repeat NOT our recall, these units were built
and shipped by the previous owners of the company and it is their recall and
their responsibility to design and recommend fixes.

We
have strived to be an advocate for our owners, make sure the recall is handled
quickly and to facilitate the repairs.

There
are some mandatory elements to the fix which are new tires installed, and
properly pressurized to 130 PSI, an alignment done and new tie rod ends
installed which revises the rating of the whole front end to a 17,000 capacity,
also a new Hadley computer module is installed to help the air ride system do a
better job of load distribution between all three axles. Once these changes are
done we have found several coaches that are comfortably below the 17,000 front
limit allowing for passengers and cargo, and those units are being returned to
the open road.

For
the units that are still close to the 17,000 limit there are some choices the
owners need to make to help get their units in line. The original program from
Blue Bird Body Company was to work with Arvin Meritor to develop an 18,000
front suspension but that will take a year to accomplish, so we looked at our
2009 which we had already decided would have the generator mounted in the third
bay on production units for the benefits of less vibration and quieter
operation and found that we had also saved about 1000 pounds off the front axle
so we went in and modified the last LXI our 2008 450 LXI and found the same
benefits 1000 pounds lighter front axle, quieter operation and less vibration.

This
is a great alternative to waiting a year for a new front axle, not being able
to operate the motor home or having to operate it very lightly loaded.

The
owners that have seen and heard this unit run have been very impressed.

As
we have stated on many occasions including this forum, we want to help preserve
and enhance owner value and enjoyment of their Wanderlodges and while we aren’t
perfect and while this situation isn’t of our making, we are doing what
we can to help minimize owner impact and return these units back to service as
quickly but most importantly, safely as possible. But ultimately, beyond the
mandatory elements of the fix which I described earlier, these changes are
choices the owners will need to make.

Our
THANKS to all the owners for their patience and support as we work through
this.

Macy

Macy Neshati

www. completecoach.com http://www.bluebirdcoachworks.com

email: macy@...

Cell: 951 836 6525 Office: 951 684 9585 Fax: 951 684 2023

1863 Service Court

Riverside, CA 92507

[David Brady]

Thanks Macy,



I think it's awesome that Coachworks is able to provide support

to the owners of the 450LXi regarding this important recall. Not

only are you providing a service to BlueBird Corporation, enabling

them to timely complete the recall, but you are also providing

engineering expertise and fresh ideas on how to safely get these

coaches back on the road. While moving the generator seems

simple in concept, the actual procedure is anything but - requiring

much rework to wiring, plumbing, and cooling, in addition to an
intimate

understanding of physical design issues such as vibration, sound

deadening, frame loadings, axle loadings, vehicle dynamics, plus

more that I don't pretend to understand (Okay, maybe sometimes

I do...)!



Only Coachworks can do this work. Thank you all for stepping up

and making this happen. We all very much appreciate being kept in

the loop, as much as is reasonable, regarding this recall, as any one

of us may be a future 450LXi owner.





Thanks,

David Brady

'02 LXi, NC



Macy Neshati wrote:

Jerry,
thanks for the positive post on the generator move.

Regarding
the question raised by David Brady about the changes being made to
their
coaches I will take the liberty of attempting to clarify what is going
on.

First
very importantly as the current owners of the Blue Bird Wanderlodge and
Blue
Bird Coachworks this is NOT and I repeat NOT our recall, these units
were built
and shipped by the previous owners of the company and it is their
recall and
their responsibility to design and recommend fixes.

We
have strived to be an advocate for our owners, make sure the recall is
handled
quickly and to facilitate the repairs.

There
are some mandatory elements to the fix which are new tires installed,
and
properly pressurized to 130 PSI, an alignment done and new tie rod ends
installed which revises the rating of the whole front end to a 17,000
capacity,
also a new Hadley computer module is installed to help the air ride
system do a
better job of load distribution between all three axles. Once these
changes are
done we have found several coaches that are comfortably below the
17,000 front
limit allowing for passengers and cargo, and those units are being
returned to
the open road.

For
the units that are still close to the 17,000 limit there are some
choices the
owners need to make to help get their units in line. The original
program from
Blue Bird Body Company was to work with Arvin Meritor to develop an
18,000
front suspension but that will take a year to accomplish, so we looked
at our
2009 which we had already decided would have the generator mounted in
the third
bay on production units for the benefits of less vibration and quieter
operation and found that we had also saved about 1000 pounds off the
front axle
so we went in and modified the last LXI our 2008 450 LXI and found the
same
benefits 1000 pounds lighter front axle, quieter operation and less
vibration.

This
is a great alternative to waiting a year for a new front axle, not
being able
to operate the motor home or having to operate it very lightly loaded.

The
owners that have seen and heard this unit run have been very impressed.

As
we have stated on many occasions including this forum, we want to help
preserve
and enhance owner value and enjoyment of their Wanderlodges and while
we aren’t
perfect and while this situation isn’t of our making, we are doing what
we can to help minimize owner impact and return these units back to
service as
quickly but most importantly, safely as possible. But ultimately,
beyond the
mandatory elements of the fix which I described earlier, these changes
are
choices the owners will need to make.

Our
THANKS to all the owners for their patience and support as we work
through
this.

Macy

Macy
Neshati

www.
completecoach.com www.bluebirdcoachworks.com

email:
macy@completecoach.com

Cell:
951 836 6525 Office: 951 684 9585 Fax: 951 684 2023

1863
Service Court

Riverside,
CA 92507

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[Macy Neshati]

Thanks David, we will do our best to keep everyone in the loop.
Thanks for the positive comments.

Macy

Macy
Neshati

www.
completecoach.com http://www.thelegacyreturns.com http://www.bluebirdcoachworks.com

email:
macy@...

Cell:
951 836 6525 Office: 951 684 9585 Fax: 951 684 2023

1863
Service Court

Riverside,
CA 92507