[pairodice]

We need to have the coach towed to Bernd’s in Nacogdoches, TX (about 65 miles) - should we wait for a Landoll or Lowboy trailer or can a big wrecker that lifts the wheels do the job?  I just don’t want to damage the coach!  It will be about $1000 (plus even more time) to get a Lowboy big enough ... 
We are stuck in Panola, TX ... I think we will be getting a new head gasket :-( $$$$

[Georgeb]

IF
The tow truck operator is GOOD it can be towed
BUT a lowboy is way better

[pairodice]

Bernd recommended one and I think the ins company (coach-net) will pay for it

[bikestuff]

I had a BAD experience with a big truck tow.

I am not an expert, but if you try with a tow truck I learned a couple of things....

1) Raise the coach all the way up.
2) The axle needs to be pulled from the differential. This will result in the oil in the diff draining out.
3) Without the engine running the only way to keep the coach up is to run an air line from the tow truck to the maintenance air port next to the engine.

There is a lot more to doing it correctly, but if I had known these points, I would not have had the terrible experience that I had.

bill

[rheavn]

Adrian,
No chance you can fill with coolant & drive back 65 miles?

[pairodice]

Steve, the coach keeps overheating when we fill up and drive it for about 15 minutes - I don’t want to chance it and blow the engine. The problem is that their is a little ‘L’ shaped brass fitting in the radiator that is a pressure release. The first one blew when we were on our way to Nacogdoches and eventually lost a lot of the coolant. Bernd replaced that and thought the problem was with the thermostat and hoses. They checked everything (I was there watching) they could - pulled the valve cover and adjusted the valves (which it really needed). It would be nice if it were NOT a head gasket but that is the way it is all looking now (we are praying there is another answer) but if it needs to be done Bernd’s is much better than some unknown place by some unknown person in the middle of somewhere unknown...

[kyleb]

Please wait for a low boy or landoll. Way, way too many potential problems from a big wrecker tow.
(an idiot operator can mess anything up, so you will still need a competent operator)

If up on a trailer & your coach looses air or a tire, no big deal.
If being towed & it looses air or a tire - HUGE problems, maybe even enough damage that requires a trailer to continue the tow.

Lost air to the suspension while behind a big wrecker could even lead to a fire. . . .

[encantotom]

i have had one newell towed. i requested and got a landoll and they just winched it up and chained it down and off they went.

tom

[pairodice]

Wow, just wow! Wait till you hear this! (Its late and I’m exhausted) we all survived somehow and the coach is sitting at Foretravel after a 6-hour, 2 hour tour...

[Richard]

Glad you made it. Take my comments in the spirit they are intended. I was not there, and i am not criticizing the shop.

But before anyone jumps to blown headgasket, lets troubleshoot just a little and also think about the work just done. Was the coach doing this before the tstats were replaced? If not, is it possible that the tstats are defective ot installed upside down? Overheating in 15 minutes says you are getting NO coolant to the coolant engine. I have driven a series 60 with a breach between the cylinder and the coolant circuit over 200 miles and it did not overheat.

Drain a pint or so of the engine oil into a clear jar. Let it sit then tilt the jar about 45 degrees and look at the low point. If there is coolant in the oil, then you probably do have a blown gasket or cylinder leak. If not, then i would exhaust all other possibilities before i pulled the head.

Was the head retourqed when the valves were adjusted? If so, is it possible a head bolt was missed?