Fyda Freightliner

We packed up and left Rocky Fork Ranch on Wednesday afternoon -- we had a little bit of concern as we were leaving as the site had gotten very wet from rain that we had while there, and, as I mentioned, it was on quite a slant so we had an uphill to get out of the site. As Carl was pulling Gracie out, he tried twice going straight out of the site onto the road that was in front, and she bogged down and didn't make it out of the site. We re-evaluated our exit strategy and decided to turn left on the road in front of us -- usually turning will cause more issues because it creates additional friction for the drive axle to overcome, but the road to the left was level-to-downhill, while the road in front was uphill. Carl backed up as far as possible in the site (there was gravel at the back of the site, but not in the front or middle), and then got as much of a "running start" as he could while turning left into the road -- and we made it out of the site. We dumped our waste tanks, hooked up the Jeep, and then headed out to Fyda Freightliner near Zanesville, Ohio.

We had planned to leave a little later on Wednesday, but decided to try to get to the shop before it closed at 5pm to be sure to understand what we should do on Thursday morning. The shop opens at 5am, but it wasn't clear whether the service writers would be in that early. We got to the shop about 10 minutes before they closed on Wednesday, checked in with a service writer then, and she advised us to come back at 5am or as close as possible to that time. They had no way to know which technician might finish his current work and be available to work on Gracie.

This Freightliner shop was listed as participating in "Oasis Service Network"... information from the Freightliner Custom Chassis website (https://www.fcccrv.com/owners/nationwide-service-centers/):

OASIS Network

The Oasis service network is designed for you—the RV owner preparing for the next adventure. Each Oasis location features accommodations to make your service appointment as pleasant as possible. Oasis service technicians are specially trained to work on FCCC chassis, and through our nationwide parts distribution system, they are positioned to receive parts quickly—sometimes even overnight.

RV Owner Amenities

• Dedicated waiting room
• Secure parking with electrical hookups
• Clean and tidy service area
• Specialized Service
• FCCC factory-trained and certified technicians
• Access to factory drawings, building materials & specs

• 24/7 contact with FCCC factory call center
• Factory Parts
• Many RV parts in stock
• Access to Freightliner Parts Distribution Centers (PDCs) to obtain original factory parts quickly—often next-day

Minimum amenities required by FCCC. Many Oasis locations offer more than the minimum. Ask your Oasis location for a list of amenities.

We knew from having called earlier in the week that it seemed that they did not have parking with electrical hookups for RVs at this service center. They had told us about an offsite location where we could park nearby, and the service writer who checked us in directed us to the same offsite location...

The Freighliner shop was just behind the area where we were parked - but we had to drive out to the main road and around to get into the service area.

You can see from this picture that we were could see the main gate into the building.

It ended up giving us some evening entertainment as a couple of semi-trucks came in soon after the gates were closed and locked. Carl went over to talk to the driver of the first truck that came - she was trying to figure out what to do... she was supposed to have come to "pick up a load". Now she needed to get out of the driveway, and was calling the local law enforcement people to stop traffic so she could safely back out and her phone was nearly dead. (Carl shared with me that he thought the lady was older than both of us, put together!) While she was waiting, another truck turned in -- that driver decided pretty quickly that he should leave, and backed out on his own with no assistance from law enforcement (we watched and couldn't figure out how he did it safely -- the traffic on the road in front is pretty constant, and we don't know how he could see the traffic both ways as he was backing up -- but he was successful!).

A deputy from the sheriff's department eventually showed up, he talked with the lady and then pulled his car out into the roadway with its lights on... then she started trying to back up her truck and trailer. Now, I *know* that I don't know how to back up a trailer, but... neither did this lady! She tried a couple of times -- she wanted to back out so she would end up heading west on the road in front, but that just wasn't happening. The deputy came back to her and, I guess, recommended that she back out so she would end up going east, and she finally managed to do that. There were a number of vehicles on the road in front trying to see if their horns worked before she finally made it out and cleared the road! The entertainment for the evening was over!

We got up well before sunrise on Thursday (sunrise here is 6:45am), and got over to the service area before 5am. (We could see that the gate was open before leaving our parking spot!)

Carl heading into the service area to let them know that we were there.

They directed us to park on the far side of the building until a technician would come to get Gracie - so we hung out in the rig with Miss Kitty for about 45 minutes. Carl figured that the way to get them to come was to go to the bedroom in the back and lay down for a nap, and sure enough, the technician came within 10 minutes after he did that -- a little before 6am.

We took Miss Kitty with us into the service waiting room. Note that they have washers and dryers in there too!

Miss Kitty was caterwauling, expressing her displeasure at being in her kennel -- which she equates to going to the vet. We put her harness and leash on and let her out of the kennel - no one else was in the waiting room - and she got under the flannel shirt I was wearing as a jacket and settled down.

By 7:15am, the technician had diagnosed that the air conditioning system was not holding a vacuum and we needed a new compressor. They did not have one in stock, but thought that maybe the local NAPA would have one, or, if NAPA did not, they could get one overnight from a Freightliner Parts Delivery Center in Indianapolis. NAPA opened at 8am, so there was a short wait for them to open -- but NAPA didn't have one. We would be waiting for the part to come overnight. The technician returned Gracie to us, and we headed back to the offsite parking lot where we settled in for the day.

There was a Denny's Classic Diner across the road, so, since it was still morning, we went there to get breakfast -- it was a *big* breakfast - enough to last until evening!

The service writer indicated that we should be back at 5am on Friday...

So we were back there pre-dawn on Friday.

When we first checked in, they weren't sure that the air conditioning compressor came in the overnight delivery, but one of the fellows went to check and it was in -- hurrah! They would go ahead and take Gracie right away, so we got our stuff and went into the customer waiting area.

Miss Kitty was not amused to be required to leave her bus *again*!

But she settled in under the flannel shirt again.

And Patti and she took a nap together in the waiting room's comfy chairs!

We decided to return to the Denny's to get breakfast again... this is a view of the inside.

And a view of our breakfasts... a French Toast Slam...

... and a Chicken Biscuit and Gravy Bowl!

Back to the customer waiting room in the Service area (we were the only people using it during the time we were there).

Gracie in the shop

Gracie in the shop

Work all done -- heading back out for us to claim!

The new air conditioning compressor

We left Fyda Freightliner by about 9am on Friday... Miss Kitty was very glad to be back in *her bus*! It was not very warm on Friday, but we did try the air conditioner and it seemed to work well. We're glad to have that checked off our to-do list!