Workhorse springs and supply problems

Max Tunnell · 11-21-2008, 11:36 AM

I don’t know if this should be on another thread, I think it is a different situation, but it serves to illustrate problems described some other threads.

A right rear spring broke on our Adventurer. That’s pretty unusual, but not a big deal. When we took it to the selling dealer (actually, we were required to do that by our extended warranty), they accepted the unit and indicated they anticipated no problem. That was October 28.

O.K. It’s November 21 and they don’t have the spring. ----Second hand story follows-----There is not ONE such item anywhere in the U.S. It seems a number of Workhorse Suppliers and distributors are out of business –IF they have one, they can’t sell it or locate it because THEY ARE CLOSED.

Workhorse was very slow, but ultimately helpful in locating a GM part that could be slightly modified and (I believe) have an available kit added to it and it will work fine. That particular supplier (affiliated with Chevrolet) is apparently still doing business as of today. I got the impression that Workhorse did not really want to supply the info because of a policy to use nothing but Workhorse parts, but they finally did when there appeared to be no way to get a spring otherwise. ----Second hand story ends-----

I now wonder if we are going to have other supply problems due to the economy. Is Workhorse having supplier problems? Are they still making units? Why couldn’t they have been more flexible under the present economic situation? They surely knew their suppliers were going down.

I naturally want to use my MH in the coming holidays and maybe I’ll get to, but the larger question of “in the RV world, what will be the fallout of the present economic difficulties?” remains.

Max Tunnell · 11-21-2008, 11:36 AM

I don’t know if this should be on another thread, I think it is a different situation, but it serves to illustrate problems described some other threads.

A right rear spring broke on our Adventurer. That’s pretty unusual, but not a big deal. When we took it to the selling dealer (actually, we were required to do that by our extended warranty), they accepted the unit and indicated they anticipated no problem. That was October 28.

O.K. It’s November 21 and they don’t have the spring. ----Second hand story follows-----There is not ONE such item anywhere in the U.S. It seems a number of Workhorse Suppliers and distributors are out of business –IF they have one, they can’t sell it or locate it because THEY ARE CLOSED.

Workhorse was very slow, but ultimately helpful in locating a GM part that could be slightly modified and (I believe) have an available kit added to it and it will work fine. That particular supplier (affiliated with Chevrolet) is apparently still doing business as of today. I got the impression that Workhorse did not really want to supply the info because of a policy to use nothing but Workhorse parts, but they finally did when there appeared to be no way to get a spring otherwise. ----Second hand story ends-----

I now wonder if we are going to have other supply problems due to the economy. Is Workhorse having supplier problems? Are they still making units? Why couldn’t they have been more flexible under the present economic situation? They surely knew their suppliers were going down.

I naturally want to use my MH in the coming holidays and maybe I’ll get to, but the larger question of “in the RV world, what will be the fallout of the present economic difficulties?” remains.

DriVer · 11-21-2008, 11:50 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Max Tunnell: </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Max, Have you tried a spring shop. They actually make them there. They'll use your existing spring as a template.

JonBrazel · 11-21-2008, 11:53 AM

Max indicated that his warranty company would only cover if repaired by his selling dealer...this could be the reason for not going to a spring shop...why the dealer does not exhaust that resource to get him back on the road, I do not know...

Max Tunnell · 11-21-2008, 06:01 PM

Yes, I was aware of the possibility of having a spring shop make me a spring, and I might have looked at that, except for the rules of the extended warranty.

I am, by the way, pretty happy with the extended warranty company. We have had several rather expensive problems that they covered without complaint.

What still remains to be seen is- What other problems like this will be caused by the present difficulties in the economy?

John-D · 11-22-2008, 03:41 AM

Gee, the spring shops I deal with, you take them a broken spring, they MAKE a new one from flat stock they have. There is no such phrase as "We can't find one"

Now I've had them tell me they could not find the proper insert on a leaf spring... But even there it was no problem, we re-used the old one.

I'm in N.W. Detroit, but when I lived in Battle Creek it was the same.. The only difference was the number of spring shops that could do that.

exrench · 11-23-2008, 03:31 PM

My experience with spring shops is they make it a seamless experience for me as though that was their business.In addition they are more reasonable in cost.

MikeT · 11-23-2008, 04:24 PM

With the current economic situation, Workhorse will not be the only victim of suppliers going out of business.

Brazels RV Performance · 11-24-2008, 07:58 AM

You would need to find a spring shop that can build Parabolic tapered leaf springs, that is what his coach has on it. Most spring shop's cannot do this.

Max Tunnell · 11-24-2008, 09:44 AM

I just talked to my service manager. It was expressed differently, but Mike is exactly right.

In this case there is no good alternative to an original equipment part, and the economy is making them hard to find and obtain.

I still think workhorse should be aware of the situation and try to insure the supply lines stay open.

DriVer · 11-24-2008, 01:47 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Max Tunnell:
I still think workhorse should be aware of the situation and try to insure the supply lines stay open. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It looks to me that the W Series is going to be around for a while. I believe that there will be springs in the system that can be obtained. On a 2003 unit if I were going to replace a spring, I might consider changing the pair.

RickNB · 11-24-2008, 02:34 PM

I think Max has a very valid question within his problem. What will happen our parts supply if Workhorse's suppliers are shut down? What will happen if Workhorse is shutdown due to GM shutting down or restructuring? Is Workhorse dependent on GM for operation or are they a completly seperate company? Is Workhorse showing a profit or is it loosing money like GM?

Rick

edgray · 11-24-2008, 02:42 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">are they a completly seperate company? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Since the other questions require speculation to answer, I can only address the one quoted above. Workhorse Custom Chassis is a wholly-owned subsidery of NAVISTAR, better known as International Truck and Engine Corp.

Workhorse buys its GAS engines from GM, so that "may" become a problem for WCC, but Allison, Dana, and many other major component suppliers are no longer owned or controlled by GM.

DriVer · 11-24-2008, 04:30 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RickNB:
Is Workhorse showing a profit or is it loosing money like GM? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>RickNB, Boy that's one tough question! I'm just wondering who would you expect here to have that type on answer.

Going to the stock ticker on the other hand:

GM 3.59 Up 0.53
NAV 18.92 Up 1.51

That's it!