“Mechless” radio is not a typo………. A raise of hands, how many of you still carry a cd pouch for your music collection?

……….. There was once 8 track….which I used to install….. then cassettes were the way to have music in your car…..then we were given the “digital difference” collecting CD’s of all of our music saying ….it will last forever…….. Now we have thumbdrives, those little SD cards and the with 4g Pandora or any of a dozen other music sources have taken over……..music as we know it today is pretty easy to have.  To the point, a “mechless” radio has no CD player.  It has blue toots, mirror link to your cell phone, you can plug in an sd card or a thumbdrive have every song you have ever heard of at your fingertips.  Why CD’s anymore.

There is NO CD player in a new design merciless radio.  Not having that slot and all that mechanical hoopla in a radio sets it free from it confines.  Some systems bypass the in dash radio entirely using the cell phone as your sound control device.  So thanks for the question.  This 9″ screen swivels, rotates to mimic your phone even goes up and down.  Cost on these are less because it’s less mechanically sophisticated.  This unit is feature packed but basic mechless radios can start at $150 or less!

Another question yesterday said “why edit my stuff here”.  Most of you guys seem to prefer my from the hip way I blurt things out.  Yes, spell check hates me and even with it some sentences come out weird.  Sorry, I DO try to not have that happen but guys…..this is me, plunking on this little cell phone screen…by myself….no IT help and I’m simply trying to offer tips , answers and a glimpse at a section of the GMC community few get to experience.  There’s no outline or road to follow having a business devoted exclusively to such a BIG machine, narrow market, long discontinued piece of American history.

This many times thankless and always hard work.  Some understand things can happen at any time and prepare themselves while other simply take off and deal with what happens on the road.

I must tell you that second person should NOT own one of these.  After 45 years ANYTHING can happen and chances are the guy that put that system together originally is dead!

These is no accounting for things happening. An AC seal can start to leak at any moment, even new ones!  You have 2 things that happen at the same time and now did one cause the other or are they totally unrelated.  Now the investigation begins …..and the blame game sometimes starts.  The game is already lost on an old machine like this.

The integrity of your GMC is only as good as the things you know are good…the rest is all speculative .

And from this side of the curtain, all we can do is fix what we can see is broken or just take it all out.  And even at that dealing with these new Chinese made parts the plot thickens.

With Covid screwing up parts distribution and labor…..heck most folks that are willing to do this work make more getting fat sitting at home!  Covid has loosened its grip on travel and everyone wants to GO but we can’t buy a new RV roof AC unit right now.  if your front suspension needs new lower ball joints….forget about it for 5 months!  Materials cost and availability is stupid.  I can’t buy 16″ aluminum rims that fit our coach!  Guess finding 6 front dually rims from one distributer is too much to ask for.

Hey so where is all this negativity coming from?  I thought we all came here to see cool stuff?

So herethis 455 full roller motor has ALL new parts, CVF Serpantine belt ststem, FiTech fuel injection, a Monster Transmission with 4/10 limited slip diff. costs a bit…..thats alote of parts and alote of work.  You say WOW that’s expensive…….what would it cost to replace a complete drive train in your late model car?  Has pretty much similar parts?  Let me break the ice…… this would be expensive too!

Hey and if you want some nicer sound out of that mechless radio I was showing ya, let’s add some bass with this 8″ sub speaker/amp system.  About $250 more and boom!and yes, all that take time too.

This is why delivery dates and the initial shakedown is so important.  We will no longer allow an owner to pick up their coach without a day and night plugged in here checking everything out.  Not us….YOU!  shakedown your coach before you leave!  A vehicle this old WILL have an issue or 2…..no way around it and as it seems shops are not viable repair shops are out there it seems to us no one can fix anything at a repair shop out there!

It has become more and more a fact that every component in any system you must rely upon on the road most all be replaced and even at that you must stay vigilant and have backups.  Brother it’s just an old machine any way you look at it!

So if you haven’t said mean things at me yet…….one of the most debilitating factor of this business is “getting it out on time”.  What does that mean?  The coach tells us what it needs not your next vacation, the season’s or even what you expect to spend to fix it!  The 45 year old baby in the room tells us what it needs!

It’s not your fault or ours the issues that come up with these coaches.  Folks first look for blame when something happens….its natural…..but with a machine such as these there doesn’t have to be a reason for something to fail……..at this age they do that.

Heck, I came in on my day off to try and do a few things…..a drop in the bucket of the workload ….. Gonna try a little and maybe do a few things tomorrow if my energy level allows.

See thats the big thing here, all the guys ….7 of us now…..are all worked to our limits, many projects in here…..why?  Because folks see, understand and want the value of one of these.  It’s even moreso now than ever before in this coaches history………the malliniels love the shape, concept and everything about these things. Us Baby boomers built a dream machine back then and we still feel that way.

New technologies, materials and style has updated these classic past any expectations.  There is no president for a vehicle to last this long still being used for the same thing…  . and no business dedicated to this 1 machine!

Can we actually survive in a market such as this today focused just on this 1 vehicle?  Time so far has been kind enough to let us keep our heads down but honestly ….looking to the future things will need to change and we need to change with them.  There is no guide to follow for an industry such as this.  No one else has tried this….who are we saying we can do it?  Guys it’s all for the coach and you need to help us.

This awesome Honda 6010 generator has come come back out because the electric fan for its radiator failedanother day back on the delivery…….has to be done!  We can fix it….had to drive to Brooksville yesterday ….4 hour round trip……to get the electric fan……shot part of my day in the foot!

Guys I’m bearing all of this to help you see what we’re up against doing the things we do and I hope it helps you understand more what this is all about.

An original generator compartment right down to that տգհյիօօհ aluminum panel in front of the battery I want to put up frontwont this be fun!

So I’m wearing myself out, I hope I’ve made a point that make some sense.  We need to not make pickup and go away dates…..it needs to be more of a work together thing.  This year has proven that….the older these coaches get the more important it is to get expectations and the reality of what it needs gets closer together.  There nothing we can do to work harder, faster or for less money.

Thanks for putting up with me and with us.  We ARE trying.  Comments are for sure welcome but you cheapo, naysaying box kickers don’t bother….you are not a customer…….boy….where did THAT come from…..those it pertains to know….the rest can laugh at them

See ya later…….….

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