A motorhome with a diesel in the back is, mechanically, a heavy truck wearing a house. RDI Power works on the truck half: the engine, the transmission, the driveline, air brakes, suspension and steering. For Bayonet Point owners, that work happens in our Brooksville shop, about 29 road miles from the middle of the community, or starts with a technician at the campsite when the coach should not be driven.
Tropic Breeze RV Resort and coaches around Bayonet Point
Tropic Breeze RV Resort sits inside Bayonet Point’s census boundary. A coach that has been parked for a season, or one that just arrived after a long drive, is the kind that benefits from a chassis check before its next trip. Rubber ages in Florida sun whether the coach moves or not, batteries discharge, and brake calipers and slide pins on hydraulic-brake coaches can stick after months of sitting.
2 ways north for a Bayonet Point pusher
The measured route is east on SR 52, through the 6-lane commercial strip to Moon Lake Road and on to the Suncoast Parkway, then north to Exit 46 and east on SR-50 into Brooksville. Expect tolls on the Parkway. The other choice is US-19 north into Hernando County and SR-50 east, which skips the toll road and the SR 52 signals in exchange for US-19’s own traffic. Either works for a healthy coach.
For a coach that is not healthy, call (352) 433-3800 before choosing either. An overheating engine, an air pressure warning or a transmission that has gone into a fail-safe gear can do real damage over 29 miles. A technician can often diagnose the problem at Tropic Breeze or wherever the coach is parked, and if it needs the shop we help arrange a heavy tow, with the driveline uncoupled or the drive wheels lifted to protect the transmission.
Cooling stacks on Bayonet Point diesel pushers
Rear-engine coaches pull their cooling air through a radiator and charge air cooler stacked at the back, right where road dust and oily grime collect. As the fins load up, the coach starts running warm on long pulls and in summer traffic, and the temptation is to replace the radiator or the fan drive. Often the first fix is cleaning the stack and checking the fan, belt tension, coolant condition and hoses. Hoses and belts in a hot, tight engine bay also age faster than they would in a truck, so they get a close look on every visit.
Allison, air brake and suspension work for Bayonet Point coaches
Most pushers pair a Cummins or Caterpillar engine with an Allison automatic, and RDI Power is Caterpillar certified. On the Allison, we begin with fluid level and condition and the stored codes, then a road test; shift complaints often turn out to be fluid, a sensor or software before they are anything internal.
Air brakes and air suspension get checked together, because they share the same air supply. A compressor that is slow to build pressure, an air dryer that purges constantly, a coach that will not level or leans after sitting, and chambers or slack adjusters out of adjustment all show up on a careful inspection. Steering gear and linkage play, shocks and U-joints round out the chassis list, and a coach that wanders or chews its front tires should be aligned after any worn parts are replaced.
Each coach comes back with photos and written notes from the technician, and our labor warranty is 3 years / 36,000 miles. More on motorhome work is on our RV service and repair page. If the coach is shifting oddly, the Bayonet Point transmission repair page explains our approach, and coach owners up US-19 near Barrington Hills can read Hudson RV repair.