The model number/ wheelbase length table I typed in did not reproduce in my post above the way I typed it. The final digits on each line are the wheelbase lengths.

Olroy:

Design control of all Light Duty Trucks(Series
100-300) was transferred from Chevrolet Truck
Engineering Group to the GMC Truck Engrg Group
in 1982. Any chassis designed after 1982 was
controlled by GMC. I believe that they(GMC)
added two additional longer wheelbases, the
190 and the 208, because the Motor Home builders
demanded it. Since I did not transfer to GMC in
1982, I lost track of the motor home chassis
design information. In all my postings, I am
refering to chassis designed and built before
1982. You speak of an "orange book" of which
I am not familiar. It may be an official Chevrolet Motor Division publication, but I'm
sure that it was handled entirely by the GMC
division.

I apoligize for misleading any of you, but again
the information that I have supplied covers only
1971 to 1982 models. I don't know what happened
with the chassis design after that date.

Jake Jacobson

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
I must conclude that, a) the Chevy tech writers that produced the manual didn't know what they were talking about, b) The left & right hands in the Chevy/GMC empire didn't communicate very well, or c) I have a spurious and counterfeit manual.

From long experience in bureaucracies, I think b) is the most likely conclusion.

Yup. B. I have found other inconsistencies in my manuals, too. The Orange one included. Ride height, for example. This is particularly unsettling for me, since during my career in aviation, I lived and breathed the manuals. My employment and professional licenses were contingent on following the manuals.

I just got off the phone with that beacon of American of ingenuity, the example to all the world how to build a company to the point that it is the largest in the world and then all of a sudden got the yeps and can't build a car anyone wants to by....General Motors.... and they say - and this is really going to help.


They were all P-30's, The P-32 was a sub-classification for various wheel bases and gross weights. The guy I talked to had me on hold for 10 minutes and then said he would call me back and when he did, he told me that we may have some motorhome manuals that reference P-32 or even P-38, P-41 and other numbers but those may not be motorhome chassis. He said that the P-30 basic chassis type was used for 100's of applications up to around 30 feet or so and that again all of the other numbers were sub-classifications. When Workhorse took over they only made one chassis...the P-32, (assuming they completed the contracts for other P-30 whcih I explained in my previous post.)

Does this help.........OR NOT!!! hehe

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bowers:
Does this help.........OR NOT!!!

Makes perfect sense to me now. Wow, thanks for clearing that up Dave!

Now let's talk about politics, abortion, religion, sports teams, War In Iraq and other less complicated things.

So, did you ask that GM rep about the alien spacecrafts?

Let's face it, that rep was reading a script. I have way more faith in listening to jakeofmi then to a canned response from a desk jockey that pops pimples before going off to work.

If anyone should know what the true meaning is I would think Jake Jacobson first. I'm sure that as the years passed the original meaning was lost or muddied and the newer kids kept calling it a P30. This happens when something is close to the original intent or the name rolls off the tongue better.

Bill NY

Still ROTFLMAO

quote:

ROTFLMAO

Hey Bill I trust this guy, I read the sincerity in his voice, (I'm watching Godfather III right now, what a lousy movie) and sincerely I think he was sincere. And Don Corleone is going straight. Trust me on this...hehe

Jake's post above explains a lot. He's working on info. current as of 1982, then Bill H. has a manual (as I recall) from 1984, and mine was published in 1993.

Undoubtedly, evolutionary changes took place over the years, which are reflected in the differing information available to each of us.

Considering Bill H.'s comment about inconsistent data on ride heights, etc., it's a good thing that setting up motor homes isn't rocket science. If our tires, & shocks, & suspension are up to snuff, we can get away with a lot of overloading, uneven loading, front end misalignment, indifferent mechanical work, etc., with little danger of fatal consequences.

Not so with the big silver birds Bill H. works on. You better go by the book, the book better be right, and all the nuts bettter be torqued precisely to spec., and safety-wired. Been there, done that.

Hi Roy,

You know I was just thinking about that just the other day. I know the extraordinary checks and rechecks over American Airlines and I would assume that the same is true for Air France, British Air etc. But what about Barundi Air, or Air Peru, those planes aren't falling from the sky either. Goes to show that these air planes are built well. Because I assume Barundi Air's planes or plane is/are at least 10 years older than my 1985 coach.

Continuing the thread drift........

Air Burundi has two airplanes at last count, which was quite a while ago. Sometimes one of them flies. One is a Twin Otter and the other is a Beech 1900. You gotta put a spike in a Twin Otter to kill it. They have a cranky fuel system, but otherwise are tremensously rugged.


There are many airlines from "developing" countries that are banned from many European airports due to safety issues. Our own Department of Defense maintains a list of airlines govt and military cannot fly on. When my son was a spec war planner for CINCPAC, he travelled civ airlines incognito and had to follow that list. Many US airlines farm out a lot of their maintenance now, with it being done in third world countries, or even done here by unlicensed, untrained, unskilled, illiterate and even illegal workers. Some are from terrorist countries. No background test, no drug tests, nothing. The planes are much more tolerant of poor maintenance than when I started. Trust me, the recips would not last very long in today's airline maintenance environment.

Dave, I believe living near MSP, you know a little about the replacement mechs at NW. They are generally a sorry lot.

End of rant.

Hey Bill I know what you mean. For years NWA has owned this city and when ever a small more competitive airline came to town they were run out in no time. When the Star Trubune ran a negative safety story about them many years ago almost every employee cancelled their subscription and when our "beloved" newscaster Don Shelby had a negative story about them he was almost run out of the biz. If he hadn't been so good and respected locally he probably would have.

I know people who drive to Omaha just to catch a flight out of here and save hundreds of dollars. I don't know about safety but I have heard rumours for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bowers:
I don't know about safety but I have heard rumours for years.

I do. We used to work on their planes at LAX.

BAck on topic, now..........I just glanced through the "Document for Incomplete Vehicle" that GM supplied with the chassis. In several places it mentions the P32 when referring to the "Bare Chassis".

Score a BIG ONE for the P32 team.

Since this GM publication is intended expressly for the bodyless chassis, I would take it as a very credible source. The only mention of P30 is way in the back for emissions on vehicles of under 8500 GVW.

Greetings to all,
I'm stranded in Kingman, AZ, and can now add(Thank you for allowing me to join)my pass on dealing with P-whatevers...Threw a R front bearing on I40, coming down a hill at 60-65...also managed to tear up the spindle and hub...took it in to Great West Truck Center, and the saga now begins. They told me that parts were hard to find, because of the brand of vehicle...I stressed that THE CHASSIS was a P30, and brand did not matter...yeah, yeah, sure, sure...4 days later, the parts due in hadn't really been ordered because they weren't out there...well, they found a spindle(used) in Nebraska, but hadn't yet ordered it. We got that ordered. I went to the local NAPA, picked up the hub/rotor for the P30(one piece) and proudly(and, perhaps a little smugly) set it down on the truck center's parts counter. They carried it back to the unit, then brought it back to let me know that the 8-bolt configuration I procured wasn't compatible with the 5-bolt configuration on my unit... (smug? roadkill.)
I spent several hours on line and phone tracking down leads into brick walls. Three answers were common:
1)Have you tried a chevy/gmc dealer?(yes X4).
2)Have you tried a junkyard?(yes-only one in book).
3)you might try Workhorse(this from the Chevy/gmc dealers...).
It gets better.
I had to fill in an online form for Workhorse, just to access their request for information site...this, of course, results in the usual "Your request has been received. You will be contacted by a representative when your request has been processed"(That means "tomorrow"). In my request, I mentioned the confusion evident over P-chassis classifications, and I listed the three responses most common(as above). The reply, this morning, was that Workforce didn't acquire the P-chassis series till 1999...had I tried contacting a chevy or GMC dealer?
I finally, after reading several forum sites dealing with THE GOSPEL on P-Chassis classification, began to ask for a P32 hub, followed a lead to CATCO, in Rosedale, Minn, who sent me to Rosedale Chevy(parts dept)(Julie-a lady who has my promise to send her flowers, chocolate, AND a six-pack).
Julie didn't have my hub, but she put me on hold and called Factory Motor Parts in Egan, Minn, and found TWO HUBS!!! She then got the closest outlet to me(Tempe,AZ), gave me their number, and wished me a happy Holidays! Tempe sent me back to Egan, who confirmed TWO hubs by serial#, and took my card and is overnight flying them to me...Yeah, I bought both of them... 'spensive at $370 each, but the future peace of mind potential is well worth it...kinda like avoiding watching a bad movie, again, because of unavoidable circumstances. So, we have had the unit in a shop for 7 days, soon to be 9, and the biggest hurdle was convincing folks that a P32 was a P30...I think...finding the parts would still have been hard, because some say there ain't no P32, and many folks don't have reliable access(or personal knowledge) to the vagaries of P-chassis classification. I thank this forum for showing me that parts houses AND dealers are not THE GOSPEL, reference books notwithstanding. Even if you know what's going on, you still have to deal with the majority that THINK they know...
I was lucky enough to have the part# off the part, and to have the forwarning to not allow dismissal. Thanks to all of you on this forum for the ongoing exchange of info and views.
FWIW, we own a 1989 Airstream 345LE motorhome with a P32 chassis(I'm pretty sure about that...?)

mike(from silverton, CO, just not now)

"...we own a 1989 Airstream 345LE motorhome..." Really curious: Did you try an AIRSTREAM owners (or factory) site?? You are welcome, if for no other reason than to supply a rebuttal to the "Yeah, but Barth's out of business. What about when you need parts?"

Did the people ask you your wheel size? Did they ask about your rear brakes? They should have. That usually corresponds to the number of lugs.

Wanna share the part numbers with us here?

As Gunner asked, take a look at the Airstream owners site. There is some good info there.

Everybody:

When was the last time your front wheel bearings were cleaned, inspected, lubed and new seals installed?

If you go down steep hills, your lube goes away really fast. Right into thin air.