vortex on Ebay
- Thread starter Ed
- Start date
daniel@procarpet
Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 3,797
Mikey P
Administrator
See if Yappy will back it with a 6 month warranty.
ACE
Member
What do you think the reserve price is?
Lee Stockwell
FOJL
probably the 10g opening bid...
BradFenstermaker
Member
Somebody here has one of those Vortex's, don't remember who though.
Think the box is black with a sheriff badge on it.
Think the box is black with a sheriff badge on it.
Ron Werner
Member
Wonder why he parked it?
Ron Lippold
RIP
if i remember right, it was bought for a airport i think well a couple of years later it blew the turbo and they parked it. a employee bought it for next to nothing fixed it up and walla
Ed
Member
Damn Ron, you're good. I spoke with the guy who presently owns it this morning. He is a mechanic and not a carpet cleaner. I know him as he does installs and repair work for a local distributor on occassion. It has switched hands a couple of times. It was owned originally by a company called CarpetMaster who had teh contract to clean the Albany airport as Ron said. He told me the turbo charger had screwed up and pumped oil through the entire system. Said he had cleaned it up and it works great. Further into the conversation I learned that the heat exchanger is not working and out of the machine presently, as well as the Xentherm system. He is asking $25,000 locally for it. I enlightened him as to the real world value of his prize and made him an offer. He didn't sell it to me...yet.
I spoke with Al Bradham yesterday. He own(s)(ed) this model. Spoke highly of the machine portion of the unit, and although he liked the Bering truck, repair was a nightmare as parts aren't readily available. So as a primary unit, it wouldn't work. Al has since swapped the box and machine portion of the unit over to different model trucks.
I spoke with Al Bradham yesterday. He own(s)(ed) this model. Spoke highly of the machine portion of the unit, and although he liked the Bering truck, repair was a nightmare as parts aren't readily available. So as a primary unit, it wouldn't work. Al has since swapped the box and machine portion of the unit over to different model trucks.
Ed said:
readily available is subjective..... as for heading down to your local napa/oreilly etc and getting parts you can fagetaboutit!!!! i can make a phone call & get most common parts in a couple of days. The engine is a detroit diesel unit and most engine related parts would come from a detroit dealer. If you have a detroit diesel service center they may have a mechanic that is familiar with the truck. The engine was actually made for detroit by vm which is italian diesel company.
My biggest complaint is the lack of power for the weight of the truck. from what ive been reading here though this is comonplace with all of the vortex chassis.
commercial intertech which is who make the hydraulic motors was bought by another hydraulic co. i think parker maybe....cant remember for sure but i could find out. Not sure if you can get replacements for them. I havent had any major issues with mine other than a right front brake sticking from time to time. There is nothing in the pcm that allows for engine overheat shutdown so you may wanna consider adding that, i did. The apo isnt worth a crap so you may want to upgrade that to a newer style if there is one that functions correctly. the vac tank is about 100 gal with a secondary 100g tank in the front that you can pump to. fresh wather is 240gal. Without a exhaust heat exchanger it aint gonna make much heat. I would consider throwing a little giant in it and forget about the xtherm b.s.
the tranny cooling fan relay tends to stick on more so during the summer when its hot. It is a common bosch style relay so its a local part thats cheap. Make sure its got the hyd. oil cooler on it as some of the early units did not and not sure if all of them got retrofitted.
If you buy it or before you buy it you wanna check all of the hyd. hoses that run under the truck for rubbing on frame/metal. some of the hoses are big and long....(expensive) Thats all i can think of for now if you got any questions you can give me a call.
And did i mention it is HEAVY!!!!!
steve g
Member
don't even think about that machine, bering is long gone and out of business, good luck with parts. also that particular model of vortex is totally different than any of the other models, I am not going to say anything bad about it but suffice it to say, I think even yorkie himself would advise against buying a used petersen vortex. with the models that came in the UD trucks, at least you have aerotech still offering parts and support of them. with the petersen unit you are on your own for the machine and truck both, bascially IMO you should look at it as just buying parts.
steve g said:
parts are still available for these trucks and for the unit side. there isnt alot of custom one off stuff used on the things. the control panel is all standard fair industrial stuff. im sure the hyd motors and pump can be replaced maybe not with the same exact unit but i bet there is something that will cross ref. i know of a rig with over 10000 hrs on it and still going strong. From what ive seen here this particular design has no more issues than any of the other Vs.
steve g
Member
parts are still made???? yeah right, what about the computer controls that control the truck which in turn control the truckmount, ie maintains a consistent RPM with the unit, this is a non vortex part, and not vortex's fault you can't get it however, you can't, if that thing frys good luck you have no way to set a governed speed with the truckmount, you will not even have a way to drive the truck for that matter. you have a 25k pile of shit, as I said don't buy one of these, ask shawn if you have doubts ask him about parts, UD and aerotech make parts still, Bering and petersen do not,
bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
steve g said:
you could put a yardstick from the seat to the accelerator pedal like one guy that i know of......did!
steve g
Member
bob vawter said:
you could put a yardstick from the seat to the accelerator pedal like one guy that i know of......did![/quote:btjs25lx]
I don't remember the reason but, IIRC for some reason this is not an option, it would also mean the truck would rev way up when its not under load, perhaps that was the reason. the computers on modern diesel engines don't always let the engine run at the same RPM for hours unless its designed to. keep in mind the bering diesel engine is drive by wire, that is why the truckmount being intergrated into the trucks computer is vital, in the case of the bering unit in particular, there is noone that knows the special computer programming that was used to make the machine work, last I heard it was some guy that lives in italy, good luck finding him
steve g said:
you could put a yardstick from the seat to the accelerator pedal like one guy that i know of......did![/quote:3t1g7z5s]
I don't remember the reason but, IIRC for some reason this is not an option, it would also mean the truck would rev way up when its not under load, perhaps that was the reason. the computers on modern diesel engines don't always let the engine run at the same RPM for hours unless its designed to. keep in mind the bering diesel engine is drive by wire, that is why the truckmount being intergrated into the trucks computer is vital, in the case of the bering unit in particular, there is noone that knows the special computer programming that was used to make the machine work, last I heard it was some guy that lives in italy, good luck finding him[/quote:3t1g7z5s]
what???? It doesnt regulate the engine rpm in that manner.... it interfaces with the cruise control. If........If something were to go out there are simpler ways to control the engine speed. fly by wire engine control is not that complex.
How many of em have you heard that have fried out anyway???
with the system functioning properly. If you pull the vaccum load off the rpm increases substantially anywho. No different than if you were driving down the road at a set throttle position and bumped the trans into neutral.
you can still drive the truck independently of the unit control. It interfaces with the factory cruise control on the truck. Since when did a cruise control system involve rocket science??? stick a voltmeter on the "diesel" pedal and read the output voltage of the pedal. voila you have a way of controling the engine rpm.
you can still buy a pcm for the truck. These trucks were used for alot more than putting a vortex on.
On second thought dont buy it. let it sit. I may need it for parts someday.
you can still buy a pcm for the truck. These trucks were used for alot more than putting a vortex on.
On second thought dont buy it. let it sit. I may need it for parts someday.
dealtimeman
Everyday is Saturday.
brian i take it yours runs very well and very strong?
how long have you had yours?
have you had any of the problems that the current or past owners of the similair unit have had?
just a few questions - more info the better.
how long have you had yours?
have you had any of the problems that the current or past owners of the similair unit have had?
just a few questions - more info the better.
dealtimeman said:
i bought my rig used 2 years ago. it had aprx. 35xxx miles and a little over 1000 hrs. mileage is in the upper 40s and over 3000 hrs now probably close to 4 by the end of the year. I currently do not have the xtherm on my truck i have both heat exchangers inside the box as coolant to water units. and a exhaust to water unit. I also have a digital temp controller. Im not sure of what problems in specific your talking about but if you have some specific issues i would be glad to answer for you.
As previously stated except for the lack of power overall i have been pleased with the truck considering the price i paid for it.
Looking back at steves posts, I dare say he is ALWAYS a negative nancy....he comes in stirs the shit and then doesnt have a word to say when called out...
I would say if you have a good mechanic they can fix it/find parts for it
I would say if you have a good mechanic they can fix it/find parts for it
