Service

Heavy-Duty & Semi Truck Repair

Semi-trucks, fleet vehicles, and heavy equipment kept on the road with dependable, on-time repair.

A truck that is not moving is not earning, and that shapes how we work on them. Spokane sits on the I-90 freight corridor between Seattle and the Midwest, which means a lot of the equipment we see is either running long-haul through the region or working locally for businesses that cannot afford it parked.

All Motors Center services heavy-duty and Class 8 equipment out of the East Trent shop, and offers mobile service for trucks that cannot easily come to us.

Equipment we work on

Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, International and Volvo tractors, plus heavy-duty pickups, box trucks, and commercial vans. On the engine side we cover the major heavy-duty diesels along with Cummins, Duramax and Power Stroke in the pickup class.

Air brake systems

Air brakes are a discipline of their own and one of the most common reasons a truck is placed out of service at a roadside inspection. We service the full system: S-cam and slack adjuster inspection and adjustment, brake chamber and pushrod stroke measured against the applicable limits, drums and linings, air dryers, governor and compressor output, and the air lines and fittings that leak and let pressure bleed down overnight.

Pushrod stroke is worth calling out specifically because it is measurable, it drifts with wear, and it is exactly what a roadside inspection checks. Having it measured on your schedule is considerably cheaper than having it measured on the shoulder of the interstate.

DOT inspections and compliance

We perform annual DOT inspections and can address what we find in the same visit, which is generally the point — an inspection that produces a list you then have to take somewhere else has cost you two days instead of one.

A note on emissions equipment: we do not delete or defeat DPF, EGR or DEF systems. It is a federal violation, it will fail an inspection, and it destroys the resale value of the truck. We repair those systems instead, including forced regenerations, differential pressure sensor faults, EGR valve and cooler failures, and DEF quality and injector problems.

Fleet preventive maintenance

For local fleets, scheduled maintenance is the difference between planned downtime and unplanned downtime, and unplanned downtime is where the real cost sits. We can build a service schedule around how your equipment actually runs — mileage, hours, or calendar — covering oil and filter service, fuel filters and water separators, air system checks, brake measurement, tires, and driveline and suspension inspection.

If you run a mixed fleet of pickups, vans and Class 8 equipment, we can handle all of it in one place rather than splitting it between a truck shop and a car shop.

Suspension, driveline and steering

Heavy equipment carries load, and load finds weak components. We work on leaf spring packs and shackles, air ride suspension and height control valves, kingpins and tie rod ends, u-joints, driveshafts and carrier bearings, and wheel bearings and seals.

Winter

Cold-weather problems dominate our winter calls, and most are preventable: gelled fuel from untreated diesel, plugged fuel filters, dead block heater elements, air system moisture freezing in lines and valves, and batteries that no longer have the cranking capacity a cold diesel demands. A pre-winter check on those items is one of the better-value services we offer, and it is far cheaper than a tow.

Call (509) 655-7715 to talk to a heavy-duty technician, or ask about mobile service.

What You Get

  • Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, International, Volvo
  • Air brake service, slack adjusters and pushrod stroke
  • Annual DOT inspections with repairs in the same visit
  • DPF, EGR and DEF diagnosis and repair
  • Fleet preventive maintenance schedules
  • Air ride, leaf springs, kingpins and driveline
  • Mobile heavy-duty service available
  • Pre-winter cold weather checks

How It Works

  1. 1Understand how the truck runs and what downtime is costing
  2. 2Full scan of engine and aftertreatment faults and live data
  3. 3Measure the air brake system against applicable limits
  4. 4Inspect driveline, suspension, steering and tires under load
  5. 5Give a written estimate and a realistic turnaround time
  6. 6Carry out the approved work
  7. 7Road or load test and re-scan before releasing the truck

Frequently Asked

Do you work on Class 8 semi trucks?

Yes — Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, International and Volvo, along with heavy-duty pickups, box trucks and commercial vans. We can handle a mixed fleet in one place rather than splitting it between a truck shop and a car shop.

Can you do a DOT inspection and the repairs together?

Yes, and that is generally the point. An inspection that hands you a list you then take somewhere else has cost you two days instead of one.

Will you delete my DPF or EGR?

No. Deleting emissions equipment is a federal violation, it will fail a DOT inspection, and it destroys the truck's resale value. We diagnose and repair those systems instead, including forced regens, sensor faults, EGR failures and DEF problems.

Do you offer mobile truck repair?

Yes, for equipment that cannot easily be brought to the shop. Call (509) 655-7715 and describe the fault and where the truck is, and we can tell you whether it is something we can address on site.

What gets trucks put out of service most often?

Brake defects are consistently near the top, and pushrod stroke out of adjustment is a common one. It is measurable and it drifts with wear, so having it checked on your own schedule is far cheaper than having it checked on the shoulder of the interstate.

Can you set up preventive maintenance for our fleet?

Yes. We can build a schedule around how your equipment actually runs — by mileage, hours or calendar — covering oil and filters, fuel filters and water separators, air system checks, brake measurement, tires and driveline inspection. Planned downtime costs far less than unplanned.

Why won't my truck start when it's very cold?

Most often fuel rather than the engine: diesel gels as the paraffin in it crystallises, and the filter plugs. Add dead block heater elements, moisture freezing in air lines, and batteries without the cranking capacity a cold diesel needs. A pre-winter check on those items costs far less than a tow.

Other heavy-duty and fleet work we do

We cover the greater Spokane area and North Idaho — see the areas we serve.