Diesel Repair Service Areas From the Metro to the Mountain Towns
Our service areas run from the Denver metro west into the foothill and mountain towns, and every road in them leads back to one diesel shop in Golden. Powerstroke, Duramax and Cummins owners make the drive for diagnosis, fuel system, turbo and transmission work, and for the problem a closer shop could not find.
Close neighbors and long hauls, same shop
Bodacious Diesel has worked on trucks in Golden since 2007, family-owned and operated the whole way. The shop sits where the foothills meet the metro, at the bottom of the mountain roads and the west end of the city ones.
Mountain owners are used to heading down the hill for specialty work. Front Range owners make the drive when the job is bigger than a quick fix, or a dealer has already had a try at it.
| Coming from | What usually brings the truck in |
|---|---|
| Denver metro and the west suburbs | Hard diagnoses, second opinions on big quotes, and Ford, GM and Ram diesel work a general shop does not see every day. |
| Foothill and mountain towns | Heat, boost and transmission trouble that shows up on long grades with a trailer, plus hard starts on cold mornings. |
| Farther out | Major failures and problems a hometown shop could not pin down. |
Pick your road in, find your town
Our main towns line up along four corridors. Pick yours to see which towns sit along it and what their trucks usually bring us.
6th Avenue west: Lakewood and Denver
6th Avenue is the straight shot west out of Denver, and it picks up Lakewood along the way. Diesel repair in Lakewood often means a truck that works the week in metro traffic: short trips, plenty of idling and DPF regens that never get a chance to finish.
Denver owners who come this far usually have a truck that has already made the rounds and needs the actual fault found.
- DPF and regen warnings from short trips in traffic
- Check engine lights another shop could not trace
- Fuel and injector complaints on high-mileage commuters
- A second look before paying a large dealer quote
I-70: down from the mountains, over from Wheat Ridge
Eastbound, I-70 brings trucks down from Idaho Springs, over Floyd Hill and past Genesee; some Idaho Springs owners take US-6 down Clear Creek Canyon instead. Owners in Evergreen take SH-74, Evergreen Parkway, up to join I-70. These trucks climb loaded, then come back down on the brakes and exhaust brake.
Westbound, I-70 is the quick way over from Wheat Ridge.
- Running hot on long climbs with a load behind it
- Boost and turbo trouble that only shows up under load
- Transmission heat after a day of towing on grades
- Hard starts when the truck sat out on a cold night
SH-93 and SH-58: Arvada and the north side
SH-58 runs west from I-70 along the Arvada and Wheat Ridge line straight into Golden, and SH-93 brings trucks south from the Boulder County side. Owners in Arvada come in on SH-58, Ward Road or I-70, and Arvada has long been a steady source of trucks for the shop.
- Work trucks with heavy daily miles and deferred maintenance
- Shift complaints after a season of towing
- Intermittent electrical and drivability faults
- Repeat problems that a parts swap did not cure
US-285 and C-470: the south side
US-285 drops out of the mountains past Pine Junction and Conifer, down the long grade to C-470. C-470 then swings north along the foothills to US-6 and Golden. Owners in Morrison pick it up close to home and come north, and it is the same road owners from Littleton take to reach us.
South metro owners usually come for big engine, fuel, turbo and transmission jobs.
- Brake wear from the long 285 descents and running hot on the climb back up
- Turbo and transmission trouble from towing
- Glow plug, grid heater and hard-start complaints in winter
- Large diagnostic jobs a closer shop passed on
Diesel repair that Denver and mountain owners drive over for
Here is what usually makes the drive worth it.
| What it does on the drive in | What it often points to | Where we start |
|---|---|---|
| Limp mode or a warning light that comes and goes | A sensor, wiring or fuel pressure fault that a code alone will not name | Diesel diagnostics, before any part gets ordered |
| Temperature climbs on a loaded grade, fine around town | Radiator, coolant leak, fan clutch or a failing EGR cooler | Cooling system pressure and leak testing |
| Down on power or whistling under load | Sticking VGT vanes, a boost leak or a tired turbo | Boost testing under load, not at idle |
| Slipping, hot fluid or a flashing tow/haul light | Transmission heat from towing on grades | Transmission scan data and fluid check |
| Hard start, smoke or a knock after a fuel stop | CP3 or CP4 pump trouble, contamination or injectors | Fuel pressure testing and a filter inspection |
| DPF, regen or DEF messages on the dash | Often an upstream problem the emissions system is reacting to | Emissions fault workup. We do not do delete work. |
Compass direction from the shop to each town. No mileage; the drive depends on the road you take.
Four roads in, one shop at the end of them
Golden is home base. Whichever corridor you start on, the last stretch funnels into the same place: our bays on West 4th Avenue, right where the mountain roads come down.
Coming down from the mountains with a truck that is running hot or down on power? Take the grade easy and watch the gauges. If the temperature climbs, ease off or pull over and let it idle so the fan can pull the heat down. If the gauge keeps rising at idle, shut it off and call us.
How a visit works when the shop is not around the corner
Four steps, and you know where things stand before any work starts.
- Call before you head out and describe what the truck is doing
- Leave the truck with us; most diagnosis and repair work is drop-off
- Hear the findings, typically in 24 to 72 hours depending on workload
- Approve what gets done now and what can wait
Repair work is drop-off, so plan on leaving the truck with us.
Have the year, engine, any codes and the parts already replaced ready when you call. Note when it acts up: cold, hot, loaded or empty.
Passing through counts too
Not every truck is local. Word for word from Google.
319 reviews
- Customer
- Kenbob
- Trip
- Traveling through to Utah
MEL is a Great communicator. They squeezed me in line as we were traveling through to Utah. They analyzed the situation & gave me two choices ! Wow! They gave ME the choice ! They acted on the quickest answer from me & they had me rolling before closing ! FYI: Nothing is cheap in diesel repairs ! Very happy to get rolling & still be rolling ! TY TY THANK YOU !5 STARS
Tell us what your truck is doing
Send the year, the engine and what you are seeing, and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.
- Year, make and engine
- What it is doing, and when it started
- Any codes or recent repairs
Rather talk it through? Call (303) 808-1563
Questions about getting your truck to us
What owners outside Golden ask before they make the drive.
Our service areas center on the shop in Golden and run east through the west Denver suburbs, north to Arvada, south to Littleton, and west up I-70 and US-285 into the foothill and mountain towns. The towns linked in the route tabs above each have their own page. Those towns are where most trucks come from, not a boundary line.
For an oil change, probably not. For a truck that has been to another shop or a dealer and still is not right, or a big fuel, turbo or transmission job, plenty of metro owners decide it is. We find the cause first, then tell you what needs attention now and what can wait.
Most diagnosis and repair work is drop-off, and typical diagnosis takes 24 to 72 hours depending on workload. Repair time then depends on the job and parts. Call before you head down so we know the truck is on its way.
Yes. Owners bring trucks from beyond our listed service areas, from as far as Fort Collins, Fort Morgan and Colorado Springs, usually with a major failure or a problem a closer shop could not solve. Call first and describe the symptoms so the trip is worth it.
Heading down the hill or across town? Call first.
Tell us where you are coming from and what the truck is doing, or use Request Service to send the details. Or drop us a line right here from the website and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.