[Bob]

Kevin,

It is probable you can find an aftermarket supplier of bras, but I think this is one instance where quality and fit will have to be more important than price. Not saying you can’t get one less expensive than Marathon will charge, but be careful.

I have a bra provided with the coach by Liberty. What I consider important is that it is a multi-layer bra that has an outer vinyl surface, an inner layer of some type of foam to absorb any impact from stones, and an inner vinyl layer that is smooth. It’s construction provides cushioning against damage. But equally important is the fit because the materials used have a degree of stretch so when the bra is snapped in place it requires me to pull slightly to get it over the snaps. Because of that need to draw it tight when I install it, it is not going to flex or flap while going down the road. If it is loose the dust that does get behind it will abrade the finish of the coach.

The bra has to be removed and cleaned after driving the coach because despite its tightness the dusty crud that comes from the road does manage to work its way beneath the bra. Failure to clean behind the bra results in damage to the paint and polished stainless which I found on our last coach. Also rain and moisture gets behind the bra and that needs to be dried or the paint will get damaged. What you trade with a good fitting bra is more work, but less stone damage. A loose fitting bra is guaranteed to do more harm than good so in your search make sure the fit is perfect.

When our bra was made part of the paint scheme detail was added to the bra so it is not a plain black appearance, but has some color to it. I won’t say it is as nice looking as the paint and design on the front of the coach, but it has a nicer appearance than a plain single color bra. I am sure that was an expensive little feature.

[Andre]

Thanks, Jon.

Not much info out there. Guess I’ll start with Mararthon and/or Liberty.

[Davy]

Hey Kevin if you are going to the rally at Lazy days you can get one made up there. Wade rv that is a sub contractor at lazy days made one for us for around 500 bucks. One word of warning. Be specific as to what you want and where you want the snaps and STAY RIGHT THERE while they are doing it. I left to get breakfast and they put the snaps in the worst spot they couldhave. I couldnt open my door. They did make it right after I spoke to them but you can avoid the problem by staying right there. Black is the only color option .

[Corey]

Kevin, Mine resides in my garage, like Jon said it is furnished by Liberty and does look good because it is a continuation of the paint scheme, but one day after driving in the rain for a couple hours I got home forgot to take it off the coach, and lo and behold the next day when I took it off the paint was milky looking, I have the diamond sheild or whaterver they call it on the front and I guess it permeated through it. After many calls I was told to pull the coach out in the hot sunshine after two weeks of doing this it went away, I will put up with a few dings rather than use the bra, it has a place in my garage like a mounted animal, the next owner can use it as he pleases but not me! gary

[Davy]

I agree with Gary. I do NOT have one. I have the 3M film on the front. It won’t stop everything, but seems to work fine for most stuff. I make it a point not to tailgate other vehicles, and that also helps. To me the bra is just one more thing to maintain and put on and remove.

Save your money for other things.

[Archived]

Perhaps the front end coatings have improved, but in the not too distant past owners of coaches that had a protective coating on the front end were going through a lot of grief trying to remove the coating because as it aged it yellowed and cracked and generally looked awful.

Way back when plexiglass shields were all the rage and they did provide protection, but they required as much care as a bra in that they had to be cleaned front and rear as well as the front of the bus had to be cleaned because all three surfaces got dirty. The plastic shields got a milky haze to them, or they cracked. Jerry Winchester pissed off a lot of owners because he picked on them so bad and even though few would admit it, they were also a pain to maintain.

So as of now the options are to do nothing, with the end result being some dings and chips which I called signs of experience on my 87 and 97 coaches.

Or you can get a coating applied which offers a small level of protection, but has the potential of not aging very well. Early versions of that clear protection have done very poorly. Maybe the newer versions will not exhibit those problems.

Or you can buy a plastic shield, have three surfaces to clean unlike the two previous options, plus suffer ridicule from Jerry while he continues to make us energy independent.

Or you can use a bra, and deal with the need to take it off every trip to clean and dry behind it along with the front of the coach.

As a disclaimer I currently use the bra. It is a pain to remove and put back on, but not more than a couple of minutes. It will protect the front end, and so far my experience has been that the bra saves me as much time as it costs me because I don’t bother cleaning the exposed surface very much and that means I am not dealing with the bugs on the lower half of the front of the coach unlike the previous three options. They are there, but I am not going to pretend the bra looks good so it goes on, bugs and all.

[AL]

I agree with jon, the bra has to come off immediately if it rains out but on a normal day it does its job quite well. My coach had that 3m on the front and it looked like hell ,plus , it didnt keep the stainless from getting those dreaded stone dings. I had a tool on my last coach to aid in stretching the snaps to where they should be but dummy that I am i gave the damn thing away and havent been able to find another one.

[Archived]

My previous coach, an ’04, had the 3M coating and also had a lot of front end dings. Figured the previous owner liked to tailgate. It also had the crackling thing going on. Both issues bugged me, but when I think about it, I would rate the dings as bugging me the most. My present ’08 has the 3M coating which I believe is an improved product and is supposed to last longer. At 6 years old, I figure I’m getting pretty close to that time to either replace it (knowing that it’s a heck of a lot of man hours to remove it after the crackling begins), or remove it and start wearing a bra. I have no dings, as of yet (Knock on steel).

[Bill]

I wouldn’t go anywhere without the bra. Yes, you have to take it off if it rains and not leave it on while setting in the hot sun, but the clincher for me with a previous bus was a rock the size of a golf ball falling off a low boy and hitting the front. When I stopped, all I found was a mark on the bra, it saved the day.

I remember a guy who claimed dents on the front was a badge of honor and showed miles traveled. That guy now has a bra and won’t leave home without it. Of course he also has slides and glued panels. Funny how things work out and there may be a smart phone in his future. Of course I can’t tell you who that is.:)

Have bra will travel…..

[Kevin]

Truk4u….are you talking about the guy who wants what this carries in his garden ?

[Dick]

If this is his idea of a smart phone, I think we all know who you’re talking about.. 🙂

[Archived]

Don’t you guys have something to do?

Just to clear up some confusion about tailgating………..despite your best efforts to stay back from vehicles ahead your bus will still get dinged up. On the return from Galveston in January a flatbed semi that passed us dropped back into my lane and either picked up something from the road or something came off the bed and we ended up with 4 stars in the windshield. We might have also been hit with whatever damaged the windshield but I didn’t see any damage elsewhere. My point is there have been numerous instances where despite our efforts we get damaged. How many of you have had a dumptruck ahead of you hit an expansion joint, and have stones and pebbles that were laying on the frame or axles bounce off and hit your coach?

How many of you have been on a two lane road and had a car coming from the opposite direction kick ou a stone that has hit the front of the coach? This was especially an issue when we lived in NY state and their practice for road maintenance was to spread tar and then cover the tar with loose stone. Every approaching car from the opposite direction was kicking up loose stones.

[Archived]

Wow, I can’t get nothing past you guys…… He also turns up the volume on his Bose system so when he gets that once in a lifetime call on the ole flip phone, he can’t hear and then can tell us all we’re full of shit because he actually DOES have his phone on.

Di, I need coffee….

[Archived]

I have no doubt that a bra will do a better job than the 3M film, and will cover everything including the stainless strip. I just don’t like the looks of one, or the hassle of using them.

[Robert]

OK, let’s get past the BS and reveal the truth.

I do turn my flip phone “on” when I want to make a call. But unless I want to make a call, it is turned “off”. I don’t like to use the phone so it doesn’t get turned on much. BTW, it has no camera, no text capability, no voice mail, I cannot search the web, because it is a phone. It is not a GPS, a TV, or even a garage door opener.

However the phone in the bus is always “on”. It is a cell phone, but not a cell phone. It is a black box that can send and receive calls, and it is connected to all the phone jacks in the coach. We have 4 extensions through the coach and they are conventional phones. When I want to make a call I pick up a phone, hear a dial tone, dial the number and the call is made just like the land line at home. When I am done I just hang up. The phones have an answering machine as part of the system. Some folks call that voice mail.

But when I am driving I cannot answer the phone. I cannot reach it. If Di is with me, she answers the phone, and if it is for me she almost needs to hold a gun to my head to get me to talk on it if I am driving.

Too many business phone calls 24 hours a day when I worked for a living have made me greatly dislike phones. For as many years as I had manufacturing businesses, I never had a cell phone. I always had the phone described above in the coach, but when I traveled in my plane I was literally out of touch.

Now I do carry the cell phone, but rarely have it on. I won’t be using it when eating with friends or while sitting on toilet (except the one in the bus).

My cell phone is modern. It does not have a rotary dial.