[Archived]

Tim

That is what I am hearing. Thanks for the reinforcement and the welcome.

[John]

Jon

What kind of discounts are you speaking of?

[Michael]

Ron,

Click on the forums tab, it will bring you to the main forums page. There is a red box that says “PC Member

Discounts”

old post new thread new reply

[Archived]

John

wow that is cool. Thank

[Bill]

Well look who the cat drug in… Welocme Ron, delighted to have you here. I also thank you for referring to me as a friend, I like the sound of that! Here they have other names for me and none are that nice!

This is a great group of folks and some are even relatively sound of mind. I remember one of the first posts I received here on the forum was from Jon and one thing he said was “if we don’t have the answers we’ll just make something up”! After hearing that I knew I was in the right place as I have no desire to be anywhere that good humor isn’t present.

Just as a heads up, watch out for comments from MorPrevost90 aka Lynda and John. They have a very very old 1990 bus! 🙂 🙂

And don’t let these Detroit Diesel Series 60 guys push you around Ron, jealousy is a terrible thing to see!

Harry

[Dick]

Ron, the difference is not the T, but the electronic controls vs mechanical. Anything in the 90″should be electronic.

[Archived]

Ron,

If these guys are right about the 60’s, how come there are so many of us with 8V92 engines running around with 100s of thousands of miles on them?

I have to agree, of all the things I spend money on for the coach, my engine has been the best bargain!

[Archived]

There is 100% agreement that no engine on the planet sounds as nice as an 8V92 as installed in our coaches. The 8V92 has had a lot of discussions on various forums with the biggest complaints being they drip or drink oil.

The reality is they don’t. If they do drip or leak it is because something is not tight or needs a new gasket. Once an 8V92 is leak free the engine cleaning only requires a dust rag to get rid of the dust from the highway.

The demise of the engine in our coaches was attributed to the inability of the 2 stroke 8V92 to meet ever tightening emissions standards. The Series 60 when introduced was also a good engine, but never sounded as good as the 8V92. It was however a significantly more efficient engine until it got strangled with emissions devices such as EGR.

A typical 8V92 is going to deliver around 5.5 MPG as installed in our coaches. Some owners get more, some less but that is just about what can be expected. The early Series 60 engines prior to EGR (around 2004) delivered 7.5 MPG. Neither engine has any negative characteristics. Both run well, are reliable and are going to provide years of service. I believe for motor home conversions almost all the 8V92 engines installed were the 8V92TA rated at 475 HP, with some later models with a little greated HP.

Since late 1987 chassis year all have been equipped with electronic controls. Those coaches were identified with rectangular tail lights and mechanical engines had round tail lights. The electric box in the rear compartment over the engine has a tag with the engine number and a means of identifying if the engine is mechanical or electronic controls, and which level of electronic controls (DDEC I or DDEC II)

[Bob]

See Ron, I told you these guys know their stuff. Even I listen to em and according to my wife I don’t listen to anybody. But she drinks a lot and I can say that because she doesn’t read my posts. 🙂

Everyone agrees there is no bad converter out there but most everyone tends to have a favorite like Liberty or Marathon etc. As you zero in on your selection those who have that converter will fill you in with specifics concerning that specific converter and you’ll find that interesting. Each one has one or two things that make it unique from the others.

So sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the education. I think you’ll enjoy the experience and it’s good to have you on board.

Harry

[Archived]

Harry touched on something new owners and folks looking for a coach have to realize.

When you ask advice about who makes the best conversion you are going to quickly learn how much fertilizer is spread on this forum. Generally whatever conversion a person owns is going to be the best. The truth is that while all conversions generally offer similar floor plans and system logic each conversion has its strengths and weaknesses.

There is no perfect conversion, and the word perfect is in the eyes of the beholder. What potential buyers have to do is define how they intend to use their coach. They have to be honest about how big their budget is. They have to decide if they intend to work on their coach or have someone else service and do repairs to it.

If they are going to use it primarily in a fixed location with occasional side trips then over the road air (the real Prevost system) is not as important as the coach with that space occupied by additional storage space.

On the other hand if the coach is intended for a lot of travel, especially in warmer climates OTR becomes very important. But if the desired coach does not have OTR then roof airs are more important than Cruiseairs because they will not be as impacted from heat radiating from a hot highway.

If the coach is going to be used for a lot of dry camping, like spending several days at the races or in primative areas in national parks then battery capacity and water and holding tank capacity becomes important. I would be better to focus on a coach that might have 8 8D batteries rather than 4 8D batteries.

If as an owner you want simplicity and something easily serviced you might want a coach whose systems are robust and simple. Several conversions would qualify. But if you want features, especially those that require some programming or sophisticated controls then some of the more complex conversions might be better.

But whatever direction you choose to go with a purchase be aware you are responsible for insuring you get the coach you want and need. You can bet whoever is selling the coach is not going to tell you of its limitations or problems so you have to go into this well informed and prepared to verify every piece of information that is offered.

And whatever you do keep in mind nothing we tell you is accurate unless you have verified we are telling the truth. Like Harry said, we make stuff up if we don’t know the answer. And unless you are a seasoned owner keep in mind one very important thing. You do not even know what you don’t know. So with that in mind ask questions. Lots of them. And do not let anyone try to imply your questions are dumb because so far we have never met the new first time owner of a Prevost coach that knew everything.

[Harry]

Hi,

I bought a 2003 Dutch Star new. Three slides, all the stuff. Sold it in a year.

Our 20 year old, no slide bus costs many, many more thousands per year to own and operate than did the Dutch Star. Stuff wears out, and it’s a high end commercial vehicle -which equals higher dollars.

And, I’d do it again. I will never, ever own another A class fiberglass coach.

All the best,

[Doug]

I may be unique to the forum in that I never owned an RV of any kind before joining the forum and then buying a Prevost Beaver Coach. But when Jon mentioned about asking questions I’d like to expand on that a little.

Don’t worry about asking the same question over again if you don’t get it the first, second time or more. I found it took me awhile to grasp what I was hearing. I don’t know if it was the way I asked it, the way it was interpreted, or the way it was explained? I just didn’t get it! And you don’t ever want to be confused between the air brake with the air horn!

One other point I’d like to make. If you find a post from someone talking about something of interest to you. Send them an email asking them to expand on the issue etc. Some may even offer you their phone number and that’s terrific because now the information has a voice and personality behind it. If the forum members name on the top right of their post is highlighted and underlined you know can send them an email. Take advantage of that, it’s better than a private message and you may even be amazed at the amount of help they may offer.

Just my thoughts,

Harry

[Shelby & Barbara]

Kevin,

There is no reason why a 20 year old Prevost should cost any more than a comparably sized RV to maintain.

The key to that is the starting point. You have to compare the same age coaches to get a valid cost comparison and the coaches have to have similar type engines and systems. Regardless of which coach they are both going to have tires and batteries that age the same. Both should have air bags, brake chambers, valves, grease fittings, filters, belts and oil change intervals. The transmissions should have fluid and filter changes.

Once both are at the same starting point except for the amount of fluids or the size of things like tires or air bags there should be little if any differences in the annual cost to maintain them.

Up to a point. Where the differences are going to show up is when both are the same age and getting older the RV which was built to look pretty, but not necessarily for longevity is going to start having failures. The chassis on an RV is not built to handle the stresses of the miles of use a commercial bus is going to have. The construction is based on cost and the structure will start to show the miles. The commercial chassis however is going to perform the same way with no structural issues like wall delamination or broken welds because long before motorhome owners get to experience problems the commercial operators have experienced issues which the Prevost engineers have fixed via a service bulletin.

None of our systems are stressed. Everything is overbuilt so tires are of an ample size, bearings are robust, all the wiring and pneumatic systems can easily handle all the loads and then some.

Then to make even more sense of the chassis the service work is simple because the commercial operators don’t have the luxury of tying up a coach for a day or two to make a repair. Almost everything that might need replacement ends up being easily done in minimal time.

So if you get to the point where your 20 year old chassis is up to date with all major replaceable components, plus fluids and belts and hoses are well within their life span your routine cost of maintenance is going to be mostly oil changes and lubes with some detailed inspections, and the occasional large service like coolant changes.

[Bob]

Well put Kevin, no going back to production fiberglass.

[Archived]

Harry

Thanks for the welcome. It was my first post so I was trying to be polite. All of you guys and gals are a whoot…but already a wealth of information to my search. Thanks to all of you. I have been on the road today and just got back in. There was a Prevost that was a half day trip to location. I have begun to use the important questions you have suggested to ask, I am using email to talk to members, and learning here on this forum.

Jon

You are right, there is so much that I dont even know that I dont know. But I am learning. I talked with one owner who said he own his coach for 4 years and he is still learning about his bus. (must be a slow learner…just kidding) As I am learning very quickly these are complex machines. I do not think one can become bored owning a bus.