[Russ]

Hmmm, they riveted the coach and GLUED on some covers?

[Archived]

While I confess to liking the security of a coach whose sides are mechanically fastened in place, I really like having a coach whose sides are an unbroken expanse of stainless. Sighting down the side of the coach its clean lines are to me, very attractive. Don’t get me wrong, my rivet coach was nice looking but the skins were nowhere near as smooth and with such clean lines.

Tom’s photos show what looks like a very elegant fix to a problem some coaches (mine included) have experienced. I think if I ever have to face the issue of failed bonding I would like to see how the coach looks with the rivets exposed. Polishing the heads of the rivets would not be that big of a deal, but I can only imagine what paint matching and polishing those strips must entail.

But an even bigger question for me is why on coaches with bonded skins, Prevost doesn’t just bond them in place, and prior to painting or polishing add a line of rivets at the panel joints so delamination of skins is never going to be an issue, and so there is no need for a cover strip of any kind.

[Ed]

When they fixed mine, they did not do it like this. The cleaned out the edges that were lifting and re-glued the area. No rivets were installed. No extra material over the edges either. It must depend on how bad it is, or where exactly the problem is in relation to the edges.

[Archived]

I think the fix on your coach and mine, Mark was prior to this latest approach. It is my understanding some that had been repaired needed a second repair and adding rivets seems to be a permanent fix.

Mine also received extensive repairs (and repaint), and I hope it never needs additional repairs, but if it does I am very interested in seeing what exposed rivets look like before opting for a vertical strip.

[Don]

Are we missing the old rivet coach. 🙂

[Archived]

Buddy, Buddy, Buddy………..Nope.

Let me be the first to admit my 97 was and still is probably the best coach we ever owned from the standpoint of bullet proof reliability, features, layout, and being user friendly. But as I learn the current coach, its systems, and we use it more and more this coach is by far the best in terms of livability. I can create a spread sheet listing each coach’s benefits, but the bottom line is we like our current glued side, slide equipped, short range fuel, big windshiled bus better than the previous 2.

But then again bus ownership is not rational.

[Davy]

I know u love ur new coach, just couldn’t miss the opportunity to throw out a jab. But on the serious side, I have been looking for a newer coach myself, so what do u think about the slides? I am by myself and a lot of the pictures I see of slide coaches when the slides are in you seem to be kind of cramped for traveling. The bedroom slides seem to put the foot of the bed against the opposit wall so no going around. Do some have more room with the slides in than others? The reason I ask this is I am happy with the room in a non slide coach but most every thing on the market pas say an 02 all have slides. I know resale is a consideration, but if I bought a newer one I would most likely drive it all the way to the PEARLY GATES, so who cares!!!!!!!!

[Bob]

Slides to me are what makes our coach as livable, yet the price we pay for slides (not monetarily) is huge. When the slides are in, the living room and kitchen are OK. Not much different than a non slide coach if you ignore the fact is is a little ugly with the slide in. You are correct about the bedroom being a huge problem as far as accessing the closet or some drawers. A single slide coach does not have that problem.

The cost of slides is twofold. The structure robs space, both upstairs where space for the mechanism on the sides is lost, and in the bays where the chassis reinforcements rob space or access to the bays, The second cost is added complexity. More valves, more moving parts, expensive slide seals that will need replacement. In exchange you get a coach interior that is very comfortable to live in. Those few feet of space make a huge difference in livability.

The slide rooms can create problems if something is wrong, but the Prevost slide generation I have (the only one I know in detail) is very easy to manually control, any problem is a mere inconvenience. I can easily bring the slide in or out, over ride safety features that might fail, and generally do what is required to get underway, even in the event of a problem.

Bottom line, there is a reason why the market has gone to slides despite the added weight, complexity, cost and lost space. All the drawbacks are offset by the added floor space.

I know you were breaking my chops. CC guys look for any chance at all to give us Liberty guys shots.

[Greg]

Due to the recent changes in the govt. and budget restraints … the pearly gates are now closed indefinitely.

I vote for slides … Two at the most, no more.

BCO

[Dale]

Jon,

I know there are some variations in Prevost slides over the years, but would mind sharing those proceedures and over-rides with the group?

[Archived]

John,

I’m not comfortable in explaining the differences in the various slide generations because I have only gotten into the operational details on my version. But I can easily explain mine.

Normal operation is to push a button and the slide goes in or out depending on which way you push the button. But if something goes wrong you may find yourself unable to retract or extend a slide. If certain conditions are not met you may not be able to move the coach.

The way my generation is built I can bypass the in-house controls if needed. Prevost has made it simple. There is a valve that deflates the seals. Turn it and the seals are now deflated and out of harms way. There are valves that have a small screw that can be turned to retract the pins. With those two steps completed, there is a control pendent with two switches (front and rear slide) so I can extend or retract the slides. That manual control over rides the control sequence. If the motor has failed I can get at the end of the respective motors and manually turn them using a socket wrench. Then I can re-inflate the seals or engage the pins (only when the slides are in).

If I cannot get the coach to move there is a bank of circuit breakers and if I trip them all safety devices are taken out of the equation so I can release the parking brake or engage drive.

All of this deals with being able to overcome any component or control sytem failure but it also applies to manually controlling the slide to retract it into the coach enough to replace the slide seal. We would have to compare our two coaches to see if what applies to my coach applies equally to yours.

[Tom]

As a side note to what Jon says, If a drawer latch breaks in the bedroom, rear of the coach, the slide will not work untill repaired this is a saftey feature so the slide does not take the drawer off. Jon the over ride you speak of will it make the slide work untill you could get drawer latch? I guess you could wire the latch to make it work for the short term? Gary

[Wayne]

I am only aware of over riding the Prevost safety interlocks. I don’t have any potential house interference points so I don’t know or understand how Liberty integrated house safety features with the Prevost interlocks.