Andy
Forum Replies Created
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I just had Jeff replace mine with white on the outside and black on the inside and it makes a HUGE difference in keeping the coach cool while parked.
I would rather be comfortable than worry about the look. You can’t see it when you are in the coach anyway..(g)!
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Doug,
Increase your high pressure alert to the default as I suggested, 25% and your false alert will go away.
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Got the same motor, same year and I ain’t got a pipe/hose coming off exhaust. Got 2 hoses with check valves coming out of block for air box drains on either side. If it’s a strap maybe a stactic electricity strap??
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Harry,
OK fess up, what did you have to do to get him to turn on his flip phone? It just doesn’t happen, so either you paid him, bought his lunch or agreed to wash and wax his bus. The last time I asked him to turn the damn thing on, he reached for it, flipped it open and farted. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but we were in line at the bank to withdraw some of the excess cash we make off PC and the dues money.
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My guess is what’s left of the Howard Steering assist. Very popular during mid 1990’s and early 2000’s. The system was intended to dampen the sway in high wind conditions.
The company is out of business.
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The pilots on here now where my train of thought comes from. In an aircraft manual there are procedures that deal with almost any issue.
We bus owners don’t have the “manual” for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because no two coaches or its systems are the same. But that does not mean we cannot create our own. It doesn’t evenn have to be written down, but it does have to be in our minds. The thing to remember is everything on our coaches will break. Notice I used the word “will”. Trust me, stuff we never even think about can break so we have to remain prepared to recognize if there is a way to continue our trip, or if we have to throw in the towel and call for a tow or repair man.
Some things require advanced planning an action. I added a back up water pump system to my coach because if my main and only pump quit I was going to be sharing toilets at rest areas with 10,000 of my closest friends. On a previous coach I designed an inverter by-pass circuit so if an inverter failed and my refrigerator needed power I could just flip a switch and connect to shore power or run my generator. I had an aluminum hollding tank in my coach when I bought it, and I was not going to wait for it to fail so I just replaced it with a stainless steel tan.
Those are examples of being proactive. But there are some failures I try to avoid by replacing parts before they fail such as air bags and brake chambers. That would be preventative maintenance and it requires me to throw out a lot of perfectly good parts, but for me that is more important than trying to deal with a failure while traveling.
But some failures don’t lend themselves to anticipating a failure or some form of backup such as Dick’s examples of the Vanner monitor or the equalizer. So for that type of failure I have to consider my options. I provided my thoughts in a previous post. The point being is I have identified in my mind potential problems and have given some thought to hwo I would deal with the problem if it arose. Not all problems can be dealt with and a tow or expensive repair may be required. But others have simple solutions like carrying spare belts or relays or circuit breakers. Some may involve a little rewiring. I cited my reluctance to drive with a battery with a internal short even if I could get the bus running. But I would not hesitate to remove the cables from my chassis batteries so instead of 4 wired in parallel and series, I would have only two. I likely would still be able to spin the engine, and I eliminated risk by taking a bad battery from the equation.
All I am trying to point out is a lot of problems are more of an inconvenience if we take the time to prevent those we can prevent and we take the time to figure a way to work around those that happen despite our best efforts. What I would never want anyone to do however would be to compromise their safety such as disabling a brake chamber so it is not leaking air, and then continuing a 3000 mile trip so it could be properly repaired or replaced at home. Certain things have to be dealt with ASAP and a temporary fix such as plugging a failed or leaking line is only to get your coach to a service facility.
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OK so I used the wrong word Doug, how about standard sensors, or older style, or original? The only difference is the temp increments.
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My coach was built wth spare parts from Jeff’s.
I have Tom’s old sofa and flooring plus all the parts I can steal while you guys are sleeping
Those Chrome wheels I recently got sure look nice. Didn’t you have chrome wheels once?
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We are booked at Catherine’s Landing May 17th- 21st leaving on the 22nd.
We’re in site #111. (this will be our first visit to this Resort, we have a water-front site).
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
Mark and Craig
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We had an awning ripped from the coach. It pulled the bolts that held the arms right out of the side of the coach.
We got it rolled up as good as we could and with wire hangars secured it to the roof. We went from Colorado Springs to Chicago to the Zip Dee factory where they salvaged what they could and reinstalled it. If your arms are still on the coach it sounds like you may have to unbolt them. I did not have that problem because the sudden wind gust took care of that for us.
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Yeah, especially now that Dick won’t buy my 3yr old antique one….not good enough for the rose petal brigade. Geo.
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Andrew has further enlightened us!
“we were hoping to find a coach with bunks for our two kids. Not sure who does this, I know liberty nearly never does. In terms of layout, I think we could use an existing floorplan if they are already road proven. I may have meant to say we want to ‘remodel’ because …” This makes lotrs of sense. I suspected this is where you were trying to go. In our search we saw a bunk coach every now and then. They are out there, but aren’t very plentiful. You might think an entertainer coach would work, but I think you’ll find that enteratiner coaches are built for a really unique purpose that makes it difficult for us regular people to happily use.
“existing finishes 92′-Now are way too gaudy for our tastes. Looking through existing coaches for sale we essentially see the same ultra glossy cabinets, fancy wall sconces, Leather ceilings and pop up TVs everywhere. Is this just the stuff the typical retiree wants and thinks is impressive? We would be happy with simple flat cream finishes, dark wood floor, wifi and an iPad Pro for media. ” No offense to those folks who spec’d coaches out like Andrew identifies, but went you’re buying a 15 to 20 year old coach, you get what’s there. You’ll find that some of the interior finishes can be easily changed with breaking the bank that can change the entire character of the coach. There is stuff and finishes and features in our coach that I probably wouldn’t spec if I was buying a brand new coach … what I tell people we show the to is that we benefited from the original owners who spent over five times to buy the coach new that we spent to buy it gently used.
“Based on everyone’s comments here it seems the best idea might be to get a layout we want and remodel the interior and upgrade the systems as needed…” Absolutely. Now you’re on the right track. Once you start talking to the shops that regularly do the remodels they will likely enlighten you of certain floor plans what aren’t conductive to retrofitting bunks … and if you’re lucky you’ll end up with a great coach and one that spends the rest of its life as a bunk coach or can easily be converted to a more “conventional” floor plan down the road.
You’ve already had a response in this thread from a great shop to consider for remodeling a coach.
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HJ,
If you end up with a 2-cycle in the coach you choose and you need a mechanic that knows his way around it, please give us a call at American Fleet in Springfield Missouri. Fleet Pride is a company more interested in selling parts than they are diving into building/repairing Detroit Diesel 2-cycle bus engines on a daily basis.
All we build and work on are Detroit Diesel engines for the bus industry. We would be more than happy to provide you with a 1st or 2nd opinion in regards to any Detroit Diesel engine you choose. But if I was asked for my opinion I would recommend a series 60 if the budget allows for it. Especially if you do NOT plan on gettting your hands dirty with a 2-cycle.
We recently had a customer come to us for a left hand turning 2 cycle. His bus was at Stewart/Stevens near Farmington New Mexico, they wanted nothing to do with that engine build, and once our engine arrived there, it took them a month to figure out how to install it with our help along the way.
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I personally saw the process of the 3M material removal on a Marathon trade-in at Liberty last year. It was a very slow process working a millimeter at a time with a plastic blade of some sort (two guys working).
I’m thinking at 5 yrs., I will have the film removed and a have a new one installed. I’ve ‘heard’ that it will come off easier when not as old and maybe not damage the paint.
Maybe Jeff would have advice?
Mark
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Chip: How long have you owned the coach? Did you know the air bags were original to the coach?