[Dick]

This is what my 01 looked like.

The Gast was for aux air and the small compressor on top of the air tank to the rear was for the autoawning.

[Dick]

For the Marathon folks, when your Webasto is running, the engine is also getting heated.

[Dick]

I saw Volta’s system at Tampa and talked to Jack Johnson. I learned he is an electrical engineer and had a significant career with Milwaukee based Johnson Controls which might be the largest battery manufacturer in the country (world?) and is a leader in cutting edge battery technology.

Jack said that the alternator that is part of their system takes 6hp vs the 30hp that our current alternators draw (DN50) and is smaller and lighter. After leaving the show I got to wondering if Volta’s alternator would be a reasonable replacement when our DN50 fails.

Anyone have thoughts about that?

[Dick]

That’s right driver, the way the Godfather twisted his answer was better than most politicians.

Later

bv

[Dick]

Thanks Bob! Got the manual today. It will help a lot to solve the clutch problem.

[Dick]

Paul
– If you’re going to do a lot of dry camping, battery power will be
important to you. I would look for a bus with 4 – 8 batteries and
they will be 4D’s or 8D’s. It depends on conversion and the converter
when looking for house battery capacity.

Example…
My 01 Liberty had (4) 8D batteries and was a 12v coach with 5000
watts of inverter power. It would easily go 8 hours with just the
fridge, lights, fan, etc. running overnight and not go below 50%
discharge. My Marathon has (6) 4D’s and is a 24v coach with 8000
watts of power. It also easily goes 8 – 12 hours with the same amount
of use not discharging below 50%. The difference is I can run 1 or 2
cruiseairs off the inverters for a short period of time and that’s
the reason for 6 batteries and 8000 watts of power.

Michael
– I’ve had both OTR buses and non OTR buses. If you’re going to be in
the SW in the summer, you’ll be a happy camper with OTR, nothing
compares. I’ve had two buses with multiple evaporators for the dash
air and for us, that’s plenty of A/C capacity without running the
gen. My Marathon with dash air and two supply sources up front kept
us cool for the summer in some pretty hot temps. If you have to be
like Jon and maintain 68 – 70 degree’s while driving to keep his
laxative’s cool, you’ll need OTR or you will have to run the gen to
supplement the dash air when it’s really hot.

[Dick]

Michael,

The members on this site can provide you with the best classroom education on Prevost conversions possible. While every one of us is still learning (kind of like saying we are all student pilots) we all have opinions as to each conversion, the systems, the chassis, what works best under what conditions, etc. We can literally talk about all aspects of driving a coach and if you want what it takes to maintain if.

If you want to get a head start go back through the posts on the various topics. I believe we have just about everything covered from OTR to roof airs versus Cruiseairs, H models versus the X models, the Level Low system, tires, towing, and we even have some confessions which give you a clue about what not to do.

I won’t say driving is like the family car, and I want to make it very clear that if you have never driven a large vehicle with air brakes you will benefit from getting a copy of any state’s commercial driver license book and reading it. They are all available on line.

The worst thing you can do is stay in the background and not ask question. The second worst thing you can do is believe all the answers. What you will get are opinions and you have to sort through the information to determine how the answers apply to your needs, what is important to you, and if the information relates to how you are going to use your bus.

If you are a pilot it is like reading a high wing versus low wing debate, or dealing with full or partial flap landings.

[Dick]

I have replaced the bearing in the same type tensioner,parts purchased from Prevost.I also found the Alternator mounting bolts had come loose one nearly falling out. I applied locktite and torqued bolts to spec.I now have approx eight thousand miles on the belt with no wear noticable wear. I also put Loctite on the bearing stud when I pressed it back in the mounting bracket.

[Dick]

Bill,

I understand what they are saying and following Leon’s advice is the thing to do. I’m on my 6th bus and this Marathon is the only one that doesn’t get all it’s aux air supply from the engine compressor when running. Those other Coaches were designed so the aux compressor wasn’t needed when driving. With the Marathon, you have to leave the aux compressor on while traveling so you have air for the pocket doors, slide, seat, etc. Or, you turn the little yellow knob and combine the aux air with Prevost aux air and not worry about having the compressor on.

Isn’t this stuff fun…..

[Dick]

Gang…let me know what you want to plan?

My phone is 713 725 9486 Cell and we can do dinner Sunday night?

Landry’s would be a good spot. It is on the Clear Lake / Clear Creek entrance…

The weather has been great except the last three days but should clear again by Friday.

Pres

[Dick]

Ron,

I have three door mounted chair storage “bins”. All are covered with a gray carpet and you can have as many as you want. Whatever you don’t want will be available to anyone else.

All we have to do is compare dates and locations so you can pick them up.

[Dick]

Welcome back Alan..been a couple of years. That is one fine looking bus.

[Dick]

I do have a Rockwell axle. The ABS light turned off after a few miles today. I will have it looked at on our next service interval.

Glad to know there are no safety issues with driving. Thanks for the feedback.

[Dick]

Will check it out thanks. I do have a cruise air dealer-repair shop 5 miles away. Rick

[Dick]

I bought a Garmin Dash Cam 20 with built in GPS.. It’s HD …very small and of course plug and play… I also bought a 32gb micro SD card which is probably an overkill, but it works well. It’s usually found on sale for around $200.

I did not see an angle degree listed on mine but I can see all lanes and a lot of the median on both sides of coach…. as it is installed on the right side of the drivers window very close to the edge… so it’s pretty well centered.

Also has a very good suction cup for a windshield installation and as Jon pointed out… the blinds close without removing it.

Cheers, Diane