Jerry
Forum Replies Created
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In 6.5 years and 55,000 miles, our 1999 XL45 has done that two or three times. Then suddenly the display starts working again. I don’t think it “lost” any mileage. Be patient.
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Jon,
Interesting to hear. I have had great experience with Clarke Power in Nashville. They have been very responsive and helpful. The dropped their normal work and did a rush job on coolant hoses for me earlier this year. I wonder if its just growing pains.
I also have had good service at Prevost Nashville……
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Heck most if not all would do that on a large pay out. In that 30 years with my guy at State Farm, have totaled 2 vehicles, my fault and a couple deer, and wife just went through a bad one back last November when a jerk ran into Her new Lincoln. Progressive drug their feet and State Farm went ahead and fixed car and sued Progressive. Progressive paid off in the end as there driver was issued a ticket. Guess it pays to stay with somebody that’ll take care of you.
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State Farm is one of the insurers who fought like hell to not fully cover claims. The company doing the repairs had to get an independent appraiser to support the estimated repair costs and then when hidden damage was found the fight got really bad.
If I remember the coach was out of service for a very long time while the battles went on.
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Jimmy,
Sorry for the delay. The PC site is screwing up our log in and as a result it changes my user name making all posts I haven’t read disappear from the list of new posts. Yours was among them.
The solution for me was to give my finger to Safeco, and Miller and beat on my local agent. He and I spent a lot of time talking so he understood I am not accepting a company that doesn’t know a bus conversion from a Camping World special.
The bottom line is my proposed premium from Safeco was just under $10,000 so when we went shopping it was to find a fair price for good coverage. The options suck. But my agent waved his magic wand and got Foremost to provide an agreed value policy of $500,000 for under $4000. Am I satisfied?
Yes in the context of getting coverage for a satisfactory agreed value for a lot less than what Safeco wanted. This from a company that knows it is a converted bus. I gave up full glass coverage and with the cost of windshields and side glass I have some out of pocket exposure, but my first year savings alone should cover that.
I do know our zip code affects premiums so if you have an option, shop based on your different zip codes. I only have the one zip code so I am stuck with the results.
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Tom: if the Panhard bar is broken, what do you do? Have one John Hawkin’s rigs pick up the back of the coach and haul it in the steer tires? Why can’t you put an H3 on a low boy?
One of the Xfinity cars at Bristol tonight broke a Panhard bar and it barfed the right rear coil spring out onto the track.
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Jeff, before you get home disconnect the toad and follow the bus and look at it as it goes around curves.
Take photos or find some way to quantify what you think is a leaning.
I have followed a lot of coaches over the years and while some slight leaning may occur I rarely saw one with what I would consider excessive leans. When I did see one lean too much it was typically an old coach that looked poorly maintained.
After you get a mental picture of how your coach leans or doesn’t in curves try to follow another coach like a Greyhound or other Prevost.
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Turf Stone Pavers.
I don’t like them for long term parking of cars, trailers and motorhomes. Too much moisture can come up through them and attack the underside of the vehicle. Then you get corrosion. It just won’t dry out. Same problem with parking on gravel for any length of time.
A number of homes in our area have Turf Stone Pavers for the driveway and once the grass grows through it really looks nice.
Speaking of moisture causing corrosion … you guys and gals building fancy bus barns and parking pads for your coaches need to put heavy poly immediately under the concrete. That really helps keep moisture from migrating through the porous concrete and contributing to corrosion on the underside of the coach.
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With the large open area beneath the batteries the bus needs to be kept in temps above 32 or some solid gold game plan to limit charging current from the inverters and or alternator needs to be in place.
The battery manufacturer likely has those charging protocols for low ambient temps listed.
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Thanks, those smaller red wires are going from the solar controllers to the batteries. Temporary installation. They are not chaffing on the battery rack. I will look up on the ceiling for the master ground in the morning. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jerry
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thank you for the update .
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Let’s stop the CA bashing, it’s home to a lot of folks.
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Did you see my finger? You are still #1.
I spent a couple of days with a fellow PC member sipping bourbon and I got the same ration of BS from him.
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Someguy,
I did read your plans and ideas with great interest. I think you are brave. I was where you are now and I can tell you that even though it’s a good try, I think you will be disappointed and your math is somewhat off.
About 4 years ago I looked at many highway coaches and started the journey into Prevost ownership. I did the calculations as you did. Tried to make it work. I can tell you. It won’t.
Here is why.
Fast forward to today. I steered away of the highway coach idea for many reasons and I am glad I did. I bought a Marathon coach that was in need of some interior TLC. The Prevost part, with only 90K miles, was in immaculate condition with all maintenance records available but the coach part was really outdated and worn as it was used a hospitality unit at racing events. I did all the work myself. over 1300 hours to update the interior. Total cost: close to $100K without labour cost.
You mentioned updating the front and rear. I did that. All Prevost parts. I was lucky to find the complete front end of a wrecked bus and a nice tailgate. Cost all set and done: $13K
Let’s move to paint. I repainted my coach. You mentioned $5K. Sorry but not even close. I did all the prep work myself. Sanding, small repairs. It’s a lot of surface. Just materials, such as primer, paint, clear coat, sandpaper exceed $10k. It will spend about 3 days in the paint booth. Unless your buddy will do it for free, raw cost (heating etc) will be at least $5K.
I own a RV repair shop. You mentioned a budget of $1000 for a slide. Besides the fact that it will be a very complicated adventure I feel you are underestimating the complexity as a Prevost is fundamentally different build than any standard RV you will far exceed that amount. Even if you use crap RV slide products we fix on a daily bases because the are underpowered and poorly engineered the raw cost will be in the thousands.
Imagine you bought a highway coach. Now you have a high mileage bus, with limited interior height (highway coaches are lower). You poured your hearth and soul in this multi year project and you will end up with a coach that will be worth pennies on the dollar of what you put into it. Let’s face it. Buyers will pay proper money for a Marathon, Liberty etc. but nobody will pay good money for a home build conversion. Regardless on how well you build it.
Don’t get me wrong here. I have no doubt of your ability to pull it off but I think you will be wiser to find a quality name brand converted coach and “fix” it up to your liking. There are many out there you can buy for a price that won’t be much more than a decent highway coach.
Either way good luck with your adventure.
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My cooktop is propane and we carry a 30# bottle to supply that and an external grill or propane firepit. Of course it’s OK to carry propane. We have to refill the 30# bottle once every 2 years.