[Sid]

I too have had both the Jake and a Retarder and the retarder in my coach has never heated the transmission fluid above 225 degrees,I have come down Black mountain with a stacker trailer grossing 71,000 and never touched the brakes .The retarder will generate 500 brake horse power which is IMHO much greater than the jake that I had.

[Sid]

Let me see if I have this right MIchael……First, welcome to the asylum. We love to help others spend their money so as you go through the journey of finding a Prevost you will not lack for advice on how and where to spend your money.

But I also could have sworn I heard an invitation for folks that have spent a lot of money to get out of cold temps, to come back to the cold temps and sit with 80,000 others who apparently love suffering.

We have HDTV.

I was one of the morons that sat in Orchard Park from time to time and watched the Bills get pounded into the frozen ground so I may be a bit judgemental about others who wish to do the same type of activity.

Relating to buying a Prevost at least you already know the word maintenance. We owners know we drive the finest coach on the planet, but we also know to keep it that way we do have to maintain it. But do not be mislead by our discussions about repairs and maintenance being the only thing we ever do. We do have the normal and reasonable routine maintenance which is oil changes and lube. Filters and inspections. A day or less of work and we are out the door with a coach ready to go.

But as the coaches age the items affected by time and not miles need to be addressed. Things like coolant changes, transmission fluid changes, tires, batteries and air bags. They are all definable events and can be scheduled so you have no surprises.

And on occasion something breaks, quits, or otherwise needs to be repaired. There is not much of that if you tend to the other stuff mentioned above. Despite the price of admission, and despite the annual maintenance costs there is no greater lifestyle, especially when you consider the things you will see and do, and the friends you will meet along the way.

FWIW our coach is viewed as our second home. Even with the cost of fuel included with the ongoing maintenance expenses it is not only cheaper on an annual basis than a second home or condo, the flexibility we have with regard to where we want to stay is unbeatable. C’mon in, the water’s fine.

[Sid]

It should read http://www.crystaltek.us.com

[Sid]

I agree with both of you as well. I just wanted to make sure the leak is there before I or Jeff tears into the dash, because, I’ve heard that it is a ROYAL PITA to remove the dash cover on a Vantare H. Jeff heard a leak with his air leak “thingy” somewhere behind the instrument panel. I do have a separate Aux guage. They all leak down together.

I definitely would not want a valve to remember as far as the guages, to open each time I drive, just to isolate the problem. I have a 12v air valve I could use as well.

Good news is, since the leaks are not connected to suspension, my bus does not sag or lean (knock on wood).

My aux compressor runs a lot, But, my coach doesn’t use air for anything while parked except to keep the Gen air bags up, which I dry camp a lot, so I need to find the leak. I guess since I only need it for the Gen bags, I could turn the pressure switch way down, since the bags only need 15 psi or so. I have had it set at 120 psi to keep the coach level, but since, my suspension leaks are fixed for now, I don’t need that pressure anymore. It probably wouldn’t run near as much with the pressure lowered from 120 to 20-30 or so.

Jeff said that my coach was really quiet underneath as far as air leaks go, after he fixed a few.

Maybe some of you Vantare H guys can chime in with thoughts on removing the dash pad………or maybe I should just leave it alone, and live with it.

[Sid]

I had used the wrong terminology in my post above. Differential does not need removal.

Access to the rear end is through the differential pulling both axles.

[Sid]

Just an observation based on numerous comments on various forums over the last several years………

Depending on where the coach has spent its life, one area of leaks that has been mentioned numerous times has been the “ping” tanks, specifically corrosion under the band clamps. Once the tanks get rust in that area leaks begin to show up.

Bob did mention previously the push in air hose fittings. They have also been affected by age and that is why when we have the opportunity we try to swap them out for compression fittings.

[Sid]

Anecdotal evidence is still evidence. For us, now that we have new tires all around (365 tag and steer), no more moving steer to tag. Just replace all at once. We’ll only have a 6 mo. difference in the 315 drives because we couldn’t get them in April when we wanted to. So, we’re set through 2019.

[Sid]

Thanks for all your info . Is there a block heater switch and where might that be?

[Sid]

Thanks for post and pictures G-Man, that will surely help folks on down the road if they have to gain access.

[Sid]

I accessed the forum and tried to post on IE. I got about 2 sentences before it started slowing down.

I have not had issues with Chrome.

[Sid]

It’s good to be Queen ! Geo.

[Sid]

I am curious how much air pressure you guys were running in the tags.

Before I start a war on air pressure I am making my comments on my experience only. I read constantly on guys trying to get the ultimate ride and drive around with 80 to 85 lbs of pressure in the tag tires. Everytime you turn the bus the tag goes into a bind, the tire flexes and the less pressure the more it binds putting pressure on the sidewalls and thread. Our tag axles act no different than a spread axle trailer which I’m sure you’ve all seen. Look at a set of tires on a spread axle trailer if you get the chance.

I believe many guys ride around with minimum tire pressure and this leads to problems down the road, I’m not saying Geo and Corey did this, just my thoughts.

Trucks and buses are 2 different animals but we never sent a truck out that ran 250k miles a year with anything less than cold max inflation on the tire rating.

I wish Michelin would put out a chart at what pressure to run to achieve maximum tire wear.

I’m off topic, throw me out Godfather.

Later

bv

[Sid]

So Jon would recommend not “winterizing the coach”. Draining everything, blowing out the water lines with compressed air, putting RV antifreeze in the traps, etc.

We’re 4 miles from Lake Michigan and often get “lake effect” temps … except last year when Lake Michigan froze all the way across!

Further north in maybe Oshkosh, and especially Wisconsin Rapids and Duluth I’d really be concerned about getting really cold temps.

The bus will be parked on the east side of 24′ deep garage and will be plugged into 50amp.

Thoughts.

[Sid]

What about those of us that have our “people” take care of the bus?????

I’m not kidding about the following. In the early 90’s we were visiting Angola Coach and went out to dinner with another couple that were there. He was bragging, and completely serious that he would bring his coach back to Angola frequenty so they could clean it. He was talking about routine cleaning like vacuuming. The he starts telling us how proud he was because he changed a tire. Seems he noticed a wheel and tire pass him, and in a second or two he realized it had come off his Accord.

He was unable to retrieve the tire and wheel so he looked in the Accord owner’s manual to see how to jack the car up and change a tire. He did that with the spare, took a lug nut from each of the other wheels and limped to a tire dealer.

This guy was about 65 and he had never changed a tire in his life and he had no tools in his coach. None.

[Sid]

Flyu2there,

I think jim is talking about Las Vegas and are your talking about the campground at Grand Sierra in Reno? I was there for business this last year for 3 weeks…

Bill