TJ
Forum Replies Created
-
Thanks Rudy. So would this be a shower valve in the shower stall or down in the bay?
-
I tried Jeff and made a mount for the rear bumper but when I let the jack down it jerked the front wheels up 2 feet off the ground. Sooo, the Carrier O5G is still for sale or give away to a needy Prevost owner.
-
That’s a no-brainer. Many folks drive half way across the country to get to Jeff. You are just around the corner. Jeff is by far your best option for help. He can do just about anything you need.
-
Sorry for the long answer – but thought you might find helpful. And selfishly, if Jon critiques my post I am sure to learn even more!!!
I bought my 92 CC over 10 years ago as a 1st-time owner of any RV. I was honestly naive. I bought it from its second owner, a commercial pilot and instructor who kept it in a hangar. Its appearance was that of a time capsule – immaculate paint and interior and that made a big impression. The owner and I did what Jon recommends – he took me through every switch and dial in the coach and told me what worked and what didn’t. I took a huge risk and did not have the drive train inspected – 40K on a million mile system and I would not have known who to ask at that time. In the end I have zero regrets and believe I bought a solid bus – in many ways defying its age. The more DIY I do (or by watching the pros) the more confident I get in a 30-year old coach not letting me down. In terms of the “Country Coach unique” risk….
As an engineer, I look at my bus as several distinct and mostly (hopefully?) isolated subsystems:
Prevost shell, drive train, and DDEC: So far, my experience has been that at birth, one could sit on an egg crate and drive the bus as a shell from the Prevost factory to the CC factory – and that if all the stuff CC added failed (say the control boards over the driver) I could still drive the bus with the organic DDEC and do OK. Be interested in understanding if there are scenarios where loss of a CC add-on would prevent that. My only initial issue was finding folks who remember how to / enjoy working on an 8V92 – but they are out there. Major maintenance investments were air bags, shocks, tires, and batteries. Unplanned/popup investments were new radiator and new coolant O-rings in the heads. Chasing air leaks seems to be Prevost’s way to make sure you bring your bus in every year for service J
CC Interior. The interior sold me. Solid walnut cabinets, Corian, European faucets, etc. I am a woodworker and am extremely impressed with the craftsmanship, quality, and assembly of the interior. It is rock, rock, solid and nothing moves or squeaks and you can disassemble many things to perform repairs or remodel. My single maintenance issue was DIY replacing the original Dometic 3-way fridge with ice maker (not made anymore) with a newer model. That took only minor tweaking – much less work than I expected. Original washer/dryer combo still humming along. Other than “style/craftsmanship” there is absolutely nothing CC proprietary.
Plumbing: Only issue in 10 years was replacing the water pump. That was also easy DIY. There are two areas where I hold my breath. CC installed a series of powered low-point drains. Given age and dis-use (prior owners down south probably never used them) I was paranoid one of these would get “stuck open” if I used them – and be in an impossible to reach area (most are) so I follow Jon’s advice and just keep everything full and use a tiny cube heater in the bay over the winter. Second is the two yacht-style water heaters – I pray they stay solid as they look like an ordeal to replace. Valve on my propane bottle started leaking – but fortunately my plumber was able to replace in-situ with fortunately no need to remove the bottle. I have no practical experience if it is risky that the gas bottle has not been “recertified” and fresh date branded on. The plumbing itself is RV standard – the proprietary thing here are the drawings that show the routing of the plumbing to make repair easier.
Electrical. Prior owner paid a shop to upgrade the old manual transfer switch and separate charger and inverter to a modern Freedom all-in-one system – but got some things wrong causing issues. Got help from a former CC employee and straightened it out. Otherwise, very solid modern electrical system. No “OMG the dark ages” in my mind. Again – wiring diagrams and wiring number lists are the key documents to have.
CC Automation: IMHO this is the area where CC going bust hurts. While I am super happy that things like lighting are old-school manual, the CC computer board does provide valuable things like monitoring all the holding tanks. Coincidentally, I have been musing lately “what bad thing happens if that computer breaks?” I don’t have a batwing antenna anymore so who cares about “caution antenna extended” and I was getting annoying “caution shore power is connected” as I drove at 62mph down the highway – so I grounded that pin. The black water fills before the grey water fills or the fresh tank empties – so I guess I could just watch the black level as I flush without a computer – and I know there are modern aftermarket wireless replacements…I don’t know if the “Level/Dump” switch over the door or “Level Low” switch by the driver seat go through the CC computer or the Prevost system. I know the CC computer monitors temp/pressure (I got a CC “warning, high coolant temp” warning climbing a huge hill to Asheville – hence the new radiator) but I thought I read that the DDEC display would have given me those same warnings – so the CC audio is redundant.
Net-Net: Given my experience so far is that everything is reasonably maintainable….Is there anything CC proprietary that would leave one stranded by interfering with the rock solid Prevost core?
-
Marshall, if you are planning on doing something like that, go visit their RV park. Then go visit others. A lot of them. Talk to people at each one and find out what they expect in an RV park. Figure out if you will focus on transients or as a destination park.
I cannot imagine one that doesn’t have showers, a pool, a laundry, and a store selling the stuff people forget or need ranging from toilet paper to typical RV parts like sewer hoses.
What are the demographics of the type of park you are considering. If it is aimed at young families with kids and small RVs it might be completely different than one catering to seniors with large fully contained RVs.
Then consider what you would like to have included in a park and create a better one.
-
Al, if I’m not mistaken, I was quoted somewhere in the $22 range each when I was at Marathon last May. That’s around a grand to upgrade. I really hope these work. Might be the best $35 bucks I’ve spent…..
-
Please advise where such inspection can be done? Should the coach be taken to a Prevost authorized service center for it? Thanks.
-
Art, you might call W.W.Williams Parts Direct at 800-701-9993 and ask them if they have a “Kit” and that would include the changed oil filler.
-
I guess the Detroit Diesel engineers are too stupid by allowing the Allison transmission engineers to overspeed the engine while under automatic control. After all, it would be a simple programming change to limit the engine speed to 2,100 RPM on an upshift.
-
This needs to be put in perspective.
What Al and Fred are saying is the vehicle chassis has to be so well secured that it will not move relative to the trailer. That is the objective. If only the wheels / tires or axles are secured to the trailer the entire vehicle is going to bounce around on its suspension as it goes down the highway.
But keep in mind one thing when securing the vehicle to the trailer. You ARE going to get movement unless you can put so much tension on the straps that the vehicle on the trailer is bottomed out on the suspension. Every one of us who has driven our coaches for any length of time has hit the kind of depressions in the road followed by a quick rise that has compressed the air bags so much it seemed like the bus has bottomed out. We get that sense because under those rare road conditions our air seats likely do bottom out.
A car on a trailer is subject to the same forces and while the “whoop-dee-doop” of the road may not bottom the car chassis on its suspension the tie down chains or straps are going to be momentarily slack. It is going to happen and the only important thing to remember when securing the vehicle is to insure the straps will not come loose if the straps get momentarily slack. Trucks hauling cars are usually using a hook device that not only requires the chains to go slack, but that the hook securing the chain to the car has to turn 90 degrees before it comes loose.
-
My Crestron system is plugged into the aft outlets and the breaker is in the electrical panel. Maybe yours is the same ? Aft or fwd outlets might be worth a try.
Cheers, Diane
-
Don’t worry, I won’t take offense. I’ve been hung up on by better people than you!!
-
Jake,
I rarely make phone calls unless I have to. Probably because I assume most people dislike the phone as much as I do.
-
Diane, we’re in, between this and Clawfest you’re going to get tired of us.😀
-
95% of the Coach for Sale Ad’s are our Advertisers who make this site possible. We won’t be ruffling those feathers anytime soon.
If a Coach has already been sold and still on the site, help us out by politely e-mailing the Seller and ask them to remove the Coach.
You’re correct, it’s not impossible if you help.