All this time, I thought the other people in here were people like me. Now it is clear that I've become unpopular for not patting an idiot on the back for having been lucky enough not to kill anyone for 1200 miles.
Stay away from me if your rig won't pass DOT. Don't come up and say hi to me at a rest area, don't park next to me at a campground -- in fact, don't even come into any campground that I might be at, it's hard enough to get most of these places to let conversions in in the first place. Drive around in the eastern half of the country and have fun, but if you're satisfied rolling around in a 30,000 pound rig which won't even pass the very basic minimum standards of safety, I would just as soon not have anything to do with you -- or have anyone associate me with you -- and I sure as hell don't want you on any of the mountain roads around here, especially if my lady is on that road too.
I'm gone.
I understand and have had the same feelings...have taken a break before..some times you need to walk away..I am sure the non posting visitors and members have learned from the air post...to make it clear I use my aux air when parked only to maintain coach air to operate doors and air bags...safe bussing Bob
I guess now is not a good time to say I rebuilt my brake valve using paper mache and chocolate pudding. It's all I had on hand and I figured once the chocolate dried up it would get all sticky and hold everything together. Worked pretty well for the 1st 1000 miles but then I parked overnight at a rest area and ants climbed aboard and started crawling all over the "rebuilt" brake valve. They didn't seem to be doing any harm so I kept on driving. Well about half an hour later I saw an aardvark hitchhiking and I figured "what the hell I've never spent any quality time with an aardvark " so I pulled over and gave him a lift. Wouldn't you know it he had some kind of sixth sense and tuned right in on the ants on the brake valve, and before I could say anything he was licking away with that long tickly tongue of his. Well it was pretty hard to concentrate on driving with the tickling I was getting and soon I was swerving all over the road. Eventually I pulled over onto the shoulder before anyone got hurt.
As I stepped down to get a breath of fresh air and watch the satiated aardvark waddle off without so much as a "thanks for the lift" I noticed something was horribly wrong with the bus...my cheap air cooled generator which powers my AC units when I am OTR had caught fire. I don't know how this could have happened as I had built a quiet box out of spray foam and plywood for it and there was no way for air to get in that box. Fortunatly I had not yet bolted the generator down ( I had only installed it 5 years ago) so it was easy to pull the burning box out of the bay and disaster was averted. All this to say I'm glad I used that chocolate pudding fix otherwise I would never have stopped and noticed the fire in time to save the bus.
I'm scared now, I understood that.
I got one better than that! I REALLY did install (hung) my black/grey tank from the main frame which is under my floor. Now those of you that were here when I did this install surely remember the flack I got for doing that! Remember how it was going to sling out the bay door from all the sloshing of the crap that was in it while going down the interstate and kill innocent people? Oh there was even a seminar on my install at Bussin 04 or 05 I think! ::)
Ace as odd as it is I DO remember that --- If I remember right it was the first days of armmegeddon or the last days of the revelation --- didn't you also drive a bus using an air compressor ON THE ROAD???--- good to see you posting here again.
Melbo
Some people need to GROW UP and realize it is not you're place to save the world.
If I hang on and be the last member left, will I get a free magazine subscription????
Ray D
P.S. Oh well, 2012 is almost here anyway..........
Ray if you are the LAST member I will PERSONALLY buy you a subscription
Melbo
OK beers round the horn on me! the light of day will reveal our truth's and all our misdeeds shall pass by morn! ...oops sorry ray
i'm sure that none of these fellows who are getting their undy's in a bunch and "i'm takin' my ball and going home" have NEVER EVER done anything even remotely questionable when they were a newbie? never done anything that they wished they hadn't in hind site? any thing you do in life has a margin for error. a learning curve. i'm sure glad my folks didn't just send me packin' and tell me they didn't want me around when i was a kid making mistakes and learning life's lessons the hard way. sure glad i didn't tell you all about the time i drove 5000 miles using my towed to push the bus cause the transmission went out.
Quote from: thomasinnv on August 28, 2010, 08:06:14 PM
i'm sure that none of these fellows who are getting their undy's in a bunch and "i'm takin' my ball and going home" have NEVER EVER done anything even remotely questionable when they were a newbie? never done anything that they wished they hadn't in hind site? any thing you do in life has a margin for error. a learning curve. i'm sure glad my folks didn't just send me packin' and tell me they didn't want me around when i was a kid making mistakes and learning life's lessons the hard way. sure glad i didn't tell you all about the time i drove 5000 miles using my towed to push the bus cause the transmission went out.
You really do that? Is it possible I am not the only one indulging in a little hyperbole and bathos?
Quote from: zubzub on August 28, 2010, 08:19:01 PM
Quote from: thomasinnv on August 28, 2010, 08:06:14 PM
i'm sure that none of these fellows who are getting their undy's in a bunch and "i'm takin' my ball and going home" have NEVER EVER done anything even remotely questionable when they were a newbie? never done anything that they wished they hadn't in hind site? any thing you do in life has a margin for error. a learning curve. i'm sure glad my folks didn't just send me packin' and tell me they didn't want me around when i was a kid making mistakes and learning life's lessons the hard way. sure glad i didn't tell you all about the time i drove 5000 miles using my towed to push the bus cause the transmission went out.
You really do that? Is it possible I am not the only one indulging in a little hyperbole and bathos?
of coarse i did! that's probably not as bad as the time i tied my miniature pincher to the front bumper and made him pull me through three states though when i lost the driveline that was 'fixed' with duct tape and baby food jars.
Quote from: thomasinnv on August 28, 2010, 08:21:54 PM
Quote from: zubzub on August 28, 2010, 08:19:01 PM
Quote from: thomasinnv on August 28, 2010, 08:06:14 PM
i'm sure that none of these fellows who are getting their undy's in a bunch and "i'm takin' my ball and going home" have NEVER EVER done anything even remotely questionable when they were a newbie? never done anything that they wished they hadn't in hind site? any thing you do in life has a margin for error. a learning curve. i'm sure glad my folks didn't just send me packin' and tell me they didn't want me around when i was a kid making mistakes and learning life's lessons the hard way. sure glad i didn't tell you all about the time i drove 5000 miles using my towed to push the bus cause the transmission went out.
You really do that? Is it possible I am not the only one indulging in a little hyperbole and bathos?
of coarse i did! that's probably not as bad as the time i tied my miniature pincher to the front bumper and made him pull me through three states though when i lost the driveline that was 'fixed' with duct tape and baby food jars.
In recent history (last 10 yr) there was an outfit that had heavy duty trucks rigged to hookup to a disabled bus. The driver controlled the truck by remote control, the truck supplied the air and power for the bus and was controlled from the bus drivers seat. Somebody posted the link, it may still be in the archives.
ps The driver was forbidden to pickup Ardvarks! JIm
don't let the door hit you on the way out........
Quote from: BG6 on August 28, 2010, 06:12:58 PM
....don't park next to me at a campground -- in fact, don't even come into any campground that I might be at.....
.....and I sure as hell don't want you on any of the mountain roads around here, especially if my lady is on that road too.
I'm sorry but I will stay where I please and when I please and won't be limited by others decrees or demands.
I also live in the west and I'm sorry but we'll just have to share the roads as unfortunate as that may be for me.
I will though do my best to keep my coach as safe as I possibly can but for my own sake and peace of mind, not for yours. I won't lose sleep on that thought.
Mercury is retrograde in Virgo from August 20, to September 12.
"As the planet of communication, Mercury retrograde tends to breed a certain level of confusion. Mercury rules our "lower" mind--how we perceive and interpret information that we receive from our environment, and how we relay that information to others. Mercury has rulership over such things as speaking, negotiating, buying and selling, listening, formal contracts, documents, travel, the mail and shipping, and so forth. All of these areas of life are affected when Mercury is functioning in a sluggish state. Decision-making is challenged during Mercury retrograde. Needless to say, it is not advised to sign contracts, engage in important decision-making, or launch a new business. Delays and challenges are more probable with Mercury retrograde. It's a time when being careless with money, our personal information, or paperwork can be costly."
I sort of wondered how long the phonetics in the beginning of the thread would be there. I found it offensive though hoped it was meant in one of the less offensive ways.
It has been a really hot, long summer.
It is especially tough for those who tend to expect others to hew to their specific line of thinking.
It is best we all try to remember that the purpose of the board is to relate our own experiences and to make recommendations to others when asked.
Well said Gus!
Just to add a little to this, Every one of our members are different. Weather it's pocketbook size,
or the broadness of our thinking. Give some advice if needed but, don't try and ram a certain way
down someones throat. There is always 10 ways to skin a cat!!!
If your advice is Not taken the way you intended, then just move on... at least you said "warned" it!!
This is why Hitler failed... He tried to make everyone think his way.. Lol
Have a great day
Nick-
"There is always 10 ways to skin a cat!!!"
Nick ---That's It!! :o ---My cat was offended by your comment about severely cruelty and has reported you to PETA and the SPCA!!
steve
pabusnut
so why would anyone get that upset?
i try to be safe. i try to make the bus look decent enough and i've been to some really nice campgrounds.
i have yet to meet anyone who walks on water, in person or on this board. i've decided some folks are really good, and some folks are on my level of expertise. But i don't take anyone's advise so seriously as to get my shorts wrapped up and quit.
Except maybe Clifford, i do listen to luvrbus. but i don't get upset that he's always right and i'm not.
it's all good and life's too short. be happy you have time to be on here and have a bus to discuss!
I've asserted from day one that metal confuses me, metal of all sorts, but very little upsets me, VERY LITTLE DOMMIT, oops meds wearing off, as a matter of fact I was given the recognition as being the one least likely to give a damm in my high school yearbook, but I realize that some people are very passionate about some things and I can respect that , not necessarily agree with it, but I have areas that fire me up too. I've come close to quitting the board a couple of times too but then realized that it would be reason enough for many to party for weeks at a time and that truely bothered me so piss on ya and if you don't agree with me then keep it to your self, my mom still likes me, at least she used too. Tom, if you want to see walking on water come up here in january lol, we all do it lol.
Cody --- don't ever go away --- if you do leave your ghost to haunt us all
Melbo
I have had 2 DOT inspections done on the frenchy-bus in the past 12 months. I commented to Marilyn tonight on what a feeling of security I get from the most recent inspection and said that I plan to have one done annually from now on. Then we stopped at a Pilot for the night and I read this thread and the other one. I'm personally sorry to see Brian leave. I happen to agree with him on safety matters. I think making light of them is foolish and scary. As Clifford said earlier many or perhaps most of the converted busses would never pass a DOT inspection. That should bother all of us.
I walked on water today but I was pressure washing my patio. I am not going to tell you all that I was bearfoot and it was an electric washer. I don't want anyone else leaving because it was a dumb idea. Oh and I finished without loosing any of my toes or anybodies. I guess it was a remarkable day but it could have been catastrophic.
Bob
Do you think that motorhomes would pass DOT inspections??
Not that I take safety lightly -- there are a LOT of vehicles on the road
If you are driving a bus and it is in an accident you WILL be the first one there
No one is closer to a collision than the driver in a bus
Being safe and passing a DOT inspection "I think" are Two different things
I ALWAYS want to be safe -- I'm not sure I want the government to tell me what that is
Melbo
Dang I guess I had better get out of here also. I drive a highly modified 04.
Lets see what is obvious,
spring brakes,won't work on 04,
no back escape door,
hopped up6v92 in the back,will break in the middle.
has a trailer hitch and has pulled a big trailer.
and in the front a miss matched front axle
power steering with a welded arm.
and don't forget the home made tilt steering wheel
fuel tanks off a truck for holding tanks
large propane tank for extended boondocking
.
must be a danger to just go down the road
uncle ned
but i do it my way and enjoy it
Hey Ned I put spring brakes on my '04 it was pretty easy...just regular truck s brakes.. Now I have a driveshaft handbrake and spring brakes, kind of belts and suspenders set up.....don't tell anyone though, otherwise DOT may hear of it and then we will all need 2 separate emergency braking systems.
Quote from: pabusnut on August 29, 2010, 04:32:56 PM
"There is always 10 ways to skin a cat!!!"
Nick ---That's It!! :o ---My cat was offended by your comment about severely cruelty and has reported you to PETA and the SPCA!!
steve
pabusnut
---------------------------------------------------------
Steve, I found out from many years of trying different ways to skin a cat as a kid, that pulling the tail through the old style skeleton key hole that when you got to the rear end it skinned them pretty clean.
Your result may vary.
WVaNative
People, seriously, some of you seriously need to calm down. I dont believe anyone on this board that has commented is not serious about safety. I dont hear anything like that at all. What I do hear, and I think this is the big issue, is some people want everyone to comply to the letter of the law "as they see it", or pull it over and get a $$$$$ tow. I'm very sorry to admit this to you, but some of us are a lil bit rebelious and conservative with our time and money, and believe were smart enough to work around a problem. In fact, that "can do" spirit is what this Nation was built on. Its what put us on the Moon before anyone else in the world.
Its great that some choose to follow the letter of the law (as they see it) and get a DOT inspection, but I will tell you right now, that that inspection is only as good as the person who inspected it, and its only good for as long as it took him to put his flashlight away. I worked on light general aviation aircraft for a while. Do you realise that an aircraft is its most dangerous just after being returned to service? Do you know how many times wheels come off big rigs after leaving a tire shop? If your only frame of reference for safety is only an annual DOT inspection, and you feel your good to go for another year without ever looking things over, I am not so certain anyone would want to be sharing the road with you either. Its of primary importance that a driver of any vehicle have at least a basic understanding of major operating systems that pertain to safety and that they are able to diagnose a problem and know how to correct it. The FAA argues that the pilot in command has the final say to whether an aircraft is safe to fly. I feel its the same with a bus. The FAA issues Ferry permits all the time so people can get their plane back home, and those aircraft are NOT certified as airworthy. They are often worn out and flying jerry rigged. You have to keep things in perspective.
I have a pair of pliers I found up inside the wing of a Cessna. They have the mans name engraved in them. I showed them to Bob and he lauged. He handed them back and said thats why you dont put your name on your tools. If yo really think everyone out there is infalible, your not being realistic.
As a pilot and a mechanic I remember that the anal FAA allows pilots to break any rule that they see fit to get their Airplane down safely. They must think people can use good judgement from time to time.
John
Anyone who would buy an old bus which is no longer fit for service, and convert it into a house on wheels, already has their sanity in serious question. Why would you mess with someone like that, you could very well push them over the edge. Here we even have some who have done it multiple times, the very definition of insanity.
Don't screw with us! :P
Oh, and I'm also going to get my HF air compressor installed in the bay and connected into the air system, so I can avoid the high shipping charges on that spare!
This was way too funny.
Did this belong in the last thread about air compressors or does this whole thread belong in the air compressor thread. I'm confussed I guess. Three pages here and six there and a few posts in the last person quitting thread. Hard to keep up with all the different threads about the same things.
Have to agree on many posts here about the way things are posted. I would guess most that take on a bus and or a conversion are the type of people that don't like to be told what to do. Other wise we would have bought an over price S&S that was built by a manufacture for the purpose of being a Motorhome. Instead we all become mechanic, carpenter, plumber,electrician, engineer, and need to try to follow all the rules that don't always make sense. I am glade to have knowledgeable people helping me learn to function in all of the above career fields. I don't need anyone making me feel stupid for my innocent posts. Hope all that leave come back to play ball it is more fun that way.
John
Quote from: Melbo on August 29, 2010, 08:41:16 PM
Do you think that motorhomes would pass DOT inspections??
Absolutely not. Which is why I think that every vehicle over 10,000# should be subject to mandatory annual DOT inspections.
Quote
I ALWAYS want to be safe -- I'm not sure I want the government to tell me what that is
You know my opinion about big gummit so you'll know how hard it is for me to say that I think we need more gummit in this matter. Your comment is precisely the problem - we all THINK we're being safe. But we have NEC because what you think is electrically safe and what I think is safe may not always be safe. And we have DOT inspections for commercial rigs because what individual operators think about safety isn't adequate. Based on the comments I have read here I am more than ever convinced that individual responsiblity isn't adequate for large RVs either.
Hey, if you think that my bus is unsafe, stay off my roads!
Quote from: bobofthenorth on August 30, 2010, 07:07:56 PM
Quote from: Melbo on August 29, 2010, 08:41:16 PM
Do you think that motorhomes would pass DOT inspections??
Absolutely not. Which is why I think that every vehicle over 10,000# should be subject to mandatory annual DOT inspections.
Yeah, because we all know how safe that will make everything. NOT. The statistics are so far against you on this line of thinking its not really funny. Why do think insurance rates are so low for RV's? Why do you think licensing is so simple for converting an RV? Do you believe its because they are all plowing through crowds of pedestrians because they are unsafe?
I think its the other way around. The lighter the vehicle, the more restrictions they need on the idots driving them. Including motorcycles.
I resemble that remark.
i wouldent worry too much, as a $$ generating ploy i am sure they will require everyone and everything to bow down and be inspected. Carefull what you wish for.
Who ever told any of us that we were EVER going to be 100% totally safe in this life??? Man, if someone really convinced you of that they were full of it. You're on a moving planet with 6 billion other folks that are at times just as flawed and goofy as we all can be at times.
A month ago we were on our way back from Glacier and an 18 wheeler (shiny, clean, perfect appearance couldn't have been more than 2 years old and would have passed DOT anywhere) mysteriously went from the right lane through the left lane crossed the divider in north dakota (which is really steep) and somehow by the grace of God the dude saved it and didn't kill or maim the gaggle of cars coming in the opposite direction. He obviously fell asleep and woke back up. So how do we regulate that? How do we make it so no one ever reaches for a cigarette lighter or turns around to check on their kids or spills coffee and loses control or?? or??
Stuff happens.
All the preparations, seat belts, abs systems, in the world didn't stop the 2X4 from breaking from the retaining straps on a lumber truck a few years back and killing a guy on a freeway we were traveling.
I know, I know "if the guy wouldn't have tightened the retaining straps too tight the board wouldn't have fell off. "Safety safety safety right?
That doesn't explain how the board jumped completely over two semi's and bounced absolutely flawlessly off of a pickup truck into a perfectly horizontal position and went through the unlucky guys window in a 12" diameter killing bullseye ( I mean 2" to the left or right and the guy is telling his buddy's about his close call or a little lower and a few inches to the right or left and he loses an arm) but no on this day it just "happens" to hit him in the center of the forehead and kills him.
We would all have to quit driving our buses, quit flying, quit driving our cars, quit going to the supermarket because "you never know.... right?" and guess what we would still have accidents, heart attacks and strokes. Oh wait, they have a name for that it's called agoraphobia. ; :o :o
Jim Morrison of the doors didn't say much that struck me in his drug stupor of a life (which ended in a bath tub in France, man those french and their lax Heroin standards and regulations!) but " no one gets out of here alive" comes to mind here.
For those looking to be safe, I commend you, and I am with you 100 percent I have kids and I do my best to see that my bus is safe for them and everyone else.
For those in this thread that thought they arrived in a perfect place where we can control everything in our lives and make this rock we live on %100 safe.
You got delivered to the wrong address, try entering this one in your future travel plans instead.
Heaven.
If You do not like the way I drive My bus stay off the sidewalk! Who gave out the womb to tomb certificates anyways? John L
A big difference between anal and annual. This is not a dot blog. I have found that people that push issues as such have little common sense and in all actuality should not be owners of conversions to begin with. It just makes me wonder why they even post here. Because they know so much or because they think they know so much? I just get perturbed that someone with no common sense thinks that everyone else doesn't have any common sense and can't operate a bus under dire circumstances. Did they ever think that some of us may be smarter than they are? ::)
Im thinking we may have beaten the dead horse enough already. I looked at a Bus the other day. No kidding, it was just off dead horse mountain road. I wondered if there was a dead horse cemetary up there. Nope, just a Bus. But it was out of air, if anyone cares.
Ned,
Like Zub, I have spring brakes on my 4104 and they are great. I hate to think of doing without them.
I think they're slightly smaller cans in order to fit inside the close space but they do fit.
This has been discussed in the past year or two.
I don't know how they were installed since they were installed when i got the bus.
The RV industry would lobby to the bitter end if DOT inspections came to RVs. A lot of RV companies are barely surviving as it is.
Even worse than DOT inspections for the RV industry would be the requirement of CDLs or similiar and all the HOS and other regulations. You might as well write the obituary for the RV industry if that eve happened. I would give up my conversion if CDLs were required as none of my friends would ever pay for all that BS.
Well Zub,
Way to stir up the Sh*! Pot!
I think some folks (myself incuded) are inclined to do whatever it takes in order to: 1) Get the damn thing home (or off to the beach :D) within reason, safety-wise speaking, 2) Do it themselves, as in not paying for something that might otherwise have been accomplished (albeit perhaps in an unorthodox manner) one's self without undue risk to one's or another's life and limb) 3) Take pride in having accomplished some type of (hopefully) clever and resourceful repair in a day and age when quite possibly the majority of folks would simply never dare to, or even have the slightest inkling of what it might take...
Interesting topic that I for one enjoyed. There is opportunity to learn new things in life every day. It is not all black and white. There is mostly gray and that is the most interesting area to explore.
Not sure what I'm trying to say here... guess I mean that obviously none of us here has the desire to do anything unduly foolish or dangerous, and surely no one wishes to cause harm to another. On the other hand, this doesn't mean that we cannot be handy and inventive when the situation calls for it. Crazy-risky is right out, obviously, but I didn't get that while reading these posts. Well, maybe one or two, in terms of crawling under an unsecured bus, but that limits the risk to self and not others, so that's a personal choice. Been there, done that. :o
Anyway, good stuff. You guys are absolutely hilarious too! Glad to have found this board.
Cheers!
Quote from: Kevin on September 05, 2010, 01:24:14 PM
Well Zub,
Way to stir up the Sh*! Pot!
If I'm responsible for anything it's only the last 2 pages of this thread...
I would never drive more than 500 miles using my HF compressor for air and pedaling a bicycle to supply it with current. I might drive further if I had an automatic, but with a crash box, 500 miles is the absolute limit for a responsible safety conscious person. :)
Right! 500 miles as long as that gets you home. OR 550, or 582, or 605..... or ?
Whoops!
I assumed (never a safe thing to do!) that this whole thread was based on yours regarding "Get 'er home, etc." My mistake.
Actually this occured to me when I realized (after I'd posted) that his was an entirely different thread. No offense please, and long live the '04!!!