I could take my bus on a 3,000 mile jaunt to a car race in June. All I can think about are the things I know are not 100% and fresh. Who has a 100% fresh bus? I've never been stranded by the bus but I have a fear of taking it on a long trip. I guess I should just do it...
Brian
Brian, You never know until you try. Have put 20,000 miles on mine since I bought it a couple years ago. Most trips under 6 or 7 hundred miles round trip. Heck, get Coach Net and keep that credit card clear and enjoy.
Hi Brian, how many horsepower does your turbo charged 8V71 have? Lvmci...
Brian lol Glad iam not the only one who has had them thoughts, I have been to arizona twice now in our bus and had the same thoughts. I just do all i can do and go for it. Hell i have had more problems with the motor homes I have owned than with the Bus ;D Good luck and have fun
Other than taking ours out a handful of times in 2 years after we got back from the camping resort for 18 months. i have been working on it when I can or have time. I take it out every other month or so. But still have thoughts of long distance travel, just haven't got there yet. We have Coach net. :D
Dave
I take my bus on a 4,000 mile road trip at least once a year, twice last year. Never not made it home yet. We've had a number of issues on the road over the years, but most were easily fixed. The biggest issue was a wheel bearing failure that cost us 18 hours stuck in Wyoming a few years back.
We've had bigger issues with our trailer. Both axles broke loose the first trip, had a hub failure the second year, and had two sidewall punctures on one trip after that. The trailer always made it home one way or the other.
Heavy smoke on startup was always uncomfortable in the tight spaces of some RV parks, but Clifford told me to plug in the engine block heater which reduces the smoke, good advice, lvmci...
Go for it Brian you are a good nut and bolt guy I have faith in you
I'm usually fairly nervous the first trip of the year. Once I get a few hundred miles behind me on the first trip I usually feel much better. Best advice I could give would be to take a shorter trip before the big one so you feel more comfortable.
So lets analyze why you are afraid to take it on a long trip. A- you fear the worse breakdown and lot of funds to fix it or do you just dump the bus at that point. :P
B- Don't want to be stranded on the side of the road in somewhere USA with no cell signal to call Coachnet. ::)
C- You have really bad luck and know DW will want to go home with no way to get there and you will have to listen to it for years to come. :o
D- It will be fine and if anything happens you will have a great story to tell for many years!..... ;D
HTH Dave
The day after I bought my bus I drove it from Vancouver to Ottawa, 5 days, 5,000 km and nearly 50 hours of driving time with absolutely no issues. I have a professional licences and some experience with big rigs so it helps me maintain and spot issues but our buses we're built to last, and what's it worth if you don't trust it to get you there :) Surely things can always go wrong unexpectedly but I think that if you take care and drive it like the vehicle it is then it will reward you by getting you home
IMO & FWIW
Brian I am with you. I just imagine the catastrophic... It could wreck a vacation real quick especially at the beginning.
The problem I have is I spend too much time on this board reading about problems other people have. So when I do take the bus out (not often enough) I am always surprised when it makes it to the end of my driveway and as I drive further I worry less and less until at some point(usually within an hour or so) its like driving any other vehicle.
Maybe you need to take a couple or short weekend trips before your planned long one to build up your confidence. Being in NS I am sure there are some good places for weekend camping along the ocean.
Regards
Fred
I think I'm going to go for it. All of my trips have been "big"trips and I've always been fine. After I installed my new engine the first trip (aside from going to get fuel) was from Hamilton Ontario to Nova Scotia, a mere 1200 miles. I had a fuel-in-oil problem bad on that trip, which has me spooked, but the bus and engine ran perfectly. I just ended the trip with a gallon more oil than I started with...
Lvmci, my engine install is documented here: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=21836.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=21836.0) Since then I had the fuel-in-oil situation and suspecting a leaky injector I installed a set of N75's so it's probably making around 350 hp. With the original N80's it was rated at 405 hp at 2300 rpm. Noticeably less power now but also significantly less smoke. It would pull almost any hill at 65 mph in top gear with the N80's, even pulling our car, but the smoke was prodigious... Now I get just a whisper of smoke under full power. I believe the fuel-in-oil issue was leaking stand-pipes for the fuel tubes to the injectors. I had done them up snug, but didn't torque them to spec. The correct torque is a lot more than "snug".
Brian
Stuff happens. It's part of owning a bus.
We have had nothing but store bought conversions, all of them fairly new and in excellent condition. But despite that I have still dealt with issues on the road despite the fact I am anal about trying to keep the coach in perfect operating condition.
My issues have been as simple as a failed eye bolt on the radiator fan drive to a failed charge air cooler that was blowing so much air I lost boost. I have had numerous small problems, and I have had a serious fire that put the coach on a hook.
The flip side is we put 9500 miles on the coach between the first of the year and the end of March and my only repair was to replace a light bulb in the kitchen. Do the best you can to verify the coach condition, hop in the seat and enjoy the ride.
My bus hasn't moved or been started since last October. I had to move it to storage yesterday due to selling my house. I checked the oil and coolant and then started it up. It started up as soon as I hit the key with no issues. I did have to add less than a pint of coolant before starting it which is not unusual after winter. Oil was still at full even after 8,000 miles since last change.
I wouldn't hesitate to take my bus on a long road trip right now.
My late brother in law had a fishbowl that we took everywhere and many of those trips have had "adventures". Some were minor like plugged up fuel filters. Others were catastrophic. The guy driving it overheated the motor and blew it up. I can tell you many stories like these but I can also tell you stories where it ran like a top with no problems. It's all part of the adventure. I would give yourself a little extra time in case of problems but take the bus. You won't regret it. You built it for occasions like this so use it and enjoy. When you get back home you will have the pride of your workmanship and some great bus stories to tell. Have fun.
The more you use it and the longer the trip, the better it runs. On my recent trip to Arizona and back, I started with an annoying little leak at the power steering pump. It got less and less with miles, and became non existent on the way home. Back when I drove for Brewster's, we were assigned a bus for the summer season (a 5 or 7 usually), and drove it day after day with one charter group after the other with generally no issues, away from the shop. If overnight in Banff, it would go in overnight for service if it was due. Think of Greyhound where the buses run 24/7 with a change of drivers every few hours. These buses were built to run for hours and hours on end. I know yours is well maintained and in good shape. Maybe as others have suggested, take it out for a shorter trip first to reassure yourself that all is good.
JC
Brian, is this where you got your engine? Lvmci...
Before I got my bus painted, I used it on a couple of trips. Even though it is just a transit bus, I still got more attention then any of the fancy stick and staples motorhomes. Don't be afraid of taking your baby anywhere. If the RV park won't allow you in because they don't like the looks of your bus, then f--- them! Good Luck, TomC
Quote from: Fred Mc on May 07, 2014, 08:48:52 PM
The problem I have is I spend too much time on this board reading about problems other people have. So when I do take the bus out (not often enough) I am always surprised when it makes it to the end of my driveway and as I drive further I worry less and less until at some point(usually within an hour or so) its like driving any other vehicle.
Maybe you need to take a couple or short weekend trips before your planned long one to build up your confidence. Being in NS I am sure there are some good places for weekend camping along the ocean.
Regards
Fred
That cracked me up because it is true. I am surprised that my bus even starts any more.
Get a large enclosed trailer. Take along: spare engine, transmission,engine hoist, go-jo, rags, towels, blue gloves, drop lights, coveralls radiator, air bags, tires, wheel brgs, leveling valve, fluids, grease, filters, tow chain, hoses, complete set of tools, bulbs, lots of spare money, coach-net, and jumper cables. That should cover about any problem. Oh yeah.....take along a couple of rolls of duct tape.
I would actually take along tools, some spare bulbs, hose clamps of appropriate size, nylon ties, blue gloves, good spare, good flashlight, test light, vom, mechanic stethoscope, tire changing tools, 5 gallons of antifreeze, fuel filters, two sets, no belts, since mine is a GMC, electrical tape, blocking, duct tape, and anything some others suggest. Don't run flat out against the governor, take it easy; stop for rest brakes and check things over frequently. I would definitely take a pre 200 mile shake down loop trip first. Keep computer or cell handy to contact us along the way to visit or when emergencies crop up.
I got a large enclosed trailer, but I don't think it can hold much more than this 8)
Brian