Prevost XL rust issues

[JohnEd]

I recently read a post where the poster said Pre XL's have rust issues.  Does anybody know about this?

I saw a Pre that had taken a truck tire through the front windshield just.  The left front of the windshield was bashed in about a foot.  That pillar was made up of a lot of bondo and rust was exposed all over it.  I was told the Pre's rust around and at the bottom of the windshield.  That was a old Pre and didn't have the curved side windows.  Pre 8 vintage I would guess.

I saw this at Southern Oregon Diesel.  I think Dave told me the driver was OK and his wife wasn't hurt and lucky for their guest she had just gotten up from a nap and had taken a seat behind the driver when the tire came through the medium ditch, went airborn at 8 feet and went through the windshield.  Closing velocity was around 120 MPH so there was serious force involved.  Went right past the drivers right shoulder and continued into the bus and bounced around in the middle and came to rest on the bed after bashing into the rear wall.  Wiped out the refer I think.   This was many years ago so don't hold me to details.  Just saw some rust and that struck me as odd for the "best bus in the world".

Any other typical problems with the XL?  I hope to be in the market for one in a couple of years.

Thanks,

John

[mccarlk]

i had a 84 xl, factory marathon ( flat side windows), and the complete frt floor was rotten, and over the rear wheels also , so bad that the panels above the wheels on the outside warped, i ended up crushing it, ken

[white-eagle]

WHAT?  Heresy!!!  Prevosts Rust??  Every one says only Eagles do.

just joking. don't go starting any fights here.

i have a friend who lengthened his prevost to 45ft and built a beautiful full length slide.  He was at bussin 2006 i think, before we moved to the civic center.
he had full pics of his conversion and you should have seen the rust he had to cut out.  his bus was some sort of transit bus in Montreal.  Over 10 years, he did a great conversion.

but he certainly had to deal with rust, and not just the windshield area.

[rip]

I have an 85 XL with no rust.I bought the bus from a small bus company and they said it always was a southern route coach and I guess they were right. It really makes a different where the bus spent it's life.Since I owned the bus It's only been snowed on once.That was a freak storm in early Oct. in S.D.
     Don

[JohnEd]

I have not a clue where I got the idea that they were made out of stainless from the floor down, like an MCI.   I will probably be looking for a late 80's to very early 90's conversion.  Is there a list of the typical areas to inspect and for what.  So far, this info has opened my eyes.  It can only get better for me so please share.

Thanks,

John

[Merlin-PV]

Yea they rust, I replaced both side walls  over 1/2 of the steel floor joist and 2 of the main frame rails,and all the frame work in the rear, none in the windshield area tho. Most of the rust you will not detect until you strip the unit are we having fun yet???

[scanzel]

Buy one that spent it's life in a salt free area of the country. Mine came from California, did have some rust on the upper area over the engine but that was because the fiberglass cap was leaking by the rear driver side window. The edge of the cap had become loose by the window letting water in at the rear seating area. This cause the carpet and underlying wood to become water saturated for years causing rust a and corrosion .I fiberglassed the entire area then I will enclose it and then spray foam it to deaden the engine sound.

[luvrbus]

JohnEd, here is a bit of information for you from a 1998 Prevost manual section 18
structure description   
The body is an integral structure made of 14,16 and 18 gauge welded and braced high tensile steel and stainless steel members
The roof arches are made with cold rolled,electrically welded (CREW) steel tubes 11/2" x 2" x 14 gauge.The inside filled with foam and the exterior primed.   
The front subframe is made of open sections of high-strength steel-alloy.These open sections premit a better application of primer and undercoating and does not trap moisture.
The rear subframe is made of sections of carbon steel.   
Section 18 page 8 goes into great detail on corrision and repairs on the bus   
good luck 

[Skykingrob]

Hey JohnEd
Yes, they rust but not as bad as I have seen on some Eagles. My 91 had several rivets popped out on the drivers side of the rear cap, similiar to Scanzel. That area had mild surface rust, nothing more. This is the only rust I have found. My bus came from the casino runs of Las Vegas. In fact, I found nearly a $100 in change when I stripped it!!!
On another note, there is a 1990 Country Coach version on eBay right now with a buy it now price of $49K. That is a steal! Someone needs to go after that. Even if you had to redo some of the interior/exterior there is no way you could go wrong with that price.

Rob
91 LeMirage XL
Missouri

[JohnEd]

Luvr,

Where can I get that manual?

Thanks,

John

[blue_goose]

Have steel, will rust.
Jack

[muddog16]

I guess its my turn!  My 82 Prevost had a couple of rust area's that were caused by running the drivers AC and defrost lines on the inside of the bus along the walls at the bottom, the condensation after 25 years took its toll. Other than that the only rust area's I found were in locations where individuals took short cuts and did not properly seal the siding. The floor pan under the front area, wheel wells, and chassis structure around the engine compartment are stainless! I'm sure when engineers designed these buses no one expected them to still be on the road several million miles and 25 years later!  My bus was a transit that ran between Boston and Washington, probably some of the nastiest winter weather around......considering what it went through, I'd say it held up pretty good!   I'm sure if using stainless had been used......we would have all appreciated it!  But costs decide which materials we use!  I have looked at some of the newer buses there is alot of stainless incorporated in them! 

[Tom Y]

John, Some models have all or a lot more stainless. Not sure which ones, H3 maybe?  Tom Y

[gyrocrasher]

"On another note, there is a 1990 Country Coach version on eBay right now with a buy it now price of $49K"


Wow. There's one that has been used. My calculator says over 7K miles a month. I notice they don't give
the total mileage.
Also they seem to believe that 8V92T runs on gasoline! 
Here's the link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-PREVOST-COUNTRY-COACH-MOTORHOME_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50056QQihZ004QQitemZ140287785358QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[JohnEd]

Gyro,

Exactly!!!!  The current engine has 160K on it.  They usually manage to get 300K out of a 8V92 so I think the coach has close to a half million miles.  I know that a Pre will go many millions but they aren't maint free.  I would be looking at full brake redo w bearings and seals.  Shocks.  Alu rims wear out.  But at 40K I would expect there to be problems and I would go long on that inspection by professionals.

Great look'n bus though.

Caveat Emptor(?)

John