Ode to my bus

[LarryN 4106]

I admit to sniffing around the GMC motorhomes for the past few months. I used to own one. Loved it.  Wife loved it. She thinks our bus is "too big" (it is only 9' longer than our GMCMH).

Anyway, here is another take. I remember the "spares" I used to carry around. I had a special ignition system, but carried the old one just in case. I carried around a front axle and boot (remember, they were front wheel drive). I carried a spare air bag and other parts and tools, all in a vehicle that is woefully short of stowage. I am not demeaning them, they are wonderful, if the right deal came along, I would consider a trade, mainly based on gland reaction. I will resist, however.

I follow, on a daily basis, the travails of others who are "alongside the road", which is a place none of us want to be. I have only been "alongside the road" twice, once when my muffler blew it's top and took a ride thru the radiator with the help of the fan. Then, after paying a toll in OK, I noticed she was "listing" to the left. I pulled ahead, jacked her up, and saw that the air valve arm on the left rear and become detached. I reached thru with a dowell and moved the lever and the bus levelled itself, then I used wire ties to "connect" the arm to the bracket and drove 300 miles to where I could get under the bus and properly attach the levelling valve arm. No big deal. What a remarkable mode of transportation these old buses are, in my view. Oh, I forgot about a third time. I was at Brodhead, WI for a fly-in. In backing my bus up a grassy, soft, slight grade......I tore reverse out of the spicer, that also took out first gear. 600 miles from home. Anyway, I decided to give it a try, and only had to start in second gear twice, once for fuel, and once at a toll gate in IL. I have to say that I was very skillful missing red lights. I got her home.

I cannot afford both a GMCMH AND a bus. I just love driving the bus, and I get about the same fuel milage as the GMCMH with WAYYYYYY more space and capacity. I drive 700 miles before looking for fuel.

I know I am preaching to the choir. Just needed to write all of this so I could read it.

[HighTechRedneck]

I know I am preaching to the choir. Just needed to write all of this so I could read it.

Isn't it great to have a place to do that among friends who understand?

I think you made a rock solid case for keeping the bus.

[HB of CJ]

You don't see many of them today.  Neighbors had one years ago and we actually slept in it one night.  Very well laid out inside.  Did they all have Olds 455 mills?  Knew they were front wheel drive.  A classic look still very attractive today.  HB of CJ

GMC FWD Motorhome Post

[cody]

I have the sister ship to the GMC, I've got a revcon with the  oldsmobile 403, front wheel drive setup, awesome motorhome.  We used it for a long time before we got the bus and now we still use it now and then when we want to go to areas that the bus can't get into.

[TomC]

Whether it is the original model with the Toronado 455 Olds front wheel drive or the later with the 454 Chevrolet V drive front wheel drive, the GMC motorhome has too many items on them that are obsolete that would make me uneasy about driving it any distance from my house.  Like any of the front drive components, the rear suspension and its' air bag, etc.  I would keep with the bus.  Besides-if you are unfortunate to get in a collision with another vehicle-which do you think you'd walk away from, and which would you be laid out from?  Stick with the bus-it is NOT too big.  Good Luck, TomC

[luvrbus]

The GMC motorhome is a classic if you find one in top shape I seen them sale for in the upper 20 grand for a 30 year old 26 ft production motorhome unbelievable when the others from the same era sale for 1000 bucks.I have always been on the lookout for one at a decent price.    good luck

[LarryN 4106]

Tom, I am pretty sure that only the Olds engines were installed by GM and the only 454's you might remember were owner installs. The last two years of production, 77 and 78, they put the 403 Old's engines in. Some of them have been converted to 455's.

I might contradict the notion that the GMC MH has some orphan components. There are owners and wannabe's pulling these things out of the salvage yards for rebuilding and.....like my Cessna 195, they have never been better supported than they are right now. I can't imagine any parts that are not readily available from multiple sources. You can buy fancy upgraded transmissions, fuel injection systems, various "final drive" innards of various ratios. There are several shops specializing in keeping the coaches going.

Still love my bus. I would miss my bays, and I would miss the truck stops, and I would miss the pure simplicity of my old 4106.....so I had better quit reminicing about my old GMCMH. The one thing I miss is the comraderie. They (the GMCMH'ers) have two national rally's each year, and countless club rallies. We don't seem to have that same sort of organizational and devotional bonding.

[cody]

All the parts are still available including body panels for both the GMC's and Revcons thru Cinnabar Engineering in Sandusky Michigan, and most of the mechanical is available thru Marty Moore in san diego, yu can put one together from scratch if you wanted, lol.

[luvrbus]

Cody, can you remove the rear panel on the Revcon like on the GMC to remove the furniture, that is a feature that makes them easy to remodel beats removing windshields and windows.There is a guy in Scottsdale that installed a Dura/Max turbo diesel in his.  a very nice unit with the leather furniture but he has very little storage and that part I would like, it would save me 2 days of packing my wife's stuff lol     good luck

[HighTechRedneck]

The one thing I miss is the comraderie. They (the GMCMH'ers) have two national rally's each year, and countless club rallies. We don't seem to have that same sort of organizational and devotional bonding.

I have to disagree on that point.  Time and again the bus nut community has amazed me at how tightly knit the camaraderie is.  And how much they care about each other and how far they will go to help each other.  Consider just a few examples:

• Daniel McMurphy - the members of the bus nut community put together a fund raising effort and raised thousands of dollars to help when he had that horrific accident in his bus.
• Big Doug in Oregon - look at the help effort assembled to help with his engine breakdown.  That is still in progress.
• Cody - helped lots of bus nuts with their cabinet needs as he and Libby traveled.  Then when Libby needed a respirator to survive, members of the bus nut community came through for them.
• Then there is the extensive volunteer help found here in the forum.  I would name names of people who spend many hours of their valuable time here in the forum helping fellow bus nuts, but the list would be too long and I would surely accidentally leave someone out.

Several bus nuts have gone way above and beyond to help me with our needs and I have done what I could to help others.  There is such a strong bond of caring in the bus nut community that it just amazes me.

Then there are the rallies, there may not be a formal national rally, but at least two of the larger annual rallies draw people from all over the continent.  Bus'n 2009 in Arcadia had attendees from every corner of the U.S., the furtherest reaches of Canada and even from Costa Rica.  Then there are all the smaller regional or brand oriented rallies.

I agree the GMC motorhomes were/are great (one of the reasons some folks like the RTS is because of similarities).  And it is good that they too share a camaraderie among their owners.  But there is surely no lack of that spirit in the bus nut realm.

[cody]

Nope the panels are pretty much permanent lol, riveted aluminum.  Our interior is solid teak with no shortage of goodies and nice features, we even have an electric couch, press a button and it unfolds into a very comfortable bed and then press the button and it folds back up into a couch all automatically, lots of nice touches. the big problem is zero outside storage.

[jackhartjr]

I was getting my typing fingers ready to comment to LarryN's comment about rallies and support when I got to High Teck's comment.
We said buddy!
Jack

[cody]

The biggest difference I see with different clubs and organizations is that they are friends, the bus bunch are family. Nothing wrong with either but i tend to prefer family.

[Jerry32]

I owned a revcon at one time and it had the olds 455 in it . I think those must have been the fastest MH's on the road . sure was a fun rig  but my wife at the time traded it in on a DP. After my wife passed I sold the DP and bought a bus.

[JohnEd]

A CHP friend told me a story about the Olds 455.   Seems that Dodge got snippy and GM cried foul when the CHP drove Dodges exclusively.  CHP went with Olds one year.  He said he had never driven a faster car than the Olds but they had a severe problem:  The Troopers would get a call involving another Orficer and they would drop the pedal to the metal and hurry off at 135 or 140 or so.  15 miles down the road the 455 disgorged its innards all over the freeway.  They were going off like popcorn.  He said the Dodge would only do 105 but you could throw a brick on the pedal till you got anywhere and the engine held up.  NOT because it was better but because it was less powerfull and self governing with valve float.  Its a tach Stupid and that red area is to be avoided.  Can't say that to a man that is armed, though.

The jet boats in San Diego had the same experience and it was also caused by over reving.  The fix was to install a HP 350 and they lasted but were a lot slower.  Wonder why?

Now don't hit me personally...This isn't my lie.  This is what I was TOLD.  A cop wouldn't blow smoke up a civilian's butt now would he?

John