I just don't understand why it takes you guys years to build a bus?????

daddyoften · July 01, 2015, 11:16:43 AM

LOL

it starts at 10:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faf6uH8obYw

Brian Diehl · July 01, 2015, 04:50:08 PM

Yeah - that sure does instill confidence, NOT! I'll take my bus any day of the week even if I have been working on it for 13 years!

RJ · July 01, 2015, 05:04:45 PM

After watching that, take a look at this, starting at 16:05:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_9cc9uXDY

Big difference!

FWIW & HTH. . .

Scott & Heather · July 01, 2015, 06:47:19 PM

Interesting. Kinda makes a case for owning a bus and not a sticks and staples rig. They are really built so minimally. Not for me.

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Brassman · July 01, 2015, 08:42:00 PM

Never mind that they "solder" the trailer frame together.

belfert · July 02, 2015, 05:35:56 AM

I went on a tour at the main Winnebago facility in Forest City, IA some years ago. After that I know why stick and staples have such poor quality. Everything was just kinda slapped together. I already had my bus at that point and I just did the tour because I had time to kill. I had driven down there to visit the Winnebago surplus store (now closed).

Winnebago actually spent a lot of money to offer factory tours. They had built catwalks in the their assembly buildings so the tour groups could see the assembly process without interfering with the workers.

CrabbyMilton · July 02, 2015, 06:05:56 AM

Red flags go up for me when a company spends so much time and energy into PR and tours when they build as you said a less than stellar product. To me if you build it with high durable quality standards, the PR and goodwill come along with it. Many companies don't allow the general public inside their plants and the product can be great or lousy. it's all about being cute and for show which is fine but I would rather see a fine quality product being built all things being equal. But then again WINNEBAGO has been around forever so they must be doing something right.
Do they have that chocolate river and midgets or do they give you beer samples...oh never mind wrong tours.

Cary and Don · July 02, 2015, 07:40:24 AM

How about this one. Around 16.20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_9cc9uXDY

Don and Cary

Scott & Heather · July 02, 2015, 06:49:48 PM

^ now that's......sexy.

belfert · July 02, 2015, 06:56:01 PM

I believe that Jayco and Winnebago are both considered to be reasonably good quality in the RV world. I have been on tours at both Jayco and Winnebago. In neither case was I very impressed with how the RVs are built. It just seemed like the workers really didn't care about what they were building. For many of the steps an extra 30 seconds would have a produced a better product. I know a lot of RV workers are paid by the piece so they have no real incentive to do quality work.

RV factories seem third world compared to bus or automotive factories. Very little automation and few jigs to ensure consistent work. The only jigs I remember at Winnebago were for welding up the sidewalls of motorhomes.

I had a Jayco travel trailer and was reasonably happy with it. I was not happy with serious assembly/design issues. The couch came loose from the wall. It turns out the 2x3 support the couch was supposed to be screwed to was an inch or so short. Instead of grabbing a new board the worker spanned the gap with a bunch of wide staples. I spent half a day opening the wall and fixing it myself as the dealer fix failed right away. The fridge never cooled properly almost from day one. I finally went up on the roof and took the fridge vent cap off. Jayco had used fiberglass insulation in the walls of the vent, but a piece had fallen into the vent blocking all air flow. They should have put something as simple as a piece of metal wire across the insulation so it wouldn't fall in.

TomC · July 02, 2015, 09:13:17 PM

Just weighing your bus tells how much metal is in it. When I got my bus, (transit) it was already stripped of seats. After I completely stripped it out, I weighed it-28,000lbs. That alone is more then many sticks and staples motorhomes with multiple slide outs. When I was done, with everything in it, tanks full and my wife and I also in it, the bus now weighed 31,000lbs. Considering the bus has a GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) rating of 36,000lbs, I'm 5,000lbs shy of the chassis capacity. I'd like to see a sticks and staples motorhome built like that!
My truck is no different. Bare truck chassis with just the cab was 18,000lbs. The 32ft box made with 1.5" square tubing with 1/8" walls on 16" centers welded with 1" plywood floor and a 1" plywood upper floor also on 16" centers weighed right at 10,000lbs. Ironic that the truck weighs the same as the bus at starting time. Good Luck, TomC

RJ · July 03, 2015, 12:28:01 AM

Quote from: Cary and Don on July 02, 2015, 07:40:24 AM
How about this one. Around 16.20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_9cc9uXDY

That's the same video I posted. . .

boxcarOkie · July 03, 2015, 12:55:05 AM

Why even post it to begin with? It has zero informational value on a bus board.

BCO

CrabbyMilton · July 03, 2015, 03:26:45 AM

Well, it does show the contrast between a quickly produced product that won't last as long as something that involves good craftsmanship on a sold foundation.

Iceni John · July 03, 2015, 07:50:36 AM

Quote from: RJ on July 03, 2015, 12:28:01 AM
That's the same video I posted. . .

When there are shots of that Nova bus's underside I was looking at the rear axle setup - it looks like a dropped-center axle with an offset differential (the driveshaft appears to go in along one side). I guess that's the only way to do it for a low-floor bus. Are they T-drive or some sort of V-drive? Interesting that it's essentially the same design as old British double-decker buses of yore such as the Bristol Lodekkas. When folk with those old buses in USA are looking to upgrade their drivetrains, maybe that's one way to do it by using parts from a modern low-floor bus?

John