Poll: When you bought your bus, how far did you drive it to bring it home?

[Barn Owl]

This would be interesting to see how far we go to get our busses home. Several of us went to the opposite coast to get them.

[boogiethecat]

1st bus 10 miles, no problem.
2nd bus 300 miles, no problem BUT it should have NEVER made it
3rd bus 1200 miles, it never made it
4th bus 1500 miles, again, it never made it
5th bus 800 miles on it's own, the last 300 towed
My ex wife ran #1 into a mountain about two months after we separated
so it, #3 and 4 currently reside in wrecking yards, if they even still exist
#2 is my Crown and it is wonderful
#5 is my bluebird and now that it has a new engine and tranny, it's also wonderful...

[scanzel]

Bought mine on Ebay, it was a California coach, picked it up in Reno, Nevada and drove it back to Connecticut, about 3000 miles. Took I80 all across the country had a great time coming back. The power steering pump went out in Wyoming so we continued back with no power steering.

[muddog16]

How do you run into a mountain?  I'm sure it wasn't easy, it just sounds funny! Pat

[Jeremy]

My bus came home around 400 miles, but I wasn't driving it - I arranged for the coach operator I bought it from to deliver it in exchange for them removing and keeping the seats. I got the driver who delivered it to give me 20 minutes of instruction on how to drive it, then took him to a railway station to catch a train home.

I'm full of admiration for those buyers who undertake 1000+ mile journeys to get their newly-bought buses home. It's not possible to do a one-way journey of that length here in the UK without getting wet.

Jeremy

[Old4103]

Like Boogie,
I also have been through multiple coaches. Lol.

The first was a 1935 Brill, Great bus, but the frame under the engine eventually rusted into pieces. It didn't help that there was a straight 8 Buick motor stuffed in the hole.

The second and third were schoolies, one a '55 IH and the other a '50 IH w/4WD. ( Not yhe best thing to go 4-wheeling in!
I sold both and they are being used in Montana as fishing cabins near Grey Cliff.

The fourth was a Yellow Coach with a gas engine that I finally couldn't find engine parts for anymore and didn't want to continue pouring money into.

#5 was a GMC TDH3610 with a 4-71 and a Spicer Hydraulic transmission. (This was before Allison built an Automatic). 40mph top speed, but only 14mph up hills. I was told by many truck drivers, many times coming from Tn to NC over I40 that we were #1. Funny, thay all used the same finger! Wonder why we sold it?

#6 is our PD4103, lots of work, but it's coming together with the help of this board and more experience than I had before!

Dallas

[WEC4104]

Purchased in Bakersfield, California and driven to Pennsylvania (by way of Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Memphis, etc.) Total miles 3142.   Total repairs required... one turn signal wire splice.

I'll add that looking back, bringing it home such a long distance really got me off to a great start confidence-wise. This was my first bus and the 3000+ plus miles in all sorts of driving conditions really "broke me in".  Once I got home, I was more comfortable behind the wheel and had faith that the bus mechanicals were up to any trip I wanted to make.  If my purchase had been within 250 miles of my home, it probably would have taken me two years to get to that same level.

[JackConrad]

Fist bus (4106) we drove 100 miles home. No problems, well I THOUGHT I knew how to double clutch LOL.
Second bus (MC-8) we drove an entire 14 miles home. No problems, bus hardly got warmed up. Jack

[Ace]

First bus was a GM 4107 (a great Bus) about 30 miles from Plant City Fl. with no problems what so ever.

Second bus was our Eagle (a little rusty but not bad with a bad ground making it very hard to start) Bought it in Hornbeck, La. (a LONG way from home) from an add on busforsale.com

Third bus is our present bus. An H3-40 Prevost we bought in Bassett, Va., (approx. 800 miles) thanks to some very good friends who bought one just like it before us! LOL Only problem coming home was dead batteries (my fault) and freezing rain!

Ace

[zimtok]

We got our bus locally. Only had to drive it 40 miles.
It was kept road worthy by the previous owner so there was very little that needed to be done to start using it.

We now put around 200-300 miles on it every week going to our regular gigs.
.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

My 1st bus 96A3 200 mi's shorts and smoke from the dash guages but, made it home. It solt to a company in Georgia with no problems.

My 2nd bus 102C3 100 mi's no problem and 20,000 mi's later still going strong. [Knock on wood]...

Dad's 1st bus [scoolie] baught in VA. broke down twice on route to NJ

Dad's #2 4104 sold to a fella in Alaska, he made it all the way from NJ with no problems. [Purchaced localy]

Dad,s #3 4104 sold in NJ and still traveling the country [Purchaced localy]

Nick-

[boogiethecat]

Pat, the silly gal gave it to her new boyfriend ( a total idiot) to drive up in the Topanga area of Northern Los Angeles.  LOTS of hills and backroad grades.  She understood the repercussions of gearing down, stab braking, etc but evidently forgot to tell him.... kinda like handing someone a loaded grenade and forgetting to tell them what the firing pin does...
  He found himself coming down a 7%er with totally faded brakes, and a load of stopped cars and pedestrians in the intersection down at the bottom, and so his choice was to steer it into the side of the mountain rather than kill everyone.  Good choice but he never should have had to make it in the first place.
The only casualty was my 2 years worth of conversion work. A total loss.  Ouch.  At least it wasn't mine by that point.  "Was" a nice bus tho. We'd put 150,000 miles on it and it would take us anywhere with total reliability.
Oh well

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Pat, the silly gal gave it to her new boyfriend ( a total idiot) to drive up in the Topanga area of Northern Los Angeles.  LOTS of hills and backroad grades.  She understood the repercussions of gearing down, stab braking, etc but evidently forgot to tell him.... kinda like handing someone a loaded grenade and forgetting to tell them what the firing pin does...
  He found himself coming down a 7%er with totally faded brakes, and a load of stopped cars and pedestrians in the intersection down at the bottom, and so his choice was to steer it into the side of the mountain rather than kill everyone.  Good choice but he never should have had to make it in the first place.
The only casualty was my 2 years worth of conversion work. A total loss.  Ouch.  At least it wasn't mine by that point.  "Was" a nice bus tho. We'd put 150,000 miles on it and it would take us anywhere with total reliability.
Oh well

Boogie, You lost your bus in a devorse?  How can that happen? You poor guy! We feel for ya!

Nick-

[boogiethecat]

Actually Nick, it was fine.  She got the bus and I got the house, as they both were worth about the same at the time.

She killed the bus straight away, and 15 years later I sold the house...for a lot... 

[Don4107]

Found and fixed a bulged brake hose before leaving while checking/adjusting brakes.   Had to fix ground between the engine door and frame to stop the blinking lights when it got dark.  Had a tire separate 1.5 miles from home.  Limped in without a problem. Was 650 miles home.