Making a Cruise Control

[kyle4501]

Maybe a better way to have put it is in the form of a question - - - -

What is your plan in the event of a catastrophic failure on the road away from home?

My main plan is to take preventative maintenance seriously & deal with any issue as soon as it comes up - and - have tools & spare parts so I can handle most minor issues on the road.
The backup plan is to have enough in reserve to tow coach home if all else fails.

It may be just me, but if I didn't have enough to buy a couple of tires and an extra full tank of fuel, I would be worried about what would happen if I ran over something or had a busted fuel line. In my early days of driving old cars, I just borrowed a pickup truck & rented a tow bar to bring the broken down car home. A 3000# car is not the same as dealing with 30,000#

[TomC]

I have talked to many RV'ers and bus conversion retired people travelling. They go as far as their monthly money lets them, then they hang out till their monthly retirement check is automatically deposited to their bank. Then they fill'er up and off they go! Good Luck, TomC

[Oonrahnjay]

... Just trying to put a realistic view on what can and is an expensive hobby. Good Luck, TomC

    I hear you.  I tell people that if I'd known that this was going to take 1/20th of the time or 1/10th the money, I'd have never done it.  But I want to do it, I'm not getting any younger, and I want to do this before I die.

[luvrbus]

LOL since the topic has gone into far left field I have a friend that lost a differential in a 2000 Prevost it damaged his B500 he left Clarke Power in Memphis on Friday $21,814.75 lighter so if see a guy on hiway 59 in Texas with card board sign standing by a late model Marathon Prevost saying I am broke need help toss him a few bucks 

[zubzub]

 

[Dave5Cs]

 

[Oonrahnjay]

LOL since the topic has gone into far left field I have a friend that lost a differential in a 2000 Prevost it damaged his B500 he left Clarke Power in Memphis on Friday $21,814.75 lighter so if see a guy on hiway 59 in Texas with card board sign standing by a late model Marathon Prevost saying I am broke need help toss him a few bucks     

   Wow, almost $22K in one shot.  That's more than I make in three months.   (WAY more than I make in 3 months  )

[TomC]

I wasn't so far off at saying you should have $20,000 credit line on you credit cards.

[eagle19952]

I wasn't so far off at saying you should have $20,000 credit line on you credit cards.

Some coaches (according to other recent posts) are not worth $20K let alone putting another $20K into...

[luvrbus]

Some buses are peoples home and don't have a choice Donald,take Ed he spent 32 grand in MT for a 8v71 rebuild it was his home and has since sold the bus for less than he paid for the engine rebuild, not real good math IMO but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes 

[LuckyChow]

Just to give you an idea of what I'm paying for a Series 60 factory reman installed from DD, it is costing me approx $38K.  With the additional add on's we change when installing a new engine (radiator, CAC, all hoses, etc) I'm at $42K, including the third year warranty.  Caterpillar is 5K more (and no third year warranty).  I'd also like to tell you about the cost of maintaining the dpf, delta P, EGR system, but I don't want to derail this thread.  I'll abbreviate it by saying that long term, I don't believe most of us can afford to operate a bus built in 2004 or newer for motorhome service.  Everytime I have to send one to the dealer for repair of the pollution control system, it's a $4K - $5K bill.  And, that happens with some regularity.  It's not a once-in-a-blue-moon event.  I was discussing with a friend last week that emission controls will probably end bus conversions as we know it. 

[eagle19952]

Some buses are peoples home and don't have a choice Donald,take Ed he spent 32 grand in MT for a 8v71 rebuild it was his home and has since sold the bus for less than he paid for the engine rebuild, not real good math IMO but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes 

i was picking on Tom...i pretty much travel enough to say i live in mine too.
but i can rent a Ryder truck, look on Facebook and replace mine in about 3 days if i want to...

[DoubleEagle]

This thread is not off track, devastating financial surprises control our cruising! The horror stories of big buck expenses for the newer coaches show the value of some of the older coaches with 6V92's (mechanical) and 740 Allison's, for instance. The computer controls only save a little fuel, but the horrible problems that can come up far outweigh the fuel cost difference. Having 500 horsepower is handy in the mountains, but you pay for it all the time. And then there are the EPA requirements... I will keep my non-computer mechanical engines.

[eagle19952]

I will keep my non-computer mechanical engines.

me too ...

[belfert]

Do those of you who don't want electronics in your buses also drive 20 to 30 year old cars from before they added electronics too?