Introduction & thoughts on a recent RV Show

[Ned Bulken]

Hi folks,
some of you know me from over on the escapees forums, where I mostlly hang out on the HDT forums, but I'm a Busnut at heart. A little background:

I'm a once and future fulltimer, I lived three years criss-crossing the country hauling around a 27' 5er with a 1/2 ton Ford. My little lightweight trailer probably had me overweight, but I traveled as light as I could back then. I loved every minute of it, and am looking forward to being back on the highway again.

Currently, I'm between rigs, and honestly it will be awhile before I have the wherewithal to buy another rig. MY DW and I are moving to VA from NY sometime next summer ('11 not '10), and sometime after that, we'll be looking for a way to travel the country with our youngest son.

The three of us went and dealt with the crowds at the local rv show (at the NYS fairgrounds in Syracuse) this past weekend.  We crawled through three buildings worth of S&S rigs, the vast majority of which were TTs with a  fair number of 5ers thrown in for 'good' measure. I think of all of those, over 4 hours of walking, climbing, getting jostled by tired and downright rude showgoers and their whiny brats, we managed to come home with a liking for perhaps three rigs.  Well, I did anyway. My son 'loved' dozens of trailers, but even he saw eventually that a S&S TT is much like every other S&S TT or 5er. The DW wanted a motorhome, I was willing to 'settle' for a smaller 5th wheel or a motorhome, but even then I only found two motorhomes and perhaps 3 or 4 5th wheels that really stood out from the crowd.

So where does that leave me? Honestly, no worse off than I was before we went. We went to 'see what was out there' after all of the economic hullabaloo these past couple of years.  I'll be putting mouse to pad and using Sketchup to design my own coach, refining the design until I can afford to build my own Hallway in the driveway.  I'll hope to be able to afford a decent Coach shell to use as the platform for my design. I'm a woodworker, so cabinetry and framing out the interior is going to be fun. I'm even thinking about taking a welding class or two, so I can do my own metal fabwork as well. In the meantime, I'll be cheering on and learning from all of you my fellow busnuts, while working on my day job.

travel safely folks, I'll see you on the road, eventually!

Ned

[RJ]

Ned -

Welcome to the madness!!  Busnut fever is, unfortunately, incurable, however, it can be controlled.

Since you've got a little one, perhaps one of the "benefits" of a bus that you should share with mama are pics of Stick & Staple RVs that have been involved in accidents, and then compare those to pics of bus accidents.  Probably won't take much to convince her of the incredible superiority of a bus over common RVs.

With today's market being as depressed as it is, it makes far more sense now to shop carefully to find yourself a coach that's already been converted and in excellent condition, then simply make the minor modifications necessary to accommodate your family's taste.  WAY more sense!

Plus, you can get in it and use it NOW, not having to let it sit while you put in 3,000 hours of sweat equity.

Lots of good buys out there, but take your time and do your homework.  Besides this forum, there are various busnut groups over on Yahoo, as well as the other "big" bbs, BNO (www.busnut.com). 

Feel free to post questions as you increase your knowledge about these big rigs.  Try to only ask one question per post - they tend to drift a bit - so you'll get more specific answers.

Might also edit your profile to include a signature line, with your name and city/state.  This will help us help you, not only for parts, service & tech tips, but also the ability to meet other busnuts in your locale.

Lots of homework ahead, time to get started!

FWIW & HTH. . .

[cody]

I enjoy going to rv shows, it's a great place to get ideas.

[TomC]

Anytime you have kids, a motorhome is the only way to travel since you can use all the amenities while moving (carefully).  With my wife, our bus is the only way to go since she cannot sit for long periods with her bad back.  There are quality built motorhomes, like Blue Bird, Marathon, Monaco, etc.  But the strongest built are buses with transits at the top of the list (although transits are a hard conversion with less storage space).  But-even though buses are the heaviest duty with the longest lasting engines, they are also the most expensive to fix when something does need to be replaced.  For instance, tires are around $3-500 ea.  Once you have a bus, there's no going back. Good Luck, TomC

[cody]

Thats interesting tom, I've always heard that OTR buses were the strongest because of the long haul they do, that transits don't need the rugged components cause they very seldom reach highway speed and most are geared to not reach that speed.  Now I'm curious.

[TomC]

That's correct and not correct.  OTR buses have larger engines, transmissions, and higher speed gearing to take the continuous high speed travelling they do-so their drive trains are bigger and stronger.  But-transits have stronger bodies, to withstand the overloading (standing room only), and much larger brakes for the continuous stop and starts all day long.
Personally-you can't go wrong with either-just what you can afford and are willing to work with.  Good Luck, TomC

[jackhartjr]

Pardon my lack of knowlege, what does "DW" mean?
Thanks
Jack

[Just Dallas]

Removed

[cody]

Now I'm wondering about the weight difference of 50 adults sitting in seats with all their luggage in the bays or 50 people sitting in seats with some standing, not sure the weight difference would be that much, has anyone any numbers on that?  I can understand the bigger capacity brakes tho, with all the stop and go driving of a working transit I can certainly see the need for that.  Being correct at the same time as I'm not correct is like being married lol.  Sorry for the interest just never gave it any thought before but am curious.

[buswarrior]

The traditional high floor transit bus was usually good for 90 to 100 motivated passengers.

Bodies typically weigh more than suitcases.

Only thing harder on brakes than a transit bus is a garbage truck.

Stopping every block, little airflow before stopping again.

Historical US federal funding formula, the transit bus has to run 12 years of pounding the city streets before it will have a replacement financed.

That is some pounding that must be spec'd for.

Highway coach is the glamour market, transit is the trenches.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[RJ]

That is some pounding that must be spec'd for.

As an example:  In order to qualify for federal financing/funding, a typical transit bus must be able to withstand being "T-boned" by a 4,000 lb automobile @ 25 mph with less than six inches of interior wall deflection.

That's actually a more difficult spec to meet than your typical dog-nosed, truck-chassied skoolie!

FWIW & HTH. . .

[cody]

I appreciate the info, I'm always willing to learn, I never dreamed they would jam 90 to 100 people into one, good information, thats why I ask the strange questions, I need the strange answers lol. BW, you've never seen how libby can pack a suitcase lol.

[TomC]

Brake size comparison.  On a big rig truck, the front axle is 15"x4" drum.  On the drive axles and trailers, 16.5"x7".  On my transit the brakes are 14.5"x6" in front and 14.5"x10" in back.  Or to put in prospective, on a two axle tractor, the sweep area of the brakes would be 4407sq in. and on a three axle 7400sq in.  On my transit it is 5284sq in.  Course the best would be air discs.  Good Luck, TomC