WANTED: BUS DRIVER **** MAYBE**** Jeez

[ros]

Bob, believe it or not, I have survived quite well in my 74 years on earth.

Yes Bob, I do know what I am asking.  Folks deliver buses, boats, broads, booze and bambinos all the time.

WHERE do you see that I asked for free delivery?

It is not the first time the bus has had a trip and I am not faint of heart.


Ros.

Take Clifford's advice.  Ros I doubt you begin to realize what you are asking someone to do.  This is not like picking up a rental car.  Making a first time trip in a 20+ year old bus is not for the faint of heart and certainly not something I would dream of asking anyone to do for free.

[John316]

Ros,

Did you get my PM? At this point, I think my offer is still open. It would have to be quick, though.

Has it been inspected yet? When was the last time it was driven? Do you know if it is generally in good condition?

What is the closest big city in TN? Just trying to figure out if it is near Chattanooga, Nashville, or the Knox center.

Best,

John

[ros]

Yes, John, I just now read your message and replied.

No, it has not been inspected.  That deal may fall through, I just don't know.

However, please keep the info about the bus in my pm to you, confidential.

I very much appreciate your offer but time constraints are probably not in our favor.

Thanks

Ros

Ros,

Did you get my PM? At this point, I think my offer is still open. It would have to be quick, though.

Has it been inspected yet? When was the last time it was driven? Do you know if it is generally in good condition?

What is the closest big city in TN? Just trying to figure out if it is near Chattanooga, Nashville, or the Knox center.

Best,

John

[itspaidfor]

 

[MightyThor]

Bob, believe it or not, I have survived quite well in my 74 years on earth.

Yes Bob, I do know what I am asking.  Folks deliver buses, boats, broads, booze and bambinos all the time.

WHERE do you see that I asked for free delivery?

It is not the first time the bus has had a trip and I am not faint of heart.


Ros.

Ros,
with all due respect, and coming from someone who has now moved an old bus several hundred miles and another one several city blocks, You probably don't fully appreciate all that has to be done to make sure that the bus gets from point A to point B.  It took me all summer to prepare to move the scenic and when we did drive it home, we had a fully equipped service truck as a chase vehicle.  It took three weeks to get the 4104 moved from one part of town to the other.  The issues that have to be addressed all relate to the one simple fact that, if for any reason the bus quits working, it cannot just be pushed off to the side of the road and raise the hood.  In most cases you can't even crawl under the bus to take a look.  All of the nuts are huge, require oversize tools and need three gorillas pulling on a long pipe to get loose.  Parts for the most part have to be ordered and are not available in the next town or the one after that, so you try to carry some spares, but knowing what will be needed is really just guesswork based on experience and familiarity with the particular coach.  And the best bus in the world can let quit anytime, anywhere.  We have one forum member stranded right now, and you have heard from Ed who got to spend a lovely fall in Billings Montana.  A simple tow bill for a bus can easily run into $1000 or more.  Your driver, whoever that may be has to be equipped to handle all of these potential problems and trustworthy enough not to simply walk away if disaster happens. (we had a truckload of rotten chicken left at the truck stop when the refer quit, driver unhooked the tractor and left the state, three weeks later the trailer was noticed)  I could go on and on about all of the logistics that have to be considered, but you get the point.   I think this is what Bob was talking about.  I have been involved with mechanic work my entire life, along with carpentry, farming and ranching and have as much varied life experience as most anyone else.  I will testify that if you have not prepared a bus for a trip, you really cant fully appreciate what some of the folks here warn about.  I have had few problems so far, but my limited bus experience has opened my eyes to many of the warnings and advice I have gleaned from these forums.  One final note.  Not everyone has followed your posts on the various boards but the vast majority of the people posting are just trying to help.  When someone posts a suggestion that demonstrates that they don't get it or don't understand, be kind.  or better, just move on.  We have a goal here.  Get Ros a bus so he can start to suffer like the rest of us.     

[ros]

Steve, is it?

To be sure, I don't know all about any bus or even what I should know.  I am here to learn.

Tools?  I have huge tools and regular and tiny ones, as well. Even with all of my tools, I fully expect not to have the one that I need. 

HOWEVER, I am not sure and fairly doubtful that I will hire a driver.  I am/was testing the waters to see who might be available and how much their fee would be.

I have thought it through such as what if it craters, what if he quits, what if he has too much of the 'good wine', is his driver's license current and on and on and on.

As evidenced by my looking for a coach and digging into the details, I don't readily jump into something like this.

Also, I know very well that the majority here want to help me find a bus and with a bus.
There are just a few trouble-makers and I think we all know who they are.
Then, there are those who make sarcastic remarks and emoticons just to show off to their like-minded friends.  ABSOLUTELY no different than school playground children.

Now, I like your closing line about getting a bus for me so that I can suffer with the rest of you-all.

I know that you are joking.  I see it as having lots of fun regardless of having to constantly maintaining it.

Thanks for the post.

Ros

Ros,
with all due respect, and coming from someone who has now moved an old bus several hundred miles and another one several city blocks, You probably don't fully appreciate all that has to be done to make sure that the bus gets from point A to point B.  It took me all summer to prepare to move the scenic and when we did drive it home, we had a fully equipped service truck as a chase vehicle.  It took three weeks to get the 4104 moved from one part of town to the other.  The issues that have to be addressed all relate to the one simple fact that, if for any reason the bus quits working, it cannot just be pushed off to the side of the road and raise the hood.  In most cases you can't even crawl under the bus to take a look.  All of the nuts are huge, require oversize tools and need three gorillas pulling on a long pipe to get loose.  Parts for the most part have to be ordered and are not available in the next town or the one after that, so you try to carry some spares, but knowing what will be needed is really just guesswork based on experience and familiarity with the particular coach.  And the best bus in the world can let quit anytime, anywhere.  We have one forum member stranded right now, and you have heard from Ed who got to spend a lovely fall in Billings Montana.  A simple tow bill for a bus can easily run into $1000 or more.  Your driver, whoever that may be has to be equipped to handle all of these potential problems and trustworthy enough not to simply walk away if disaster happens. (we had a truckload of rotten chicken left at the truck stop when the refer quit, driver unhooked the tractor and left the state, three weeks later the trailer was noticed)  I could go on and on about all of the logistics that have to be considered, but you get the point.   I think this is what Bob was talking about.  I have been involved with mechanic work my entire life, along with carpentry, farming and ranching and have as much varied life experience as most anyone else.  I will testify that if you have not prepared a bus for a trip, you really cant fully appreciate what some of the folks here warn about.  I have had few problems so far, but my limited bus experience has opened my eyes to many of the warnings and advice I have gleaned from these forums.  One final note.  Not everyone has followed your posts on the various boards but the vast majority of the people posting are just trying to help.  When someone posts a suggestion that demonstrates that they don't get it or don't understand, be kind.  or better, just move on.  We have a goal here.  Get Ros a bus so he can start to suffer like the rest of us.     

[mung]

I have tried to keep my mouth shut, but dude you are clueless.  I guess you weren't around to hear about my bus delivery. 

So, my bus was driven from north of Atlanta to Central Florida by the PO.  I paid for all of the fuel and other expenses.  Keep in mind, this is the guy selling me the bus and who had owned it for a couple of years before selling it to me, so he knew the bus.  He was very confident that he could get the bus here since he had been driving it around up there.  So he starts driving it down and tells me that there is a small air leak in the brake chamber but not a problem he can still drive it.  Drives a bit more and then calls me and tells me he blew a tire (not the tire he was worried about either), so he gets it off the highway and to a truck stop.  Now I am giving my credit card number to a truck stop so they can put a used tire on there and he can get going again.  I asked, are the rest of the tires good, will they make it?  I am told, sure the guys at the truck stop said they are fine.  About 2 hours later, you guessed it, another blown tire and another truck stop that I am giving my credit card number to and another used tired on the bus.  All is good now and he is moving down the road right?  Wrong, I get another call about an hour later that he has run out of fuel on the turnpike.  So now I am calling around trying to find anyone who can bring him fuel and help him get it started.  At the same time I start driving towards him so that I can be there to help with getting it running again.  About an hour down the road I get a call that he has managed to get it running again from fuel he had in the auxiliary tank.  So I meet up with him at a turnpike rest area, I pay to put even more fuel in the tank and we are on our way, make it about another hour or so and as he is pulling out of a toll both he locks the transmission in 2nd gear.  At this point it is after midnight and he has a 7am flight back home.  So we leave the bus on the side of the road and drive home.  The next morning I find a towing company willing to come tow it the last 30 miles home on a Sunday.  So we meet the tow truck driver at the bus and after a bit of him trying different configurations he finds something that would work and we are on our way.  All is good now right?  Wrong, when turning as we got close to home he ripped one of the tow hooks off the front and the rack under the wheels had been slamming under the front wheel well and bent the trim around the wheel well.  Oh and it only cost $700 for the 30 mile tow.  And now that I am working on things, I needed bigger jacks, bigger wrenches, and the help of the great people on this list.

Oh, and I am not exactly a neophyte when it comes to working on cars.  I have changed engines, transmissions, done partial rebuilds, used to work in a body shop, etc.  But the bus world is a whole new world and it shouldn't be taken lightly. 

Had I known what I was dealing with, at minimum I would have just hired a transport company to haul the bus here, if I didn't look for a different bus.  So, take what you expect to spend and triple it.  Take the problems that you expect to have and quadruple them.  Take what you think you know and cut it in half.  Then you might begin to understand what you are getting into.  And don't even think that just because the bus looks good or someone checks it out that you won't have an issue.  No one can know everything that might go wrong.  Airlines that look good might blow out when they are stressed, motors that ran great on a run around the block can overheat on a long trip, wheel bearings can go out, transmissions fry, etc.  So, ask yourself, do you have enough money to get the bus towed from 5 miles away from where you are purchasing it home?  Because that could happen.  Do you have enough money to have a shop along the way rebuild or replace the motor?  Cause that could happen.  Hey, you might get lucky and not have a single problem and I hope that it works out.  But what is your plan to deal with things if there are issues along the way?  What are you going to do if the bus only makes it part of the way home?  Are you prepared to live on the bus no matter where you get stuck?  Are you willing to live out your days in the middle of nowhere at an RV park if you have a catastrophic failure?  If you can't do that are you willing to scrap the bus for a lot less than you paid for it?

Flame away all you want, but these are all very valid questions and I hope before you go ballistic on me, you at least think about what I am saying and know that I am very concerned for you and would feel very bad if the worst happens to you and I didn't speak up to try to help you understand some of the things that could happen to turn your dream into a nightmare. 

[sparkplug188]

Mung- Your experience was very similar to mine, except I made a deal with the seller.  The Craigslist ad said "It is as roadworthy as any other bus out there".  I knew it was a rusted out husk, so I told him I would buy the bus for the full asking price of $3000 if he could deliver it to my doorstep at his expense.  No problem, right?  It is roadworthy! It is only 100 miles.  The batteries would not hold a charge, so he bought three truck batteries. Before he could get out of his neighborhood, one of the 45' power steering hoses blew, so he replaced that.  A little farther down the road, two of the drive tires blew out.  Then, just a few miles away from my house the throttle link seized at full throttle.  He hooked up a temporary throttle cable and babied it the rest of the way here.  I am not sure exactly how much he had to spend to move it 100 miles, but I am sure it was over $1500.

[mung]

And I would be willing to bet that the amount of money you spent getting your bus going was way more than you expected right?

[sparkplug188]

Mung- Actually, no.  It has costed a lot less than I expected in terms of dollars.  However, I did not expect it to take over two years working every day for 10 out of 12 moths of the year to fix the rust problem.  Steel from the salvage yard is cheap, but time... is priceless.  Even after the huge investment of time, I can only guarantee the frame is solid.  There are still a hundred thousand other things that can and will go wrong once I start driving it.  I expect it will cost a lot more than I expect... once I start driving it.

[mung]

And time is money.  I know I am going to be quite a bit more than I expected, but I also know that it will be worth it in the long run, not is dollars, but in time with my family and there is something about being in a campground with quarter of a million dollar coaches and have people walk right past them and walk up to the 4104 and go "wow".

[digesterman]

Mung I think Ros is familiar with machinery, he's had at least one decent sized boat, maybe more, and understands the possibilities of breakdowns. At least with a bus he can walk instead of swim for help.

I think everyone here has gotten something in their mind as to what they are going to do and have been told it isn't possible, well that's bullshit, if I would have listened to that garbage it wouldn't have any of the things I have today, probably be working for someone else ( I have never worked for anyone in my life btw)

When, not if, Ros gets his bus I am confident he will manage to deal with whatever pops up. He is exactly where some if not all of us has been one way or the other at one time or another in our lives.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[luvrbus]

All for the love of a Eagle makes it worth while huh Jesse a fine cared for Eagle has the curb appeal like no other IMO I have been to rallies where people would come and ask "can I touch your paint "the hand painted on rivets by Mike Wilson for some reason fascinated people and I kinda liked those my self   I know Matt does too  

[sparkplug188]

Yes, sir!  Add in some 20' long seamless doors mmhmmm... so smooth.    I smile every day I step up into it to go to work.

[harleyman_1000]

And time is money.  I know I am going to be quite a bit more than I expected, but I also know that it will be worth it in the long run, not is dollars, but in time with my family and there is something about being in a campground with quarter of a million dollar coaches and have people walk right past them and walk up to the 4104 and go "wow".

 Man no one has ever walked up to my bus in a camp ground    Wait I have never stayed in a camp ground yet  

 Ros please listen to what experienced bus nuts are telling you. They truly know from experience, not from a crystal ball.