2800 mile family vacation

[Fredward]

We did our annual Spring Break bus trip this year to see cousins in Texas and Oklahoma. Spent time in Houston, Galveston, Sam Raeburn reservoir, Pryor - Oklahoma. The Onan Quiet Diesel we bought from the truck junkyard worked flawlessly, put about 30 hours on it. A huge improvement over the 7k Kohler air cooled gas genny. The 871 used and leaked about a gallon of 40wt. Those pesky valve covers are a source of consternation. Wife loves the new generator.

We pull a Mustang convertible on the dolly so we have something to drive when we arrive. Blew one tire on the dolly which scratched and dented the left front fender on the car. Wife's not happy about that.

The air ride seat out of a Mack semi was a huge improvement. Wife's happy with that too now that she's sharing some of the driving.

The only complaint is defrosting the windows during rain storms. We drove in rain for a few hours through Dallas and the OEM defrosters just don't seem to keep up. We ran the rooftop AC units and OEM heat/defrost to keep the windshield clear. Any advice on defrost?

Fred

[buswarrior]

Keeping coach windshields clear in cold rain is difficult.

Employing the AC is part of it. Introducing fresh air is critical, as is cracking the driver's window to keep the air exchange going. Does the fresh air intake in the defroster still work? Re-circulating air is your enemy when the windows start fogging up.

Heat turned all the way up for defroster?

Clean windows also adds an incremental improvement.

There's no way around high fan speeds and uncomfortable heat for the driver, without an integral stock style AC unit in the defrost circuits.

Happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Lee Bradley]

Try hanging your wet coats etc in the bathroom and turn on the vent. Amazing how much water vapor those generate.

[Jim Eh.]

Anyone ever try running a de-humidifier?

[gumpy]

Maybe just a simple trucker's fan. Circulating air over the windshield.

[BeastMaster]

We have two fans blowing over windshield in our school buses and they work pretty good.  So I installed two in my MCI102 C3. Actually work pretty good!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[Geoff]

Anyone ever try running a de-humidifier?

Yes, I have a dehumidifier.  I bought it for camping in rain.  The windows would get totally wet on the inside.  I have never had to use it while driving.

--Geoff

[belfert]

Fred, how do you deal with salt during snow storms when you travel in the winter?  The last, and only, time I did a winter trip with my bus I got tons of salt spray on the bus in a snow storm.  It was too cold to hose down the bus when I got home so the salt sat on everything for months and really did a number on my brakes.

Maybe you have a heated garage?  I did recently find there is a truck wash in South Saint Paul that can do an underbody wash.

[Fredward]

Brian we ran into snow a few years back down in Kansas City. Otherwise we've been lucky on our spring break trips. Yes When we get home, we unload the bus at the house and I pull it into the shop to re-winterize and wash it. Then I move it over to the unheated side of the shop where it sits all the rest of the time.

Fred