Water / Batteries / Generator Layout in bays for weight distrobution

[Iceni John]

This also why you should never layout your bus such that your Fresh Water tank is on one side and the Gray/Black tanks are on the other. They should span the width of the bus as much as possible to distribute the weight at all levels.  I have seen this before. Not exactly ideal.

And nor should the fresh and waste tanks be next to each other.   I see RVs with their dump valves very close to their fresh fills  -  to me that's serious cross-contamination just waiting to happen.   I wonder how many such RV owners have got intestinal infections (or worse) because of this?   If a tank leaks, what will happen?

John

[richard5933]

And nor should the fresh and waste tanks be next to each other.   I see RVs with their dump valves very close to their fresh fills  -  to me that's serious cross-contamination just waiting to happen.   I wonder how many such RV owners have got intestinal infections (or worse) because of this?   If a tank leaks, what will happen?

John

It is possible to have tanks side by side and still provide separation and cross contamination protection. Both of our tanks are on the driver side. However, the dump valve exits the rear of the black tank and is accessed on the curb side of the bus while the fill port on the fresh tank is on the driver side of that tank. I know that our set up is very 'non standard' and does not comply with the norm being followed today. Our coach was converted in 1974 by Custom Coach. It still works the way it is so we're leaving things be. I'm just pointing this out to show that side-by-side tanks can be done while maintaining separation of the dump valve and fill port.

[Oonrahnjay]

      You're all lucky to have "bays".  Without them, it's much more complicated.  DAMHIK.

[windtrader]

The builder of my coach did an extensive amount of research, planning, and design. Part of this included the fully loaded static load. Attached is a rough diagram of how the placeable systems were placed around the chassis.

[HB of CJ]

Very Respectfully ...

Legal ... Bus Conversions ... Engineering ... Drawings ... Video ...

windtrader:  Thank you for sharing your Bus Conversion engineering sketch .  I hope you never see the insides of a Civil Action Court Room.  The so called engineering sketch your builder provided is very immature and very non complete . 

Any good tort lawyer could bury you alive if that is all you could provide for your defense regarding your possible Bus Conversion engineering.  What you need is a thick photo album with many pictures and short descriptions of your Bus.

You need each axle END weighted.  Empty and loaded.  Also partially loaded.  Plus all math calculations indicating how and why your coach was engineered and constructed in this fashion.  You need much more documentation.  Much more.

This would include pictures of all the things under the floor before installation.  All manufactures.  Model and type info.  Weights.  Installation methods. Components. Lots and lots of pics.  A good HD color video would work best here.

Show the math.  Exact evidence is best in a civil action.  Also have a video showing the actual installation.  Close ups.  Show exactly how and why your Bus Conversion was done in the fashion it was.  Validate the construction procedures.

Go through the chassis.  Explain it all.  Shell construction.  Frames.  Axles.  Brakes.  Suspension.  Wheels.  Tires.  Document that the completed Bus Conversion is road worthy.  More than that.  Document that you have a road warrior.

This might take up a good sized photo album.  For all the do-it-yourselves regarding a proper Bus Conversion, also consider the daily diary documenting all the right stuff and successes and why.  Make it all good and cozy.

Separate all of this from the daily dairy outlining all the frustrations and setbacks building your own Bus Conversion.  Keep THIS reality check separate from the success story.  Keep the success engineering stories with the coach.

Also consider video taping everything including the photo build album and daily build diaries and putting copies in a safe place.  Several copies better.  You need to build a good data base showing all GOOD aspects of your coach.

Such copies might be golden getting Bus Conversion insurance.  Might also help getting non commercial RV plates where ever you live.  Also might just save your bacon if you are involved in even a SLIGHT accident NOT your fault.

Call it insurance.  Also call it a way of documentation everything good about your coach.  Nothing to hide engineeringly.  I think all the above is very necessary and also FUN.  Your mileage may vary.  Just my point of view.

Finally ... it might be a good idea to spend the money and get a complete set of outside recording cameras.  All sides and ends.  HD if possible.  A good system with recording speed, time, etc..  Another necessity today perhaps.   

Most Respectfully ... 

[richard5933]

Very Respectfully ...

Legal ... Bus Conversions ... Engineering ... Drawings ... Video ...

windtrader:  Thank you for sharing your Bus Conversion engineering sketch .  I hope you never see the insides of a Civil Action Court Room.  The so called engineering sketch your builder provided is very immature and very non complete ...

In an ideal world someone might be able to get all that. Few of us live in an ideal world. Our current conversion was done by Custom Coach on a new shell in 1974. They were considered by many to be in the top tier of the conversion world when they were operating. We have a binder of information from them that came with the coach, but the kind of things you're describing are not in there. I tend to be rather OCD about things like this, and it never really occurred to me to try any more documentation regarding weight than we can get on the scales.

Our previous coach, which was also professionally converted (we believe also by Custom Coach) had almost no documentation when we bought it. We were involved in a collision last year which resulted in a fatality. You are correct that the dash cam video is important, as it is what put a quick end to the troopers' investigation. We were never asked anything about our bus's conversion, weight balance, or equipment status.

I'd say that most important in all this is ending up with a coach that goes down the road safely. It should be reasonably balanced side to side and have the proper weight distribution front to rear. This is easy to document with one or two trips to the scales. Proper safety and maintenance records should be kept. If structural or changes to systems like the brakes or steering are going to be done, then I totally agree that Engineering needs to sign off on things and proper documentation must be done along the way. But for the house systems, I'd say that a sense of balance is important on how much to document (no pun intended, although it did kind of work out here).

Getting motor home plates on a bus just isn't that difficult in most states and only requires minimal documentation. I can't speak to anyone else's experiences getting insurance, but we were not asked for anything more than a few photos of the bus inside and out before we got our policy on both of our coaches.

One thing which we did not do with our first bus was get a professional appraisal. We plan to do that on this one as soon as I complete the upgrades I have planned for this spring. Having a current appraisal would have made getting our insurance settlement after the accident much quicker and would probably have gotten us a few more dollars.

Back to the original topic of this thread, I do agree that the more calculations that can be done before things are installed the better. Much easier to move things on paper than in real life after the bus starts to lean to one side.

[windtrader]

Richard,

Misstated maybe on my part. That diagram is my own DIY drawing of what I see and where located. The only intent was to show that thought was given to balancing the weight left and right. And the term "builder" does not imply a commercial coach builder, just a DIY busnut who did a lot of research then designed and laid out his personal bus conversion.

Don

[richard5933]

Richard,

Misstated maybe on my part. That diagram is my own DIY drawing of what I see and where located. The only intent was to show that thought was given to balancing the weight left and right. And the term "builder" does not imply a commercial coach builder, just a DIY busnut who did a lot of research then designed and laid out his personal bus conversion.

Don

Don - I wasn't really trying to comment directly on the sketch, but was trying to point out that all the different concerns for documentation have to be kept in balance. 

[sledhead]

on my M C I I put all the heavy water tanks at the back bay then the batteries and as you go forward less weight other then the genne in the old a/c bay but it was only 275 lbs ( honda 7000i ) as to try and keep as much of the weight off the front axle

now on the featherlite the water tanks are in the rear bay and the batteries are right at the back on the passengers side the front 3 bays are open with roll out trays for stuff but what gets me is the 12 k genne is as far forward as it could go on a air slide to service it works great but LOTS of weight as far forward as it can go

I would try and keep the weight as far back as you can and balance it side to side   

dave

[lvmci]

Don't forget the 2 heavy interior pieces, the refridgerator and the sofa, interior placement Is weight too, lvmci...