Bad Day

[freds]

Ok this is my second shake down trip in the Covid era...

Doing the snowbird migration south from Seattle to warmer climate in AZ.

Cousin in Wyoming sent me notification of -14 in Wyoming a few days ago...

Anyway the Phoenix AZ area has been swamped with covid refugees from the east coast and Canada.

To the point that it is impossible to find a RV parking space. I only got a spot outside of Quartzsite in the Phoenix area because i stayed with them last year and they knew me and I was allowed to dry camp in a dusty lot next door to the actual RV park with no services.

Anyway there are a number of thing that I want address on my bus/motorhome for the long term.

Recently I have had problems with the diesel boiler for my DIY hydronic system which I will document more on my build thread and the only backup to shore power is the diesel generator which had major problems in my case. In this dry camping lot I hear lots of generators....

Anyway the typical response for this year is don't call anyone on the phone as they won't call you back. Show up at their counter and talk to them face to face even if you have drive 90 minutes...

So anyway there is so many clothes that I can throw atop of the bed when it hits 38 degrees during the night.

While my solar/Tesla Battery pack configuration it can do a lot of things, it can't heat the cabin in the dead of the night, only shore power in a RV park or the diesel boiler can do that!!!

OK how does this get back to my bad day?

Practically anybody that you talk to in the phoenix area this year has the following rejections:

1. Your rig is older then 10 years
2. You are living in a motorhome and I don't do that...
3. I might be able to get to you in a couple of months from now (like April).
4. You are nor an over the road trucker, etc...

Anyway I found a nice place northeast of Phoenix that is willing to do what ever you request (as long as it's not in the cabin) with the hour meter running. You pay for how every long it takes.

How bloody refreshing!!!

Anyway their work location is a bit difficult to access and with the promise that I could dry camp in their storage lot I had a bit of euphoria and managed to screw up and side swipe a fire hydrant!!!



I do admit that I was a bit over the moon as someone is willing to work with all the different things that I need (so many rejections) and I am not as wary as I normally am and in my stupid defense I had re-adjusted the mirrors on that side the previous day...

Any way it turns out that there is two types of fire hydrants. Cold weather and not!!! So dry verse wet, run off over a cold weather hydrant and you simply break it off at ground level as the valve that turns it on is below the frost line...

Warm weather and you get the fountain!!! Needless to say I didn't apply that much force, just re-clocked it so that the big outlet doesn't face the street.



So now I am in the market for a complete bay door and the following panel on my 1980 Prevost and hey one big awh $#!%!!

[oltrunt]

Really sorry to see that and it certainly qualifies as a bad day.  I'd say you're being really brave about it.  Jack

[dtcerrato]

Ouch!

[rancher]

Freds That's a bad day for sure. A least it didn't break the hydrant off too. Hoping for better days ahead for you.

[Tedsoldbus]

Fred,
The shop I go to (he only does Prevost) scrapped a Prevost some months ago and I think they are about to scrap another one they have on site. All the bay doors are still there but before I get your hopes up I need measurements. AND I am going to Fla on Thursday for a few days of DD school and the guys are taking me to a bus junkyard. (maybe no Prevost but we'll see)
I downloaded your sad picture, but send me a picture of the door next to it so I can see what undamaged bottom looks like for trying to match. Also send me measurement of the crunched door. You might check with Visone RV. 606 843 9889 but they will probably be a bit spendy. If Visone has it I can go get it. Closer to you is Kyle at Border Coach Leasing in Az. 480 620 7691.
And for now, try to pull the arrow out of your head. You can still drive your bus. It can be fixed. Easter egg hunt for parts, but it can be fixed....
Brother Ted
Glad I never did anything like that. (except for the time I backed our Allegro bus a teeeeeny bit too far and the ladder, pushed by the big tree back there, punched 6 holes into that one piece fiberglass cap on the back. It was remarkably loud.).

[Paso One]

I feel for you Freds, you have some luck it didn't create a fountain

[pabusnut]

Fred,

I feel for you and remember my "Shortest and Most Expensive Trip"!!!

At the last house I lived in prior to my divorce, I parked the bus in the driveway with the nose up almost against the garage door. 

For whatever reason, I needed to move the bus back toward the street about 15 ft, so since I wasn't go on the road, I neglected to do my "pre-flight inspection walk around."

As I backed up I saw my rearmost bay door on the driver's side pop out and heard a scraping sound, so I stopped.  I got out and discovered that I must have forgotten to put the 50 amp electric cord back in the  utility bay.  Fortunately the cord was not plugged in, but I guess the running over it with the front tire helped keep it "grounded."  It snagged the open bay door, and twisted it all up, tore out the grommet in the bay wall and ripped a 3" slice in the bay wall, and ripped the 50Amp cord in half!  I was so sick I didn't do anything else that day.

Well, at least I am helped to keep the hobby alive by keeping Luke in Business!

That was almost ten years ago, but it seems like yesterday.

[freds]

I feel for you Freds, you have some luck it didn't create a fountain

Hey it might have gotten the solar panels washed LOL!!!

[Melbo]

We all make mistakes

Some bigger than others.

Melbo

[epretot]

Bummer....

Maybe this will make you feel better.

I got smashed by 8 pieces of 3/4 subfloor today. I tried to slide it all at once. I know it was dumb.

I was laying half way into the rear cargo bay and my legs were trapped. I couldn't get any leverage to get my legs out.

Fortunately, I had my phone in my pocket. My two boys came out and lifted the pile enough to get my legs out.

Then the kerosene heater  did something weird and filled the cabin with smoke. I had literally just cleaned the windows and dash. It made a mess.

Guess I'll clean it again tomorrow.

[freds]

Hi Everyone

Ted requested the dimensions of my bay door as he knows someone who might have one. I will post everything here so that some search engine can find it for a 1980 Prevost LeMirage.

The width of the bay door is 45 and 1/8 inches.



The Height of the outer skin is 32 1/2 inches.



The inside square support structure is about 2 ½ on the left side of the door and 2 3/8 on the right side. From the bottom it is 2 ½ inches up, from the top it is about 3 ¼ inches.





The door locking pivot on each side is about 9 1/4 inches from bottom of the outer skin..



The left side of the door support plate is about 9 3/4 from top of outer skin.

Note the extra inner piece that extends to the right holds door in place if hinge completely rips as it rotates up behind the hinge structure, so the door would be anchored in three places...

[freds]

Here's some closer pictures of the damage behind the bay door.



Nothing significant here, just popped rivets..



Here you can see that it scraped my 200 gallon fuel tank, if it had gouged a hole it might have been a hazmat situation...



In this picture you can see that backing support beam is tad bent and out of alinement...

[buswarrior]

These type collisions often push the bottom edge or sides of the bag bay in, shunt the door hinge/pantograph, and what pushes in, has to sprout out somewhere else... some old fashioned pushing and pulling with the hydraulic ram and some chains to get the face of the opening square may be required. Sometimes, the pieces get cut out and fresh welded in. Cuz it won't go back with the stretching.

Gaps around the door fill the compartment with rain water, or road spray, depending...

There is lots of weight and leverage to twist your new door if these things are out of whack. Minimize moving the old door, if it is binding, you'll bend it some more. Keep the new door supported as you test the movement and fit.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Bustle]

Sorry for your trouble. It could've always been worse. It's a good thing no one is hurt. I have been enjoying reading about your build, and looking forward to reading more in the future.

[BusNit]

Wow, sorry to see that. As I get older, I find myself doing dumb things. I parked my Ram 2500 pickup next to a cart corral at Lowes yesterday. When I returned to leave I just pulled out of the spot making a tight turn as there was nobody around or so I thought. That's when I heard the scraping and was dragging the red corral with the truck. Screwed up my fender flares but like anything else, my pride was mainly affected. I hope you get your parts. I know it sucks. My truck is not pristine anymore... It's my garage baby but since I am working on my bus, I have been leaving it outside which makes it easier to take to the store rather than pull the car out of the garage.