"If you were to do it over again, what would you do differently ?"

[Hobie]

Was wondering what you would have done differently with your bus .....after the fact.   

[cody]

The only thing that I would have done differently is to do it sooner, each part of my bussing experience has been an adventure and a learning experience, with the patient guidance of many on this board and their expertise I have slowly brought our bus from an empty shell to being our home.

[Prather]

I would have added a seperate fuel tank for my generator so I could have used off-road diesel.   Prather

[TomC]

Do what I am going to do with my next conversion-use a big rig Diesel instead.  I love my bus and am very satisfied with the conversion, but am not in love with the drive train (8V-71TATAAC and V730) even though it does perform well now, it still doesn't get very good mileage (5-6).  And more importantly, because of the engine and transmission being mounted in their own subframe or cradle, all forces from the trailer hitch are being transferred through the cradle, meaning I can't haul a big trailer with my bus.  So by using a three axle truck, I'll have an engine and transmission most all mechanics can work on with no special training, have a full length frame so I can put a 15,000lb receiver hitch in the back to pull a big boat, and have room in the back to create a garage to carry a Mini sized car, bicycles and such with my master bedroom overhead-not part of the garage.  My box is going to be 9ft tall inside so I can use the first two feet for equipment and massive amounts of storage, then have a second floor for 82" of headroom.  Then all tanks, heaters , electrical, etc will be out of the living space (unlike what I have now because of using a transit).  Good Luck, TomC

[captain ron]

Insured it for a LOT of money and pray for something to happen.

[Melbo]

My coach is still under construction but as I have progressed the only thing that I might have done differently is to make my grey water tank larger and my black water tank smaller.

I have plenty of fresh water but I am limited by the size of the gray water tank -- it fills up LONG before I am out of fresh water.

Melbo

[jjrbus]

Not buy a bus!!!!!!

[belfert]

I should have included a black tank or made the grey tank bigger than the fresh water tank.  Both fresh and grey are identical now and it appears the grey is filling faster than the fresh is emptying due to toilet waste.

I should have made the bathroom a little smaller and done the bunks differently.  (Bathroom is the way it is due to location of toilet.)  I'm probably going to rip out the bunks and maybe the bathroom to redo them this summer.  I think I figured out a way to move the toilet, but have to do some measuring to be sure.  Luckily, no kitchen yet so a lot less to rip out during a redo.  The shower needs major repair regardless so redoing the whole bathroom isn't much more work.

[Kwajdiver]

With the information I now have, I would have to agree with Jjrbus...

I wouldn't buy a bus.   It has been fun,    and I've meet a lot of nice people, 

However, it as cost me a lot of $$$$$$$, that I had not planned on.   

Bill

[Sam 4106]

On thing I should have done was put in a dirty clothes hamper. Now we use a basket in the bottom of the closet and I don't like putting smelly clothes in with the clean ones. if I had thought of a hamper it would have been easy to move the stool a little further from the wall and put the hamper behind the stool. It would be a major job to do that now.
Thanks, Sam 4106

[FloridaCliff]

The only thing that I would have done differently is to do it sooner

Thats it in a nutshell!

Bypassing the 'Sticks n Staples" would have saved me considerable time.

But, its usually better to step carefully into this RV thing without too much of a cash infusion....

As can be testified to by all the hopefuls that ended up being sold.......usually at a loss...

Cliff

[FloridaCliff]

Sam,

We tried a couple different solutions with the dirty laundry.

But with four on board, a plastic bag put into the bay, daily, was the best answer....    

Cliff

[Paul]

We did a 10" roof raise and used two Carrier 15.000 BTU roof top, ducted, low profile units

If I had it do over the roof raise would be 12" and still drop the ceiling down 7" in the bus.  This would be a bus height of 12' 10" the same as an 8" raise with regular roof top Air conditioners units   

The sticker on dash states that bus is  ------------------------------------11' 5".
10" roof raise =   ------------------------------------------------------------ 12' 3"   
Remove roof hatch subtract 2.5"   --------------------------------------- 12' ½"   
Carrier low profile is 7.5" high   ------------------------------------------12' 8"

I drop the ceiling down 7" in the bus, this gives us 6" of space above ceiling in center of the bus to install AC duct.  Changes to 4" in center with 2" of spray foam over roof ribs

I will have a Ceiling height of  6' 8" after installing 1 ½ Dow Blueguard Styrofoam
Insulation on floor and ¾ plywood over insulation

With a level on top of roof AC and Bus aired up, I get a Measurement of 12' 7' to ground with 10" roof raise.

[NJT 5573]

I wouldn't change much. I bought a low milage unit, 400,000 miles with a replacement DD 6V92 at 30,000 miles. The only problems I have dealt with are DDEC and ATEC issues. Now I have gotten on top of the learning curve with both of those systems and am very satisfied with my unit. I have 230 gal fresh, 180 grey and 60 black. A couple years ago I had 17 people on for a week. I showered everyone everyday and serviced the tanks every 4th day. I don't always hold my grey water like I should and just let it spill. No one has ever said anything about that to me.

I am changing from 2 8D battery's to 4 8D's because my satellite track unit uses more juice than I want it to. I have a 40,000 BTU Suburban furnace that is also power hungry, but I think I can go 3 days or longer (boondocked) with the 4 8D's and that will be fine.

My bus is real solid and I think it is ready to go anywhere anytime. We have alot of fun with it and it has been one of the real joys in our lives.

When I go to Magic Mountain, they always comp me a free day pass as the driver, people are always asking the kids if we are a band. Last time I went to the World of Outlaws show they parked me right next to Sammy  Swindell. Whats not to like?

[Ed Hackenbruch]

we have a laundry chute in the bathroom that lets us drop the dirty clothes into a basket in the bay below.