| Author | Message | ||
| Wayne Ellenburg (Wlnburg)
Registered Member Username: Wlnburg Post Number: 58 Registered: 6-2008 Posted From: 128.158.1.163  Rating: N/A |
I love this board and use it often to gather information for my own selfish use. I have only been a coach owner for a little over a year and I finally think I have something to contribute. Everything in the list below is just common sense and you many already have this in place, but often I think we get focused on the less important things and forget the obvious ones. Please feel free to add other suggestions of others can learn. I left my house going on a 2 hour trip to a camp ground. The clutch went out 10 miles from my house. 1. Get a towing service. I use coach net. They are great. 2. Have a plan in place on where to take the coach along the way if you break down. 3. I had planned to take the bus back home to give me time to decide where to take it to get it repaired. I found out a 37’ wrecker and a 40’ bus need a lot of turning room, so that was out. 4. Put every phone contact you have where you can access it. I did not even have the number for Coachnet. Put them in your phone, one a piece of paper or in a directory and put it in your coach. 5. Have water for all traveling with you in case you are there for a while. I broke down in front of a convenience store so it was not a problem but could have been. 6. Keep plenty of fuel in your bus and generator I had plenty to get the fuel station but not enough to run the generator the entire time I was stranded. The coach was stopped in front of where I get fuel. 7. Make sure you have a way to tow the bus. I was blocking a road that had been narrowed down to 1 lane for construction. I took the bumper off to access the tow hooks and there were not any. I did find a strap wrapped around the spare tire to remove it and wrapped it around a support in the front and used it to get out of the road with a backhoe that was working on the road. 8. Have a backup plan. This was to be our family vacation. I sent the wife and kids to a water park for the day while I waited on the tow truck, and we went to an amusement park and aquarium in Chattanooga the following 2 days saving out vacation. | ||
| Wayne Ellenburg (Wlnburg)
Registered Member Username: Wlnburg Post Number: 59 Registered: 6-2008 Posted From: 128.158.1.163 Rating: N/A |
9. Make a list of all those people that tell you you should have called so and so. So next time you can call them. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1650 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 76.69.142.155  Rating: N/A |
10. go with the flow, it's the journey, not the destination, that counts. 11. Set aside some minimum of emergency ca$h that does not enter into your other financial plans. I might suggest $500? Some things simply can't be accomplished out on the road with plastic money. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| macgyver (91flyer)
Registered Member Username: 91flyer Post Number: 447 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 74.193.225.243  Rating: N/A |
12. Have an additional vehicle handy in case you break down somewhere remote and NEED to get somewhere for parts, service, whatever... Cell phones are great, but they don't always have service. -Mac | ||
| R.C.Bishop (Chuckllb)
Registered Member Username: Chuckllb Post Number: 839 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 75.209.174.233 Rating: N/A |
Wayne...BTDT...you have good advice; but remember that an xtra $5,000 might not get it done in some cases. Owning one of these things is like a crap shoot, really. Mine included. One has to expect the worst...and hope for the best. Mechanic "friends" might help the situation a bit, if you seek their advice. Do what you can to maintain the coach...look it over top to bottom...on a routine basis... listen to it...how might it be different than last time you started/drove it...how does it "feel" opposed to last time, etc etc. Old timers usually have a way of "speaking up"....when things aren't right...  Best wishes. RCB | ||
| David B. Sweet (Sweets4104)
Registered Member Username: Sweets4104 Post Number: 34 Registered: 2-2007 Posted From: 67.182.114.217  Rating: N/A |
That is all good, sound advice, I added our road service provider's umber to both MSW's cell phone and to mine. It is easy to get rattled when something untoward happens. Blessings, David | ||
| Peter River (Whitebus)
Registered Member Username: Whitebus Post Number: 118 Registered: 4-2009 Posted From: 204.62.111.51  Rating: N/A |
well that's a nightmarish prospect for me. I am planning to travel around the US on my bus, totally full timing it for a while. my budget is pretty much non-existent, and my initial plans were to drive it until it gives up the ghost, and get another bus in running condition and tranfer all the living area out of the broken bus. now that I put a few thousands (both in miles and $) in it, and have an attachment to it sentimentally, I guess I would just cry at the side of the road if/when it breaks down with some major problems... I don't know how some of you guys with coaches that are 20+ years old manage, I would imagine that things wear out (especiall on a transit that were used daily before retirement). Either you all had careers in heavy machinery and can fix most problems yourselves, or have endless bottomless wallets, or balls the size of churchbells, or some combination therein, I haven't quite figured it out yet... (Message edited by WhiteBus on July 08, 2009) | ||
| macgyver (91flyer)
Registered Member Username: 91flyer Post Number: 448 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 74.193.225.243 Rating: N/A |
Peter... My vote is for "balls the size of churchbells" for most of us. ;) But a lot of this can be done yourself if you just take the time to learn how to do it... Granted, the side of the road is the LAST place you want to learn it, but... My experiences have been valuable and I wouldn't trade the journey for _anything_... Yeah, there've been some scary moments. Like when I was driving my 60 footer for the first time down from Minnesota to Louisiana after I first bought it... I got just outside of OKC and all the warnings, buzzers and lights started going off... 15 seconds later I was broken down on the side of the road without a clue what was wrong. Not fun... But I learned how to diagnose the onboard computer that day and pull the codes and know exactly what each one meant. That was worth the breakdown all on its own... And when I broke down in my 4905 on the way back from Florida and the engine simply died and wouldn't start back up... yeah, I sat on the side of the road for a good 6 solid hours, but I learned a *LOT* more about the systems of the bus than I would have otherwise... I also learned valuable diagnostics from the many people who called me after my plea for help... It's all in how you view the experience... Are you the kind of person willing to take the risk and stay calm in the face of what seems like certain doom? Or are you the kind to freak out, jumping up and down going "WHY ME?!" I'm a bit of both. ;) The recent destruction of my bus via 'trial by fire' was the "WHY ME?!" moment... Nothing I could do but stand back and watch it burn. Now though? I'm going to learn a lot more about how things work once I tear everything apart to rebuild the bus... I'd rather not gain that experience in this way, but... It's experience nonetheless! What's that experience worth to YOU? -Mac | ||
| Peter River (Whitebus)
Registered Member Username: Whitebus Post Number: 120 Registered: 4-2009 Posted From: 204.62.111.51 Rating: N/A |
>It's all in how you view the experience... Are >you the kind of person willing to take the risk >and stay calm in the face of what seems like >certain doom? Or are you the kind to freak out, >jumping up and down going "WHY ME?!" yep, I am definitely a bit of both too. I have had my breakdowns on the interstate and while I was dreading it then, looking back I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. | ||
| Larry Baird (Airhog)
Registered Member Username: Airhog Post Number: 166 Registered: 1-2001 Posted From: 70.213.42.129  Rating: N/A |
I have replaced most everything in the running gear. I told my wife if it breaks and cost much to fix then it lives where it lands. If it's a nice area then I'll buy some land and have a vacation spot, if not then i'll drive the toad home and find a new hobby. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Registered Member Username: Rjlong Post Number: 1581 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 98.192.173.82  Rating: N/A |
Lucky #13 - 13. Do a complete and proper pre-trip inspection every morning on the days that you'll be rolling along. No excuses. http://www.busnut.com/bbs/messages/12262/16203.html?1167072614 | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 267 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 24.164.20.23  Rating: N/A |
Wayne, I agree with everything posted here but I would be interested in knowing more about the specific clutch problem you had. Clutch problems are usually quite predictable with normal maintenance and adjustment. If it failed in that it would not engage or was slipping, that should have been picked up well before failure. If it failed in that it would not disengage due to a catastrophic failure in the linkage or clutch, that can be harder to predict. An easy starting engine can be driven without a clutch in an emergency, not easy but not impossible. I've not done it with a bus but I once drove a 6 ton truck (old beat up International) more than 300 miles with no clutch. Start it in 1st gear, easy enough to shift up and down. Slip it into neutral just before stopping and turn off the engine. Len | ||
| Wayne Ellenburg (Wlnburg)
Registered Member Username: Wlnburg Post Number: 60 Registered: 6-2008 Posted From: 173.24.219.217 Rating: N/A |
When we left it felt different and got progressively worse. I was going to turn around and head home when it just quit pulling at all. I have not heard from the mechanic yet about what happened but I will keep you posted. If I had more experience I would have known as soon as I hit the road to trn around. |