| Author | Message | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
We're smack in the middle of a 16 day trip to San Diego and many points in between. The bus has run beautifully so far, except for failing to start twice. I should have put new batts in her, but got cheap about it ("we'll replace them after the long winter, so I won't have to maintain a set in storage"). Uh huh. Got stuck in Barstow in 100 degree heat. Otherwise, my cooling system stayed well below 180, except when pulling the long, slight grade coming into Vegas in 110 deg. heat she got up to 185. Also, my new diesel genny ran flawlessly, helping the rooftop A/Cs pump out glorious conditioned air. We drycamped a few nights, spent one at the Vegas KOA, and another on a state beach. We're heading to a County park for the weekend after four nights in a swanky hotel on the Bay (paid for by my wife's work for a conference). We'll be back in the bus for the duration, after today. I'll likely be away from the Internet for several days also. Probably won't miss it! Many thanks to this BBS for all the helpful advice over the past few months of maintenence and upgrades. A special thanks to RJ for some pics of his own OEM shroud and specific advice on legs of my driving and some fun destinations (Barstow was cool!). More thanks to JR, DML, and the late, great James Maxwell (still can't believe it) on my diesel genset installation. May it please the BBS to know that a young family is presently out there, having the times of their lives in a wonderful old bus conversion! Some hastily published pics and Blog here: http://bluevelvetbus.blogspot.com/ Our planned itenerary (has some typos, and has been modified slightly in transit): http://www.brownland.org/travel/calif/itenerary1.htm Happy trails, The Browns Longmont, CO USA PD4106-1175 | ||
| Dale L. Waller (Happycampersrus)
Rating: N/A |
Hey Brian, Thats what it's all about. That's why we work so hard to build these things. Hope you folks have a great time, and travel safe. Dale | ||
| Chuck Newman (Chuck_newman)
Rating: N/A |
Brian, Really nice blog and itenerary. It's obvious the family is having a great time. If you get this before you leave San Diego, be sure to take the kids to the San Diego Zoo. Especially the petting zoo. They will love it! A suggestion regarding your starting problems: Try starting the bus in cool (less than 80F) weather. If it consistently starts, I would look at the starter rather than the batteries. It's easy to test the batteries, and I presume you have done do. If not, go to harborfreight.com and find the location of their nearest store. Buy their battery load tester for $19.95. It loads the battery to 100 amps if I recall, and will tell you your battery condition. Batteries lose capacity with increasing cold temperatures. Typically bad batteries will show up in Winter rather than Summer. But I personally have had, and read about others' starters that the solenoid will not work when they get hot. The next time it won't turn over, tap the side of the starter with a hammer. If it starts, you have a bad starter. May save you unnecessary cost for batteries. And it could be a dozen other things. Take care and have safe travels. Chuck Newman Oroville, CA | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
Rating: N/A |
Brian, If you are still in the San Diego Area, I can offer you a place to park for several days. No hookups, and its hot out here in Lakeside, but its not a residential street. I have an acre and you can park next to my bus. quiet too. 619-749-6127 h 619-244-8993 m Jim Stewart | ||
| R.C.Bishop
Rating: N/A |
Nice presentation, Brian.....enjoy yourselves! Curious about your coach front mirrors....are they OEM or something you added? Thanx, RCB '64 Crown Supercoach (HWC) | ||
| Michael Malloy (Busnut06)
Rating: N/A |
Brian, Your starting problem may be in the cable connections. Our 06 went through the same kind of thing. I corrected it by cleaning every connection from the batteries to the starter. Don't miss the ones at the bulkhead. That was the culprit on ours. They are all hard to get to. Good luck, Godspeed Michael | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
Brian - Glad you and the family are having a good time, that's part of what makes this hobby so worthwhile. So, did you eat at MickyD's, Panda Express, or Quizno's while at Barstow Station??  ***** RCB - The mirrors on Brian's 4106 are stock. It's unusual nowdays to see the high-mounted driver's side unit, but you could get them either way on the PD4104s and PD4106s. Most operators opted for the low-mount, however. I sit rather tall in the saddle, so the high-mounts created a blind spot when making LH turns for me. No big deal, just compensated for it by being more aware. FWIW, RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| R.C.Bishop
Rating: N/A |
RJL...Wonder if either of those would fit my Crown??? Thanx for the info. RCB '64 Crown Supercoach (HWC) | ||
| David Dulmage (Daved)
Rating: N/A |
Great pictures. It looks like you are having a great time. This is the stuff that is priceless. DaveD | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
Hi All: We've been away from Internet til now. We're in Albuquerque with in-laws for a few days. We somehow missed all the news about the devestation until yesterday. Probably a good thing to be unaware of during a vacation. Unbelievable... Once home next week I'll make my way through the connections and get a load tester. That's some good advice, folks. RJ, we ate a Mickey D's, BTW. Sorry I missed out on your offer, Jim. That would have been really cool. Thanks, though. Thoughts and prayers out to anyone in the flood zones. BB |