| Author | Message | ||
| JW Smythe (Jwsmythe)
Rating: N/A |
G'morning all. It looks like I'm going to be moving again. My bus is still a shell, since I was waiting for a few things to happen before I started on the interior. Now, it looks like it's a good thing that I have a large empty space. Is there anything I should be concerned about, using my bus as a shell with no walls or anything fancy like that? I know that the walls I was going to add wouldn't do much for structure, but they may be something. I'm going to be grabbing it from it's current resting spot in Brooksville, Fl, driving it to Los Angeles, and then returning loaded with my crap to Tampa, Fl. I'm good at loading moving vans, so I know the finer points of weight distribution. I know some of the obvious stuff. Don't let the load fall on the rear door or it'll pop open, and don't let the load fall on the back of my head.  Once I move, and get our crap unloaded from the bus, it's actually a good thing. I'll have it in my own back yard (once I find a place to buy that has a back yard), so the only excuse for delaying the work is my own laziness, not the huge distance between me and it (2500 miles right now) I'm opting to use my bus instead of a U-Haul because of money. When I moved out here, the moving van averaged 3mpg on the trip. It had a gas engine (Chevy 454, I believe) with an automatic transmission, which was way underpowered. One of the experienced U-Haul mechanics told me that U-Haul was no longer buying diesel trucks, nor manual transmissions, because customers are stupid. They'd always put gasoline in them, and burn up the clutches or ruin the gears. That's what they get for letting soccer moms rent big trucks. When I quoted it before (about a year ago), they were asking about $3k for just the rental one way. If Pete's estimates on milage with the 4.10 gears are anywhere near right, I'll be saving close to $400 on fuel driving round trip, versus a one-way trip in a U-Haul. If/when I do it (more like when), I'll post a fuel consumption report both empty and heavily loaded, so everyone will get some good data. Unfortunately, I won't be able to give a before, since I only drove it 100 miles with the original gears, and have no idea what the fuel consumption was. | ||
| Ross Carlisle (Rrc62)
Rating: N/A |
That's true of U-Haul. I just closed down a dealership. Most people renting trucks can't drive a stick and diesels are just a nighmare for people who are not up to speed on thier nuances, especially in the winter. You could try www.upack.com. This is actually ABF trucking. What they do is they come and load your stuff into a tractor trailer, put a a barrier wall and fill the rest of it with freight. They quotes $1800 to move a 3BR house from NH to TN which is less than the U-Haul rental. They also have pods, but they are small. Probably too small for a house worth of stuff. With the pod, they drop the pod, you load it at your convenience and they come move it to your new location. I can probably move a good portion of my stuff in the bus even being a finished conversion. It's the beds, couches and some of my shop equuipment I couldn't move. I can also load the toad to the ceiling and load the Thule roof box. Problem there is that the bus costs $600 in fuel one way to TN. Making more than one trip to move wouldn't be cost effective. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Tampa? Home with "RV parking" ?... Florida MLS The topic of using the empty bus shell to move the contents of the home is interesting! I had been considering doing the same if/when we relocate. Weight shouldn't be an issue, since any 40' bus can handle 53 seated individuals, plus standees from front to rear, plus as much luggage that can be carried inside, and as much luggage or cargo can be stuffed in the bays. That's a lot of weight! How many of your boxes or furniture weigh more than the average overweight adult? Adding a hitch and towing a trailer, isn't out of the question, either. After driving a U-Haul for a small, local move, I would much prefer the safer conditions of my own bus! The only caveat, is the worry of breaking down. If the bus has to be worked on, all the lifelong belongings have to remain inside the bus, and vulnerable to the elements at hand...wherever that may be, and wherever it may be towed to. (Just an ugly thought to consider) | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
U-Hauls also break down and it can be difficult or even impossible to get a replacement for several days to move your furnishings into. Current U-Haul rate from La to Tampa is $2,506. This for the largest truck (26') and includes 9 days and 2,506 miles. Richard | ||
| jlvickers Rating: N/A |
We used our P8M4905A for a move/relocation last year. Packed the baggage bins with boxes and the up stairs with other small Items that you can get through the front door. The relocation was only 120 miles one way but we made 5 round trips with the old Buffalo. Nothing broken in the move and fuel/oil was our only cost. Beats a Uhaul any day. I bet your bus will fill up with items before it gets to a over weight condition. Many years ago we uused a PD4104 shell to move a house load of house hold items from Brooksville,FL to Conroe,Texas every thing arrived in fine shape. jlv | ||
| Phil Dumpster2 Rating: N/A |
This is massively important if you want to use a bus as a moving van - you absolutely must have the entire load secured to the bus structure so that if you have to dynamite the brakes the cargo won't crush you to death against the dashboard. I cannot stress this enough. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A |
...or simply temporarily weld in a "bulkhead" wall just behind your drivers area, and take it out later on... I totally agree with Phil. | ||
| WEC4104 Rating: N/A |
On several ocaisions I have used my 4104 to move large quantities of "stuff", and it certainly dwarfs what I can load into my full sized pickup truck. The biggest limitation for me is the door opening. It limits what size item can be loaded. | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
Thats how i got into buses as a moving van ''back in the 70's we moved fine art and antiques because the bus ride is much smother than trucks | ||
| JW Smythe (Jwsmythe)
Rating: N/A |
Guys, Thanks for your input. You're all very encourage. John, She appears to be up Pensacola. I considered going there, since I have a sister, niece, and my niece has a couple kids up there. Just about everyone else for me is in Tampa. I'll probably stop up there for the last night before getting to Tampa. Gary and Phil, I agree with the securing the load. I was already considering putting a wall not too far behind the drivers seat. I thought putting a futon couch in there would give whoever's not driving a place to nap, and having a wall would make us feel more secure (and keep things off the back of my head), and it would provide a smaller space to cool. I have a 10k BTU portable air conditioner, that we could use rather than buying and mounting up 2 or 3 RV air conditioners. For loading the bus, mine is a GMC RTS, and it still has both doors on it. They're both nice and wide. I don't think we'd have problems loading anything into it. I'll have to build a ramp, but hey, that's what Home Depot is for. A few 2x4's and some 3/4" plywood will work wonders. Breaking down does worry me, but I think the drive out to LA should be a good shake-down drive. I worry a very little bit about a long drive like that, but when I think about it, a 2500 mile drive is what this bus would do in a few days (or maybe weeks) in normal use. I had the same considerations when I drove my car out here the first time. A 2500 mile run is what I may do in a couple weeks in my car. Driving the U-Haul across the country the first time was less than fun. This was a 26' GMC truck (gas engine, automatic, like I said before), with my '98 Firebird on a car hauler. There was a brake warning light on before I got out of Tampa, which didn't come on until after we had it loaded up. We made it to about 50 miles before the intersection of I-75 and I-10, when a brake alarm started screaming. U-Haul's solution was to disable the alarm, since all the brake systems appeared to be working right. We then got to 75 miles outside of San Antonio Texas, when we heard a loud BANG from under the hood. The air conditioner belt broke, because the A/C compressor had seized up. I called the U-Haul emergency road service, and it took 20 minutes to explain to them that we were still driving, because I had diagnosed it, and I even explained that the belt was broken but I couldn't turn the compressor by hand. They finally told me where the shop was. Well, no directions on HOW to get there, just the street address, so we had to get a map and figure it out our selves. 6 hours at the shop, and we were on our way again. The shop did point out that we were overloaded. The leaf springs were pushed flat, almost inverted. We were half way across the country, with nowhere to transfer stuff, so we kept going. The U-Haul sucked for driving too. Besides getting 4mpg on flat roads, and averaging 3mpg for the whole trip, it maxed out at about 70mph (accelerating downhill). It was downright embarassing on hills. On several occasions, we dropped from 70mph to 15mph. I stayed way right, but even big heavily loaded trucks were blowing past us.. Ok, blowing past at 20mph faster, but still. Oh, and that bench seat is ok for driving a few miles, but it's less than comfortable for distance driving. Driving hard in my car, I made the trip in 2.5 days. Driving hard in the U-Haul we made it in about 7 days. We ended up sleeping in the truck most nights, because a hurricane had just blown through, and all the hotels along I-10 from Florida to Texas were full of repair crews. I have a friend with a 25' enclosed car trailer, that I may try to borrow. We have 3 cars, so we're trying to figure out the logistics of getting them all home. I'm probably driving one back this coming week, and we'll trailer at least one more with the bus (emergency transportation is always good). I may sell one. I have 2 Firebirds ('98 and '00), and would kinda like a 3/4 ton Chevy pickup, or something like a Yukon or Suburban. Someone had one up on Craigslist for $800 with a blown head gasket. I know, I know, save my bucks. I have an S10 blazer out there with the engine out of it too. I kinda abandon it with my ex-girlfriend's dad a few years ago, so it may have already found it's way to the bone yard. | ||
| Mike (Busone)
Rating: N/A |
We just moved a two months ago. I bought a 35' skoolie. It was a fairly easy move. I used some 2x6's and plywood to build a ramp. The hardest thing to get through the back door was the fridge. I had to take the doors off. Of course I would have had to anyway because of the little door in the kitchen. This bus has a fuel efficent NA Detroit 8.2 so we did about 9MPG. The part that sucked was the 8000' passes in Wyoming. I could only go 30 up those hills. I got some 2x4's and used joist hangers to mount them across the bus to keep our crap from killing us. I have to say this was the best move we ever did. Our 2 year old loves the bus and did not cry for most of the trip like she usually does. Other than a couple of marker lights that burned out on the trip all went well. If I had the big transit doors that an RTS has it would have been even easier. When we moved to Denver 1.5 years ago we rented a Penske truck. It was a nice 2003 International box truck with a DT-466. I was able to cruse at 70 all day long with that thing. We got about 7MPG though. Good luck with your move. Mike | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Rating: N/A |
Hello JW. Protect your windows. It is a real shame to have something only tip over and give a piece of glass a little bump and crack it. plywood is a good choice. I've used the bus to move a large load of lumber for a church camp. Choose your "helpers" carefully, they need to respect the limitations of sneeking things in and out emergency windows, around corners, glass, etc. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
I rented a Penske 26 ft truck 3 times in my recent move to Tennessee. AAA discount, Online discount, and choosing dates with low rates gave me a rate of about $800. I also added two additional days at $50 per day to make the move less taxing. Penske turns over its fleet about every four years so the equipment is new. The 26 footer had an International Diesel engine and I got about 9 1/2 MPG going uphill, Florida to Tenessee. Best reported MPG on these trucks is an unbelievable 14 MPG. I was heavy and I never get the best mileage. Also, Penske has the truck for you when they say they will. They seem to be willing to have a few trucks idle rather than stressing their customers. The trucks are also very clean. They do void their insurance if you tow anything but a Penske tow dolly or trailer. I think most companies may do that. The only disadvantage is they still ride like a truck. If you have to drive from Florida to Los Angeles I calculate that you will spend about$1350 for fuel going out there and another $450 extra over the cost of fuel for a Penske 26ft truck figuring 6MPG for the bus and a conservative 9MPG for the truck. Fly Southwest one way and it might be just as cheap to rent and not put 5500 miles on your bus right now. In Nashville, TN one of the Penske locations will even take you to or pick you up from the airport for $10 a car load. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Rating: N/A |
I'm with Stephen. When I rent, I rent Penske. I cannot afford to be found on board a piece of non-compliant junk. Establish an account the first time, and you are good to go. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| JW Smythe (Jwsmythe)
Rating: N/A |
Buswarrior and Stephen, Thanks! I don't think I've ever rented a Penske truck. I know when I did my last move, their prices were higher, but that was for a very specific date in city at the last minute. I really wasn't looking forward to the prospect of driving 7,900 miles of highway driving in a span of two to three weeks. I'm finding it impossible to find a copilot. My girlfriend is pregnant and is getting car sick at anything over about 5 miles. Everyone else works real jobs and can't take time off, even for one leg of the drive. I'm driving one car across first. Then the plan (obviously) was to do a round trip in the bus. If I can do it cheaper with Penske, I'm fine with that. My ass can handle riding in a truck seat. Actually, it's not all that bad, except for a few roads out on the West coast. That's what killed me last time. Around Phoenix, and most of the Los Angeles area, I swear my kidneys were dislodged. All joking aside there, I tried to talk on the phone near Phoenix. It was an "urgent" call, and I wasn't stopping for anything, so my girlfriend handed it over to me. The person I was talking to thought I was crying. I had to explain that it was the truck bouncing. I wasn't crying, but I was getting pissed off. I am a bit concerned about taking the bus out with a bunch of fresh work done (gears, oil leak, fluid changes, etc). I'm pretty sure I should put new tires on. I forgot to look last time I was there, to see exactly which tires it has, but I'm confident they are transit bus tires, not highway tires. It also has no air yet, so I'd have to hurry and put the air conditioners and electrical system in, which would be a whole lot of temporary work. Even though I know I need to buy the air conditioners, generator, batteries, and inverter, doing it and getting on the road immediately afterwards probably isn't the best idea. Shit. I just went to the Penske site, and did the estimate. $2,789.10 for the truck (web discount) $610.00 for the trailer. $230.51 tax (truck only) They indicate my car is not towable. BS, I towed it from Florida to LA. Anyways, this puts us back in the same boat. And hell, for $3,600, it doesn't hurt as much buying the generator, air conditioners, etc, etc. It's just more time I'll be spending on the road. Back to plan A. Driving the bus. I promise I'll be posting a message for volunteer copilots when I know exactly when I'm going. Maybe I can recover a few bucks, if anyone needs something taken out to California. | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
Just because you towed you car previously does not mean that any of the rental companies will now rent you a tow dolly or auto transport now. U-Haul recently implemented new rules as to what the tow vehicle can be and what you can actually tow. If it does not meet their criteria, then you can not rent it. And I sincerely doubt it you could find a U-Haul dealer that would lie on the form to allow it. Too much liability at stake. Richard | ||
| JW Smythe (Jwsmythe)
Rating: N/A |
Actually, it was Penske that said it couldn't be towed. I just did it on the U-Haul site, and it said it was fine. Actually, towing that car was very easy. It's a Firebird, so it's very aerodynamic, and not all that heavy (3,500 pounds). The only time I noticed it was there was when some idiot in a little car decided it would be fun to cut me off and then hit the brakes. I thought I crushed him. I couldn't even see his car under the hood of the truck, and I felt a BUMP. It was the trailer bumping into the truck. Everything was fine, except the cats cages moved. They were riding in the car on the trailer. But.. more depressing numbers. Well, good numbers for me driving the bus. 26' truck (10 days and 3066 miles) $3098 Car hauler (10 days) $455 Grand total (Tax not included) $3553.00 | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Posted From: 67.142.130.47 Rating: N/A |
Local dealers can give you a different rate than the site also. Call locally and maybe you will get lucky. |