| Author | Message | ||
| Robert Wood (Bobwoodsocal)
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I was out going to the store today and my brother called me on the cellphone. He told me about him and my nephew taking a ride on the "Kool Bus" over in San Jacinto, CA near where I live. I was close to the store so I went and saw it. Pretty cool! They give all the money to charity. Check it out at: http://koolbus.com/ All the best friends! Bob | ||
| Nick Morris (Nick3751)
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Pretty slick. Maybe I could jack my silversides up like that. It's just take a little work, a couple air bags, new drive train....... Naw I think I'll stay nearer to the ground  Cool, I mean Kool bus though. | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
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and I've been wondering if I'm going to get stuck in the sand when I go to the desert, now I have my solution, put sand paddles on it! | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Getting stuck in the sand in the desert, buried to the axles, with a 40' bus weighing over 40,000 pounds is not much fun. Please do not ask me how I know! However, my magic tow rope allowed a 1/2 ton 4X4 pickup to retrieve me as well as many others experiencing the same problem. I used to spend a lot of time at the Sand Capital of the world, Glamis, CA. Richard | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
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Richard, that's exactly where I spend lots of time, Glamis, and Gordon's well. I have heard conflicitng reports about how well a bus does in the sand. I have purchased the bus to use as my primary transportation to the sand (and many other destinations as well). I have no direct bus / sand experience and I am quite apprehensive about my first trip to park in the washes or at Gordons. Most have said that a bus even near the sand is a disaster. However one person that moved from Escondito to Montana last year, had a black Neoplan AN340 that he said did great, that he drove it all over Gordon's with narey a problem. I'm not sure who to believe, but there seem to be many more nay sayers. I'm delighted that perhaps I can get some first hand information. My thinking is that since I have a tag axle that I can remove the weight from (does not lift, just takes the weight off), that I will be ok, with all that weight on the driving duals. and the tag will not take weight off the duals as the terrain goes up and down. As a backup plan I bought one of those 60,000 lb bunge cords in hopes that a pickup can yank me loose if the worst happens. Richard if you have any suggestions, observations, or stories, I'd love to hear all of them! | ||
| Lin Rating: N/A |
There is an interesting one on the Bay. It's a 40 foot bus/fifth wheel pulled by a tractor trailer. | ||
| neomax Rating: N/A |
H3jim: Ask gabby abt soft sand at San Felipe. Stay on the hard pack or at least some that has some soil under it. | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
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Chip, that's the problem at the washes in Glamis, you can't really tell whats underneath until its too late. If I go, and I do like to ride, it seems I'm just taking a chance. I'm trying to understand how big a chance, and what the penalties are for failure. Thanks | ||
| Jayrjay Rating: N/A |
I've never been to Glamis, but after hurricane Charley, I put the 4905 on the pan in Florida. Three guys, 5 1/2 hours of hard labor, and a pot load of cribbing and boards. My friend did it at Panama City beach, in an H345 Prevost and it cost almost $4,000.00 to get it pulled out. ...JJ | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
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So you're saying that the liftig tags don't mean squat? Was this soft sand, was it the front or rear or both that sank? | ||
| Stan Rating: N/A |
A few years ago I saw someone with a 4104 take off into in the dunes at Gordon's Well like it was concrete. He got about 200 yards before he was on the belly. I walked over to him and asked if he wanted me to send out a recovery team, He said "I called my buddy. He is going to bring out his 4104 and pull me out". I decided he was beyond my help and left. I don't know how he got it out. He was going to need one long tow cable | ||
| captain ron
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Ther is a bus similar to that one in silver lake dunes in mich. that takes you on tours of the dunes | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Jim, I believe I have camped (at one time or another) at every location in the Glamis area. After I got the bus, I pretty much stuck to the washes in the 19-24 area. As long as you do not get too far back from the road, it is generally pretty solid. I would suspect that the ability to raise the tag axle would help some, but probably not very much. The safest place to camp is (in my opinion) across the RR tracks and then to the left at the first turn. Nice flat areas, a couple of shade trees and a few cement slabs that are nice for the picnic table. If you turn right you go to the Boardmanville store. And now for the secret weapon that no camper at Glamis should be without, because you WILL get stuck sometime, somewhere, I guarantee it. My son and I developed this tool/procedure and it never failed, regardless of the situation. The tow line was two 60 ft. lengths of round one inch nylon rope. (not the flat tow straps). I braided loops on each end to use for connecting them together and for connecting to the tow vehicle (snatcher) and the vehicle being snatched (snatachee). In use, the line is connected to the snatchee and to the snatcher, with the snatcher being parked immediately in front of the snatchee. Now for the fun part. ( and I assure you will have a difficult time doing this the first time or two). With both drivers in place and engines running and with the line coiled up between the two vehicles, the snatcher vehicle takes off (in four wheel drive) as fast as possible. As the line starts to tighten up, the snatchee also tries to take off, but of course the tires just spin. As the line tightens, everybody holds their breath as they think there is going to be a big jerk or explosion or something. But nothing. The nylon line just stretches like a big rubber band to about twice its length with no discernable jerk on either vehicle. Now, the front vehicle comes to a stop with all four wheels spinning and the vehicle being towed now slowly starts moving out of the sand. The front vehicle keeps pulling and within a few seconds both vehicles are back on solid ground. Absolutely unbelievable and amazing to watch. Wish someone could calculate the amount of energy stored in that stretched line of nylon. A 5000 pound 4X4 is generally going about 30 MPH when the line first gets slack out of it. With this setup, we once pulled out a 30 ft motorhome with a 25 ft equipment trailer, loaded with 4 wheelers and gas drums and hooked in front of it was a 4X4 one ton dually which was stuck and could not back up to unhook the flat tow line. We just pulled everything out all together. Richard | ||
| Ken Turner (Pipesusmc)
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http://members.tripod.com/Pipesusmc/jaramac.jpg Richard If you look at the Tug pic, On the upper deck,aft there is two cages where the skipper operates the tug in this case lifting 20,000 LB anchors. The cages are to protect the operator, if the NYLON line parts. Nylon line even as small as 1 inch dia is very dangerous. | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Yes, that is something that I have worried about and never came up with a good way to protect the drivers. That is one reason I did not put a steel hook on the ends of the line. Do you have any suggestions? Richard | ||
| Ken Turner (Pipesusmc)
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Richard... http://members.tripod.com/Pipesusmc/Kaykay.htm The tug pic vanished on my previos post..If any one is interested go to my web page scroll down and click on the big tug picture on the left side to enlarge it... That was GOOD thinking about the steel hook, Plus NO shackles or ANY hardware.. As to what else to use, I have thought about that being around heavy vehicles etc and would like to carry an emergency tow line on my bus, The only thing I can think of is SAMSOME BRAID Nylon line but am not sure it would be any better with the back lash.Also it might not be available as small as one inch. | ||
| Ken Turner (Pipesusmc)
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Richard ,ETAL http://www.samsonrope.com/home/newindex.cfm | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Could not find anything about ETAL on this reference. Found HMPE, but it will not work for the tow/snatch line. Must be nylon for the proper stretch. Richard | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
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Where can I buy that nylon line? | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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I bought mine many moons ago in the LA area. Do not have any idea the name of the store. Just make sure it is nylon and not polypropylene or one of the other synthetics that do not stretch. BTW, there is a good PDF file on the site that Ken referred to, showing how to braid a loop in the end of a three strand line. You really need to know how to do this. Richard | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
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I would think that any big store that furnished materials for large fishing boats would stock 1" line at a competitive price. If one is not handy, there are a number of advertisers in "Boats and Harbors" that sell line. Perhaps you will be able to find what you want through one of these. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher |