Actual Available Outside Storage

[TomC]

I've often wondered how much outside under storage others have once all the tanks, gens, batts, etc are installed.  Since I have a transit, mine is limited, but was wondering how far off it was from a highway bus.  My two combined storage areas are 90cu ft (can figure cu ft by multiplying the L x W x H and divide by 1728).  What's your actual usable storage area in cu ft?  Good Luck, TomC

[H3Jim]

I bought the bus and designed the utilities so I would have maximum space available.   I have two full bays totally open.  I think they are about 107 cubic feet each. for 214 cu ft total.   I also have another 10 or 20 cu ft in odd places to stash stuff.  They are large enough I can put a Harley in each one or a quad in each one. 

I have a 13k generator in a sound box, and 332 gals of water and waste tanks, 235 gals of fuel, and 10 gal hot water heater - all in the other bays.  I have 6, 4D gel batteries.  4 are in the engine compartment where the bus toilet tank was, and 2 are in the space above the rear wheels.  My inverter is in the outside electrical cabinet on the passenger  side betwen the engine compartment and the rear wheels. My webasto type heater (41,000 btu Espar) is below the electrical cabinet on the drivers side, between the rear wheels and the radiator.

Its a 41 footer, not a 45 footer.  Using the same design, I guess I could have had 321 cu ft of open storage space, but I also wanted the shorter turning radius (39 ft) and the ability to fit in smaller spaces.

[Frank @ TX]

Hi Tom,
I have an MC-9.
There is 1 bay totally open = 110 ft 3
1 bay has the inverter on the ceiling and some room missing because the gen and AquaHot exh going thru to the roof
= 91 ft3
The most rear bay has the AquaHot , fresh water and waste water tanks.and there is some storage holes there too.
But for this post I'll just count the open areas of the bays.
Hope this helps you.
Frank

[prevost82]

Hi Tom... I have 2 1/2 bays open.

5th Bay   150 gal fuel tank / 1200 AH house batteries
4th Bay   Hydro-Hot          /  150 gal water 160 black gray
3rd Bay   Open                 /  7.5 KW generator
2nd Bay  Open                 /  Open
1st Bay   Open                 /  Open

[belfert]

My Dina is 43 feet, but the goof ball engineers placed the axles such that the wheelbase is shorter than a 40 foot MCI!  I only have 2 and 2/3 bays (Front bay is narrower).  The back bay has the A/C condenser taking up 1/3 of the bay.  I will use the condenser bay for my generator.

Anyhow, I'm not done down below, but I expect to have the center bay fully empty and part of the front bay empty for around 150 cubic feet of storage open.

Brian Elfert

[Frank @ TX]

Hi Tom... I have 2 1/2 bays open.

5th Bay   150 gal fuel tank / 1200 AH house batteries
4th Bay   Hydro-Hot          /  150 gal water 160 black gray
3rd Bay   Open                 /  7.5 KW generator
2nd Bay  Open                 /  Open
1st Bay   Open                 /  Open

WOW a Prevost has 5 bays along its lenght ?? 

[Buffalo SpaceShip]

Other than an inverter, our front bay on the 4108 is totally open. Maybe 140 cf or so. The back bay is about 60% full, with the black and gray tanks, propane, and a massive tool box on a slide. Then there's still room for all of my fluids, work clothes, ladder, etc. in there, so the front is only for toys.

We've been able to fit six bicycles upright (Buff bays are very tall), backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, and cases of soda and bottled water in the front bay. It's easy to become a lazy packer with all the room, but it's nice to have the excess sometimes!

Brian

[H3Jim]

Frank,

Ir depends on the model and length Prevost, and of course how wide the bays are.  Mine has 4 bays. 45 ft H3's have 5 bays.  The newer H models, all the bays are the same width.  The H3-40's have several different width bays.  and of course the Le Mirage's are much shorter,  I dont know about their width.

MAK's poster of the buses has stats on how much total cubic feet of luggage space are in all open bays before any conversion is started.

MCI-5 212 cu ft
MCI-6 425
MCI-7 325
MCI-8 300
MCI-9 300

MCI 102D   326
MCI 102DL 400
MCI E        450

Dina - 43 footer has 250 cu ft - sorry Brian

Prevost Le Mirage XL 315 cu ft
Prevost Champion 300
Prevot Prestige 300
Prevost H3-40  470

Eagle 01 215
Eagle 05 330
Eagle 10 330
Eagle 15 340
Eagle 20 345

GMC 4104 187 cu ft
GMC 4106 205
GMC 4107 290
GMC 4501 344
GMC 4905 405

These are from the calendar, so if there are mistakes, don't shoot me.  This should cover the more popular ones, look it up yourself and post it here if you want others.  Van hoools are big too.

[Frank @ TX]

Hi H3Jim,
Thanks for that info.
I haven't looked at MAK sheet.
Frank

[busguy01]

My eagle 01 has completely open bays!! Except for one small corner for a 7.5 Quite diesel Genset. Heres how - 80 gal fresh water in spare tire area. 40 Gal fresh water under coach. 80 Gal gray and 50 Gal black in three tanks between the drive axles. 2 30 gal propane tanks in center of coach ahead of drive axle. 2 slipt A/C's with compressor just in back of front axle and evapoaters under coach with ducts for and aft. Hot water heater and furnace under a side sette. 4 inverter batts under drivers seat area along side inverter (24 Volt) 2 8D coach/engine start batts and 2 8D house batt's on curd side of engine. Yes, it is a tight fit but well thought out. The center divider in the aft 2 bays was removed to make one large bay. The foward bay was made into a downstairs bedroom with stero, book cases, heat and cool, and a hatch into main area of bus. We use it for storage but have sleept people down there at races. Lots of planning and using ALL the space under the bus. I love the looks on peoples faces when I open the whole bottom up!! Working on a MCI E4500 now and it just doesn't have the unused space under it like the eagle, but will have a LOT of room let over -- if I ever get the slide outs finished!
JimH

[Devin & Amy]

Jim,

I used part of all three bays on the driver's side.

Bay 1 frt.= elec sys.+ 2 8D's - I have 60 cu.3 left
bay 2 mid.= propane+ 120 gal. fresh water - I have 40 cu.3 left
bay 3 rear= 120 gal. gray +75 gal. black - mostly full w/ storage for hoses and shore power cable

so basically i have the same area as you do, but the way i built them was not conservative on space. I like room to work on stuff or add-ons later.

Good question.
Devin

[pvcces]

Hi, Tom.

The best estimate that I can make is showing about 130 cubic feet of space left in 5 different bays. I can't figure how the 4106 on the list is showing only 205 cubic feet. I seem to remember some write up or another that said 305 cubic feet of luggage space.

I did count space in areas that are not traditional luggage bays, but that only amounts to about an eighth or a quarter of our total. I'm uncertain becouse I'm not sure whether one small bay was for luggage or other uses.

HTH

Tom Caffrey
Suncatcher
Ketchikan, Alaska