Pictures worth a thousand words - Why I chose a Bus shell over an RV

[neoneddy]

A common question I get asked "Sooooo why not just buy an RV?"  Well for a few reasons they might be right.  It would be cheaper, it would be done, but it would also be put together as cheaply as possible.

I've attached a photo I saw on youtube today of a wrecked RV.  Looks like it started as a nice looking class A on a decent chassis, but the rest was sticks and staples.   I'll make sure to show folks this when they ask next time.

The more I experience this world the more and more I realize beauty in the modern product is only skin deep.  By Product I mean most anything.. it looks good, but once you get below that you find out every corner was cut twice.

[HB of CJ]

You would never see that with a post era 1976 or later Crown Supercoach.  It would be the other guy. 

[bigred]

Uncle Ned had a friend here in North Carolina that blew a front tire .It was torn up worse than this one .It caught fire and the best I can remember a father and son lost their lives in that thing .I believe this happened on I-77.

[richard5933]

After our head-on collision in our 4106 last fall, there was no way we'd replace it with anything other than another coach. The insurance adjuster told us that had we been in a traditional RV they'd still be picking up pieces. Any thoughts we had about getting an RV when we first shopped for the 4106 were totally gone. That's why we replaced it with the 4108. I'll gladly sacrifice some of the bells & whistles of a modern RV if it allow us to walk away from an accident like we had.

[kyle4501]

There is certainly something to be said for a full tube frame &/or stressed skin construction. FRP panels don't seem to hold up well . . . .

There are some RV's that don't use sticks & staples, Wanderlodge & Newell are 2 that come to mind. But, one is out of business & the other is priced way out of my league for a new one. 


We were at a local RV show & I couldn't believe the shoddy workmanship in the ones I saw there. The American Eagle we looked at seemed to have more things broken than working. The entry grab bar was even dangling from the wires that powered the internal light! 

All the tacky & gaudy trim does not suit my taste either. Thankfully, current style seems to be leading away from all that.

[Geoff]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade how much better one bus is better than another, but General Motors outdid themselves when the RTS was designed. 

[Iceni John]

You would never see that with a post era 1976 or later Crown Supercoach.  It would be the other guy. 

That entire RV is (was?) its own crumple zone.

John

[windtrader]

Neoneddy,

At least you see it was a motorhome. Here is one (actually a SS trailer) that is being sold with the parts bin. LOL

[scanzel]

If you go on the www.copart.com web site you can see many rv's that crashed and see what it looks like after. Very few are re-buildable, just parts vehicles.

[richard5933]

You can compare those with the results of the head on collision we had in the 4106.

The Copart listing is posted in another thread. Night and day difference how the bus held up. Still a total loss, but we walked away.

Richard
1974 GMC P8M4108A-125 (Current bus)
1964 GM PD4106-2412 (totalled Sept 2017)
Located in beautiful Wisconsin
KD9GRB

[luvrbus]

More people are killed or injured in buses than RV's every year,most RV accidents are cause by inexperienced drivers.I will open a can of worms here people driving converted buses and the large RV's should have training and CDL license.
I read it here all the time people know nothing about the brakes on a bus all they know about air brakes it makes a hissing sound     

[neoneddy]

More people are killed or injured in buses than RV's every year

With over 5 Billion passenger miles traveled every year by commercial bus there would have to be.  There is no way the RVers can come close to that.   

https://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/FactBook/2015-APTA-Fact-Book.pdf

At 26 deaths per year, the rate of RV deaths has an average fatality rate of 1/3 of the average rate of all vehicles or 0.44per 100 million vehicles miles versus 1.48 for all vehicles in the US.

    According to this article, citing FARS statistics, all things being equal you'd much safer in an RV than an Auto.

http://www.tariolaw.com/what-are-the-most-common-causes-of-rv-accidents/

I will open a can of worms here people driving converted buses and the large RV's should have training and CDL license.
I read it here all the time people know nothing about the brakes on a bus all they know about air brakes it makes a hissing sound   

I agree there should be some sort of training.   I've got it on my list this spring to audit some CDL courses etc.  Luckily I do have a bus driver friend who works for the Minneapolis area Metro Transit and I've been working with him on some items.

The full on CDL requirement would require federal involvement and a lot more red tape that would be nessicary IMHO.   Like you say, just understanding air brakes, or how to properly descend, how to handle a front tire blow out, etc would do so much to reduce those fatalities every hear.   

Maybe this is where a community like ours came come in and create some of these guides.   I've watched some youtube videos on a bunch of it, but plenty of new members coming here like myself might not even know what we don't know yet.

[richard5933]

I couldn't agree more. I've had a CDL since they were first available, and a chauffeur license before that. There's just no way it's a good idea to have someone cruising the roads in a 35-foot 15-ton vehicle without someone amount of training.

Motorcycle drivers need a special endorsement because driving a motorcycle is not the same skill set as driving a car. Same with large vehicles.

I see some states starting to require a non-commercial version of the CDL for larger and/or heavier rigs (over 26,000 lbs). My hunch is that soon they'll start requiring something similar for even smaller rigs to bring things closer to the requirements for commercial vehicles. I know that people will scream and yell about it, but I for one would feel better knowing that people driving down the road next to me have had at least a modicum of training and testing.

Richard
1974 GMC P8M4108A-125 (Current bus)
1964 GM PD4106-2412 (totalled Sept 2017)
Located in beautiful Wisconsin
KD9GRB

[chessie4905]

As soon as some one in a bus conversion slams into the back of a loaded school bus, killing several kids, there will be requirements for CDL's.
I have been concerned the past couple of years as new generations of drivers start getting into bus conversions. Many of these new operators are clueless as to the effects of mass, speed, and reaction times of vehicles of this size. Since they only drove a car or truck previously, they will learn quickly with an occasional potential catastrophic result. I hope for the best, but this stuff happens even to the older experienced owner.
Thankfully, this forum can help educate the ones that, at least, post here.

[luvrbus]

When a bus hits something it own size and weight s*** happens the bus does fare well when hitting a smaller vehicle it will win every time,Several years back I saw 2 buses hit head on it wasn't pretty