Help with choosing the right platform.

[Scott & Heather]

Grifter, just know a few things:

For years now we see quite the flock of people join the site, with tons of enthusiasm, ask all of the exact same questions you’re asking, kick the tires of dozens of buses, and then they disappear months later....

A small percentage of those people actually buy a coach...

A smaller percentage actually start the conversion process...

A smaller percentage actually finish the conversion to a level that is useable...

A smaller percentage of those actually keep their coach for more than a year or two and become amazing valuable contributors to the forum.

That’s why the responses you’re seeing. Just a weeding process. And even if it’s beweildering to you, some of these real to life discussions have saved countless people from making an expensive mistake and getting a bus that they would have never ever been able to finish converting and using. If you can weed out and deter those who aren’t fully committed to the major pain in the bum it is to convert and own a coach, then you’re helping humanity lol. So take it with a grain of salt. If you’re destined to be part of the 1% club who buy, convert, use, and keep their coach, congrats. If not, then “we told you so”.

Ok now that I’ve got it out of my system:

30ft was was tight in your campgrounds if choice. A bus ain’t gonna work in those campgrounds if that’s the case.

Head up into the mountains... if you’re regularly driving mountains, absolutely don’t buy a two stroke bus. Just don’t. 60 series, Cummins cat...anything but a two stroke.

If you want to enjoy camping with your coach in the next 5 or 6 years, forget about adding a slide and just convert it. Or buy one with a slide already in. Monocoque chassis are not easy to add slides to. Both my coaches have had roof raises and I can tell you from experience that the body does weird things when you start cutting it.

Don’t ever ever believe these coaches have the mileage on them that the odometer says they do. If they are seated coaches, the odo is lying. Add a million miles to every odo number you see and that’s your mileage. Unless you’re buying a newer coach, there ain’t no way on earth it only has 500,000 miles. Nope no way.

Don’t try to compare building a sports car with building a bus. If you go forward with this, you’ll agree with me someday. We had a guy a few years ago say the exact same thing...”I’ve built a sports car from the ground up so I can convert a bus” and he never pulled it off. Just not the same. Not even close.

I’m an MCI guy. Converted and fulltimed now in two different ones. But I do look at Prevosts and wish...so I’m on the same page as you in which brand you want to convert. I would stick with the shortest length you can find just because it appears you like to camp more than glamp so you’ll find that even a 40 foot coach is tight in a lot of campgrounds. Rv parks have no issues with larger rigs though.

No matter what you buy, if it’s a seated coach, pull the floor. They are nasty underneath. You can insulate, run some wiring chases, etc. Don’t skip this step. So many people do. Pull the floor.

That’s my advice.

10-4

[chessie4905]

With all that weight hanging from the back, consider carefully before doing any cutting or modifying back there.

[Jim Blackwood]

Take everything said in this forum with a grain of salt. Including this. Scott is both right and wrong but he did the right thing to warn you.

I'm one of those in the midst of a conversion, perhaps it is 10:1 I won't finish it but I'll take those odds, they are much better than other odds I've beaten in the past. Still, recognize that it is a long and difficult path and time is your biggest enemy. I'm on a 5 year plan and will be 70 by the time I'm finished. I hope to have about 20 years to enjoy the results but you never know do you? Still, If you have adequate funding up front and you stay healthy and motivated there's no reason why in 5 or ten years you can't have exactly what you wanted. Not willing to wait that long? Might want to consider buying one that's done. I intend to enjoy the process, and hope I'll have no real need for it before it's due date.

"Not like building a sports car." Both true and false. In either case you can easily spend $100 doing it. Or more. Or less. In either case you need the same skill set to overcome unforseen challenges. Obviously the scale is much greater, you have to incorporate some home construction, and a number of systems are unique to the bus and/or trucking, plus others unique to RVs. Still, the same old 'divide and conquer' approach holds true.

As for the coach of choice, being in Canada there is a distinct bias towards Prevost. Whether or not that is justified is for you to say. Down here in the states it is not, except for the category of ostentatiousness and conspicuous consumption. I'm not saying anything negative about Prevost, but you can get an equally suitable coach (and some would argue better) for considerably less money. Where you are it may be different. If you are willing to spend the bucks just to be able to say you have something that most others do not, well that's your choice but I have better things to spend my hard earned dollars on. In my opinion. You don't have to agree.

Sliders: Just don't do it. Yeah, it's cool and all but do you really need the room? A 102x45 is a BIG bus. Why invite leaks, structural instability, and mechanical complexity into your life while setting your build schedule back by years and tacking on additional huge expenses when the end is somewhat uncertain anyway? If it's a must have, buy one that's already done.

Ripping out the interior: Why? Oh right, you are in the great white north. OK, Nevermind. I lean towards the ABDFI school but then I never was a fan of cold weather.

Anyway there must be at least 3 of us on this board who were able to buy good solid, usable 102DL3s for around $6K or less. Something to think about.

Jim

[Fred Mc]

Converting a bus does not need to take 5 years. When I converted my GMPD 4106 in 1987 I was working 6 days a week in my own business and did the conversion in a year working on it evenings and weekends. Granted, it doesn't have any of the modern electyrics like inverters etc(not common at the times) but it does have everything else. AND, there wasn't the tremendous knowlege from forums like this at the time.Heck, Bus Conversion Magazine hadn't even started yet. So all the knowlege I needed came from looking at motorhomes, trailers and campers. With the exception of slides I would suggest 2 years should be the maximum time needed to complete a conversion if you kept at it.I should also mention the bus I bought was purchased from a shop that specialized in bus remodeling and repair so had been gone thru mechanically before I bought.it. I was also 45 y.o.
And if you want further encouragement go to "Beginning from this Morning" This family is converting a 4106 that he anticipated would take a year. Its going to be 2 years but they can only work on it weekends due to HOA restrictions and he has put in the total lithium battery pack from a Leaf as well as a whole roof covered in a double layer of solar panels that automatically extend not to mention a host of other electronic capabilities.Not only does he tells you what he does but also shows you HOW he did it in videos.So it is  possible.

[lostagain]

This has turned into a very good and interesting conversation.

Scott, I don't agree that 2 stroke Detroits are not good in the mountains. They have been pushing buses and trucks up big hills for decades. They just need to be well maintained, and driven properly.

Jim, I don't see how being from Canada would bias anybody toward Prevost, since MCIs are also built in Canada.

A friend of mine converted a Prevost XLII from scratch in 6 months, evenings and weekends. Other people never finish in a lifetime. But in the last 15 years or so, an already converted bus is WAY cheaper than doing it yourself. So doing it yourself doesn't make any sense. Plus if you bought one already done today, you could be camping in it tonight.

JC

[chessie4905]

The trouble is that you buy one already converted today, and have no money left to use it or fuel it😬

[Geoff]

I spent 10 years converting my bus.  The first 5 were spent rebuilding everything mechanical from the engine to the front end; plus outside skins and paint.  Then I did the storage bays to house tanks, the generator/inverter as I planned out the floor plan.  Finally, the interior (which I consider wonderful).

I could not repeat this again.  I love what I have and it's my forever bus conversion.

To the OP:  Buy one already converted with low miles, change to suit.

[robertglines1]

Soooo now you got the whole picture... Welcome to the choice ---build to full fill a hobby= buy to enjoy the hobby before kids get to old and leave before you get finished.....Lots of old guys ageing out that can pass a good coach on! Personally my heirs have the problem. Now it don't cost but about $500 a year to sit (tax and insurance) Good place to go to get out of house....Would they think of putting me in bus and covering us up? Big dang  hole.

[richard5933]

Lots of good ways to go about this. It all depends on where you gain the most enjoyment. Do you get your pleasure from the process or the result?

[Scott & Heather]

JC,

Of course...and Model A’s have been crossing the Rockies for years too. I’m so sick of watching the temp gauge...having to pull over on a hot day and a long grade...can’t find a mechanic to ever work on a two stroke...heck even when I do, they want $150 an hour shop rate versus $90 for a truck. I drive my bus 15-20,000 miles a year and I am always dreading the next breakdown...next tow...the next set of phone calls to find a two stroke mechanic. Ugh. I can’t wait to sell my bus and get a truck.

[6805eagleguy]

Scott:  I can't wait to get my bus running!

OK, back to a question I can answer.  Slides:  RUN AWAY!!  After working on the framework of my Eagle more then i care to admit I would not want to put a slide in any bus.  My brain just doesn't see how the bus could be anywhere as strong as before with a slide in the side...

4 things it takes to convert a bus (IMO)  1. TIME  2. $$$$  3. TIME  4. $$$$  and a little basic knowledge of mechanical things.  (Did i mention that is takes time to convert a bus?)


Of course, changing the engine takes more time and $$$$$$$, so please buy a bus with the engine you want. lol

my 2 bits

[Scott & Heather]

Lol. You’re right about the dollars lol. Lots of dollar signs if you drive it a lot. I will say, to counter my negativity a little, that I love a couple of specific things about my bus. Remember, I have a wife and two little girls ages 19mo and 3 yrs and we are fulltimers. I LOVE that my spray foamed coach is quiet. I can park at a truck stop and all four of us sleep like babies. None of my friends RV’s are this sound proof. It’s awesome. I also love that my coach rides down the road quietly. No major squeaks or rattles. Lots of wind noise but it rides soft and nice. I also love that this coach has huge luggage bays. I have 150 gallons of water and 150 gallons of fresh grey combo and that’s just a lot of water/holding tank ability. I even stuffed a 40 gallon water heater under there. My coach feels like a house with a washer and dryer and full house kitchen. I love that it stays planted in high winds when rvs are rocking back and forth. Lots of things to love as a fulltimer...but if I just used it occasionally to camp, I’d be in a normal rv.

[muldoonman]

Yeah slides would be nice as I bought a brand New Alfa fifthwheel in 2006 while building a new house  and that puppy had slides all over and was nice. Like a small apartment . Never pulled it up and down the road so didn't know how it would hold up.  Heard the rubber/air seals on the Prevost's slides where a pain and expensive to replace. Oh and Scott feel the same about the 8V92TA's and finding someone to work on them. Haven't had any problem with mine since blower seal replacement down in san antone a couple years back but you never know. I say if you have the time and money  on the slide build, go for it. I'd buy.

[chessie4905]

Scott, de tune the engine 100 hp and your heating woes will be over. Horsepower makes heat in all diesels. Fact of life. Also do you have an air cooled oil cooler? So, you lose 5 mph on the hills... and engine will last longer.

[chessie4905]

Before you make a decision, carefully calculate just how it costs to travel anywhere@ 6-8 miles per gallon, the cost of diesel fuel, and don't  forget insurance, if you can even get it. Then calculate how much it costs to take a 500 mile trip. Many of us got into conversions when fuel was one to two bucks a gallon. Make sure you have a place to store it while working on it. Some localities won't  allow an unconverted coach.