Woke up early and fixed breakfast in our new coach. After cleaning up from breakfast, I installed the seat belts (just lap belts) we'd bought at Pep Boys. Seat belts weren't required in motor vehicles by federal law until 1962. So this bus was not manufactured with them, and none of the previous owners had added them. We feel better with them, though, and installing them could avoid a lot of hassles with law enforcement, if we are stopped for any reason in the future. Our last RV was "new" enough to have lap belts, though it was manufactured before shoulder belts were legally required. We never did get around to adding shoulder belts to our previous RV, and we were hassled about it several times. It was hard to convince very young officials that there was an era when vehicles weren't built with shoulder belts.
Did all the pre-underway tasks by myself - checked oil, topped off or drained tanks as appropriate, checked batteries, started the engine, divorced from shore power, and "aired up" the coach. The engine drives an auxiliary air compressor, which pressurizes air to fill eight air bags that lift the coach off the frame before you can drive the vehicle. Our bus is pretty quick about it - many bigger coaches can take 20-30 minutes to do this. Cool side-benefit: the air system has a couple of external connectors, so we can plug in air powered tools, raise 20 ton jacks, inflate the 110 psi tires, and all kinds of other neat things. Our old RV had a car-type suspension, so it did not have this system or ability.
Finally headed out about 10:30 and avoided hitting the seller's other buses or his house, fence, gateposts and dog. So it seemed like a good start...for a distance of one block, when the generator died. In the Introduction, we summarized the notable events of the day... the misadventures, problems and challenges we encountered after we left the seller's compound in California and drove into Arizona. Reflecting on that list, you might wonder why we decided on this particular RV, and went to such trouble and expense to procure it, after considering hundreds of RVs across two years of searching for the right one.
Before we go into those reasons, we'd like to give a shout-out of thanks to River Bill, who crawled out of his sick bed to check on us and get us safely ensconced in a campsite on the Colorado River, and to give us good tips and advice for our new bus (he has two.)
Shot of River Bill's truck - and the only 100 yards of the river road that doesn't have bus-high cliffs pushing into the roadway.
Before we go into those reasons, we'd like to give a shout-out of thanks to River Bill, who crawled out of his sick bed to check on us and get us safely ensconced in a campsite on the Colorado River, and to give us good tips and advice for our new bus (he has two.)
Shot of River Bill's truck - and the only 100 yards of the river road that doesn't have bus-high cliffs pushing into the roadway.
Living in a van down by the river!
We
used to own a model of RV called a RevCon. It was made by a close relative
of Wally Byam (the designer/manufacturer of Airstream trailers) who was
frustrated that Airstream refused to build motorcoaches with their
famous design features, such as aircraft-aluminum bodies, aerodynamic shapes and yacht-like interiors. (Later, Airstream did
start producing motorized RVs, which happened to look really, really, really similar to RevCons.) RevCons are amazing, super-nimble and maneuverable. We used
to drive in downtown areas a lot: around the Alamo in San Antonio,
Bourbon Street in New Orleans, through the city center of Indianapolis,
etc. RevCons had front wheel drive and big gas engines under the front floor, though
ultimately they could have used a little more power. To work on the front engine, I
had to go head first through the floor in the living room, assuming the
famous plumber pose and scattering oily parts and tools around the
living room. Our model was 29 feet, which meant just a little bit tight for living area,
and it lacked a real dining table or dinette. We had to assemble, then
later break down, a small temporary table for every meal. Though short
enough in height to go under many roof overhangs, that meant very few
and very small outside storage areas under the coach. We loved the
RevCon, crossed the country three times in it, and took it on vacations from the red wood forests to the Gulf Stream waters, from snowy mountains to the sandy shores of oceans, and everywhere in-between. With some regret, we sold the RevCon about ten years ago.
About two years ago, we decided we'd really like to own an RV again. Just like many people own or rent vacation homes or time-shares, an RV gives you the same thing, though with the added benefit of putting it wherever you want. You can't move your lakeside log cabin to a sandy beach at a moment's notice. With an RV, every weekend, you can find yourself in your same vacation home, though in a different location each time.
We set out to buy something that was pretty much the RevCon, only a little longer with
a much more powerful diesel engine - in the back - and a permanent
table that didn't have to be put up or broken down for every meal. We came up with the following list of desired characteristics for our next RV. Obviously, we felt this particular 4106 bus came closer to having all of these features than any other coach we considered.
1. Expected Service Life: frame/body/drivetrain will last at least 10 more years
and 100K more miles, to avoid the largest possible repair costs for that expected service
life.
2. In line with number 1: vastly prefer a metal body instead of plastic or fiberglass.
3. 325+ HP Diesel Pusher with Automatic Transmission.
4. Nimble with great maneuverability. Suitable to drive downtown in cities and maximizes options for camping (old state parks usually have 35-36 foot limits - not because campsites are small, but because the access roads are so tight and snaky, being designed when a 12' car with a 20' trailer and a 3' tow bar was the longest camping setup anyone owned, and that hook-up could bend in the middle when going around a curve.)
5. Size, shape and body style = aerodynamic and curvy with Revcon-like proportions though a little longer. Length less than 36’, width definitely no more than 8 feet, because many/most RVs today are 8 1/2 feet wide, and as short of height and the least weight as we can find. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 basically dictated that we focus on old buses/bus conversions made before the late 1960s, before 40′ buses or RVs were legal. These would be parlor style coaches – buses designed for long hauls, geared for highway speeds, and featuring luggage bays that could be used for storage or installing "house" systems.
6. Engine Access – Ability to completely open up on three sides is desired.
7. Feels like camping: minimal mirrors or cut-crystal curio cabinets. Woodsy, light colors, open interior, lots of windows, skylights even.
8. Tag axle - the only big design feature we didn't get. Much more stable and comfortable ride, and reduces likelihood of hanging up the chassis if approaching steep hill, culvert, etc. Super hard to find in 35’- 36’ diesel pusher. It’s okay if we can’t have one, because we would save weight, save on tolls (usually tied to number of axles,) fewer wheels/brakes/tires to maintain, and can make tighter turns without the tag axle.
9. Prefer no slide-outs (frequent leaks, torn rain covers, fail to retract at the worst possible, and most inconvenient times.)
10. No rust, esp. in frame/suspension/chassis/floors.
3. 325+ HP Diesel Pusher with Automatic Transmission.
Drivetrain
refreshed in some way by trustworthy source, and low miles (for a diesel) since
refresh.
4. Nimble with great maneuverability. Suitable to drive downtown in cities and maximizes options for camping (old state parks usually have 35-36 foot limits - not because campsites are small, but because the access roads are so tight and snaky, being designed when a 12' car with a 20' trailer and a 3' tow bar was the longest camping setup anyone owned, and that hook-up could bend in the middle when going around a curve.)
5. Size, shape and body style = aerodynamic and curvy with Revcon-like proportions though a little longer. Length less than 36’, width definitely no more than 8 feet, because many/most RVs today are 8 1/2 feet wide, and as short of height and the least weight as we can find. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 basically dictated that we focus on old buses/bus conversions made before the late 1960s, before 40′ buses or RVs were legal. These would be parlor style coaches – buses designed for long hauls, geared for highway speeds, and featuring luggage bays that could be used for storage or installing "house" systems.
6. Engine Access – Ability to completely open up on three sides is desired.
7. Feels like camping: minimal mirrors or cut-crystal curio cabinets. Woodsy, light colors, open interior, lots of windows, skylights even.
8. Tag axle - the only big design feature we didn't get. Much more stable and comfortable ride, and reduces likelihood of hanging up the chassis if approaching steep hill, culvert, etc. Super hard to find in 35’- 36’ diesel pusher. It’s okay if we can’t have one, because we would save weight, save on tolls (usually tied to number of axles,) fewer wheels/brakes/tires to maintain, and can make tighter turns without the tag axle.
9. Prefer no slide-outs (frequent leaks, torn rain covers, fail to retract at the worst possible, and most inconvenient times.)
10. No rust, esp. in frame/suspension/chassis/floors.
11. No leaks.
If leaked in past, no damage occurred + leaks have been fixed so well
that we would be confident they won’t recur for 10 years.
12. Hydraulic or Electric Leveling Jacks,
independent of the suspension air bags (which can be manually controlled to also level the coach.)
13. Dinette, or footprint for a dinette, by a large window (or would be easy to install a window there.)
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