NEW BUS !! David is on the way home .

[davidbrady]

(04-26-2014 13:58)mhughes01 Wrote:  Nice looking Bus, David. Love the polka dots in the paint - makes it very unique.

Who did the conversion?

Do you notice much difference driving it from your LXI? In general, and also the feel and view sitting a bit lower down.

Cheers and congrats,
Mike

Hi Mike,

Glad you like it. I first viewed it on February 6th and bought it without my wife seeing it. I took hundreds of pics and a detailed video to share with my wife but the purchase was still chancy - you know that our better halves rule the interiors. It was quite a relief to show it to her in person and to get her approval!

I bought a Vantare conversion. Many of the entertainers and Star Coaches are Vantare conversions which is a testament to their durability. I like the '04 because it's the last of the non-EGR DDC Series-60's. My bus was spec-ed by Vantare with 365 tires on both the steer and tag axles, hub centric wheel mounts, and an 18,000 IFS suspension on the steer axle, which is rare for an '04. The pass-thru basement bays of the H3 were also major selling points for me. Vantare built their own slides and they reinforced the body openings with Prevost's help. I'm very pleased with the box built around each slide opening required to restore chassis strength. I have no question that Vantare's solution is every bit as strong as Prevost's.

As I'm sure you're aware, LXi's use Ridewell suspension which BB has been using since virtually the beginning of the Wanderlodge series. Over the years Ridewell analyzed and refined their suspension to a very high degree, and for many years BB continued their use of the c-channel backbone, inboard mounted air springs, and stick steel axles. Prevost departed from these methods in the 80's and 90's. BB tried to catch up in 2004 with the M450 and my have succeeded had it not been for the 2008 collapse.

My Prevost uses an IFS steer suspension and out board mounted air springs on the tag and drive axles. The chassis does away with the centrally located c-channel backbone in favor of a tubular constructed space frame. I have 8 air springs (2 steer, 4 drive, and 2 tag) and 8 shocks (2 steer, 4 drive, and 2 tag). I have disc brakes on all axles, and I have a transmission retarder. The coach weighs 50,000 lb whereas my LXi weighed 47500 lb.

I can hold the Prevost an inch from the yellow line on the left thru any turn the road throws at me. I can place it anywhere in my lane and hold it there with no effort. It's a 50,000 lb canyon carver. The transmission retarder is integrated with the service brakes (if I have the switch thrown). If I apply more brakes the retarder dials in more retarder. The disc brakes do away with slack adjusters, s-cams, shafts, grease points, brake drums and shoes. I can decelerate from 60 mph to 40 in tenths of seconds.

In four thousand miles I've thrown just about anything I can at the chassis and nothing upsets it. It tracks straight and precisely, it never pitches, and it gobbles up whatever the road has in store.

(04-26-2014 22:18)Arcticdude Wrote:  What do you mean "there's no way of driving the bus up to the arrival terminals"?? How do the city buses get in and out?? The correct statement would be "I didn't feel like fighting the traffic, so I parked at Target and took the tram into the airport!"

Ahhh... The motorhome version of the H3 has a raised roof. In addition, I have a VHF/UHF and Tracvision satellite dish mounted on my roof which puts the bus at around 13.5'. H3 conversions are significantly taller than H3 transit buses!