The Black Plague II (The new Jacuzzi Bus)

[phillbus914]

Update from the road:

Well we ran into a small snag when removing the driveshaft from my crown vic. The bolts attaching it to the rear yoke required a 12 point socket, after about 1/2 hour of driving around ann arbor we found a hardware store and pulled the rear driveshaft and hit the road... I'm a little nervous with my car back there out of sight. You can't even see it form the drivers seat.

Oh and Jason's mobil broad band internet is kickass.

[KC10Chief]

Nice! How well does the bus tow the car? I've given thought to towing my S-10 with my bus. Where did you get the hitch that fits the bus?

[phillbus914]

Jason say's he can't even tell it's there. I keep walking to the back of the bus to make sure it's still there and not running on flat tires... All I can see back there is the roof.

Here's some more pics.

[KC10Chief]

Nice! I towed a travel trailer with my diesel F-250 a couple years ago. It had a flat tire and I had no idea until it was on fire and billowing smoke! But those were cheap crappy trailer tires. Are you guys driving all the way through or are you going to stop for the night somewhere?

[phillbus914]

well our ETA is about 4am, but we're going to stop when we get tired. It's nice this guy's paying Jason 700 bucks to deliver the bus, so he has money to cover food and hotels along the way... We we're just talking we don't have have to be back in Michigan until sat. night, so we might stop along the way home, we'll be driving through Washington DC and the mountians.

Did I mention I love this mobil braudband? We're near Sandusky, OH on I80.. oh and this Internet explorer dosn't have spell check, so sorry if this looks like a 3rd gradeer wrote it.

[lapeer20m]

phill is driving now. We're still on I 80 somewhere outside of cleveland. His car tows nice, but i'm leery of towbars. I had a bad expierence with a hommeade unit. However, i towed an s10 out to wyoming this past summer, about 1,200 miles and didn't have a lick of trouble. It's easy to forget it's even back there.

it's a little difficult typing while bouncing up and down on the couch.

i just got out of the jacuzzi. A hot tub in a bus is a great idea! I should market one of those......

[KC10Chief]

Sounds like fun! I can't wait to get my bus out on a long road trip. How fast are you guys cruising? Also, how much does that mobile broadband cost a month? Is it the AT&T one I keep seeing advertised on TV? Is it as fast as a cable modem? I'm getting ready to buy a laptop. If that were cheaper than my cable modem, I'd cancel the cable modem. I already have AT&T (Cingular) for my cell phone provider. My dad has an iPhone and pays $20 a month for internet on it.

[KC10Chief]

Oh yeah, what year is that Crown Vic? Those are pretty comfortable cars! Never rode in one on a long trip though.

[lapeer20m]

1998 crown vic phill says. he got it for $250 with a bad motor, then ended up with a free motor too.

i have internet through sprint. I"m supre super happy with it. costs me $60/month. As fast as dsl i'd say not quite as fast as cable. I can download at 150k at my house and i don't have a full signal. i hear it's faster if you're close to the tower. i used it driving to nevada, and to nyc and can't tell you how happy i am with it.

we're cruising around 60 mph. She'll do closer to 65, but fuel economy is much better at 60 and she sounds kind angry at 65, although she's well below redline.

looks like it's just about my turn to drive again. phill wants in the jacuzzi.

[KC10Chief]

HA HA HA!! How many people can say they rode down the highway in a jacuzzi?

Thanks for the info about the broadband. I'll look into that when I get a laptop.

[Demonknight]

who needs a nice confertable seat when you have that back there

[KC10Chief]

that's a pretty nice car for a beater! We have three vehicles not counting the bus. Paid around $1,600 for all three of them. I like to buy cars that have a problem like a leaky head gasket or some light body work. Something that people think is a huge deal and it really isn't. I'll get it fixed up in a day or so and drive em til they die! My S-10 is going on 5 years now. I do have a free motor and tranny for it though...

[the_experience03]

I bought a $200 1989 Honda Civic as a one month car. A year later I'm still driving it with 277,000 miles on the ticker, original engine and all. I've had to do an alternator, battery, brakes, lower balljoint, and CV axle (due to snapping lower balljoint) as well as countless quarts of oil, but all that has been cheap. I'll be damned if I can't kill this car.

Besides...chicks dig a rusted out old shitbucket that pretends it's a pickup full of various pieces and parts for other projects and an exhaust that essentially ends at the manifold.

[KC10Chief]

My S-10 has 220,000 on the odometer. It won't die. I got a 1993 Honda Accord for $100. All it needed was a master cylinder. That was $70 for the part and a little time. Thing runs great. Everything works. It's the fully loaded one too. Leather, sunroof etc. 202,000 miles. I see stuff on Craigslist all the time. If I need some cash, I'll buy it, fix it in a day or two, and turn right around and sell it on Craigslist again. You can sell beaters on Craigslist quick!

[the_experience03]

[hijack] That's good to know because I was thinking about doing that after I get some more of my other stuff out of the way. I've been selling PILES of Toyota truck parts on Craigslist for the Twin Cities. Once I've soaked all I can out of those trucks I'll haul them away for scrap and start a new venture flipping beaters on CL. [/hijack]

[lapeer20m]

not all is good...photos will be added later.

what do you wanna hear about first? the $308.12 i spent on the alternator, or phills car deciding to go for a joy ride without us?

to be continued.......

[DizzyIzzy]

?????

You all ok?

[phillbus914]

Well we're both ok, so that's the good part I guess. Now for the not so good parts.

Shortly after Jasons last post we stopped for fuel, at the truck stop we had to make a sharp U turn. When doing so the tow bar on the drivers side pushed through the bumper. The front of the bumper is not flat, its more a sideways W (not the plastic bumper cover - the metal bumper under it, which is not visiable from the outside) the mounting plate on the drivers side pushed into the grove in the front of the bumper. We ended up going to a lowes and getting some steal plate to put between the tow bar attachments and the bumper. We also had to buy a drill, drill bit and cutting disks to get the job done, but it was fairly an easy fix.









About an hour and a half later we were back on the road. At this time we notice that the altanator isn't charging... and it's dark, raining and we're in the mountians. After about 4 hours of driving we found a small town (Breezewood, PA near PA/MD state line) Got a room at about 330am and went to sleep.

Jason woke up at about 9am and went down to the local truckstop/repair place, and as he was turning into the driveway he noticed my car wasn't attached to the bus. He stopped and came back to get me (I was still in bed)

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I had much more typed but the page faild to load, I'm working on retyping it... and I'll try to upload pics again.

[DizzyIzzy]

I am on the edge of my seat. Tell more and I hope the car survives. Get pictures.

[KC10Chief]

Oh noooooooooo...... anxiously awaiting the rest of the story.