Why NOT to get a R/E bus

[opus]

I am stumped. I cant find anywhere to put my generator. Help, give me ideas.......

[BUSBOZO]

I have a Thomas R/E and I plan on putting a generator (if I can find one) on the curb side behind the front wheel. It will almost be midship. I have 24" from the bottom of the side skirt to the floor joist. And about 26" width.

[opus]

Are you going to do slide outs? If not, how are you going to maintain it and such? I guess I had a thread about this already. I am not sure I would want a gen under the bus. I like to visually keep an eye on things. I wouldnt want one in a bay either. Which is why I am having an issue. I have an Onan BFA 4.0 which is a little large in size.

[opus]

Its about 235# plus battery and fuel tank and say about [tray is 2' x 4' roughly] 2' x 2' x 4'. I probably could put it underneath but it would require a lot of cutting as well as expensive rails.

I would prefer it hanging off the back but that too will be a lot of work. I could hang it off the front but not sure what that will do as far as front end weight, etc.

I really would like to stick with this gen as it is an 1800rpm. Thinking it might not happen though.

[lornaschinske]

When you guys start deciding about where to put your generators, you need to take into account "maintenance". We have an Onan generator in our Class C. It is installed in a compartment (side) that is just big enough to hold it. In order to do any work on it, we have to roll back our mattress and unscrew the top of the compartment, then remove the generator case. This is an improvement over the situation when we first had when we bought the RV. THEN you pulled the generator out of the compartment to do anything. But here is the real irritating thing. In order to remove the spark plug on the rare occasion that it does an incredibly uncommon thing like... oh say FOULS from crappy gasoline (not that any of us have ever gotten bad gasoline)... You have to pull the whole generator out of the compartment because Onan decided that it would be a good design to place the spark plug in a very inaccessible spot. I hate Onan.


If you would like to know what I am talking about look here on the 17th page (pg 30 in manual) you are looking for the spark plug access... on the bottom edge of the generator... http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...0UrZ-lbHpdFAlw

[opus]

Which is why I want to have it hanging somewhere on the outside.

[opus]

Its remote. Theft wont be an issue, nor am I concerned with that. Its big enough, heavy enough and it would be a lot of work to take it. If they need it that bad to go through all that, they must need it more than me. They can have it.

[BUSBOZO]

Iceni John, I'm about to start making plans to mount my 6500 watt Onan underneath between bodyside and frame rails. And I just realized myself that I have the vertical steel beams that come all the way down the bodyside every 24". My generator is about 30" long, so I will have one beam in the way.

I couldn't really understand your explanation of how Crown has their engine compartment door setup. Do you have any pics you could post? That is definately something I would be interested in.

Thanks
Dan

[thesaltydog24]

I'm not entirely sure of this, it all depends on the arrangement of mechanics in the front end but have you thought about mounting it between the frame rails on a slide-out in the front? I have seen some Class A's do this. I was thinking about it for my eventual conversion, but because I do not own a RE bus yet nor do I know if there is room up there to do this its still just a thought.

Chris

[BUSBOZO]

No, I really didn't think too much about putting it in the front. I will take a look around underneath and see if that could be an option.

[opus]

I looked, dont think it will work. Plus, the noise and heat going down the road would be much I would think. I am still opting for off the back bumper. Its not about looks for me, its functionality and easy accessibility. I have an idea that I am going to check on.

[thesaltydog24]

Originally Posted by BUSBOZO

No, I really didn't think too much about putting it in the front. I will take a look around underneath and see if that could be an option.

If you get a chance shoot some photos of under the front end too, and let me know what you find out. I've searched all over to find photos of under the front end for quite some time. No one seems to photograph the undersides of buses, and to be exact RE Thomas buses I am curious to know if there is room and what if anything is under there. Not having a bus kinda prevents me from knowing, and school bus yards get a little suspicious when someone starts crawling around under their buses.

Chris

[thesaltydog24]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

I doubt there wil be enough space to mount it under the front (like on a big class-A) on a slide-out. I made a spare tire mount under the nose of my bus, and if yours is anything like mine there's only just enough space for a 12R22.5 tire next to the stairwell immediately behind the front bumper, hanging under the doubled frame rails that the front springs attach to. I think most RVs with generators there must have a completely different arrangement of their frame rails. Before I bought my bus I looked at a Thomas WestCoast-ER at Ramona USD, and it had the original factory spare tire mount under the front. Again, I don't think there was enough space there for anything much larger than a spare tire.

Hmm.. I may just have to keep that Idea on the back burner for when I finally get my bus. I was hoping that there was enough space to put one there I guess I will wait and see. My plans also included relocating the door almost mid way back, then closing off the original door. Someone here has done it and I like the way it looks, so maybe I will have to relocate the genny in the old door space.

Busbozo,
I found this to be a bit interesting. You could still mount it off the back and have access to the engine. If your worried about looks just add a hard shell cover.
http://www.letsgoaero.com/upload/TT_UBI_J_Stokley.jpg
http://www.letsgoaero.com/ProductDetail.asp?Pid=33
Just a thought.

[BUSBOZO]

Thanks for the tips guys!