Motorhome picks fight with school bus - and loses

[Skunky Bus]

Happened earlier this month near Pittsburgh, PA:

Brake failure leads to school bus-RV crash/

As much as we talk about crashworthyness here, this story is even more of a reminder of how important preventative maintenance is.

[Marceps]

“Tonight, on another episode of Fiberglass vs Steel...”

[cadillackid]

this is also why we inspect and Pre-trip our Busses.. or should be if you arent.. failures can happen. but visual inspections often pick up failures as they begin to happen before they are critical..



ie was the brake fluid low in that RV? were the brake hoses getting frayed, weather-cracked, or even leaking? were the pads worn down to the discs..

all things that could be caught.. sure the master cykibder or pedal linkage could have just broken.. no way to know..


but everyone should be checking...


this crash has nothing to do with steal vs fiberglass.. the RV was a Van cutaway.. they hot the bus with the Van part.. that is steel.. no different than skoolies that are van cutaway, P30, or IH3600 style...

[Marceps]

That's like saying the size of the hammer doesn't matter, because it's the chisel that hits the work piece.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Marceps

That's like saying the size of the hammer doesn't matter, because it's the chisel that hits the work piece.

Hmmm, I've got a rusty/crusty front bumper on my freightliner with a fiberglass flyaway hood... So if I run into something solid even at low speed I expect I'll be wearing that 7.2 liter CAT unless it's designed to shear it's mounts and drop under me...

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

this is also why we inspect and Pre-trip our Busses.. or should be if you arent.. failures can happen. but visual inspections often pick up failures as they begin to happen before they are critical..



ie was the brake fluid low in that RV? were the brake hoses getting frayed, weather-cracked, or even leaking? were the pads worn down to the discs..

all things that could be caught.. sure the master cykibder or pedal linkage could have just broken.. no way to know..


but everyone should be checking...


this crash has nothing to do with steal vs fiberglass.. the RV was a Van cutaway.. they hot the bus with the Van part.. that is steel.. no different than skoolies that are van cutaway, P30, or IH3600 style...

Would not be surprised if it was rusty brake lines. Here in VA we have safety inspections once a year, a joke mostly in my view, however after getting my truck inspected and having that government sticker on the windshield saying it is safe I drove home and while parking it in the shed and the brake pedal went to the floor while backing in. One of the steel brake lines burst. Rusted out.

Just something for those who have hydraulic brakes to check.

[cadillackid]

one of the things i do with my hydraulic bus is when im checking things out, I step on the brake pedal.. HARD. while its parked enigne running. and I hold it.. if theres a weak brake line or seal its going to give out or get wet....



obviously cant prevent all issues but anything really weak is likely to show some sign..

[brokedown]

One of hte things I like about air brakes... Most failures result in brakes engaging, not freewheeling.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Would not be surprised if it was rusty brake lines. Here in VA we have safety inspections once a year, a joke mostly in my view, however after getting my truck inspected and having that government sticker on the windshield saying it is safe I drove home and while parking it in the shed and the brake pedal went to the floor while backing in. One of the steel brake lines burst. Rusted out.

Just something for those who have hydraulic brakes to check.

Exactly! On my bus, where an excess amount of factory wiring (oem install) was doubled over a couple of times and clamped to the frame rail -- it trapped an excess of mud & crud over the brake line it was touching. That was ONE of my brake line failures when I first applied brakes to the Murder Bus.

Christopher's suggestion to load test the brakes in the driveway is a very good one. And something I'm glad I do...

[sportyrick]

I would wager that a large percentage of stick and staple RV owners don't know which end of a screwdriver to use so looking at the RV before the trip would only reveal to them blaringly evident problems like oil or antifreeze pooling on the floor. I bet a lot of them don't even check air pressure before liftoff. We do it your-selfers are cut out of a different cloth here at Skoolie.net.

[PatrickBaptist]

Here is what happened to 2 RVs that picked fights with me.... I hate a GM, it was such a pleasure to destroy em.

If you want to see more pics I've got em in my albums
also made videos too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhDg1qA9kLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoDPJRdcow

- take note of how awesome my safety is with jack stands..... LOL

[Ronnie]

More sticks and staples about to meet the bobcat. We salvaged all the useful goodies and separated the recyclables before leveling it with the bobcat. The trailer will live on as. Shop trailer for boats.

[vintageracer]

It's super hard to git rid of old RV's these days.

The scrappers won't take em as there is too much wood, insulation and other none metal crap. They sure won't pay you anything for them even if they do take em.

One local scrapper where I live deducts weight from the vehicle if that vehicle has Linex'ed or other similar PU bed coating sprayed on the exterior of the vehicle. They will deduct 150 lbs if it's a PU or other large vehicle covered with that crap!

[PatrickBaptist]

Originally Posted by vintageracer

It's super hard to git rid of old RV's these days.

The scrappers won't take em as there is too much wood, insulation and other none metal crap. They sure won't pay you anything for them even if they do take em.

One local scrapper where I live deducts weight from the vehicle if that vehicle has Linex'ed or other similar PU bed coating sprayed on the exterior of the vehicle. They will deduct 150 lbs if it's a PU or other large vehicle covered with that crap!

Yeah there is very little metal compared to plastic/vinyl/foam/carpet/ect
After scrapping 2, I'd never do it again.
I wound up burning alot of the body and mentioned crap...