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Old 09-26-2009, 05:23 AM   #1
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what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

Since the normal tendency is to go cheap or to figure we can "fix it ourself" or upgrade it later or similar thinking, have you "Saved money" and regretted it, not buying a more expensive but better bus/product for the bus/service related to your bus/etc?

For instance my original plan was to just go gas because it would be cheaper up front, yet a couple of gas tanks will wipe out that difference almost immediately - diesel really seems the way to go especially certain models like the cummins.

Where do you wish you had NOT cheaped out? Or what was so much of a PITA that you wish you had just paid someone else to do it?

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Old 09-26-2009, 09:18 AM   #2
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

I wish I had spent more on the bus itself. Initially, the costs and time needed were way underestimated and I focused too much time trying to find a bargain basement chassis although, I did find a cheeper Intl/Ward for $1200 that I passed on. Dont get me wrong, my bus runs great with no mechanical work needed but a higher roof height Thomas with a factory underbed storage would have been nice.
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Old 09-26-2009, 10:27 AM   #3
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

I wish I had spent more on my subflooring. I got a GREAT deal on some oddball thickness plywood, but it has JUST enough flex to it if you get between where the furring strips are for me to notice. I also wish my water system was more conventional. The air system works great and is quiet plus requires no winterization, but I think I spent more to get it working right than I would have to just put in a conventional pump. Also, food grade water drums do not make great water tanks.
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Old 09-26-2009, 11:36 AM   #4
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

Quote:
Originally Posted by the_experience03
Also, food grade water drums do not make great water tanks.
why not? I was thinking of using them myself for the cost of less than $10 I thought they would be perfect.
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Old 09-26-2009, 03:34 PM   #5
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

I really really really struggled with getting the fittings to seal. They have NPT threads in the larger plastic caps. The threads are short and soft so it's tough to get ANY sort of areal seal out of them and the caps themselves use some other weird thread so it wasn't an option to just replace them entirely. I ended up using a ton of Magic Putty-like epoxy to get the fittings to seal and have some strength. I'm thinking it could work fine so long as you figure out a different solution than trying to use those caps for the fittings.
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Old 09-26-2009, 09:52 PM   #6
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

The problem was mostly due to the flexing imparted by the air pressure in the tank. Just 20 psi of air pressure would make for a faucet that would strip paint, but it also caused enough flex in the tank to cause leaks at the fittings.
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Old 09-27-2009, 12:51 AM   #7
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

I have used plastic drums for clean up water at my deer camp. I used a fitting with a wide screw down nut on both sides and cut a piece of rubber for a gasket. Worked well but don't know how it will work with presure on it.
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:03 PM   #8
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Re: what do you wish you had spent MORE for?

I got a 35' bus.

I wish I waited to for a 45'ft, 12' tall commuter bus.

basically "size".
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