Missy Conversion - 1998 MCI 102

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by JDOnTheGo

HA!! Love it "sand too soft"!!

Well, if they had used sand glue*, you wouldn't have had that problem either.









*Sand glue is known by some others as concrete. More of a trade name I think.

[JDOnTheGo]

I'm not suing anyone. I might send an email to Royal Tire to let them know what happened (so they can 'train' their staff to be more careful) but anything more is more than I care to get involved with. I have enough conflict in my life just trying to keep my cats off the kitchen counter - no reason to make it worse.

[Brewerbob]

It's the potential of what could have gone wrong in losing the caliper altogether that would set me off.

[cadillackid]

what good is a tag axle if it cant hold your bus up lol..
-Christopher

[joeblack5]

What a great adventure and story. So would you have been alerted with a low tire pressure system? Say after you experienced the inking feeling and would have discovered the flat at that moment and inflated it , would you have been able to get of the sand?
Do you think an 18000LBS winch would have helped you if you would have found an anchor point?

Later J

[JDOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

What a great adventure and story. So would you have been alerted with a low tire pressure system? Say after you experienced the inking feeling and would have discovered the flat at that moment and inflated it , would you have been able to get of the sand?
Do you think an 18000LBS winch would have helped you if you would have found an anchor point?

Good questions Joe.

The TPS would certainly have alerted me that something was going on (and helped). I do have onboard air and an air compressor so I could have aired it up. However; once I noticed it on my own, it was off the bead so all hope was lost.

I've never used a winch (so I'm guessing) but I think a winch like that would have gotten me out. I wished I had another person to try pulling with my Jeep (I do have a strap). Of course, another person to operate the shovel while I supervised would have been helpful too!!

It was a fairly nice spot and I considered asking the Ranger (NV state rec. area) if I could just purchase that little bit of land and stay there. However; the coach was at a horrible tilt and sleeping that way would not have been comfortable.

[cadillackid]

problem with a winch there is what would you winch to? if you carry an anchor you can try amnd get it to set in the ground.. I got myself out of a jeep jam or two with an anchor and a winch.. but it didnt look like you had any stout trees to winch to .. if you have something to winch to and carry a couple snatchblocks you can get yourself out of some seriously deep stuff..

mud is a tough one.. ultimately you dig yourself a tall rut to get out of and then you give yourself a set of slicks to get out with... once your tires are full of mud, they are worthless.. unless you can spin them fast enough to sling the mud off .. you still end up beaching the suspension... yeah ive done it.. buried a wrangler up to the doors.. enough so that I had to go into low range to even spin the tires.. luckily i had an anchor.. luckily I had a winch and a snatchblock. and enough traction to get out.. then having to winch out the anchor from the opposite side without getting stuck again..

I dont know how many tons it takes to make a buried bus move.. maybe you can count on some factor if you can get the tires to spin once the frame is off the ground.. but if its truly sunk then unless your winch can move the whole bus like a tractor-pull sled along the ground it becomes useless...
-Christopher

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

problem with a winch there is what would you winch to? if you carry an anchor you can try amnd get it to set in the ground.. I got myself out of a jeep jam or two with an anchor and a winch.. but it didnt look like you had any stout trees to winch to .. if you have something to winch to and carry a couple snatchblocks you can get yourself out of some seriously deep stuff..

mud is a tough one.. ultimately you dig yourself a tall rut to get out of and then you give yourself a set of slicks to get out with... once your tires are full of mud, they are worthless.. unless you can spin them fast enough to sling the mud off .. you still end up beaching the suspension... yeah ive done it.. buried a wrangler up to the doors.. enough so that I had to go into low range to even spin the tires.. luckily i had an anchor.. luckily I had a winch and a snatchblock. and enough traction to get out.. then having to winch out the anchor from the opposite side without getting stuck again..

I dont know how many tons it takes to make a buried bus move.. maybe you can count on some factor if you can get the tires to spin once the frame is off the ground.. but if its truly sunk then unless your winch can move the whole bus like a tractor-pull sled along the ground it becomes useless...
-Christopher

If you can get any heavy truck to stop, there is your anchor.

[cadillackid]

assuming you are within distance of the road.. if i was a semi truck driver.. yeah id probably stop to help out someone stuck.. but I sure wouldnt back my truck off the main road with an 80,000 lb trailer and only 2 or 4 of 18 wheels to drive me back outta there.. with a snatchblock you cut your einch cable length in half to gain the needed torque to move a bus.. even with 150 ft of cable.. that truck has to be within 75 feet..

those big tow rigs have a lot of drive wheels for a reason...

-Christopher

[JDOnTheGo]

I've been doing more 'living' than 'converting' the last few months so not much to report on. However; I have experienced a few 'cold starts' in the last few months and Missy does NOT like them only little bit.

I decided to stick my head under the engine and see what options might exist for a oil pan heater (stick on or magnetic). While down there, I found a 120V power cord with the end snipped off. I trace it down and it led to an engine block heater. YAY! A quick trip to the hardware store had a new electrical power plug in hand. It was quickly wired up and power applied. DOUBLE YAY! The heater works!

So, as long as I electrical power, I have an engine heater. One less thing to add myself. That said, I'm still planning on a diesel fired aux heater.

I will probably wire this heater into the coaches 120VAC system and add a remote switch. Then I can power the heater from shore power (without an additional extension cord) or inverter (yes, I have the battery power for it).

[Robin97396]

So you found an electric block heater. Someone else found a webasto they didn't know they had.

It's a Festivus miracle. Everyone start decorating the aluminium pole.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

So you found an electric block heater. Someone else found a webasto they didn't know they had.

It's a Festivus miracle. Everyone start decorating the aluminium pole.

Sometimes you have to hunt around.

Mine has apparent connectors for a block heater both on the front and rear. Both are empty receptacles.

There is, however, a 120V plug on a cord hiding behind the coolant-fill door.

I haven't yet tested it, but there is no reason to suppose it doesn't work.

[Tango]

My 4BT came with a block heater built in. Problem is, the way the turbo is configured there is no way to run the cord without it melting.

Oh well...I don't really want to spend time anywhere that block heaters are a necessity anyway.

[Robin97396]

I'd imagine those electric block heaters would suck up some power too.

I agree with the theory of not residing in areas that require the use of block heaters. That said, the waterlines in my house have been frozen for about two weeks now and I'm half way through my water supply in this bus. Waiting for the big thaw.

[JDOnTheGo]

Having spent the first forty years of my life in Montana and Minnesota, I'm no fan of the cold. I used to think a block heater was useful at about 25 degrees and required at about zero. However; my Detroit Diesel 60 seems to have a different opinion. It does not care for starts at 50 F or cooler (no science there, just my observation) and it get's worse the cooler it is. It cranks and starts ok at 50, just smokes a lot (til warm). Down near 30 it cranks ok, takes a little time to fire, and then smokes a lot (til warm). The last time I started it near freezing without the block heater it would sorta-half run for about a minute and then shut itself down. After 3-4 of these events it kept running and was ok (warmed itself up). It was clearly not happy. I'm hesitant to call the heater "required" at this temp but given how happy she was, I am inclined to do so.

Since I spend time at altitude, it is not unusual for it to be 50 degrees first thing in the morning in the middle of the summer. This morning, in south-central New Mexico it was close to freezing. If I had needed to get on the road early, I would have tormented the poor engine again and smoked the area pretty good. So, I am very happy to have found the heater. I think it will significantly help our relationship.

I do not know what the wattage is of my heater but many of the commonly available ones are 500-750 watts so they do suck a bit of power. Ideally a shore power item. I'll try to remember to plug in the Kill-A-Watt meter next time I use the heater.

[JDOnTheGo]

Speaking of cold... Not sure if this is useful to anyone but maybe.

Overnight temps of late have been at or slightly below freezing. I have found a number slightly interesting little things.

1. The entire front of the coach (dash) is VERY poorly insulated. It's comparable to a screen door. For now, I cover it with a blanket. Eventually, it needs some work (sealing and insulating).

2. The steps and driver seat floor have absolutely no insulation.

3. The door (an air powered door) does not seal well (against the cold) unless using the air system (which I don't when parked for days/weeks at a time).

4. The best approach to date has been to create a 'wall' with a large blanket that entirely blocks off the driver seat, dash, steps, door from the rest of the coach (that I am trying to heat). Obviously, this is not a long term solution.

5. With minimal insulation, the front blocked off as noted above, the coach stays fairly warm (which is probably too cool for most folks) with a 750/1500 watt electric space heater. I typically run on high (1500 watts) most of the night.

[Twigg]

As I understand it most block heaters are 1500 watts. I'll check mine later

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by JDOnTheGo

Speaking of cold... Not sure if this is useful to anyone but maybe.

Overnight temps of late have been at or slightly below freezing. I have found a number slightly interesting little things.

1. The entire front of the coach (dash) is VERY poorly insulated. It's comparable to a screen door. For now, I cover it with a blanket. Eventually, it needs some work (sealing and insulating).

2. The steps and driver seat floor have absolutely no insulation.

3. The door (an air powered door) does not seal well (against the cold) unless using the air system (which I don't when parked for days/weeks at a time).

4. The best approach to date has been to create a 'wall' with a large blanket that entirely blocks off the driver seat, dash, steps, door from the rest of the coach (that I am trying to heat). Obviously, this is not a long term solution.

5. With minimal insulation, the front blocked off as noted above, the coach stays fairly warm (which is probably too cool for most folks) with a 750/1500 watt electric space heater. I typically run on high (1500 watts) most of the night.

1-4) Time to build a wall. Even an empty one with an inch air gap between sheet rock would make a huge difference. Make it in panels and wedge it in place and store it when driving.

5) You run a 1500 w heater ALL night long but you're worried about a 750 block heater?

[JDOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

1-4) Time to build a wall. Even an empty one with an inch air gap between sheet rock would make a huge difference. Make it in panels and wedge it in place and store it when driving.

That is one option. I'd prefer to actually fix the problems rather than the symptom.

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

5) You run a 1500 w heater ALL night long but you're worried about a 750 block heater?

I don't recall suggesting/saying that I was worried about it. Simply attempting to share some real-world information that folks in the planning stages might find useful.

[Robin97396]

I can sympathize with the cold, cold front end of the bus. There's not much you can do for the dashboard and stairwell areas. I put rigid insulation against the windshield during cold weather, but that doesn't seem to do a lot more than give me some privacy. On a cold night any exposed metal on the dashboard collects condensation which turns into ice.

The back end cap is another cold spot. I've insulated with spray foam as much as possible but certain areas remain cold. I haven't quite been able to bring myself to build front and rear partitions, but realizing that heat needed to be held in the central area of the bus I attached a parachute to the ceiling that effectively makes partitions at the front and rear. It's definitely nothing fancy, but it keeps the central area about 5 degrees warmer than the front and rear of the bus.

I also deal with temperatures that many others would consider unacceptable. Insulated coveralls are a part of being able to cope. I don't run a heater at night normally, except in extreme weather when I fear my in-cabin water tank might freeze. I do use a mattress heating pad, and that normally seems to leak enough heat into the living area to keep things bearable.

I had strong intentions to travel south this winter.