Just bought a bus, what now?

[dredman]

So I finally won an auction tonight, on a bus in Ohio, 500 miles away (I am in Alabama). I have a ride to pick it up, but I am wondering, what else do I need to be prepared for? If this was in-state, or close by, I would not be in panic mode, but I really do no know what to expect. I know it needs a jump (dead batteries) and the district agreed to bump me off, but what else do I need to prepare for?

Planning on riding up tomorrow eve to pick up Fri. morning.
All tips appreciated.

[wauto]

Check the fluids and tires. Then drive it like ya stole it. Looks like a nice bus.

[dredman]

ooooo....encouragement....thank you !!!

I figure even if the tires look sketchy, I am gonna run it.

What if they blow? I have NO IDEA how to change a bus tire.
I am curious if the bus even has a jack or a spare?

What is my fallback?

[EastCoastCB]

no spare. Your fallback is an EXPENSIVE tow and an equally expensive tire or tires.
You're at the mercy of truck shops who will smell the desperation.

That said, I came home 800 miles with two pretty bad looking right rears. No problems, and am going to replace all six before any real miles are put on it again.

Bring a group 31 battery with you. It will save you from having to keep the bus running the entire 500 mile trip back.

Insurance would be a must for me, and a tag if at all possible.

[Malkieri]

Triple A has an RV program iirc, that would help a bit with the roadside scares. Good Sam has a similar program for roadside emergencies. If you are going to make the run with known bad tires, you should be sure to get some sort of coverage for the towing and such.
Insurance is also a must have.
Good Luck!!

[somewhereinusa]

A blown tire isn't a reason for a tow. There are tire shops everywhere that will do it on the side of the road. Pretty much all truck stops have mobile tire service. Not cheap, but definitely cheaper and probably quicker than a tow.
For road side emergency check out truckdown.com

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

A blown tire isn't a reason for a tow. There are tire shops everywhere that will do it on the side of the road. Pretty much all truck stops have mobile tire service. Not cheap, but definitely cheaper and probably quicker than a tow.
For road side emergency check out truckdown.com

You are correct.

[dond]

I have Coach-net.com

[dredman]

great info, exactly what I was looking for, thanks all

[crazycal]

Condoms and a Walmart Credit Card. All the other stuff was already covered and no one mentioned the important stuff.

[Leftyclick]

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[dredman]

Oh I will be updating often, and asking tons of questions - I can be a real pest

[juliol]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

no spare. Your fallback is an EXPENSIVE tow and an equally expensive tire or tires.
You're at the mercy of truck shops who will smell the desperation.

That said, I came home 800 miles with two pretty bad looking right rears. No problems, and am going to replace all six before any real miles are put on it again.

Bring a group 31 battery with you. It will save you from having to keep the bus running the entire 500 mile trip back.

Insurance would be a must for me, and a tag if at all possible.

Hey EastCoastCB, I have to ask, what is the application of the group 31 batteries.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by juliol

Hey EastCoastCB, I have to ask, what is the application of the group 31 batteries.

Found in many truck and bus applications. Often stacked 2 or 3 in parallel. A little bit larger than most car batteries. Sam's club had them for a decent price the last time I looked. They also had 8D's and 6 volt golf cart batteries.

[bansil]

water and snacks, figure speed at 45 mph average and be ecstatic if you make it quicker,
also bring a tape measure and staple gun, a couple cans of cheap paint OR a roll of cheap duct tape the last 2 items can be had at walmart

do not let your friend put a Free Candy sign on bus

[bansil]

if you don't have a walmart credit card...any credit card will work...bring some blankets and a pillow...you will have plenty of room to store it

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by bansil

do not let your friend put a Free Candy sign on bus

Shhh!!! Don't give away our secrets.

[wauto]

There is a web site for big riggers that offers all types of repair shops and sorts by location. NTTS https://www.nttsbreakdown.com/ntts/p.../main/main.php

[cowlitzcoach]

Either bring with you or pick up along the way:

• A big roll of duct tape to keep things from moving that shouldn't
• A big can of WD40 to get moving stuff that isn't
• A 1/2" and a 9/16" combination wrench, a pair of slip joint pliers, a crescent wrench, a hammer, a standard and a Phillips head screwdrivers, and a pair of diaganol cutter pliers
• A roll/length of 12-14 wire and an assortment of splices and the tool to crimp them
• Extra fluids--motor oil, ATF, coolant
• Extra fuel filters
• Infrared thermometer

Once you are on your way the first stop you need to make is to top off your fuel and have the air pressure checked in all of your tires.

Do NOT allow the fuel to get below half tank on the gauge or go more than 200 miles before refilling the tank. When you are dealing with a vehicle you don't know and you don't know how long it has been sitting you do not want to suck anywhere close to the bottom of the tank. Going down the road and sloshing everything around is going to stir up plenty of crud and corruption. You don't want all of that crud and corruption to get concentrated into just a few gallons on the bottom of the tank.

Do not attemt to keep up with traffic, particularly if you have any question about the tires.

Stop quite often while first starting out so you can check with your infrared thermometer the actual temps of everything. OEM gauge sets are notorious for only reading within a range and not exactly telling you precise readings. Once you determine what the gauges are telling you is actually what is going on you won't need to worry unless the gauges start reading outside of what is normal for that bus.

Check the temps of all of the tires at ever stop. All of the tires should be within 10*-20* of each other. The tires on the sunny side will be warmer than those on the shady side. As long as they are all within a few degrees of each other and the warmest one is under 120* you should be good to go.

If any of the tires are running over 120* you may have a tire getting ready to fail. Recheck the tire pressure. If it is low refill it and know you may have to stop again to refill. Regardless of the air pressure I would slow down if any tire is running over 120*. The hotter the ambient temp is the hotter the tires will run. But regardless, slow down if the tires are over 120*

[bansil]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

<snip>

Cowlitz...enough with this common sense and being properly prepared crap, we are here just for the journey and adventure


back to regularly scheduled shenanigans

and make sure you have a friend with, just in case you have a question about a bus part