New owner of Thomas WestCoaster

Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Posts
12
Location
Rio Vista, California
Hi guys my name is Michael. Tonight I won an auction for a 1993 Thomas Built WestCoaster. I live in the Bay Area of California and the bus is located in the Town of Truckee in the Sierra Nevada’s. I am considering starting a YouTube channel to document my trip and ensuring conversion. I’ve already posted here and received some encouragement.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone.
 
Good to meet you! I'm in Indiana converting an old transit-style bus. JD is out west and he has a transit-style bus as well. I think just about everyone else who posts here are skoolies.
 
So I went and saw the bus today and got it running and fixed the air leak issue and prepped for the 100 mile trip home.
 

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Anyone know the story ? Besides the name why are they unique to the west coast?
They were Thomas's answer to the Crown and Gillig heavy-duty buses that were popular in CA. Thomas even made a few with dual rear axles (Sierra Sands had one), but I don't know if their GVWR was any higher than the 2-axle ones. I looked at a WestCoast-ER for sale by Ramona SD in San Diego County, slightly older than the one pictured here - it had full disk brakes all round (I guess because its Cat 3208 can't have Jakes) and full air suspension, big under-floor storage bays and a high roof, so a pretty nice bus by any standards. A church outbid me for it, but no matter, I now have the real deal!

John
 
Last edited:
Hi guys my name is Michael. Tonight I won an auction for a 1993 Thomas Built WestCoaster. I live in the Bay Area of California and the bus is located in the Town of Truckee in the Sierra Nevada’s. I am considering starting a YouTube channel to document my trip and ensuring conversion. I’ve already posted here and received some encouragement.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone.
Good to meet you and welcome!
What was the name of the auction house you used?
My wife and I are still a year or so out and are beginning our search.
David
 
Good to meet you and welcome!
What was the name of the auction house you used?
My wife and I are still a year or so out and are beginning our search.
David

I used GovDeals.com and I’ve also used PublicSurplus.com for other vehicles in the past. Very secure. Very reliable. Usually you can privately inspect auction items. In this case I bought sight unseen. However I did have extensive phone conversation with the lead shop mechanic. On my bus I win the auction as the sole bidder, $750.
 
Questions?

I used GovDeals.com and I’ve also used PublicSurplus.com for other vehicles in the past. Very secure. Very reliable. Usually you can privately inspect auction items. In this case I bought sight unseen. However I did have extensive phone conversation with the lead shop mechanic. On my bus I win the auction as the sole bidder, $750.

Did they include the back emergency door etc.?
I really considered that bus but ended up with a Westcoaster from Lake Arrowhead.

I can't remember, was that an 8.3 Cummins?

I'm trying to find manuals for mine. If you have any ideas I'd appreciate hearing from you.
 
Westcoaster ER

I just picked up one of the Rim of the world / Lake arrowhead Weatcoaster ER’s too. This bus is built really well! Love the retarder. I have. 1995 Cummins 8.3 MDB-647.
 

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