Travelling - breakdowns and towing

[ewo1]

@heimlich. I'm just north of the Houston area, Killeen Tx. I have tools, shop space and limited knowledge but I am willing to help out if your need help in the area....

Or...feel free to just stop on by and say hello!!!

 

[heimlich]

It's very rare I find myself in Kileen but you never know. The bus could take us anywhere. I'm trying to decide on a nice spot close to Houston for the first venture just to try out everything. So many state parks to choose from here.

 

[Dbacks2k4]

I had a whole fleet of buses. My cheapest tow for about 4 miles that I was able to schedule for a convenient time for the tow truck operator (from my bus barn/shop to the International dealer) ran me about $350. On that one he picked it up from the rear so he didn't have to chamber the air brakes or disconnect the drive shaft. My most expensive, middle of the night emergency tow from the side of the road where we broke down back to our barn about 12 miles away was $1300. Both of those were 5 years ago before all the inflation.

I got a quote once to tow a bus about 130 miles from a small little town where we broke down back to our barn that came in at just over $3k. I paid my mechanic to take a road trip with me instead and we duct tape and bailing wired that engine back together and spent 5 hours limping her home to our barn to properly repair instead.

Long story short, big rig tows are expensive, much more than a scheduled transport, especially if its an emergency situation. If you can schedule out or tell the tow operator to come get it at their convenience sometimes you can save a few bucks. For my non-business personal skoolie though I'm going to carry Coachnet...

 

[Rock-N-Ruth]

That's really good advice. I have a T444E.

What spare parts have you learned to carry with that engine?

Belts, oil, filters, transmission fluid and coolant. Also keep a few gallons of distilled water on hand. If you have an overheat, you don't want to put any water that might add contaminants to your cooling system. Think corrosion and buildup.
There is a special wrench for the pulley on the water pump, you have to special order it but you won't be sad it is in your toolbox if you ever need it. We had to make ours with a grinder out of the largest wrench in a set of the biggest wrenches we could buy at Harbor Freight.
With the T444 it will never hurt you to change the oil and filters in the recommended periods. If you let your oil become goopy it can really affect the way it runs.
The very best defense it the war against inconvenient breakdowns is preventive maintenance, not storing up ammo for your parts canon.
Pack your head with some of the great wisdom from members of this forum. I know that I have learned a lot from guys like caddilackid who knows a lot about diesel engines and is generous with his knowledge.