Thinking about a Bus/RV

It was ultimately a very productive weekend on the RV. The bedroom is effectively finished. There are a few more details to finish up as far as flooring and trim are concerned, but nothing that we couldn't take a trip with as-is in that regard.

I then got started working on the EGT probe and working on the gauges for the EGT and oil temperature gauges. I drilled and tapped into the exhaust manifold in the thickest spot, which of course made it take the longest to tap. but I'm convinced it shouldn't have any exhaust leaks at least. Because the EGT probe is 40' away, I have to mount an extension box in the back, so I got the general location for that figured out, and then started working on getting the gauges set up and wired up. The backlights now work with the light switch/dimmer, now I have to hook up switched power and then run the wires from to back. That'll be for another day.

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TCABM said:
Who’d of thunk parts commonality between a Cat and a Disco?
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With a big enough hammer, anything has parts commonality! :D

But that statement was more about curiosity. My guess is it doesn't, since Cat doesn't list it as common. Being smaller (as a 4-cylinder), it likely has a smaller pump.
 
Another interesting bit now that @NealRomeoGolf has educated me on the older vs. newer Cat part numbers. The old (specified) fuel filter is a 1R-0751. The new (ultra high efficiency, better) fuel filter is a 306-9199. The Cat dealer doesn't always know about the newer one (it depends on who's there) so I have to ask for it specifically, even though they have it in stock. I try to run it whenever I can to help protect the ($1,000/each) injectors.

I remember reading somewhere that Cat made an ultra high efficiency oil filter, but supposedly stopped producing it due to lack of demand as most customers weren't willing to pay the extra cost. Personally I'd happily pay extra for an even higher efficiency filter given the sensitivity of the HEUI system, but I'll probably just stick to doing the more frequent oil changes to keep the oil on the cleaner side.

Once the EGT probe is in, I'll want to have some fun playing around with things that might lower the EGTs. But first we have to get the thing back together so I can drive it.
 
Ted, how tough was it to roll out the main upper bearings?
 
SCCutler said:
Ted, how tough was it to roll out the main upper bearings?
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Really not hard at all. The way I do it is I take a flathead screwdriver, tap it gently with a small dead blow hammer, and that'll pop the bearing loose. Then roll it around the other side, and once you break the oil film it just drops out. Similarly, rolling the new ones in they just slide in and then need a gentle tap to finally seat in.

The two that were harder were the #1 (furthest forward) and the thrust bearing (which I guess was #6 out of 7). The thrust bearing is harder because the crank is snug in between either side of it so it can, you know, absorb thrust. That required more gentle prying out but still wasn't particularly difficult.

When I did the same job on the 3000GT VR-4 (in that case, those engines are particularly hard on the main bearings rather than the rod bearings) it was far more difficult. Rolling new bearings into bigger diesels in-frame is a pretty common event.
 
So with all the new instrumentation are you planning to run Lean on Peak?

Kidding of course!

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tmyers said:
So with all the new instrumentation are you planning to run Lean on Peak?

Kidding of course!

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I’ve already made that joke! :D
 
Ted said:
Really not hard at all. The way I do it is I take a flathead screwdriver, tap it gently with a small dead blow hammer, and that'll pop the bearing loose. Then roll it around the other side, and once you break the oil film it just drops out. Similarly, rolling the new ones in they just slide in and then need a gentle tap to finally seat in.
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I changed the main bearings on a 4 cyl auto years ago. I can't even remember the make or model. No problems at all. Some designs may give trouble with the front or rear oil seal and nearby gasketry.
 
You my friend, are a bad influence, J and I are thinking diesel pusher now, damn!!!

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tmyers said:
You my friend, are a bad influence, J and I are thinking diesel pusher now, damn!!!
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As I recall, Tim, yours is a gasser but it's also on a proper medium duty truck platform, like a C5500. Am I remembering correctly?

I'll admit to having zero experience driving Class Cs of any sort. But the diesel pusher has a lot of inherent benefits to it and I do really enjoy driving it and tinkering with it.
 
Mine is a gaser, but in a Ford f35 chassis, v10 3 valve

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And mine is also a class a, just on the smallish side at 28 ft
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Honestly, ours does about everything we need, but there are shortcomings.

The size is just a little two small, just 6 more feet gets us a couch which we do not have. The Grey and blank tanks fill a bit quicker at 30 gal each. The ride of the f53 chassis is nowhere close to that of a freightliner or other diesel chassis. The engine noise is a bit tiring since that v10 is only 4 feet from my ears. I haven't been out west with but the v10 will likely not have the torque of a 350 hp cat or Cummins.

On the plus size it is a 2015 coach on a 2014 chassis, and I will not spend the money for anything newer than 2009, or 2010, .eating something under $100,000. Mine is holding its value in the low to mid $50s

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I can’t remember who I’m thinking of then. :)

Yes, the ride in the diesel pushers is great. I think the engine is too quiet, but it never sounds like it’s working hard, unlike the V10 which will always be working hard and sound like it.

Really even if it were just Laurie and me, I don’t think we’d want smaller than our 40, but we’re spoiled now. A couch is nice. I also agree that newer is nice to have for a lot of reasons. If we had a higher budget I would’ve liked to get a few years newer. At this point if we were to do it again, I think we’d do exactly what we did. But I do think we’ll end up wanting a 45 in a few years when the kids get bigger.
 
Tim, I would avoid anything with DEF or a DPF. Alternately I’d do an emissions delete post haste.
 
Today we dug into the part we really dreaded, the rotted floor removal. In the end? Not half as bad as we thought. We’re prepped for putting new floor in tomorrow, and hopefully flooring as well.

 
Today we got the new subfloor down to replace the rotting areas. Screwed it down so it wouldn't go anywhere, and then we got most of the flooring down for the bathroom and kitchen/living room. One of the big things we did was fill in a lot of gaping holes that existed (from the factory) which let a great deal of cold air in. It's amazing how much of a difference just filling in those holes made. Now the living room has the most holes (both some factory ones and also I haven't yet properly plugged up the holes for the propane fridge air inlet and vent) and there was at least a 5 degree difference between the living room and the bathroom areas, despite the living room having two space heaters running and the bathroom only having one smaller space heater going. It was a high of 10F today, so a good day to test the insulation (or lack thereof) in the RV, and a good day to witness the improvements.

Things are looking really good and now that the slide has proper support it also is looking like it will seal better at the back. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're definitely on the downhill portion of this effort, which has been very significant all around. The fact that we're seeing some tangible benefits already is encouraging.

The kids are asking when we're going to get on the road again, they want to travel. That's also encouraging.

Perhaps the one discouraging thing we encountered was that we test fit the shower we bought, which appeared to not fit. We knew it would be tight, but it seems as though I mis-measured the dimensions by just a bit. I'm going to look at it some more and see what I can do. I suspect there may be some sort of trimming somewhere that may work to make it fit.
 
Ted, check this one out. A young friend of mine purchased this for $500. It's a runner, but that is about all that can be said. He lives in a high rent area and is looking to renovate and then move into and live in this one to save rent money. Good thing he's young...

https://imgur.com/a/N6PVC6u
 
Bill said:
Ted, check this one out. A young friend of mine purchased this for $500. It's a runner, but that is about all that can be said. He lives in a high rent area and is looking to renovate and then move into and live in this one to save rent money. Good thing he's young...

https://imgur.com/a/N6PVC6u
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I’m not sure renovate is the right word for that one.
 
jsstevens said:
I’m not sure renovate is the right word for that one.
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Kid's got $500 and a dream, and I'm not going to be the one to squash it. He'll be fine, and learn some things along the way.
 
@Bill to use the word "hideous" would be giving that thing too much credit. I think he would've been better off starting from scratch with a skoolie or the like.

But if he's having fun with it, good for him. :)

To be honest, while Laurie and I both find the idea of doing a conversion ourselves appealing (get exactly what we want) we don't feel like it's a worthwhile use of time. A renovation of something that's not a complete dumpster fire is more our style. :)
 
Ted said:
@Bill to use the word "hideous" would be giving that thing too much credit. I think he would've been better off starting from scratch with a skoolie or the like.

But if he's having fun with it, good for him. :)

To be honest, while Laurie and I both find the idea of doing a conversion ourselves appealing (get exactly what we want) we don't feel like it's a worthwhile use of time. A renovation of something that's not a complete dumpster fire is more our style. :)
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Oh I know, just thought you'd get a chuckle over this one. And to know that no matter how bad it seems doing your reno, others have it far worse lol.
 
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Bill said:
Oh I know, just thought you'd get a chuckle over this one. And to know that no matter how bad it seems doing your reno, others have it far worse lol.
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Oh boy, that is one thing that's extremely obvious at many campgrounds we stop at! LOL

We still feel quite fortunate to have the RV we have.
 
Bill said:
Kid's got $500 and a dream, and I'm not going to be the one to squash it. He'll be fine, and learn some things along the way.
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No argument to any of that. But wow! That's beyond basket case. Strip it to the chassis and start over is more like it.
 
jsstevens said:
No argument to any of that. But wow! That's beyond basket case. Strip it to the chassis and start over is more like it.
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Actually, I think once the floor is in and solid, he's going to basically strip it to the framing and aluminum shell and rebuild.
 
Nothing like the taste of Diesel fuel in the morning, tastes like Power.

From my truck stop days as a 17 year old, I have never forgotten how damn cold diesel fuel can be as it runs down your arm, torso and through the crack of your ass when changing some fuel filters.
 
I didn't do anything on the RV over the weekend, other than record a video. But, I decided to play with YouTube's "premiere" feature (ok, I actually just accidentally clicked the button) so it won't be available until Wednesday. I did want to space out videos since I ended up recording three in one day and don't want to release all of them at once. Anyway, you all can tell me whether this was a bad idea or not, but here's the link to the premiere (currently set for tomorrow morning):

 
I posted another video about the new floor installation:


Today we worked on the bathroom vanity and some other details. I'll put another video up when we have it completed. We're tiling the vanity top, which is something I am normally against, but in this case I think it looks really nice. We also got a cool vessel sink and faucet that will go well with the decor. I expect to have those in sometime this week.

The new (residential) fridge is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so then I need to build the support/containment for it and I'll then be able to put the dining room table back in. Once that and the vanity are done, it'll basically be time to do the shower and that'll be it. We ordered a residential shower and walls which will improve the space we had vs. the previous (tiny) shower.

Our goal is to have the RV ready for the road by the end of March so we can get back to travel in April.
 
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