check out the new remote control Jockey Wheel SmartBar rearview170 Beam Communications SatPhone Shop Topargee products Enginesaver Low Water Alarms
Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Click here for the Grey Nomads website -> The Grey Nomads Forum -> Show us your rig -> Finally on the road, My Coach,
Post Info TOPIC: Finally on the road, My Coach,
Mr B2


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 347
Date:
Finally on the road, My Coach,
Permalink  

Here it is, Roadworthy, Registered and on the road,

12 months and two weeks it took from buying it in Texas, USA, To driving on the road in Victoria, Australia,

Its floats along on Full Air Bag Suspension, Sitting in an arm chair high above the surrounding traffic, Perfect all round vision, It does a a blind spot in the Big front mirror, Snaky neck wobble fixes that,

300 Cat Horsies, certainly pushes it along, Hills, What hills, It doesn't notice them,  Did a shake down cruise of 2000 Kays, Lilydale, Semour, Bendigo, Laverton, Werribee, Geelong, Colac, Terang, Cobden, Port Campbell, Ottways, Great Ocean Road, Warburton, Pakenham,

Accelerating 9 ton up big hills, Niiice, 2nd gear coming down big hills, Holds it about 50 Kays without any thing getting hot under the collar,

Pleasure to drive, But very squeezy on some of our twisty tite roads, I have plenty of time, So I just pull over and let the pass, My Coach wont go past a bus or truck on corners, Its just too big,

I am very glad now I didnt buy the forty footer I was looking at, It was too big,

I had a few problems with my coach, But now most of them sorted,

The Electrics are now the problem, That Transformer cooked itself, I should have left them alone, They dont need conversion to 240 Volts,

Live and learn, 

The drag link had to be replaced, it had been heated and bent, Dangerous,

The ball joints are now on each end and and been beefed up to take standard Ford ball joints, Off the shelf here in OZ,

 I had to beef up the Steering box as well, It was way under any specs here,

The Stress, Trauma, Worry, Yes, It was definately worth it. Love my Coach, It still worked out a very cheap buy, And it came with all the Bells and whistles,

Seats 5 Licensed to ride,  Seats 7 in the lounge room, 3 seater lounge and four arm chairs including the drivers and passengers arm chairs, They all swivel round, and are full recliners,

Its certainly a head turner here, as it stands out from the crowd, Hahahaha,

Its a 1989 Foretravel, Grand Villa, 36 foot, Class A, Diesel Pusher, ORED, 300 Cat, with an Allison 4 speed Auto gear box, On an Oshkosh Chassis, 

Grand Villa Water tank, Sept 2013 004.jpgGrand Villa Arived, March 2013 004.jpgGrand Villa Arived, March 2013 003.jpgGrand Villa, Steering components, Drag link, Windscreen. 017.jpgGrand Villa, Step down transforma, 001.jpgGrand Villa front end repairs 010.jpgGrand Villa front end repairs 001.jpg

 



-- Edited by Mr B2 on Saturday 28th of September 2013 05:00:20 PM

Attachments
__________________
Cheers, Brian,
patrolst


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 336
Date:
Permalink  

Looks good B2 glad to hear the shake down trip went well, with the motor home on an Oshkosh chassis it will go for ever



__________________

Regards Jim
copper1


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 876
Date:
Permalink  

Nice one Brian looks like it was well worth the effort so good on ya, enjoy every inch she reminds me of a movie a saw he he

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-AXDSVxXyfchNitKAseg7c-R7bH3U2UJipJnRg1fXcRbGUrrv



__________________

Gaz ,Rox & Ruby :aka C1,2&3
Mr B2


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 347
Date:
Permalink  

It did a seal on the Levellors in Seymour,
Lucky, I was just parked there for the night, Just tried them out, Worked great, Coach levelled itself, packed them away, Auto Hydraulically, Walked away, I have steering fluid running down the gutter,

AHHHHHGGGGG, Thats stuffs Exy, Little gusher running out of somewhere on the levellor ram.

I bought a weird Yankee thread part from a Truck Parts Shop in Seymour, About $7-00 worth, I joined the two hoses together and bypassed the levellor,

After 4 shops in Seymour, Looking for the part I needed, They had me believing it was some weirdo thread from Yankee land,

I am sure I have these on my bench at home, Fat lot of good that does me here in Seymour,

Turns out it is 7/16 Imperial thread, I now have plenty of spares I can carry, I know what they all are,

The Older Bloke in the Truck Spare Parts shop, Says, Can I help you, I held out the part, and told him what I needed to do,

He Glanced at it and said, Oh, Thats Part Number, 10793728431947-397827483-rnistft, I lost it about 107. Hahahaha

I will go and get you one, and he did, Young people have no Idea on Imperial threads, It was gone here, before they were born,

3 litres of or so later of steering fluid, it was away again, Didnt miss a beat,

The whole thing is built like a tank, Its all solid timber,

I am building a bit of a ramp, so I can drive on and be able to get underneath it, Good place to park it as well, Across my drive to get under, Just isnt making it with me,




__________________
Cheers, Brian,
GaryKelly


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 2884
Date:
Permalink  

Wow, that is one big girl! About 3 and a bit of mine. But I'm skinny.

__________________

Gary

Ford Courier with Freeway slide-on called "PJ". www.aussieodyssey.com
buffy61


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 284
Date:
Permalink  

Got any interior pictures??

__________________

http://kiwis-in-oz.blogspot.com.au/
Mr B2


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 347
Date:
Permalink  

The interior piccys are on here already some where, if you cant find them, Say so, And I will put some more up.



__________________
Cheers, Brian,
bloomoon


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 82
Date:
Permalink  

Nice rig Brian. I have a 40ft coach , weight about 11ton full loaded/fuel/1000litre water. What sort of mileage are you getting. Mine is about 3.5klm/litre at 100klm/h.

Peter...Bloomoon

__________________
pa bradley
Mr B2


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 347
Date:
Permalink  


I have the gas tank and Genny out, Those two would be getting up towards the two ton mark, The Propane gas tank was 3/4 full, Its a 100 gallon Tank, Solid steel,

I weigh 9 ton at the moment, Its high at the front, The Genny and 6 X 12 Lb Propane tanks are going back in,

It needs the weight in the front, To level it out again, The Genny sits behind the front wheel,

2300 Kays, I used 400 litres of Diesel, Approx, I can only go on the Needle Position of the Fuel Guage, It has about 10 feet of inlet tube, Dipstick is out. It hangs between the Chassis rails, Innaccesible, 150 USA Gallons, Their smaller Gallons than ours,

The needle was on the middle line when I started, It was on the middle line after I filled the last time,

So 2300 Klm's divided by 400 Litres gives me 5.75 I have no idea on Kilometres,

But miles per gallon, 15.9 MPG, I think thats incredible mileage for a 9 ton Coach, Damn cheap to run, Keeping in mind that it is approximate,

I can only work it out over time, Kilometres by litres used, And Diesel is not some thing you want to run out of, Just to get an empty tank,

A salesman that used to sell these Coachs years ago and delivered them as well, Said they get 10 MPG at 75 MPH, 8 MPG at 90 MPH,

USA gallons are 3.8 Litres to a US gallon, and we are 4.2 litres to a UK Gallon, I think my Calcs are correct, But its been a long day, and I am going to bed,



__________________
Cheers, Brian,
Mr B2


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 347
Date:
Permalink  

This is what the ramp was supposed to do with the Coach on it,

But all the weight of the Coach, is from the rear wheels back,  

Pushing 6 ton, including Dual wheeled Diff,

The whole rear section, Diff, motor, gearbox, can all be unbolted from the Chassis just in front of the rear wheels,

It is not a full chassis, Which quite surprised me, Thats a lot of weight and tension. just hanging on bolts,

So I will just have to back the coach on to make it work, 

With the car on, It was just a slow gentle roll forwards, till it sat on the front legs,

I can take a chair under and work comfortably under the Coach, Now quite safely,

I think its more 14 to 15 MPG, But even 14 MPG is quite outstanding for the weight of it, I am very pleased with the economy of it,



Attachments
__________________
Cheers, Brian,
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Click here for the Grey Nomads website -> The Grey Nomads Forum -> Show us your rig -> Finally on the road, My Coach,
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us
Purchase Grey Nomad bumper stickers Read our daily column, the Nomad News The Grey Nomad's Guidebook