What advice can you give me for my first experience/trip with a Prevost?

Next weekend we're racing at Gingerman Raceway in lower Michigan, near South Haven. We live in Grafton, north of Milwaukee. I found a Prevost an early 90's 40' Country Coach between Appleton and Green Bay to rent for the weekend. We're going to pull our 24' enclosed trailer with the #90 Heilig-Meyers Ford in it; owner of the bus says he regularly pulls a trailer as heavy as mine, has a trailer brake controller up front. My insurance agent has given me written assurance that we have full hull and liability coverage.

From home to where I-65 splits from I-90/94/80 I'm very familiar with the road. From that point to the race track, I've only traveled it once in the last ten years.

We'll have GPS and maps available to Cathie in the co-pilots seat.

I have an I-Pass ... can I just put the bus and trailer into the I-Pass and bypass the toll booths?

We're picking the bus up full of fuel, so I won't have to worry about fueling with the trailer on until we've dropped the trailer and are returning the bus.

I'll have an opportunity to drive it for 80 or 90 miles from where I pick it up to home; much of that on two lane state highways and going through small towns. I'm planning on wide corners, minimal backing up, running the speed limit, maintaining lots of distance between me and the next vehicle.

We expect to spend Friday and Saturday night in the bus, racing on Saturday, travel home on Sunday, and return it on Sunday.

Any thoughts, warnings, suggestions? Thanks!

Dick, the biggest thing is just to relax and enjoy. You will find out how easy these things drive, and the trip will only firm up your resolve to acquire your and Cathie's very own coach. You will not even notice the trailer other than the increased length and you watch corners and backing the same way you do with your truck. I don't know about the I-Pass as we don't use one. Good luck at the track and again thanks for all your help at RA. Let me know how everything went.

Dick, Just be very aware of all the weight when coming to a stop. My experience has been that the jake brake on the 8V92 is not quite as strong as the jake on the Series 60. Also there is a significant difference in the way the Prevosts with and without ABS perform. They all perform great, but different. Enjoy the trip.

Dick, take your time, drive reasonably slow, swing wide, give yourself proper stopping time, AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR FLASHERS! Most folks respect the fact that your are attempting an unusual manuver (sp) when your 4 way flashers are on. You should be fine. Enjoy the ride

Keep the rig for an extra week and come to the SVRA Gold Cup race at VIR the following weelend,I will be taking 2 of my customers and myself with stock cars,a Ganasi,a Petty and a BAM car,all are 06 road race Dodges.I have never been to Gingerman but have been to Road America and to Mid Ohio several times.

Hi Dick. The first thing you will want to do is to walk around the entire coach prior to your trip. Check your tire pressures, look for loose awnings, check your antenna is down, check all brake lights, signal lights and running lights, and so on. Windshield wipers and wiper fluid are important. You should have a basic lesson on checking coolant level, oil level, trans level, and power steering levels in the coach. Know where the batteries are and where the circuit breakers and resets are. Spend some time in the drivers seat. Get accustomed to the gauges, all the switches, and so on. Check your mirrors, and adjust before leaving. Check the leveling system to make sure your in driving level. You should know what the normal transmission temp and engine temp will be when puling a trailer. Spend at least a half an hour going over the inside switches for lights, water pumps, heating, cooling, etc. If you have a recorder, use it when your doing your tour around the bus with the owner. There is a lot of systems to these buses, and every bus is different . Also, keep several phone numbers in your cell phone for Prevost customer support, the owners phone number, and a tow service who knows how to tow a bus. Just in case.

Good information from Gary

Im amazed u found a private party to rent u 1. Good for U hope u have a great time.

Dick, I haul a 21' stacker behind our coach and drive race cars as well. Give me a shout and I will send you a private message with a phone number so we can chat about this a bit.

Dick, your coach description lends me to believe the bus is Detroit 8V-92 two stroke equipped. Along with what GaryD said above, get to know where the engine coolant and pyrometer gauges are on the dash. These two gauges will be your best friends while towing a heavy trailer especially. Exhaust pyros show exhaust temps, the hotter the exhaust caused by burning more fuel, the likelyhood of heating up the coolant faster is there. Keep the coolant temps under 200 degrees. This era of coach, which is like ours, towing a heavy trailer may require you to choose to manually shift transmission down to keep engine rpms up to spin the direct drive radiator fan as fast as you can for maximum radiator cooling. Have fun.

According to the owner its an 8V-92. Thanks to all for the advice and counsel!

Hi Dick,

You might also consider a quick spin through a large parking lot or industrial park where you can practice turns in a low pressure environment. Watch your mirror so you can see the curb / rear tire relationship and adjust how wide you swing until you get it perfect. I know for me, the feeling of sitting in front of the front wheels was the biggest difference I noticed from other vehicles I've driven. If you are not familiar with air brakes a quick review of the DOT air brake manual is enlightening.

Enjoy!
Dan

Made it home to Grafton last night from Kaukauna without incident. I impressed myself by backing the bus into the driveway in one continuous motion! I wonder if I'll be that luck on Sunday when I return with the trailer from Gingerman.Attachment 11387

Thanks for all the advice and counsel.

Hi Dick, Enjoy the trip! You'll have to let us know if you enjoy driving the bus as much as the race car. I know it's a toss up for me (love 'em both!). Actually, in some ways the bus is a little more challenging to execute perfectly rev matched heel/ tow down shifts due to its Spicer non-synchronized gear box. At least the engine is in the back like the 911.

safe travels and racing
Dan

Uneventful trip. Everything went fine. Few things on the 23 bus that we struggled with, but we made do. Found it easy to drive, easier than I thought it would be. Thanks for all advice and suggestions.

It had an automatic Allison, shifting was easy! Besides taking a while to get going (especially towing the race trailer) and a while to stop (especially towing the race trailer), the biggest thing I have to get accustomed to is sitting so far forward and not sensing "where we are pointed". No long hood of a car or truck us indicate where we're headed.

Dick

Dick, now you can just imagine a 60 series and IFS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coreygrubb

Dick, now you can just imagine a 60 series and IFS.

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My thoughts exactly!

Didn't write down the mileage. According to MapQuest we put on 687 miles. Used 119.2 of diesel for 5.76 MPG. The fuel gauge showed above "full" when I filled, was on the "full line" when I picked the bus up. We ran the generator once for about 2 hours or so. Is that mileage typical for an 8V92 DDEC? Pulling a 10,000# trailer.

That is great numbers for what u did.