XLII side windows

[MangoMike]

At a rest area on the PA turnpike I saw a XLII tour bus with a temporary, not quite fit, window attached with a lot of duct tape. So there might be something to this shortage issue.

It seems that Bill Jensen, from Prevost, at Parumph mentioned a glass supplier problem.

[garyde]

What are they doing for windows on their production line? I would ask for more specific information. Does anyone know why Liberty, Marathon and Featherlite are Converting H3-45's at such a high rate, and very few XLII-45's. Is there something we should know? There was mention of more stainless panels peeling away in newer Prevosts. Has anyone seen this first hand?

[Loc]

Gary,

I think that the combination of Legendary going out of business and their XLII's gettting sold at firesale prices and Featherlite's blow out of XLII's at the end of 2007 has kind of trashed the market for the converters. At $975,000 it has to have a negative impact on converters who have coaches that list at $1.5 million plus. I think the converters moved to the H3 to avoid the pressure on profit with an XLII given all of the market comparable sales at less than $1 million. I wonder if Featherlite's current $995,000 price on H3's will have an impact on the H3 market as well.

Loc

[jack14r]

Another factor in the quantity of XLII conversions is that the DPF filter takes up space in the rear of the coach since the XLII does not have a flat floor it cramps the far side of the bed.Prevost did not address this issue until recently and they are moving the rear slide forward(I think 12 inches) which will allow enough room for a person to get around a king size bed.I was told that one converter would not purchase any shells until this change had been made.I think that Featherlite will only build H's for inventory and XLII's will be sold orders.I have heard that Marathon and Liberty will continue to build XLII coaches for inventory.It has been reported that the XLII would be discontinued,at the TN rally I asked the Prevost factory rep this question and he said that they sold about 30-40% XLIIs and even though the entertainer market would be changing to the new X coach the XLII would stay in the line for the foreseeable future.

[Alan__]

They are a bugger to remove. They cut them off with an air tool as they are glued on with Sikh (sp) mastic to the frame plus adjoining rubber seal between next window or frame. If the guy's attention wanders he nicks either the next window (and blows it out) or the fiberglass (and chews out a chunk). Not a job for Dale and Ray on two ladders!

[Coloradobus]

Our "H" side windows have a frame that hinges at the top. There is a rubber grommet-like rope that holds the pane in the frame from the interior side, like XLI windshields. Bolt the bottom into the coach and window is in. The new "H" have glued in flush windows like the XLII.
And, the above is correct. When Prevost changes bodystyles in a couple of the years, we were told last October during the factory tour, the XLII may go away.

[Ray Davis]

Not a job for Dale and Ray on two ladders!

Alan, just give me a sledge harmmer, and I'll have that window out in a couple of minutes, flat!!


ray

[rickdesilva]

I had a stationary side window replaced with an awning window, the cost brought me to my knees.

[phorner]

I'm at Prevost in Jacksonville and they have 2 XLII busses in getting re-skinned.

Apparently there are still plenty of coaches needing to be repaired. It was explained to me that the original adhesive had a tendency to become brittle over time, and then crack due to the expansion and contraction of the stainless, resulting in the problem. The question is; do all XLII's with the suspect adhesive have the potential to fail?

The replacement stainless is evidently installed using a different adhesive that stays more pliant, allowing the expansion and contraction of the panels without causing damage to the bond.

Also, a couple we met here with an '01 XLII discovered 2 windows with a small crack in each. They said the quote was in excess of $4,000 to replace them....

So they are staying cracked for the time being...

First time here and so far I'm impressed. The technicians have been very accommodating when answering my many questions and making sure that I can see for myself exactly what is being done and why. So far, the learning experience has been worth at least an hour or two of labor charges

[phorner]

Well, I had mentioned the couple that had been quoted 4 grand to replace 2 cracked windows in their XLII......

So, the rest of their story was about their slide. They have a single slide XLII.

On their way to a service appoint, while driving at 65 mph in the passing lane northbound on I-95, the bus parking brake suddenly applied, bringing the bus, toad, and everything else to a REAL FAST stop.... they managed to wrestle the bus to the median on the left before coming to a complete halt. The first suspicion was a blown tire, but they then realized that "somehow" the parking brake had been applied.

With no damage, except to the nerves, they released the parking brake and proceeded to Prevost for their scheduled appointment.

After much discussion and determination as to exactly what they had, they were told "oh, you've got one of those"

Apparently, their coach was designed so that the parking brake was sensing the slide out position, the theory being that it would prohibit you from driving off with the slide extended. However, they had apparently lost just enough air pressure to confuse the system and make it apply the parking brake, thinking that the slide was extended.

They were instructed to have the system disabled immediately, apparently they were not the first to have this experience.

So, if anyone believes that you have such a "safety" feature on your bus, you are encouraged to remedy this problem as these folks did.