Any concept owners still out there

[Mrapp14]

New owner of a 97 concept even pushing 25 years old its an amazing bus inside n out .would like to hear from any of you still riding in style 😎

[Lacota]

Great looking coach. I envy the shop you must store it in. What power do you have?
Have some great travels.
Best, Don

[spinroch]

That is Beautiful!

[cntrylife]

Yep... we love ours
But yours looks way better. U will have an 8v92 or a series 60 detroit.
Let us know what questions you have as Russ, myself and others have been through just about everything on a concept.... a couple times

[Mrapp14]

Originally Posted by cntrylife

Yep... we love ours
But yours looks way better. U will have an 8v92 or a series 60 detroit.
Let us know what questions you have as Russ, myself and others have been through just about everything on a concept.... a couple times

I can tell by the build of this thing it will be the last coach we will ever need , It has a Detroit 60 series in it a 105000 miles. Still trying to find 0 on it its got a lot of systems thatI was unaware of when we purchased I think that's a good thing... Not sure if the bus air works as I thought I had charging problems on the way home from Texas to Ohio someone had just put in new batteries and new twin zantac inverters , The only way I have any 12 V in the house is with the Ignition in on position I don't think that's correct. But outside of that we love this thing so far haven't made our 1st trip yet But it won't be long. But the thing is it's in our driveway and it's paid for so that's a superior bonus. Definitely good to hear there's still a few of us out here He's look forward to talking to you soon hopefully not about problems... lol

[pogoil]

Ours is a 1998 Concept Omega all electric 45 foot Series 60 Detroit. All systems work as designed. #5524.
I have learned a lot about this coach, electronics are a little complex for my skill set. Mine is on a Gillig chassis.
I have replaced the tires and am working on all air bags, all coolant hoses switched to silicone and extended life coolant. One day I will figure out how to post a picture.

[pogoil]

Mrapp14,
How many batteries did they put in and is yours all electric? Mine has 6- 8D batteries and I did forget my OTR air is inop too will fix it soon.

[Rsponsford]

Originally Posted by Mrapp14

New owner of a 97 concept even pushing 25 years old its an amazing bus inside n out .would like to hear from any of you still riding in style [emoji41]

Congratulations and welcome to the fold! We have a ‘90 Concept 36’ Antares and love it. Incredibly well built coaches and as Andrew said, between the two of us alone we have gone through nearly every system on these fine coaches. It’s a labor of love, sometimes bordering on insanity. I don’t log into this forum as often as I used to but please post anytime you have information to share or questions about your coach. No such thing as a stupid question and we all learn from each other.

[Rsponsford]

Originally Posted by Mrapp14

I can tell by the build of this thing it will be the last coach we will ever need , It has a Detroit 60 series in it a 105000 miles. Still trying to find 0 on it its got a lot of systems thatI was unaware of when we purchased I think that's a good thing... Not sure if the bus air works as I thought I had charging problems on the way home from Texas to Ohio someone had just put in new batteries and new twin zantac inverters , The only way I have any 12 V in the house is with the Ignition in on position I don't think that's correct. But outside of that we love this thing so far haven't made our 1st trip yet But it won't be long. But the thing is it's in our driveway and it's paid for so that's a superior bonus. Definitely good to hear there's still a few of us out here He's look forward to talking to you soon hopefully not about problems... lol

You are correct, other than some lighting and the over the road HVAC the ignition has almost nothing to do with having 12v to the house side of the coach. I’m assuming you had the Domestic Battery Disconnect Switch (DBDS, AKA “salesman switch”) in the ON position. If not, that would explain why you don’t otherwise have 12v power to the house/domestic side of the coach. If the DBDS was ON then it’s possible the switch is bad, or, the Domestic Battery Disconnect relay (a large relay controlled by the DBDS) has gone bad or is not functioning for some reason. The DBDS is just a remote switch to control the relay which is located inside your DC Distribution panel in the electrical bay. Start out with making sure the DBDS is working properly and then go from there. Circle back here with any questions anytime. You don’t have to become an electrical engineer but start developing a basic understanding of how the electrical systems work. Your coach basically has three separate but interconnected electrical systems. You will find other owners here are more than happy to share information and experience. Have fun with it!

Russ

[pogoil]

Hey Concept owners, my 1998 has 12 airbags, 10 are the same and the 2 tag lift bags are different. Gillig has the 10 common ones. $160 a bag, seems fair.
I have ordered some and was wondering if any of you has changed them out. How difficult is the job?


Thank you.

[Rsponsford]

Originally Posted by pogoil

Hey Concept owners, my 1998 has 12 airbags, 10 are the same and the 2 tag lift bags are different. Gillig has the 10 common ones. $160 a bag, seems fair.
I have ordered some and was wondering if any of you has changed them out. How difficult is the job?


Thank you.

I do most of the work on my Concept myself but I had a shop change out my air springs while they were already doing the front brakes. From what the shop told me it’s not too bad of a job as long as you have the proper (large/heavy duty) tools for the job. I’m assuming you have to remove the wheels. Make sure you place the jacks and stands in the proper locations on the frame so as not to tweak anything. If you are thinking of doing any of shocks this would be a good time to do that as well. That sounds like a good price from Gillig.

[deandec]

Originally Posted by Rsponsford

You are correct, other than some lighting and the over the road HVAC the ignition has almost nothing to do with having 12v to the house side of the coach. I’m assuming you had the Domestic Battery Disconnect Switch (DBDS, AKA “salesman switch”) in the ON position. If not, that would explain why you don’t otherwise have 12v power to the house/domestic side of the coach. If the DBDS was ON then it’s possible the switch is bad, or, the Domestic Battery Disconnect relay (a large relay controlled by the DBDS) has gone bad or is not functioning for some reason. The DBDS is just a remote switch to control the relay which is located inside your DC Distribution panel in the electrical bay. Start out with making sure the DBDS is working properly and then go from there. Circle back here with any questions anytime. You don’t have to become an electrical engineer but start developing a basic understanding of how the electrical systems work. Your coach basically has three separate but interconnected electrical systems. You will find other owners here are more than happy to share information and experience. Have fun with it!

Russ

Many Country Coach rigs have 300A inline fuses between the inverter and house batteries. On my rig the one in the battery compartment was blown by a Shop trying to charge my house batteries. I have two such fuses.

The result was no 12v power for the house side.

[davzcarz]

That is a beautiful Concept Mrapp14. It looks like it was well taken care of as well.

We love our '98 Concept Alpha 40'. The previous owner put in a slide in the living room, which is great. The Series 60 runs great and needed a few things but overall it is great. I overhauled our OTR air and it works but I am planning to replace the front dash unit so that I can get rid of the vacuum controls and vacuum pump.

I'm working on a complete electrical overhaul with new inverters and LiFePoe batteries. Hauling around 6 8D batteries is crazy but I guess with the overall weight of these coaches its not that big of a deal.

I started having some electrical gremlins and I had to replace the CC Compudigital Dash with the Silverleaf VMS 755 glass dash. Now the fuel gauge has stopped working.

[Mrapp14]

Thanks bud a little at a time is all I can do I retired early for a lot of reasons lol I've about got everything sorted out... new fridge was a must per the wife ac work is on hold since it's 30deg. Out side lol heat strips all work furnace seems to struggle I'll have those serviced in fla as I don't plan on using them much water is hot tho so I think it's a cerc pump issue did the silverleaf dash up date we are about ready to roll hope to see you on the road or camp sometime. Take it easy man.