Prevost Conversions

[moisheh]

Thanks for the replies. As a Bluebird iwner the batural progression is to either a more modern Bird or a Prevost. A Foretravel is not in the same class. I thought that none of the pre 02 XL,s had delam as they were riveted. Tha Xl2,s were not. I will be in Arizona for a month and plan on looking at some Prevost units. Even a 45 ft.

[RVRon]

Originally Posted by moisheh

I will be in Arizona for a month and plan on looking at some Prevost units. Even a 45 ft.

Be careful Moisheh...there is no cure.....

[moisheh]

Thanks Ron. My wife will be the anti prevost!

[Ivylog]

OP, I would not worry about going to a 45’ rig. We recently went from a 42’ Dynasty to a 45’ Navigator...had not hit a curb in years at 42’ but it took several months to not in the 45’. During the summer we stay mainly in USFS CGs and 90% of the time we get into our first choice without a reservation... just finished 7 weeks out West and only once did we not get a site. In those 7 weeks I was the only rig over 39’ in a CG without FHUs.

I consider my RR10S chassis a poor man’s Prevost with outboard airbags and rock solid handling...same for Newell and Foretravel too but at a lot lower cost. Yes, parts and service on a Prevost are available everywhere but in 100K miles only once was I delayed and that was for Cummins parts.

[PorscheLover]

Originally Posted by Mark D

I did follow a thread a few years back where I read that a coach builder, I believe Marathon could do a total remodel and update for 250k. Now yes the material and labor will most likely be much less but you are also buying years of experience and making mistakes that creates what you want. So the layout and finish should be superior. That may be something we look at, find a triple slide bath and half that is worn out inside and have it redone. For that to work for me I would need to find one for 350 to 400k so all in its 750k. Not cheap but would be a fraction of the 2 million of a new one.

As far as the toilet question. We have a bath and a half. The half bath is right over the tank and the rear bath has a 20' or so run to the black tank. Both toilets are maserator toilets so it 95% liquid when it starts its trip. Dumping is also easy, black tank looks like chocolate milk. The only issue we had with plugging up is at the actual toilet. That is rare and mostly due to putting paper towel in the toilet. Easy to unclog, shut water off, flush and plunge at the same time and it clears.

Good luck on which ever path you take.

You can get a very nice Prevost for $400k. I bought an 06 LX2 from Marathon in Florida for $390k. Not sure what would need to be done to get it up to $750k. It’s practically brand new as it is. Call Kasey at Marathon. He’s the sales guy who I now consider a friend as well. The entire crew is so nice there.

There is an H3-45 at Marathon Florida which sold for $3mil to a consortium of rap musicians (can you say a rapper is a musician?). They totally trashed it according to the Marathon folks, and have left it there for a couple years with an unpaid repair bill. According to the person I talked to, it’s worth “nothing”. I want to say it’s maybe a 2010 model, so probably an $800k coach if in good shape. Maybe you want to call them to see if you can arrange to buy it for cheap and renovate. Supposedly the rap folks have another coach they use so maybe they’d sell this one for less than market value.

[Coldjensens]

This is possibly the most informative and useful threads I have found on IRV2. Thank you for your input.

We are still working on our plans. Pretty well more sold on a DD S60 than ever. Not only for longevity, but better torque, and there are hundreds of thousands, possibly millions on them on the road. if you want to get sold on the DDAD S60, talk to people in the commercial trucking industry.

Really our decision will come down to Prevost, Monaco/beaver/Hr or possibly but unlikely Bluebird. Some really strong points have been made here for the Prevost. We are still looking for one we do not hate inside. Of course cost is going to be a factor. A lot will depend on the coming recession. How bad and bow long it is. I do not get to come back to IRV2 all that often because i am focused on fixing up the house to sell and all the rest of life.

If we can find a Prevost with a nice homey interior, then we can get away with just a few upgrades. Toilets, Shower (probably), maybe entertainment items like TVs and music. Carpet and furniture can be replaced over time. May need to replace the drivers and passenger seats.

Even after we settle down from the honeymoon period (new FT RVers tend to driver around a lot for the first three years then settle down), we will likely drive quite a lot of miles each year. Our primary purpose is to allow us to spend time with our children who have scattered all over the county (Denver, Maryland, Austin, Michigan, and probably either New Orleans, New York or Chicago (some Jazz oriented place). The nicer months we will travel to pretty places that get cold Canada, Maine, Michigan's UP, Alaska etc. We also have a lot of close friends all over California that we want to see again.

The ability to carry more weight is a big factor for me. I have heavy hobbies (axe and knife throwing, atlatl, bicycling, kayaking). That is a major reason we moved away from roomier 5th wheels.

Kind of an amusing side issue just came up. my wife wants to bring her chickens along. I am puzzling over how that might be practical. Maybe a box mounted on one of those platform things in the back, to in the based of the gladiator we will tow along. Probably not practical, will a campground allow you to have chickens? I guess that is best asked in some other thread. Sorry, just thinking out looud.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Of course cost is going to be a factor. A lot will depend on the coming recession.
Recession? what decade are you in?
Bring chickens along? Really?

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Ernie Ekberg

Of course cost is going to be a factor. A lot will depend on the coming recession.
Recession? what decade are you in?
Bring chickens along? Really?

Yes. There is a recession coming. Large businesses are planning for it. I am in the current decade which is at the end of an overly long economic boom. It is time for the cycle to cycle. I do not know which experts say what as far as timing, but all of them know a recession is coming. the experts our company rely on anticipate 2022 - 2024. It could come sooner if something happens to trigger it.

Yes. She would like to bring chickens along. not much different than a parrot or dog. Except chickens are quieter, less messy, less destructive.

i am not sure whether it is possible. However it is not outside the realm of consideration.

I used to take my cockatoo camping all over the country. But that was in a tent.

[moisheh]

I think you should buy a skoolie
Goes with the chickens.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Originally Posted by moisheh

I think you should buy a skoolie
Goes with the chickens.

TOUCHE'

[HJLowell]

Every second of every day around the world.
Markets and commodities trade up and down.
99 percent of the worlds population never know the deference.
Many a millionaire are made during the down turns.

Many that ride high and live High during the
Up swings are sometimes the first to loose it all.

Ones Attitude lives forever.

Chickens ???
Everyplace we have ever camped we have found local fresh brown mostly eggs within a few miles of our site. And made some nice friends with the producers growers.
I just picked up 4 dozen this am.
My wife hard boiled a dozen of them.

[Coldjensens]

She likes chickens as pets. Loves their quirky personality. The fact they poop breakfast is just a plus.

After some more hunting we found many conversions by Royale that we liked. Anyone have anything to say about Royale?

Also there was one by superbus and one by outlaw that were OK. might be nice to look at some more of theirs.



I did nto find any converted by Monaco. Nor did I found any quite as nice (to us) inside as Monaco/HR/Beaver. Too many look like a hospital or an office or hotel room inside. And what the heck is with all the mirrors on the ceilings?

Some of them have dark yellowish upholstry (leather?) It loks really bad like someone peed on white furniture. Does white upholstry turn yellow like that or was it intentional?

[cinitall]

I believe the Royale conversions were done by Monaco, you might also want to look for the Country Coach Prevost conversions.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by cinitall

I believe the Royale conversions were done by Monaco, you might also want to look for the Country Coach Prevost conversions.

I did but only online. I could not find one-near me. They were all plasticy and chrome and glass. Maybe I was not looking at the right year for country coach. I do not remember the year, but I put in 2002 - 2009, so they were somewhere in that range. Here is what we looked at so far in person and/or online:

Liberty; American Carriage; Legendary; Outlaw (one was not horrible, the other was.); Country Coach; Mellinium (these were better than most, but still not what we are looking for); Royale (hooray!); Parliment; Marathon; Featherlight (some of these were OK); Vision (older looked like a camper inside); Superbus (not bad but hideous on the outside).

Thanks, I looked it up Royal is by Monaco. That explains why we like them I think. they have a decent interior. A bit clunky. the Moanco and especially Beaver was a lot more refined and elegant, but still homey. Still of all the Prevosts the Royale is closest to what we want. My wife is still undecided. She will say if that would make me happy that is what we will get, then she will inch by inch nudge us back to the one she likes best.