Prevost Coach Motor Home - Guided Tour

 My friend Tristan who is also a member of my newsletter was passing through town and invited me to come and have a look at his 1995 Prevost Coach. I took some snapshots so I could share them here and show everyone how much quality goes into these units. Marathon Coach Inc. is a bus conversion company that turns the Prevost into a high end motorhome. After taking the tour I was very impressed with the quality that goes into these rigs. His car is out of site being towed on a trailer. He mentioned that parking is limited with a bus this size so he has to plan ahead for each destination carefully plotting out an accessible route.

The hot and cold water system is all stainless and obviously plumbed  by a professional. It doesn't look like a 16 year old coach with absolutely no indication of any corrosion. The Marathon Coach factory must have very well trained employees and/or licensed tradesman working for them.

The Diesel Engine is a 500 Horespower Detroit Series 60. The air bag you see here at the fan drive pulley on the left adjusts the belt tension automatically. I'm thinking the fan drive is actuated only when needed saving horespower and wear. I've never seen this set up before which made it obvious that these bus manufacturers put a lot of thought into the design and installation of the components. Everything is very accessible and Mechanic friendly. 

This alternator puts out a maximum of 270 Amps. I didn't take enough notes and can't tell you the model of this unit (maybe a Delco?), but I can tell you that it's a workhorse and is oil lubricated for good reason. I can't imagine how much heat this alternator develops keeping up to the demands of the DC system. 

Have you ever seen wiring prettier than this? (CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE) It's open and laid out with easy access in front of the steering axle. The routing is nicely done and makes wire tracing a breeze. I could not find any signs of corrosion anywhere. The steering box below is easy to get to along with the transmission vehicle interface module. Usually you have to stand on your head to gain access to these components. Speaking of transmissions this rig has an Allison New World 4000 Series automatic transmission. We're talking heavy duty drive train and axles to support the big load of the Prevost. 

This is the rear electrical panel in the engine compartment similar to the front end panel. Troubleshooting is much easier with this kind of layout. The terminals are all easily accessible and the wiring schematics are attached to the access doors. I would be very surprised if there were any shorts or open circuits with this bus after looking at the wire routing and the quality of the circuit board installations.

Last but not least is the manuals that came with the bus. Tristan has them neatly stored in this cargo bay along with his tools next door. He's a licensed Mechanic and does all his own repairs saving a heap of money in the process. Without manuals a Mechanic is shooting in the dark especially with the variety of technical systems to be dealt with on this bus.