Polished Stainless?

[jwm470]

I am a huge fan of Prevost and love the shiny stainless sides. To satisfy my need for shine on my BB, I polished all the pipes in the engine compartment of my Series 60. Does anyone here know if they are stainless or a lesser grade of steel that would need to be coated to prevent rust. There is a picture of David Brady's BB engine that had shiny pipes, so I thought he or another former BB owner may have the answer.
I attached a photo but it does not show up on the preview post option.

[cmillsap]

Which BB model do you have?
If I remember correctly the original exhaust on my (2) LXi was just plain steel and subject to rusting. It would have been difficult to polish them to a shiny finish. Both David and I replaced the complete original exhaust system with stainless steel pipes and in my case, a stainless muffler. I don't remember if David replaced with a stainless muffler or not.

Here's a source if you don't have stainless and want to replace your OEM exhaust. They have all the exhaust pipe configurations to completely replace the exhaust system on an Detroit Diesel S-60 engine.
http://www.bhtubes.com/shop/search.aspx?...mhe1867498

[davidbrady]

I think Jeff has a '95 WB, correct? I know that arcticdude recently had bhtubes do some stainless steel tubes for his '96. I also know that arcticdude wasn't particularly impressed with their fabrication of his tubes. He had to send them back a number of times due to fitment issues. Jeff, the tubes in your bird are all mild steel, so they will require protection from the elements. I went with stainless everywhere in my LXi: exhaust, cac, coolant, even the big 7" dia airtake inlet. Evidently money was no object back then! Ha!

BTW, I'd love to see a pic of your '95's engine compartment. Once you choose "Browse" to find your pic, then you need to select either "Update Attachment" or "Add Attachment" on the right hand side. This will cause the file to be uploaded.

[jwm470]

(04-25-2017 10:36)davidbrady Wrote:  I think Jeff has a '95 WB, correct? I know that arcticdude recently had bhtubes do some stainless steel tubes for his '96. I also know that arcticdude wasn't particularly impressed with their fabrication of his tubes. He had to send them back a number of times due to fitment issues. Jeff, the tubes in your bird are all mild steel, so they will require protection from the elements. I went with stainless everywhere in my LXi: exhaust, cac, coolant, even the big 7" dia airtake inlet. Evidently money was no object back then! Ha!

BTW, I'd love to see a pic of your '95's engine compartment. Once you choose "Browse" to find your pic, then you need to select either "Update Attachment" or "Add Attachment" on the right hand side. This will cause the file to be uploaded.

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David,

Your excellent memory and/or research skills are showing, my bus is a 95. All the pipes you replaced with stainless on your LXI, I removed and polished. I suspected they were mild steel, but was hoping someone would say otherwise. I also removed and polished the coolant tank, it is stainless, so no need for coating for that piece. The elbow going from the air intake inlet to the air filter was the only aluminum piece, so it will naturally tarnish like our wheels, but at this point it looks nice.
I enjoyed reading your post about how boring it is owning a Prevost, as they seem to need less immediate attention than your former BB. It took me 4 years of diligent searching to find a BB that I was willing to buy, and in my search I looked seriously at 2 Prevosts. Both were mid nineties S-60 Marathon conversions. I concour about the quality. One 50 mile test drive and it is evident Prevost are at the top of the heap. The ride was library quiet and so smooth that I was surprised when looking down at the speedometer I was driving at 80. It seemed like 60 which was the speed limit. Both were 45 foot coaches and the campgrounds we frequent barely hold our 42.5 BB.

[davidbrady]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the compliment. I'd still love to see a pic of your engine compartment if you have time. I'm sure it's beautiful. You can always apply a layer of clear to the pipes. The only problem is given the heat the clear is bound to yellow over time, which actually may not be bad.

With my family of six, we're creatures of habit. We travel to see my parents in Harrisburg Pa, we make a trip to Disney World, and we make a trip out west either to Colorado or California once per year, so I travel all the same roads and visit all the same CG's as I did in my LXi. What I notice is that even though SpongeBob is longer and taller, I have no problem parking him anywhere that I could get my LXi into. I think the cut angle of the IFS allows equal maneuverability of my larger coach. As with the LXi I find I am often more successful backing into tight spots. On roads that I needed to slow down on in the LXi I don't in SpongeBob. In fact I have yet to find a road that upsets the chassis. It simply eats up everything you throw at it! Some folks talk about extreme porpoising across the Mississippi I40 bridge at Memphis Tn, I don't notice a thing in SpongeBob as I barrel across at the speed limit plus some.

Wanderlodges are great coaches and I'll always fondly remember my ownership, but I also know that subconsciously for 10 years I tried to turn my LXi into a Prevost. I find this is still the case when I read the various forums. Folks in the Wanderlodge world are constantly experimenting with ride height, tag axle pressure, shock settings, larger air bags, etc. Many are reaching for more which to me means that many of these folks will eventually be Prevost owners, no matter what they say today! LOL!

[ERNIEE]

Wanderlodges are great coaches and I'll always fondly remember my ownership, but I also know that subconsciously for 10 years I tried to turn my LXi into a Prevost. I find this is still the case when I read the various forums. Folks in the Wanderlodge world are constantly experimenting with ride height, tag axle pressure, shock settings, larger air bags, etc. Many are reaching for more which to me means that many of these folks will eventually be Prevost owners, no matter what they say today! LOL!

took me 4 Wanderlodges to cross over to Prevost ownership. I was tired of the fighting the ride that didn't have the porpoisng of the bird

[cmillsap]

I must say I was quite satisfied with the ride and drivability of all 3 of the Wanderlodges that I have owned. Obviously, the ride and maneuverability of the M380 with the independent front suspension was an improvement over the LXi with the stick front axle. But all in all, both presented a very good ride. I do not see a big difference in the ride quality between a M380 and a Prevost XL2 excepting the advantages that the longer wheel base of the XL2 adds to the comparison. I suspect the M450 with the same length as the Prevost probably delivers a closer comparability in the ride characteristics.

In my opinion, the furniture and interior fixtures of the LXi is as good and better than what’s found in some converter models. The functional designs of the electrical systems are far better on a Prevost chassis as Bluebird was running years behind Prevost on applying state of the art electrical systems to their coaches. The brute strength of my LXi chassis provided my family and me superior protection compared to almost any other coach on the market, even today.

The primary reason I finally switched to a Prevost and to a Marathon specifically is because I wanted convenient nationwide service and repair facilities that knows how to repair a Prevost. I was tired of not having adequate service and repair facilities that I could rely on to help keep my ‘Birds running and in proper condition. So, every time I was on the road, I was stressed that if something broke on my Wanderlodge, would I be able to find someone that knows how to help me fix it. Further, whether I could find a replacement part for something that was broken. There are so many parts on a Wanderlodge that are not easy to find replacement parts for and that gets more critical each passing year.

Nowadays, a Wanderlodge owner is fortunate to find a repair facility that knows much about how to correctly repair a Wanderlodge. Most owners depend on online owner’s groups such as Wanderlodge Gurus and Wanderlodge Owners Group members to help them find and solve their coach problems. And sometimes that is a hit and miss proposition depending on the skills and familiarity of the person(s) trying to help an owner in distress.

Touring the country in a motorhome is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. With my Prevost Marathon, it is, I know if something needs “fixin”, it’s only a phone call away or a relative short drive to either a factory or authorized repair facility to quickly get me back on the road again.

[ERNIEE]

When I first visited the Prevost service center in Ft Worth, I cam back with the thought- finally a place to take the coach and folks know what they are doing. I always had to service my Wanderlodges- except the 97 when I had a truck stop do the oil change. Even then, the grumbling- we don't like motorhomes was evident

[davidbrady]

Sorry folks, that last post of mine was quite a bit of thread drift so I deleted it. I'll blame it on lack of judgment due to sleep deprivation. (Babysitting 1.5 year old)