Aaron Buckley wrote:
Considering we used club funds for the bus, what was the "GREAT" deal we got? What is the plan for the current bus? - AB
Certainly a fair request.
To put the answer into context, we've been eyeing various buses over the past year that go from $15k down to ~$5k, with every one of them well above 100k miles (and upwards of 250k in some cases) and in various conditions. Fundamentally, what we've seen is that most (successful) companies just don't get rid of these things until they're well used, and only then do they come down into the price range that THSCC could reasonably afford.
This bus, with 56,000 miles cost us $5,500. We were crossing our T's and dotting our i's through the whole process as the whole thing seemed too good to be true, but as we learned through the dealings, the owners needed the money badly and needed to get this bus sold to literally make it through the next week. We still think they under-priced it, and I think they realized it too as they had appointments lined up back to back for folks looking at it.
Re: shorter overhang - there's actually a couple interesting things in play with this. While the overhang of the passenger compartment is only slightly shorter (still has double doors from the old wheelchair lift behind the rear axles), it is shorter in 2 other areas:
- the bumper itself is much thinner and solid steel vs the thick plastic covered thing on the current bus. This alone brings the point at which the trailer ball can attach inwards by probably 6" or more
- the receiver mount is further under the bus, so that the ball isn't any further rearward than necessary.
Regardless though, we never would have thought that this only moderate improvement in wheelbase/overhang ratio would have made such a huge difference. But the undercarriage components are huge as well (and put the van in the 9-10,000 lbs range itself), and I think the combo of all these elements just make this rig THAT much better. This rig simply feels "planted" on the road, yet drives like a car (albeit a bit wider/longer). That's the ultimate combo, in my opinion.
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that V10.
.
That's a DAMN fine deal right there. Hats of to the folks who pulled this off. 
