Motorhome builds

Tom/Barb wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:
A couple of years ago, my buddy and I (both retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineers and Certified Welders) were at the RV Show in Tampa, Fl. They had a Prevost shell there. Well, we were inside for about 10 minutes when we were asked to leave. I guess they did not like us pointing to the welds and laughing. I swear my 12 year old Grandson could lay a better bead down. For what they charge we were shocked at what we saw! Some of the welds looked like someone chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on there.

In what procedures and metals are you qualified? Lots of people say they're "certified"--but for what?

By no means will I say that I'm an expert and I'm not going to list any or all of my certs but I am certified to weld High Pressure Steam piping up to 1,200 psi.

That's excellent welding. Thanks for the response.

Most folks not in the industry do not realize that a Nuclear Pipe and plate welder must re-qual every 90 days. I haven't in 15 years.

I was a boilermaker out of Local 1 Chicago and was qualified in many high pressure processes and did lots of welding in fossil and nuclear powerhouses, refineries, chemical plants, steel mills etc. When I was sent out on a job as steward one of my responsibilities was making sure the contractors kept the hands' welding qualifications up to date

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:
A couple of years ago, my buddy and I (both retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineers and Certified Welders) were at the RV Show in Tampa, Fl. They had a Prevost shell there. Well, we were inside for about 10 minutes when we were asked to leave. I guess they did not like us pointing to the welds and laughing. I swear my 12 year old Grandson could lay a better bead down. For what they charge we were shocked at what we saw! Some of the welds looked like someone chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on there.

In what procedures and metals are you qualified? Lots of people say they're "certified"--but for what?

By no means will I say that I'm an expert and I'm not going to list any or all of my certs but I am certified to weld High Pressure Steam piping up to 1,200 psi.

That's excellent welding. Thanks for the response.

Most folks not in the industry do not realize that a Nuclear Pipe and plate welder must re-qual every 90 days. I haven't in 15 years.

Lot of pictures on this site of bluebirds(school bus builder) on their side - rolled upright and went on their way Needed all new glass and maybe totalled but intact and drivable.
Millions of children are delivered, millions of miles a year -in complete safety . No motorhome would ever pass the most rudimentary school bus test.
BTW I am a school bus driver

TugCE wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:
A couple of years ago, my buddy and I (both retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineers and Certified Welders) were at the RV Show in Tampa, Fl. They had a Prevost shell there. Well, we were inside for about 10 minutes when we were asked to leave. I guess they did not like us pointing to the welds and laughing. I swear my 12 year old Grandson could lay a better bead down. For what they charge we were shocked at what we saw! Some of the welds looked like someone chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on there.

In what procedures and metals are you qualified? Lots of people say they're "certified"--but for what?

By no means will I say that I'm an expert and I'm not going to list any or all of my certs but I am certified to weld High Pressure Steam piping up to 1,200 psi.

That's excellent welding. Thanks for the response.

I grew up riding a school bus with a metal bar in front of my teeth on the seat in front of me and no seat belts, and I think my kids rode in the same style bus - at what point did they get safe?

I never hear of any good results in a school bus crash.

You want safe? buy a 'passenger rated' crash tested motorhome ...... good luck because school buses and greyhounds are the only ones.
The rest are basically a garden shed ,and look like a garden shed after a upset.Pink insulation and all your stuff up and down the interstate.
Why are they not required to be crash tested? Look what the ones that are cost, thats why.

If you want safest motorhome,build one from old schoolie bus

http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/busing/p_safest.html

School buses are designed to protect passengers on board from impact. To accomplish this, just about every feature of this design was specifically chosen to reduce the effects of a collision. School buses are required to have increased body strength by the provision of horizontal full length impact rails located at the shoulder, cushion, floor levels and lower shirt levels. In addition to the sheer size of the bus, the floors are raised protecting the students by having them sit above the impact zone where an automobile would typically hit a school bus. The bus is further protected from side impacts with the design of the windows, shaped small enough to prevent passengers from being ejected from the vehicle.

The school bus is specifically designed to reduce the shock of impact with a moveable structure. In order to absorb the energy of a collision the bus is structured to be able to slide up to 12 inches along the chassis frame.

There are also rollover precautions put into the school bus design that reduce the risk of serious injury caused if the bus were to roll. The interior of the bus is a smooth rounded shell, free from sharp edges. The goal of this design is to ensure that the energy from an impact is absorbed by the entire body and not just certain areas. There are also various emergency exits placed on both sides of the bus, the back, and an escape hatch on the roof.

Heres a Fine example

https://youtu.be/o7X2nOtwdUM

irishtom29 wrote:

TugCE wrote:
A couple of years ago, my buddy and I (both retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineers and Certified Welders) were at the RV Show in Tampa, Fl. They had a Prevost shell there. Well, we were inside for about 10 minutes when we were asked to leave. I guess they did not like us pointing to the welds and laughing. I swear my 12 year old Grandson could lay a better bead down. For what they charge we were shocked at what we saw! Some of the welds looked like someone chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on there.

In what procedures and metals are you qualified? Lots of people say they're "certified"--but for what?

By no means will I say that I'm an expert and I'm not going to list any or all of my certs but I am certified to weld High Pressure Steam piping up to 1,200 psi. As a Chief Engineer on a Sea Going Vessel, it's up to us o make any and all repairs to keep the vessel moving. I've had some of my welds check via x-ray once we came back to port and they passed. As for the welds in this RV Shell, if anyone that has ever laid a bead down could look at those welds and say WOW, there great, I would be very worried about them. To me if this is what they use as a display, I worry about what we could not see.

You can add Foretravel to the list of safe coaches on the older versions especially as they were monoque construction. The slide rooms made them more semi but they have rolled and have been driven again though if they were older the fiberglass cost to reglass the side was more then the value.

Ivylog wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:

In what procedures and metals are you qualified? Lots of people say they're "certified"--but for what?

I'm not a certified welder but I've burned a bunch of rods and now even a fair amount of wire. You do not need to be "certified" to know a bad weld when you see one assuming you do more than just rock on the porch.

X-ray eyes? Many a bad weld appears good from the surface, with slag, porosity and poor penetration unseen. And some gorilla welds are structurally sound. Granted, some welds are obviously bad; wagon tracks, grapes,lack of penetration, undercut etc.