Wanderloge Wannabe

[Jeff Miller]

I'll happily address your power and spring issues, having owned
several coaches in that year range with turbo and no-turbo, leaf and
air springs.

The leaf srpings (in good shape) ride a little rougher, corner
slightly flatter. They are a little lighter (weight) than the later
air-spring coaches, but that is true mostly of each upgrade/year of
coach as they constantly gained weight and complexity.

The leaf springs don't leak air, but also can't be dumped to lower
the coach and to help level it.

As far as turbo and non-turbo, this too depends. In an early 3208
FC31 you will be close to 24,000lbs fully loaded, in an '82 FC35
roughly another 10,000lbs. If mountain driving is something you'll
frequently encounter, or pulling a large trailer, you'll want to stay
away from the '82 FC35, the worst power-to-weight raito made. I was
able to tackle 14% grades and top 10,000' altitude in the '77 FC31,
so you can still go most places just more slowly.

In '83 they added the turbo, taller gears, and the retarder, all rare
but occasional add-ons to earlier coaches, and much improved the
driveability of the coach even in rolling terrain, and the taller
gearing saves the engine a lot of piston travel/mile (and noise). It
also brought several other changes including better sound insulation
on the engine.

The retarder is the other third of the '83 turbo upgrade, allows you
to descend grades with a great deal more safety and typically at
higher speeds as the retarder will hold your speed in higher gears
than the engine alone and your brakes are ready for any emergency. An
add-on exhaust brake (Pac-Brake et al) have in my experience been
largely ineffective in comparison.

The best way to sum it up however isn't what features you want, but
to decide what you need and your budget. If your needs don't include
a lot of mountains but you want a good low-dollar dependable coach,
giving up a little ride quality and getting a late-'70s diesel with
enough noney left over to maintain and operate the coach would IMO be
the best bet. If flatland travel and slow travel are in your future,
you might be able to get into the larger bathroom of the '82 for a
chunk less money than an '83 turbo.

It has been my experience that even if you have to buy less coach
than you want, buying one in better condition and leaving money on
the table for repairs/upgrades is a much better decision. Most of my
Wanderlodges (all bought used) have consumed between 50% and 100% of
the price I paid for the coach to make it just the way I want
it, "your mileage may vary".

- Jeff Miller
http://www.wanderlodge.net
http://www.millercoachworks.com


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Craig Schwartz"
wrote:
> After researching RV's for several months I've concluded I want my
own
> Wanderlodge, both as a vehicle in which to travel, and also to
> experiment with living (mostly) off the utility grid. There are a
few
> obstacles, and quite a few questions. I'd welcome your comments and
> advice about the question and concerns I've listed below.
> - thank you,
> Craig - (early 80's) 31 or 33 FC , or TBD.
>
> p.s. Ideal coach would be early 1981-1985 31, or 33, with a
> broken head (I'd replace it with a composting toilet),
> and set up for solar panels.
>
> Questions:
> * How hard is it to fix a broken waterline behind the shower. How
> does one get to it.
>
> * do the people with the non-turbo engines wish they had one ?
>
> * how much difference is there between airbag suspension (1981 ++)
> and the older spring models.
>
> * how important (and in what situations) is an aux. brake retarder ?
>
> Obstacles
> (the big one!) I have no place to park it, and would be
> full-timing. I have thus far found no places near where I live
> that
> would rent (very few RV parks). I'm not willing to live with the
> uncertainty of street parking, having to move every 2 days and
> wonder when I went off to work during the day if my home will
> be towed. Any ideas about finding a parking place ?
>
> Cost
> I'm limited to the ebay price range for early 80's vehicles.
> This makes it difficult to assess the condition of the coach,
> and of course raises the risk of unafordable repairs. any
> ideas on how to find out what I'd be buying, or signs about
> what I should avoid ?