First of all, thanks to Gear Jammer for posting the original thread that I was about to hijack. I am also looking for a GV and have located one in Oklahoma City that looks ok but the problem is trying to get the owner to provide any info. They said that they want to sell but seem reluctant to provide any info. I found it here on facebook marketplace:
www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/432938653978708
It looks pretty good but I cant tell from the photos. Does anybody have any info on this coach? Is it possible to tell what frame is under it from the photos? I'm new to Foretravels although I've been researching them for quite some time. Thanks to all for any insights.
Cubman I'm about 30 miles away and would be happy to go look at it with you. Your profile doesn't say where you are.
It appears to be an O22C (Oshkosh) with the short bay doors and the latches at the top is the give away, combined with the year.
Mike
Thanks for the offer. I'm in the Ft. Worth area. If I can get some response from the owner I'll be sure to take you up on the offer.
Jeff
I read on another threat that the Oshkosh frames do not have problems with the bulkhead. Is this true? If so what kind of problems might I come across that could be a deal breaker?
Water intrusion.
That coach has springs and also hydraulic brakes just so that you know.
Are springs and hydraulic brakes a bad thing for motor homes?
No, but air bags and air brakes are better
IMHO
It may ride a little harsh and stop only fair. Drive it a bit before you discount it tho.
The Detroit Fuel Pincher engine is very low on power...if you're not going to tow that may be fine, but just know that you will be in the slow lane on any grades.
Juice brakes stop hard from speed once. Maybe twice. That's with fresh brake fluid.
Springs are bouncy.
8,2 does not like big grades.
Several of our older fire trucks had juice brakes. Some stopped OK, others didn't. The air drums on the later apparatus were 10" wide and the trucks could easily lock up all 6 wheels without any effort. They did have more fade and that's the drums big failing.
All of our trucks had springs but the shocks worked well and gave a good ride. Our big out of town response OES International had a driver's seat with a shock absorber and had a great ride. I remember the day we put it in service. We had a call down by the beach about 3 in the morning and with the very tall cab. it seemed like a real slug. The captain looked over at me and said "won't this go any faster?." That was what I though as it seemed we going about 40 mph and then looked down at the speedo. 86 mph. Drum brakes and a 6 speed Allison with retarder so it stopped really well unless you had to do it several times in a short period.
Pierce
That FB ad is posted by Carter's Auto "Commerce Profile" If you look closely he sells boats, cars, etc. on FB Marketplace.
Sounds like the GV was for personal use for the last 6 years.
Good luck.
Just FYI there are several different qualities of DOT 3 and DOT 4 brake fluid that have wet boiling points from in the 250 plus degree to over 500 degree wet boiling point (wet boiling point is when the system has been opened and moisture allowed to absorb into the brake fluid--which is all wet brake systems) The best there was (3 years ago) was Castrol which had a wet boiling point of over 500 degrees. With a wet brake system the higher boiling point could mead the difference in stopping or not in a steep decline.
If I were traveling in a mountainous area with wet brakes I wouldn't use anything other than the high boiling point brake fluid.
Chris
Thanks for all the replies here folks but some of the jargon being used is unfamiliar to me. For instance fuel pincher...or O22C....I can figure out juice brakes. Please keep in mind that I'm here because I need expert advice and its a fairly steep learning curve. Im gonna have to ask what may appear to some to be stupid questions.
Is there an immediate way to tell an Oshkosh chassis Grand Villa from a non-Oshkosh chassis GV?
Oshkosh has one shock and 1 airbag at each corner.
Fore travel has 2 shocks and 2 airbags per corner.
Oshkosh storage doors tip down ,the cabinet is only about 28 in deep.
FT tip up with gas struts and the cabinet is very deep or full width.
Juice brakes require regular careful fluid changes as the fluid absorbs water vapor and then boils over a few years. Scary in mountains at speed. Trust me. Sold them new.
Slow careful drivers had lower problems.
Oshkosh faded also I used hard.
No substitute for the meritor disks and the retarder in the mountains or if you are a harder driver
The fuel pincher is what Detroit Diesel called the the 8.2 engine which is a v8 4 cycle engine. O22C is the designation for that particular Oskosh chassis.
Actually I meant from just looking at a picture. Visual clues. Thanks.
Oshkosh storage doors tip down ,the cabinet is only about 28 in deep. Hinged at bottom .
FT tip up with gas struts and the cabinet is very deep or full width. Hinged at top .
With experience you can tell but it takes time.
We owned a 1991 Grand Villa with the non airbag chassis for 15 years. This unit had the 250hp Cummins diesel that was absolutely trouble free and gave us 10mpg towing a jeep. Hills were not a problem unless you ended up having to slow down to the point that the transmission downshifted to third gear or lower somewhere around 30mph. If that happened, the transmission temps would soar because first, second, and third gears were through the converter while fourth and fifth were lock-up gears. The only times that would happen were if you had to slow down too much for other slower traffic. The spring chassis' ride was OK but probably not quite as good as one with air bags. One other negative I noticed was that our unit wandered and required constant correcting. Maybe an alignment issue, I never had it looked at.
Jim OMahony
2019 ih-45
2006 Mandalay
1991 GV
1985 GV
Ram 1500 toad
1986 GV
The 91 22c had a spicer 710 steering box that requires the steering box to be recentered after initial breakin. Fixed countless coaches wander