Mobile Medical U320

Topic: Mobile Medical U320 (Read 910 times) previous topic - next topic

Mobile Medical U320

September 03, 2019, 12:51:26 am

Here me out. Help me with whatever experience you have.

We show horses. We live debt free but aren't rich. We have run out of luck in the $20k diesel pick up market. We're ready to move back to a mechanical engine. But we need pulling power and living quarters because we live in Florida part of the year and travel the other half the year. Basically part timers.

I first started by researching pre-EGR 18 wheelers to pull our existing trailer. But $10k doesn't get you much. We have set our budget at $20k. We will sell our existing vehicle after the purchase. We want to keep half our budget dedicated to repairs and updates. But $10k pre EGR 18 wheelers are roached. Now I'm onto the idea of selling not only our dually, but our beautiful EBY living quarters trailer. Sadly I figure $50k is about all they're worth. Maybe less. This makes me think I have about a $10k budget for an RV. We already bought a bumper pull trailer. It's 22' long tongue to tail. So 40' is our max.

Here's where it gets good. I found a 1994 U320 that is setup to be a mobile blood bank or some kind of medical facility on wheels. It's been out of commission for 3 years. The M11 has 59k miles. 7000 hours on the gen set. Has all the underpinnings of a luxury model. Everything from the floor down is identical to a full luxury upfit. Hot water, shore power, inverter etc. Inside is a custom layout. It has a great work station that easily becomes a huge kitchen area that has two large counters. There is no shower. Instead a changing room is in it's place. Upper cabinets are standard sliders like a luxury model. There is no bed or cabinets in the bedroom. It's basically an empty slate.

Controls and seats are standard. The exterior is nice with two full length awnings. Tires are out of date. Engine has a bit of blow by but nothing terrible. AC systems need updates. Air bags are dry rot. There are no cooking appliances. The floors are gross. It needs a full size fridge. The brakes need done. It needs new house batteries. The lights are depressing. Basically a genuine money pit.

I've been over this in my head and it's a lot to stomach. My gut says do it. My brain says WTF kind of money pit are you buying? How crazy am I to walk away from an $8k U370 with strong bones, zero rust, and a ton of potential that needs $8k in parts right off the bat?

And how much am I going to miss my light duty king ranch and a 20k lb trailer? If I sell the EBY trailer, I'll likely never find another one like it. But I'm thinking I can have this rig up and running for $16k and have a good cushion for issues.

My biggest concern is breaking down. This not an option with very expensive, very sensitive living animals that are freaking massive and like to run away irrationally. You cannot just unload horses on the freeway. And if it's a southern day, they can die without air flow sitting still.

How reliable is a dealer maintained (Peterbilt dealer) M11 Foretravel U320 that's 25 years old and shows signs of blow by I'd expect from a 300k mile OTR engine? Nothing major but notable.

"How am I going to like towing with a 40' 102" wide house with 400hp and a parachute for a front clip?" These are some of my worries.

I plan to do all the work myself. I'm competent and have tools.

Am I screwing up or is this the right decision?

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #1 – September 03, 2019, 08:58:05 am

So many variables in your question it is hard to gather them all up for rational analysis.

One of my first questions: When you arrive where you are going with your horses, do you need a way to get around? With a truck & trailer combo, after you drop the trailer, you've got the truck for transportation. Normally, you would pull a tow car behind a motorhome, but obviously the horse trailer eliminates that option.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #2 – September 03, 2019, 09:06:12 am

I'm sure the mechanical experts will chime in soon.

If it's a 94 is wouldn't be a 320, those were introduced in 95.

Lots of great info here:

Foretravel History

Good luck,

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #3 – September 03, 2019, 09:07:30 am

If this is the FT in Scott, Pulaski Co., AR, you better be a great mechanic. We decided to actually venture out, to see it. Yes, the engine purrs. The current owner stated that he actually drove it in, to its current resting place. Both hubs were off when we saw it. Apparently some serious issues, there. This coach has a custom FT interior for an office/exam room interior, donated to Baptist hospital by a foundation. The hospital has now replaced it with another, newer model. It has 59,000 miles on it. At least three of the front windows have serious water intrusion. Floors did not give way anywhere I walked. Two doors; front and rear. You get what you pay for. Expect to put a ton of cash and labor into repairs on this one. My DH spent some time opening bay doors, looking at the generator...when they finally got the door open, eyeballing the engine, etc. I did one walk through, inside. Upper walnut cabinets appeared to be in good order. I was done quickly. DHs curiosity was just too much for him. We HAD to go see it. One windshield-passenger's side had some cracks at the curve. Peterbilt steering wheel. Paint was in fairly good shape - beautiful blue and white.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #4 – September 03, 2019, 09:09:05 am

Sorry about the late night rambling of my post. I have a lot racing through my mind over this.

Not always. But usually.

In Florida we have to bring two trailers anyway because we have too many horses for just one. So I'll have my other F250.

At local shows, we usually have friends around with a crew cab that we can pile in the back of or borrow. The horse world is a big community that is spread out all over the country and is very active and hospitable. Finding a ride wouldn't be too hard. There's typically no reason for us to leave a weekend event as long as we pack well. Usually everyone gets dinner together one night at a restaurant. But we can hitch a ride if that's the case.

I'm entertaining the idea of getting a slide in camper for my F250 that would serve as another option to the RV when we are going to more local events.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #5 – September 03, 2019, 09:14:34 am

Quote from: Jeff & Sandy – September 03, 2019, 09:06:12 am

I'm sure the mechanical experts will chime in soon.

If it's a 94 is wouldn't be a 320, those were introduced in 95.

Lots of great info here:

Foretravel History

Good luck,

Yes. I actually got a picture of the title today. It's a 95 not a 94.

Yes, it is the bus from Baptist.

The water damage is a non-issue to me. I build stuff from metal and wood for a living. Everything from steel gates, to custom furniture to elaborate off road racecar chassis.

The initial investment of work and repairs is not my biggest concern. It's reliably and comfortable driving experience once in operation that are my biggest concern. We regularly drive 1400 miles in a weekday.

The owner seems to have done a lot of work already. It's currently driving and we did take it for a spin. It seemed to drive good. But I'm well aware that it's in need of a lot of repairs.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #6 – September 03, 2019, 09:50:00 am

Nothing good can come of this - you would be better off finding a 95-99 36' non slide unit that has been well cared for and use that as your cost to acquire budget with $10K as a realistic 1st year DIY maintenance number (assuming tires, batteries, refrigerator and aquahot were in good condition when you bought it). Can you afford that? Will that combination work for you?

These coaches are (relatively) inexpensive to buy, and can be reasonable to own and operate, especially if you can do a lot of the work yourself. Burt they are now 20+ years old, stuff is getting old and brittle and breaking in the ones that have been lovinginly cared for. The one you are looking at sounds to be beyond economic repair even for a DIY wizard.

Good luck in your hunt and your project lots of people here to help, lots of info in the past posts accessible by using the "search" function.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #7 – September 03, 2019, 09:57:39 am

One of the things I have learned after owning my 98 Foretravel for about 4 years. If you have any budget constraints you probably shouldn't buy a motorhome. Even well maintained coaches will cost multiple thousands of dollars to update and maintain

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #8 – September 03, 2019, 12:53:12 pm

I am new to owning a Ft. 1999 U270 40ft. Tires $3,000.
Transmission $7,000
8 airbags $700.
Generator parts so far $800.00 and it's not currently usable. Which means no ac from roof, no battery charging, no usage of any 120 equipment if unable to plug in.
Add up the parts cost double it and you are close to labor costs.
My Rv is the bare bones model by Ft. Has original everything in it except for things that dissapeared. No bose, special water system, alarm system all walked.
Now that I have it at my home I can start doing my own repairs. The transmission was beyond my own service, due to weight and need to lift Rv.
Your estimate of needed repairs is too low. Every system will have to be gone thru, just to establish a base line status. All filters, fluids, air system expect unknown expense. Blow by on engine, in frame freshen cost? Radiator? Brakes to include air system side. The transmission install has a flaw, look to see if the dampener has movement with pry bars, look for vibrations in your butt while at 60 plus, if at 62 you start to feel one. The seal and bearing are wearing out. Look for leak from front seal on transmission also. You can bet the generator didn't have oil changes at proper schedule. New generator 10k. Repair existing 3k.
You need 100 pct reliability from a Rv. You can reach it with 40k of your own work. Remodel costs that is all about taste and function. Expect 10k to cover shower, bedroom. Windshield glass 4k. If you look at prices for parts in rv salvage yards hide your $$, they are almost equal to new. You might want to shop auctions from government fed, state, local. Copart trucks, remember new diesels injectors can be $1000. Each. Ford 6.0, 6.4 engines are garbage not worth repair. But!! If you find a high end dually. Think what engine could I swap In Place of bad engine. Deleted engines only. The auction give you a option for new pickup or even 450, 550 truck. You may want to look at utube, showing rebuilding wrecked semi. That maybe a option.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #9 – September 03, 2019, 01:23:49 pm

We just paid $700 for FOUR airbags and they were Goodyears at a great price.
Sounds like you are on a tight budget for something that is not dissimilar to owning a boat, it can eat up money, even a really nice on in good shape can gobble up $20,000 over the first year in a hurry.
Foretravel is a great coach, but a transmission rebuild would use up all your budget and then some.
I have never had a big truck or motorhome that did not have unexpected costs, even the brand new Kenworth I bought new in 96.
Everyone has different "pain levels", it's not for us to say buy or don't buy, good luck with your thoughts.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #10 – September 03, 2019, 02:03:58 pm

How much does that 22' trailer maxed out full of horse and tack weigh? A 36Ft U-320 with the 450HP Cummings can pull most any load. But it's not the power that is the issue. It's the chassis loading and weight transfer that limits a single rear axle Foretravel (at least my 1998) to a 6K max towed load.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #11 – September 03, 2019, 03:07:45 pm

I have a customer that just got hospitalized with Stage 4 cancer shortly after getting his OTR Mack Tractor set up with all new brakes, clutch and tires. It sits across the street, he sits home in bed so far. He wants 13K for it. It just returned from a cross country jaunt and runs well . Not sure on the year or model .

In the classified section there was an older bus FS for 8K $ hell of a deal . Old , simple is the best way for those of us financially challenged . I run my 250HP Cat all over the east coast pulling about 8K#.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #12 – September 03, 2019, 06:56:52 pm

Quote from: bigdog – September 03, 2019, 02:03:58 pm

How much does that 22' trailer maxed out full of horse and tack weigh? A 36Ft U-320 with the 450HP Cummings can pull most any load. But it's not the power that is the issue. It's the chassis loading and weight transfer that limits a single rear axle Foretravel (at least my 1998) to a 6K max towed load.

As much as 10k lbs. This is what lead me to such a large bus. This particular unit is listed with a 32k GVRW. I don't actually know the curb weight. I would think it's less than 20k lbs. But you guys might know better.

I'm pretty sure we're going to walk away from this idea for now. We've been riding the wave of a 10 year bull market. It might be the perfect time to stay lean and hold onto liquidity. Especially as people who bought $300k RV's back in the mid 90's continue to liquidate estates. These should be popping up more and more often as people who were in their mid 50's and 60's, twenty five years ago become 75 and 85 now. It's very rare to be debt free these days, and the top of a cycle is no time to cash in on luxury goods.

I knew when I started this thread last night that I had a gut feeling that something was wrong with my reasoning.

Thanks for everyone who chimed in. This site has been valuable to me twice now and I thank the community for sticking in there. "Long live the forums!"

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #13 – September 03, 2019, 07:11:26 pm

Welcome to the forum. You've already gotten a taste of the wealth of help available here.

Walking away from this particular unit seems like a pretty good idea. You've gotten some great ideas here, and I think that you may be more or less on the right path. GVWR of 32,000 is for the Foretravel only. You want the GCVWR. These coaches are heavier than they look. Our coach has a GVWR of 30,000 pounds. Empty weight (coach, me, full fuel, full fresh water, full propane) is just over 28,000. If that coach has a GCVWR of 42,000 or more you could be fine.

I'd suggest that you spend a bit of time looking at the beamalarm site that has all of the specs for most of the Foretravels. Cross reference the Classifieds here and sites like rv trader to get an idea of the age that puts you in your price range. Figure out which years and models can two what you want. There are lots of people here who two fairly large trailers with cars, motorcycles, hobby equipment, etc. in them.

A few months of research can save you a lot of headaches. I used to say that I'd rather ask a thousand questions before writing a large check than ask the same question a thousand times after writing that large check.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #14 – September 03, 2019, 07:16:05 pm

From taking on many projects like thus as a decent DYIer I would say you are well short on the build budget for a fully functional rig. Everything ended up costing more money and time than expected. My fixer upper wasn't in the shape you describe and my $10k repair budget quickly turned into $20k and I still have inverter issues and will need new tires in the next 2-3 years.

As far as reliable for a daily commuter I would spend more money on preventive maintenance. I only use mine for long weekends so I can stretch out replacing items that work well enough.

These things are not cheap to either play much less depend on 1400 miles daily. Had I known what I now know I might not have taken on this financial liability at this point in my life.

Just my two cents.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #15 – September 03, 2019, 07:33:26 pm

Coming from both an RVer and a horse show perspective...

Given the need for hauling AND something (relatively) easy to maintain, stay away from a diesel pusher. Go with something that has an easy-to-access engine up front where you can take it to a "normal" dealership or shop for service and not find yourself down more than a few days. Take a look at some of the MDTs used for big fifth wheels if they have the towing capacity. If you do decide to go bumper-pull, look at a super C like a Renegade or Showhauler that's built for hauling (stay away from the mass-market RV ones like Dynamax and Jayco).

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #16 – September 03, 2019, 07:39:54 pm

I'm a very qualified technician. I've been integrating new engines into old vehicles for over a decade.

I work on my own vehicles and found these busses to look way easier to work on than my diesel pick up trucks.

Just a little perspective there. Not that I'm talking myself into doing this. But that's actually a fact. Trucks are very hard to work on. My Fords have to have the cabs pulled off the frames just to do some particular work. I have a lift so it's no big deal. But it's a real issue for truck owners.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #17 – September 04, 2019, 12:05:40 am

Quote from: Action Fab – September 03, 2019, 06:56:52 pm

As much as 10k lbs. This is what lead me to such a large bus. This particular unit is listed with a 32k GVRW. I don't actually know the curb weight. I would think it's less than 20k lbs. But you guys might know better.

Beam alarm has the 95 U320 as GVWR 32K but a GCVWR of 38K. Axle weight ratings are 12K & 20K No tag axle on that model.

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #18 – September 04, 2019, 11:38:31 am

I have decided to pass on this idea.

Thanks

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #19 – September 04, 2019, 01:49:00 pm

Quote from: Action Fab – September 04, 2019, 11:38:31 am

I have decided to pass on this idea.

Thanks

A wise decision I believe, given our experience.

Roland

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #20 – September 04, 2019, 02:58:56 pm

I think in the long run you'll be very thankful you passed. However--if you are seriously considering a motorhome keep searching for a Foretravel. It may take a while, but there are some really great ones out there!

Re: Mobile Medical U320

Reply #21 – September 04, 2019, 11:31:31 pm

There are some coaches for sale in the classified section of this forum.

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