Rare 1988 Prevost H5-60 Articulated Coach 60 foot bus!
One Of The World's Largest Buses!
This bus has sold, but we left up this page since it's such an interest to so many. Enjoy!
Please note that the bus is NO LONGER affiliated with Lord Family Ministry.
It has been sold two times and is presently being used by an "artist group"
All pictures taken in August 2008 unless otherwise noted
picture taken around 2006
picture taken around 2005 before signage
Specs:
Under the driver's seat is access compartment for window washer, one of several air tanks for lift and suspension, switches for engine heater to plug in, head water tank heater, interior lights while plugged into shore power, some breaker systems. The red wires you see going to the next compartment are for blower fans, and a/c cut off which we had to by-pass.
picture taken March 2005
Here's a comparison of our old bus a 40 footer GMC 4905 "Buffalo"
picture taken around 2006
Northern Arizona near Utah border with a backdrop of a large mesa.
Conversion Of Bus
This is close but totally accurate... IE: the front bathroom did not get installed but rather a tiny office
The bus had 72 seats when we purchased it. We have converted it over time.
Everything was done with the ability to remove and change using plywood and sheetrock screws, etc.
The water system consists of 100 fresh water tank and 150 gray water tank. We heat the water with a 110 and/or LP Gas on demand system all located in the front cargo bay.
Tank Bay - Door Side
The hot water tank new in 2005 is 110 volt 19 gallon Whirlpool. Also is an on-demand hot water LP system..
The water pump is a SHURFlo 12volt 2088/2090 high pressure. I have a rebuilt new spare pump!
Tank Bay Driver Side.
The blue Carrier box is the front HVAC unit that cools/heats the front part of the bus (articulation forward)
The propane services the LP Stove Top in Kitchen, the front heater, and the on-demand hot water system. (We chose small barbecue size LP tanks so we could easily pick/swapped them out at Wal-Marts/Home Depot places we can get the bus into)
The breaker panel for shore power is located in this bay and has a 60 foot 50 amp (220 six gauge wire. We designed the shore power system to be flexible as we were parking mostly at churches which very few supply a 50 amp panels in the parking lot. So the power system can be separating into four 110/120 volts thereby running four heavy duty extension cables to various outlets you can supply adequate power to the bus. The following four sections can be separated:
You can't really see it, but just above and behind the propane tanks is the 12 volt converter and two marine type deep cycle batteries give power to frig, water pump, lights, fans, etc. This is a Parallax Power Supply LLC 7400 series.
The black water septic system is the original bus set up with a few modifications.
I think this stainless steel tank is about 25 gallons using a regular 3 inch standard RV drain pipe shut off system. The tank can be access through the top round lid and a plexi-glass view window allows you to clean it thoroughly. There is a similar sized tank on top of the head and toilet area which gravity flows to the head sink faucet. The sink drain then deposits the water into this black water tank, so this is how you flush it thus, giving you control over how little or much water to use. The water tank is filled by regular hose fitting easily accessible here in this cargo bay. The water tank has an overflow allowing air to escape as well and too much water. This tank also has a heater to prevent freezing, but I've never tested it. This switch is accessed in the cargo bay up under the driver's seat.
The window near the front door was replaced with a hurricane hi-temp glass window that opens with screen.
'
The driver's area. We put flexible bubbled foil to reflect the hot sun and give privacy, plus we hang a curtain over the stair area separating the driver's area from the living room. This provides a cozier environment plus keeps the living space cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter months due to so much glass exposure of the front windows. Just to the left of the steering wheel you will see the D for Drive buttons, the coach is an automatic 4 speed. The cruise control is on the directional, the air horn is on the floor with an alternative horn in the middle of the steering wheel (this needs fixing) Your gages consists of speedometer, odometer, tach (needs fixing), oil pressure, water temp, air gauges for both systems, 12 and 24 volt meters for both systems, warning lights, fans, a/c heater, etc. There is a cd stereo radio system tied to the driver's speakers. The rest of the coach is wired for sound and has Jenson speakers throughout ,but was disconnected. There are v's but the system was disconnected and I haven't had time to run a 24 CD or DVD, or hook in an inverter for a 110 vcr/dvd system, but there is co-ax wire throughout the coach. The back up camera located on the right doesn't work. We always used someone with a walkie-talkie or cell phone to help back us up. The driver's seat is an air seat providing many hours of comfortable driving. The steering wheel is smaller than most buses and the arm rests enable you to drive a lot further without driver fatigue. There is a CB radio hookup, but I didn't connect it. There is a radio antennae but we didn't really seem to pull in many stations...
Kitchen and Living Room
Couch is a fold out double bed
The living room has a wrap around L-shape bench seat which has storage underneath.
Kitchen cabinets with tile countertop. Space under counter for Washer/Dryer combo
The countertop stove is a Magic Chef (new in 2006) three burner LP Gas. The front burner is a high intensity. All self igniting piezo. To the right of the counter is a place for a LP Gas frigerator, no longer on the bus.
The kitchen area contains full size double sink (just like your home) with heater unit under tile countertop. There is a microwave compartment large enough for full size. There is storage overhead.
The front section can be heated by a Duo-Them stand alone LP Gas camper heater that will keep you warm in freezing weather.
We have two low profile Carrier A/C units with heat strips (new in Feb 2007) One is located in the front and is a high capacity 15,000 btu's and the other a/c is in the back master bedroom area and is a 13.500 standard capacity. The heater side of these a/c's will keep you warm in cool weather, but once the temps drop into the twenties, you'll need to compliment with the LP Gas heaters.
Office and Shower Area
The office area. Great for computers, desk, printers, etc.
The hallway just outside the shower and office has a curtain so you can open the shower door and step out into a private area. The shower door does open toward the front.
Looking back towards the front showing the shower door on the right side.
The shower is a standard household 32 inch basin with plexi-glass bathroom tile all around. There is a seat which is great for relaxing and then a shower curtain protects water from exiting shower into the door area and hallway.
Looking down the hallway to the articulation area with the bunkroom door closed. The mirror you see is mounted on the bunk room door. This section has four rooms that each have a sliding door. The room size is 3x6 feet with a bunk that can lift up for storage and to enable one to stand in the room with the door shut.
Each of the four bedrooms in the front of the bus have a small opening to the outside glass with curtains.
It's hard to take a shot of the full room, but you see the sliding door and part of the bedroom.
You see the bed with storage underneath. This bed lifts up so you can stand.
The rooms have part of the original luggage rack left so lighting, sound, etc. can be utilized.
12 volt lights are everywhere. We also wired the 110 light fixtures in each room up with a choice of plugging into shore 110v power or inverter.
Articulation Area
The articulation area or bending part of the bus can be safely walked through while traveling. Even during turns it never gets smaller on one side than the railing which the clothes racks are attached to.
You can see the flexible carpet material that finishes inside the articulation area making it look nice, insulating somewhat from the outer Kevlar? fabric that you see on the outside of the coach.
It's totally safe to walk through articulation during travel.
Bunk Room
Bunk Room is located after the articulation and sleeps two children. The beds are about 5.5 feet long made with storage in upper bunk and under bottom bunk.
Entering the bunk room on the left side are two children bunk beds, each bed has storage underneath.
Rear LP Gas heater vents into master bedroom as well as the bunkroom. It's a 12 volt Hydro Flame we got used from a camper. It's worked great since we installed back in 2005, just needed to adjust the spark igniter to pilot tip.
As you can see the rear heater vents out through the side wall and is hardly noticeably.
Master Bedroom Area
As you enter the Master Bedroom you have a twin mattress on the floor. This view is looking forward in the master bedroom showing tongue & grove Maine Pine with mirror and make-up center.
You have an open closet with storage over and underneath.
Head/Toilet Area
The head is located just behind the master bedroom dresser and is accessed by two steps down.
This is the original factory toilet.
Stainless steal head with full mirror and sink.
As explained in the plumbing section the rear sink head has been altered so when you turn the faucet on the water from the fresh water tank over the toilet area will gravity flow through faucet into sink drain down into the toilet flush hose, thereby rinsing/flushing the toilet. This gives you total control over how much water you use to flush.
The steps continue to a rear exit door located behind the clothes. This door never worked correctly and proved to be unsafe, so we sealed it off. It was only needed if you had 72 people on board. One can exit far much quicker out the windows which ever other one opens.
This bay also gives you access to the battery switches. The coach has a 24 volt system of four deep cycle batteries (new 2007) connected in series and parallel. The bus has a 12 volt converter to operate the external lights and other 12 volt needs. The drain pipe you see is from the shower and sink areas and goes into the tank bay.
The cargo bay just behind the articulation allows access to the articulation via removable panels.
I have all bus manuals, a Detroit engine repair manual, most appliance manuals
Kerry.Lord at oklord.com
Bus is located in Blue Hill, Maine
I can transport it for you. Call let's chat about the details.
Work recently done:
June 2009 - replace mechanical drive shaft to radiator cooling fan with hydraulic system. We're still having issues with this conversion. The hydaulic mount is higher than previous design preventing top radiator cowling from fitting on. The bus runs and just came from Florida to Maine this Spring. Last month we made a trip to New Hampshire. The mechanical drive shaft which runs off the belt driven system has been replaced with the a/c hydraulic system. We also have four 16inch fans on the outside of the radiator blowing air through. These run off the 24v side and do a great job in cooling, but not enough by themselves. Why did you remove the mechanical engine cooling fan system ? It kept throwing the fan blade off and several mechanics suggested moving away from that technology to hydraulics. You can put it back, but as mentioned before I would replace/repair the drive shaft as it might be slightly warped. Plus there are other parts on that whole mechanism that have given us problems over years that we've had it. Some we've repaired and others replaced.
Mar 2009 - two of the four start batteries replaced. The other two fully tested and levels checked.
Feb 2009 Over $10,000 worth of work, Oil change, front bumper
fixed, roof hatches fixed. Rebuilt double front steering with new
seals, bearings, joints, etc. New Air Compressor,
(reconditioned), new air bendix, Rear tire ty-rod replaced,
Windshield washer system fixed, but not connected, new wiper blades,
four new brake rotors. Air leaks fixed.
Aug 2008 New ty-rod on steering front axle August 2008. Also had some tire work done. All 10 tire and rims are in great shape.
Jan 2007 New brakes all around that needed. In-frame engine rebuilt - Springfield, MO. Mileage at latest rebuild 138,635 Odometer was not reset.
Nov 2006 - New computer DDEC System, Tucumcari, NM
Oct 2006 - New injectors, Tranny checked and oil changed in Phoenix, AZ
Feb 2006 - Front lower windows replaced
Florida Title and Maine Registration
169,942.9 Odometer as of 8/31/09
This is the access door to the power breaker panels for the bus electrical system, all pop and push resettable breakers!
This is our largest cargo bay located in the middle of the trailer section. It measures 42 inches wide and 53.5 inches high and goes all the way across like most of the cargo bays. We store a complete sound system in here with keyboard, guitars, amps, speakers, drums, puppets, puppet stage, bass, cables, etc!
This is the spare tire bay located in the back of the trailer part of the coach on the driver's side. That are the rear trailer tire. Original the spare tire was designed to go underneath the rear of the trailer, but if you have a flat trailer tire, it's very hard to get to <grin> so someone installed this boxed-in plywood compartment.
Cracked window
The articulation is made of KevLar? the toughest flexible material known to man... so I've been told. Someone had to prove it though, by slicing it somehow. It's needs to be patched from the inside of the articulation. Haven't had time yet. It's not a real issue as the rain, etc. if it gets in drains down and out the bottom.
(c) Kerry Lord 2008 All Rights Reserved.