45 vs. 46 footer

[Radman-TC]

BUon22,

Regarding the Balin Family Coach, your wife may be amazed at the 4 steps up to the full sized bedroom in the back. And believe me, its nothing like any popup camper or Class - C that I ever saw. I have been in that coach before at Hawk Engineering (about a 100 miles from our home) when we were evaluating builders for our project. It wasnt for sale then but it influenced our decision and the direction we went on our build. We really liked the AERO look of the T2000 tractor (inside and out)and especially the way it is integrated into the box.

Jason did eventually win our business and built our coach. He does nice looking - high quality work, so nice in fact that the owner of that coach (Balin) came back to him and built a second one 4 years later which is why that one is for sale. I think the Balin boys were growing up and they were using the coach differently so rather than remodel the old one, they built another coach with the same builder. Now that says volumes about the quality of the builder and the confidence they had in him.

As far as used coaches go, the quality and craftsmanship of that coach would be hard to beat. In my opinion the floor plan is always so personal and the most difficult decision, new or used.

Good luck with the search.

Rad

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

To add to Rad. I looked at a Kingsley garage coach with the bedroom above the garage. If you've never been in one and walked around you can't make a decision. They are very nice. If I needed a garage this would be the way to do it. I checked out that Chariot garage coach where you walk through the bedroom to get into the garage. Fine if you need a full height garage. Much less roomy if you don't tho. I'd call Scott Balin up and make a weekend trip out there and check it out. Plane tickets aren't that much now with the slump. Might be worth the investment. At least you get to take one for a drive too, worth the plane ticket right there. When I was looking for mine it was very helpful for me to check out a bunch of trucks and get a feel for them, rather than just looking at pics.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

If you want to come to MN I live 10 minutes from MSP. I'll pick you up and take you up to busesandmore. I stop there once in awhile just to visit with Ralph, even tho I didn't end up buying my coach from him. He's very friendly and loves for people to come drive the trucks and check them out.

 

[BUonM22?]

Thanx guys for the offers and suggestions. Gotta get a move on b4 the market turns around and I'm buried further in debt with a "hobby Horse"... loved my Class A, but really looking forward to joining the big boys. Drove a garage coach at Becksmarine and was very pleased with that, just the wrong layout for our needs.
Thanx again for watch out for me.

Lar

 

[geofkaye]

.....From my point of view/experience/back pocket scale.....I do better on RacingJunk.com dealers are dealers and they really don't have anything to offer except a higher price and usually a warranty that is not worth paper it is written on..... ex: Arrow Used Trucks...they sleep with their own mothers....I have never seen a good deal for anyone come off an Arrow Lot....even with their being in bed with Volvo. Should I have the opportunity to purchase in the near future it will be some one that does business on RacingJunk.com....and the seller won't be a dealer of RV's.....If I do any business with a dealer it will be Freightliner Frank at FYDA Freightliner in Cincinnati Ohio....I have had probably 20 dealer opportunities and they are always interested in only the profit margin and to heck with the Customer......geofkaye and the Rivercity Group in Cincinnati Ohio....

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Oh no, Geof. That's too bad. I had a great experience dealing with www.wrightwaytrailers.com . Doug my salesman was super. They gave me an excellent! deal on my rig. I had no interest in any warranty plan and he never even tried to sell me one anyway. I wouldn't hesitate to send anybody there to buy a rig. They don't deal with regular rv's. They do have a Beaver pusher on their site right now. When I bought mine they had a gas class A too. He said they took it on trade from a very good customer that they had been dealing with for years, that's the reason I bet they've got that Beaver now. I don't see any garage coaches on their site right now that's why I didn't rec. them. Couldn't hurt to give them a call tho and see if they've got any leads on one. They might even have something on the lot that isn't on their site?

I do like to buy stuff directly from the owner. There certainly are many awful dealers selling anything too. But, I'm living proof that it is possible to deal with a dealer and get a great deal and be happy.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Here's a pretty nice looking garage coach on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...%3AWNARL%3AUS%3A1123

United Specialties is very good. I like mine. This one has been on ebay at least a couple times and not sold. I'd offer $165k. What do you have to lose?

 

[geofkaye]

....They have about $125k in the coach I'd offer $115k and see what happens....there are so many of the garage unites out here one has their pick and the owners know it......any"new coach" is selling for about 50% of MSRP rite now....used trucks with new boxes are even less....unless they just don't want to sell it...then let it sit some more and they will call you with a deal-I've had 4 in the last 10 days calling about unloading the white elephant on wheels....things will get cheaper as the market continues to tank of RV high line stuff........a used tractor with 500,000miles is getting 35k every day of the week and an older model will go as low as 12.5k now.....the lots are full.......a new box is worth maybe 35k and the rest is profit....if already built and sitting-I'd offer cost + a few $$ for mounting and any frame work that needs to be done at $55 an hour......forget the $110 that is quoted....these guys are extremely hungry and the bills are mounting....the new year will bring more closures and bankruptcy in the Rv industry and also the dealers.......floor plans are shrinking and without some government money they will die......geofkaye and the Rivercity Group on vacation at home which sucks BTW!

 

[BUonM22?]

Reinforcement for the fact that I need to finish these darn construction freebies and get on the "gotta get a camper" bandwagon.

Question: How does someone make up one of those beds jammed into a corner anyway? I like the doorway into the garage from the bedroom but after having a walk around queen in my "sold" A... just can't imagine the unlucky one squeezed in the corner wanting out at 4 a.m.

 

[geofkaye]

...FIRST OFF:...good prostate health will eliminate getting up at 4 AM for a whizz......anyway, re-due the layout...maybe move the bedroom to the front-kitchen/bathroom and then the living are from front to back....with fuel/motor oil in the garage I hate to smell fuel/oil/exhaust in the bedroom or have dirty people going in and out of the bedroom......another idea is to put the bathroom between the garage and kitchen living area....there all sorts of layouts that will work-it is just a matter of what works for you and your crew/wife/GF/SO/kids grand kids/etc etc etc.....geofkaye and the Rivercity Group....

 

[Eskimo-TC]

Originally posted by Radman:
I have been in that coach before at Hawk Engineering (about a 100 miles from our home) when we were evaluating builders for our project. It wasnt for sale then but it influenced our decision and the direction we went on our build. We really liked the AERO look of the T2000 tractor (inside and out)and especially the way it is integrated into the box.

Jason did eventually win our business and built our coach. He does nice looking - high quality work, so nice in fact that the owner of that coach (Balin) came back to him and built a second one 4 years later which is why that one is for sale. I think the Balin boys were growing up and they were using the coach differently so rather than remodel the old one, they built another coach with the same builder. Now that says volumes about the quality of the builder and the confidence they had in him.

As far as used coaches go, the quality and craftsmanship of that coach would be hard to beat. In my opinion the floor plan is always so personal and the most difficult decision, new or used.

Radman, that's great to hear - I really like damn near everything in the coach Hawk has for sale right now, though I'm sure it'll sell before we're ready to buy. Being a newbie to Class8 conversions, I was worried that I was "missing something" when I was looking at hawk's work and was impressed, but you're the second experienced one who's given the thumbs-up to the Hawk units.

I'm about a half hour from Transport Designs, who is finishing up a very cool garage-coach for Donnie Barnes (from the escapee's board) - if anyone is coming this way (central PA) to take a look at his shop, let me know, I like putting faces with names.. (Unfortunately, until the snow melts, I can't even offer a good parking spot for a coach..)

In addition to bikes, I have a rather odd load I'd be carrying (a rock crawler that's 6.5' tall, 7' wide, and 13' long, weighing 4800lbs) so the living space I'd lose with a garage is making me lean towards a regular coach, and continuing to tow the buggy on a trailer.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Hay Eskimo, welcome to truckconversion.net! Yep, you need to get a coach and pull your trailer. That crawler is too big to stuff into a garage coach. Plus you must bring tons of tools and spare parts and wheels if you're goin' crawlin'. I pull a 24' enclosed aluminum Renegade trailer with a Vette and lots of wheels and parts and tools. Guessing total weight is about 8k. Length of trailer from ball to ramp is 31'. No way to even tell the truck is pulling it without looking in the mirror. There is no substitute. Now is the time to score one too, before Obama fixes this economy and we're all sittin' on big phat 401k's again.

 

[Eskimo-TC]

Originally posted by Bob86ZZ4:
Now is the time to score one too, before Obama fixes this economy and we're all sittin' on big phat 401k's again.

You're not kidding... I think / hope things will still be crummy a year from now (selfish, ain't I?), when we'll be in a much better position to snag one up.

As is, the coach was originally a 2014-ish purchase, but now is certainly the time to buy, so we've shuffled things around..

Thanks for the welcome! I've been lurking for quite some time before I even registered...

 

[geofkaye]

...now is the the time....later things might take an uptick and could cost you some major bucks....when something changes things will take off and inventory will go quickly and at the market price again....now is the time to get them with their pants around their knees-bent over!.....base cost + is what is happening now....60% off is not unheard of on new and used owners have to take the chance to get out under debt...so a cash offer is where to begin to get serious.....some of the owners are facing an empty checkbook.....geofkaye and the Rivercity Group