2018 Charleston by Forest River 43 ft Diesel Pusher Motorhome. **PROJECT RV**BURN DAMAGE**Not currently drivable**
The right mechanic/handyman is going to get a LOT of Motorhome for a little money!
43ft diesel pusher with a 450HP Cummins engine. Approximately 58,000 miles. 10kw Onan diesel generator with 1,782 hours. 3 Roof AC. Satellite dish and receiver. Sleeps 10. King bed, bunk beds, 2 sofa beds, dining booth bed. 4 slides. Awnings. Lots of bells and whistles!
I’ve been in the RV business over 40 years and my opinion is that this bus had a fire start OUTSIDE, near the left rear wheel on the tag axle while the vehicle was being driven. The damage shows that the flames started low and blew to the rear of the bus while being driven, then the driver stopped and the flames traveled up the side of the bus until extinguished. I believe that all 4 slide-outs were IN during the fire.
Although the fire damage will scare some away, we’ve rebuilt several motorhomes that were MUCH worse than this! The bus appears to be structurally sound. Roof is strong, frame is strong, walls are strong. As you can see in the pictures, the front 2/3rds of the inside of the bus have almost no damage. The galley ceiling will need to be recovered. The galley furniture is fine. The drivers area is fine.
The Washer and dryer need to be cleaned. The fridge needs to be cleaned. The bunk beds have minimal damage. Most of the damage is in the bathroom. A corner of the rear bedroom that is behind the bathroom also has fire damage. Bedroom and bathroom ceilings will need to be repaired. None of this is expensive for a do it yourselfer.
I don’t see any fire damage on the engine or transmission. I see heat damage that melted the insulation from about 50 wires near the transmission and above the left rear wheel ( the main wire harness). This is an easy fix. We’ve spliced one wire at a time to repair this type pf damage on other coaches. Takes time, but costs little. You can replace the transmission wire harness, or you can splice each wire one at a time.
We had a wrecker tow it to our lot in Houston. We put 3 new tires on the rear for the trip. All wheels appear to be fine. We started the Onan generator and tested it. We are not able to start the engine until wires are replaced.
We replaced a few hydraulic lines with temporary lines so we could get the slides out. They all worked fine. Several hydraulic lines were damaged by heat above the tag axle.
Pictures show the fire damage on the driver side at the bathroom. You will need to gut the bathroom and rebuild it. Again, not an expensive task for a do it yourselfer.
After fixing the wires and remodeling the bathroom and bedroom, you will need to replace the burned fiberglass on the outside of the bathroom. Then its time for a little paint. There are not any extremely expensive parts needed for the repairs listed above. This remodel requires much more time than parts.
Here’s some of the best features of this bus:
43ft long with tag axle, 450hp Cummins engine with approximately 58,000 miles reported on 1-8-24. 10kw Onan diesel generator with 1,782 hours. 4 slide outs. Sleeps 10: King bed, 2 bunk beds, 2 sofa sleepers, dining booth sleeper. Auto leveling system. Front power seats. Remote mirrors. Electric cooktop. Dishwasher. Magnum MS2000 inverter. Washer/dryer. Each bunk bed has it’s own TV. Dometic Bay freezer.
You can not purchase this bus sight unseen. You must inspect the bus before purchase. You will have to get a wrecker to tow it because the engine will not start until the damaged wires are replaced.
