Prevost H5-60 Specifications and Pictures

[coachconverter]

Anyone have a link to specs and/or pictures of the H5-60 bus, specifically pictures of the engine compartment and access.

Thanks
Todd

[TomC]

While the H5-60 is an impressive site going down the road, it is 60ft long.  Trying to find a parking spot would be very limiting.  Some states won't allow them (California only allows 45ft'r with the articulating buses approved for commercial use only).  The engine used is a Detroit 8V-92TA with an Allison HT754CR 5 speed and is mid mounted behind the front axle.  I don't have pictures of the configuration, but have seen it.  I can only tell you that no mechanic likes working on it, and when you have to remove the engine for major work, it involves supporting the bus with stands and actually cutting out a couple of support beams that have to be rewelded back in place when the engine is re installed.  Up and beyond the fact that it is an impressive looking bus and is 60 ft long, it is an expensive pain the the butt bus to work on.  Good Luck, TomC

[belfert]

Some states will allow the forward portion to be registered as a motorhome and the rear portion to be registered as a trailer.  This only applies to buses like the H5-60 with the engine in the forward portion.

[Busted Knuckle]

As TomC mentioned they are not legal in all states and KY is also one of those! KY does not allow any CLASS A BUSES and will not issue a CDL for one. (As a matter of fact it says right on the back of the KY CDL with a "P" endoresment except CLASS A!) FWIW!
And I am sorry I know that none of these 3 replies are what you were asking for but I don't have any pictures or spec's for one! However I have looked at several and even consider buying one for use in our charter service, but the first strike was the KY issue and second was as Tom mentioned anytime one shows up at a shop for engine work all the mechanics either call in sick or go on vacation!
  BK 

[TrevorH]

There is one on the "E" marketplace right now.  That thing looks awesome!!

[tekebird]

The H5-60 was not a sucess for Prevost,  Not only is the mill sort of hard to operate on the Articulation joint...as in all Articulated buses is the weak link.  And often it;s wear/planned failure is the reason for units to be retired from service.

I am not sure if it was the H5-60 or a transit Artic but a few years ago a replacement Articulation hinge was like 60k.

Most of these units that were produced spent the majority of thier life in Alaska and other Points North...and show thier harsh past

[Busted Knuckle]

The Prevost H5-60 was built by Prevost in Quebec Canada and sold for around $500,000 U.S. To our knowledge only about 50 of these coaches were ever built. 17 of them are owned by Grayline of Alaska which owns the largest fleet of H5-60's anywhere. They are an awesome coach to behold. They stand about 12' 6" in height and are 60' long. Up front there are two steering axles, about 30' back are two drive axles and a mid-ship engine. After the drive axles is an accordion articulation unit followed by the fifth axle. To improve cornering, the fifth axle automaticity counter steers based on the amount of articulation in the articulation unit. copied from an unknown blog source.

also found by googling are the following pics

http://www.busdrawings.com/coach/diversified/1031.jpg

http://www.busdrawings.com/coach/diversified/1031left.jpg

http://www.busdrawings.com/coach/diversified/1031r.jpg

links to more info/pics

http://www.rvtrader.com/rvdetail170518.htm

http://www.busfanplace.com/Prevostpart4.htm

[coachconverter]

Thanks for the responses everyone.  Well, I agree with all of your points on the size and reliability of the articulation hinge.

I've always been interested in removing the rear section and just adding a 4 foot section on the back of the front section.  Basically, a 40 foot coach with 4 axles, 2 steers.  Could be interesting...

[niles500]

********I've always been interested in removing the rear section and just adding a 4 foot section on the back of the front section. *********

This would be a great project to extend the rear a bit and build a garage for vehicle or toy hauling - FWIW

[coachconverter]

Yes, but not a lot of bay space with that extra axle in the way huh?

The rear section that was removed could possibly be transformed into a pull behind trailer for a vehicle and extra storage.... I need to just go to bed.

[Jeremy]

If it's of any use, there are some schematics and photographs of the equivalent Neoplan Jumbo Cruiser and Car-o-tel articulated coaches on this page:

http://www.jumbocruiser.com/photos/

As it happens, Neoplan evidentally had the same idea as you and replaced their articulated models with the quad-axle Megaliner:


(There was one of these for sale in the MAK classifieds quite recently I think)


Finally, use the links below to see a couple of photos showing other variations on the 'articulated bus' theme. (The photos are quite big, so I didn't want to display them directly in this post)

Bus 'trailer' behind truck:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Praha%2C_Hole%C5%A1ovice%2C_V%C3%BDstavi%C5%A1t%C4%9B%2C_N%C3%A1v%C4%9Bs_NO_80_II.JPG

Bus with double articulation:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Expresso_Biarticulado_Curitiba.jpg

Jeremy