1986 Wanderlodge PT-38

For sale is my 1986 Bluebird Wanderlodge PT 38 Diesel Pusher, which has just come out of winter storage. My Great Race vintage race car team, the Wandering Troubadours of Finland, has been using this bus as our race support vehicle. This bus is perfect not only for family trips, but is set up to pull virtually anything in a trailer, including a triple stacker. I specifically chose this bus because of its stoutness, rigidity, safety, power and ride. It has an old-school body on frame setup, and by far the most stout trailer hitch you're ever going to find on an RV. Tongue weight is never a problem with this fellow. In fact, the last owner towed a triple-stacker with it. With the shorter body (38') and tag axle, it is really the perfect pulling combination. For those not familiar, Bluebird Wanderlodge was the top of the line RV in the 80s.
It was the choice of the ultra-wealthy. It is all-steel, unlike most of the fiberglass-and-wood frame RVs on the road, meaning that it is safe, sturdy and bullet-proof. It weighs over 44,000 lbs. and was at the time the only RV tested for rollover safety, since it was based on a school bus chassis. It sits on air bags, so the combination of weight and air bag suspension gives it an incredible ride. My kids love to sit on the bed in the back, and unlike my previous RV, they don't get tossed around when driving down the road. This bus runs well in hot weather, and you can barely feel the trailer behind it. It is equipped with the largest diesel pusher engine available at the time -- the venerable Detroit Diesel 8v92 500 hp, with both a supercharger and turbocharger. The hour meter shows 5655 hours. This particular Detroit is the last of the mechanical injection models, meaning that it doesn't have the DDEC electronic injection system that choked down the performance of the engine. It is dead simple and reliable, and many Detroit fans seek out these older mechanical injection engines as a result. The Detroit received a full injection tuneup and new turbo last year. The previous owner rolled in new bearings and installed a new radiator. It is mated to an Allison automatic 4 speed, which was rebuilt about 30,000 miles ago. This past summer, I had a new shift pad and brain box put in the Allison, and it operates as it should. The Allison has an integral retarder, which I find to be much better than the Jake Brake setup I used to have. Up front is a newer Cummins/Onan Quiet Diesel 12.5KW genset. The genset was serviced by Cummins last summer. The Cummins/Onan genset is a HUGE upgrade over the old, noisy Perkins setup that came with the bus. It is quiet, efficient and extremely reliable. The 12.5KW output is more than you'll ever need on this bus. It is mounted in the front on a slide-out rack. The exterior of the bus was painted about 7 years ago by the previous owner. It is a very high quality job that is in great shape. I just had it detailed and waxed, and the detailer commented on how well the paint looks all around. The previous owner told me that his painter used 5 gallons of clearcoat on the bus. There are Zip Dee awnings over most of the windows. It comes with a 25' Zip Dee awning that I took off. The awning itself is in great shape, but the two support arms are bent and need to be fixed as a result of the combination of wind and an inattentive and possibly incapacitated race crew. The interior has had several important upgrades. First and foremost are the two Flexsteel captains chairs in front. The copilot chair has an electric footrest, which is comfortable but a bit insane. In the bedroom, the two twin beds were replaced with a king size bed. The carpet was replaced with porcelain tiles. A couple of the tiles have popped up and need to be reset. It has a working ice maker and the crazy old-school NuTone blender/food processor/space-aged whatchamacallit that is mounted into the countertop. It has a new fridge, new water pump and new water valve. I just installed a new Xantrex charger/inverter and a new 50 Amp automatic charger for the engine batteries. It also has a newer 1500 watt solar charging system on the roof. It has 3 basement-mounted air conditioners that work and that keep the unit nice and cool. The bus is always the most popular party stop at the Great Race, not just because of the numbskulls on the crew, but because the bus is cool, comfortable, and has an ice maker. It has an electric engine heater, and a water heater that works on electric, LP or engine heat. It has electric heaters as well as LP heaters.
Why buy this Wanderlodge?
Perhaps the best thing ever for pulling a toy trailer/race trailer, with the combination of a steel frame/meaty hitch, 500 hp Detroit, and 44,000 lb vehicle weight. It is a 38' model, which makes it easier to tow a trailer without much of a sacrifice in living space, and it has a tag axle, which allows it to support more weight.
Comfortable as a family RV
Dependable. I've gone through both the Detroit and the tranny, and this bus has logged thousands of miles for me and my race team
OLD SCHOOL! Everybody comments on how cool looking this old fellow is, especially when you pull into a campground filled with tan fiberglass RVs with the same boomerang paint jobs
Safe. Impervious to wind, and doesn't get kicked around by semis or your trailer. Brakes are good, and air system works well.
New paint job. If you look at other Wanderlodges, most have original paint from the 80s or 90s.
Think brown/taupe/mauve. This is not.
Non-grandma interior. Many RV's (including Wanderlodges) from the 80s and 90s have dark oak or faux oak interiors. This one has off-white cabinetry in the front, which makes it much brighter.
Paperwork. I've got a plastic file tub filled with all kinds of receipts and papers for the bus.