Crown opinions please

[GreyCoyote]

Locally we have "gumbo" clay. If there is an inch of mud, you're going to get stuck. It coats the tires after one turn and then acts like a super-lube between tire and surface. Its amazing stuff. Pray you never meet it! Lol...

[dalez]

Originally Posted by GreyCoyote

Locally we have "gumbo" clay. If there is an inch of mud, you're going to get stuck. It coats the tires after one turn and then acts like a super-lube between tire and surface. Its amazing stuff. Pray you never meet it! Lol...

I'll be offroading frequently east of Austin and other parts of east texas... and who knows where else with me taking it to all the Burning Man regional events I can get to...

[GreyCoyote]

Originally Posted by dalez

I'll be offroading frequently east of Austin and other parts of east texas... and who knows where else with me taking it to all the Burning Man regional events I can get to...

Flipside has that gumbo-stuff. I got a 4wd stuck there two years in a row...

Hey: Drop me a line if you want to caravan to BRC this year! Could be big mischief!

[dalez]

Originally Posted by GreyCoyote

Flipside has that gumbo-stuff. I got a 4wd stuck there two years in a row...

Hey: Drop me a line if you want to caravan to BRC this year! Could be big mischief!

Ick - I got my bus stuck there both times I've taken it. Although to be fair, it was so bad you could get stuck on foot. I missed the flood by 30 minutes!

**THREAD DE-DERAILING!!!**


Think a 8x10 Crown with or without lockers and chains would handle better there?

[Iceni John]

All Crown tandems (the 3-axle school buses) are mid-engine. Most driveline parts are just standard Class 8 truck items, so it's not difficult to keep older Crowns alive. Because Crown was a smaller manufacturer compared to BB and Thomas, they used a lot of off-the-shelf items.

There are no extensions of the frame rails behind the rear axle of a mid-engine Crown. The rear trunk is a crumple zone for rear-end impacts, designed to crush if hit hard from behind. This means that you will need to make suitable load-carrying extensions from the end of the frame to the rear bumper if you want to mount a hitch on the bumper. Several folk have done this - it's probably not too difficult.

John

[dalez]

Ok here's a Crown question for ya. I read on another forum that tandem axle Crown bodies are so stiff that on uneven ground they have problems. Not just problems with one wheel leaving the ground on each side, but problems like the body physically ripping apart from the torque, apparently typically along the bottom of the windows down one side. Any thoughts on this? The road to one of my events is NOT even... it's no problem for small cars, trucks, RVs, or my international bus, but the crown?

[johnbloem1974]

Yea, Dalez, I don't know how that crown would take the Piney Playa... ;)

John

[Iceni John]

Dalez,
I've also heard of some older Crowns cracking their window or bodyside structure after having being constantly used on dirt roads, such as some of the desert school districts had. There have been some isolated issues of frame cracks, but it's not endemic to all Crowns. After a million or more miles, any vehicle may develop frame cracks. Yes, Crowns are structurally stiffer than the typical body-bolted-to-frame construction used by others - Crown welds their bodies to the frames to make a single unified integral structure.

Remember, a Crown is not an off-road vehicle, even a tandem. The first time you take one over a rough uneven dirt road, you'll scrape the engine or transmission on the ground. There's only a foot or so of clearance under those engines. For terrain like that, a more traditional dog-nose bus built on a medium-duty truck chassis with lots of ground clearance is still the best.

John

[cowlitzcoach]

The early Crown tandems had some frame cracking issues as a result of doing a lot of slow corners. Dragging a set of tandems around a corner is hard work. Most of that problem was eliminated in newer models after the rear air suspension became the only suspension offered on tandems.

All Crowns have a problem with the frame outriggers if the bus is driven on a lot of bad roads. The Crown has very little give to them. Unlike a Blue Bird that shakes, rattles, and rolls down the road a Crown will have virtually no shakes, rattles, and rolls. I have driven Crowns with over a million miles that had fewer rattles than a brand new Blue Bird.

[Gillig&Crown]

Hello All,

I am the friend referenced by Iceni John. Moderators, please let me know if I am not permitted to promote my bus for sale on this forum . . .

Yes, I have a 1983 Crown Tandem with a turbocharged Detroit Diesel and Eaton-Fuller 10-speed. At 259K miles, it runs, drives, and stops perfectly. While I have no evidence of a rebuild, the exterior of the engine is clean, exhaust nearly smokeless, has a crankcase full of fresh Delo 100 40W, and two new Group 31 batteries. Seats are removed, with the exception of those on the rear shelf, and a makeshift dinette. The body is very good, but in the interest of full disclosure, it has a scrape on the ride side, and a little spot of rust on the front cap, under the paint. Another small rust-through has been removed and repaired with mesh and kevlar-fiberglass filler. Tires are fair-good.

I'd love to keep it, but I also have a 1981 Gillig Tandem (rare, for a Gillig, all-aluminum model), and recently acquired a 1973 Crown ex-Atomic. I must "thin the herd".

1983 CROWN BUS TANDEM AXLE 10-SPEED TURBO DETROIT

I'm asking $8800, but cash speaks loudly.

As for conversion, my Gillig, also with mid-engine, is on track for a bathroom at the rear, so tanks will reside in the trunk.

Thanks,
Paul

[dalez]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

Dalez,
Remember, a Crown is not an off-road vehicle, even a tandem. The first time you take one over a rough uneven dirt road, you'll scrape the engine or transmission on the ground. There's only a foot or so of clearance under those engines. For terrain like that, a more traditional dog-nose bus built on a medium-duty truck chassis with lots of ground clearance is still the best.

John

DAMN. Everything else about them sounds great too... But 12" of center clearance is a no go for us, unless it can be air bagged and raised another 6-8"

I'd rather not go dog nose, been eyeballing RE Internationals up till now for the extra interior and underside space... But really want a 10-13 speed road ranger...

*Heh, alternate possibility, keep my Intl Dog nose as my event bus, build the crown as my hwy bus.... Wonder if the regional BM events in other parts of the country are as 'rough' as the Texas events road wise... Might just keep the dog nose parked in Tx for them

[bansil]

Beautiful bus, as long as you are not a dealer and no linking to your business website etc, you should be fine

[ennonne]

Crown newbie question....

On the mid engine ones, what's in the rear compartment? Seems like that big hump in the rear floor wouldn't be needed? Same body for rear and mid-engine buses?

[dalez]

Originally Posted by ennonne

Crown newbie question....

On the mid engine ones, what's in the rear compartment? Seems like that big hump in the rear floor wouldn't be needed? Same body for rear and mid-engine buses?

It's a trunk!!

[Gillig&Crown]

It's a cavernous trunk. I've seen the divider cut out for more flexibility, with modification of the doors for toy-hauler duty.

[ennonne]

Thanks.

No space underneath so it has a trunk. Unusual for a school bus, but good for an RV....