Should I Weigh Down the back? (reduce bumpyness

[cullengw]

I was thinking that if I add alot of weight to the back of the bus, so It wont be as bumpy?

Any suggestions for reducing bumpyness?

[dond]

New shocks will really help.

[nat_ster]

More info on what bus, ect so we can help you pls.

Nat

[Tango]

There has been a fair amount of discussion here regarding the "harsh ride" that most skoolies deliver. Most of which is due to the fact that the springs are rated to handle a complete, full load of overweight school kids. Some have shocks which helps with rebound, but many have none at all.

About the only way to soften the ride is to reduce the spring rate which can really only be accomplished one of two ways...A., remove a few leafs...B., Get new springs that match your new rolling weight.

There are lots of local & national companies that can fab springs to just about any specs, so while obviously more costly, it is not prohibitively so.

Removing leafs is a hit or miss proposition and can either work or create new issues. That topic has also been discussed here.

Either way, good quality shocks can improve the feel of the ride by simply dampening rebound which accounts for part of the "bouncyness".

I had new springs made to match both the new weight AND it's new distribution. Putting a heavy diesel where a little straight six used to be drmatically alters how much weight is where. To get a decent ride, you will have to do something similar by estimating your total gross wet weight, and where is is roughly centered.

Getting your actual weight for each wheel and front to rear is a good start.

[WIbluebird]

Maybe install all the black/grey/fresh water tanks behind the rear axle? I'd also put heavy stuff like the generator or battery bank behind the rear axle if I could.

On a RE bus I wouldn't be worried about this, obviously. Dognose FEs are a different matter although they aren't terrible if you have a full tank of gas.

[EastCoastCB]

I'm centering as much weight a I can between the front and rear axles.

[jazty]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Maybe install all the black/grey/fresh water tanks behind the rear axle? I'd also put heavy stuff like the generator or battery bank behind the rear axle if I could.

On a RE bus I wouldn't be worried about this, obviously. Dognose FEs are a different matter although they aren't terrible if you have a full tank of gas.

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I'm centering as much weight a I can between the front and rear axles.

Yeh, I think the heavy weight stuff is best put just forward of the rear axle as opposed to the back of the bus. I'm sure it would take more weight than any of us are putting into the bus to make it do a wheelie, but I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that my front wheels are still firmly planted on the road.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by jazty

Yeh, I think the heavy weight stuff is best put just forward of the rear axle as opposed to the back of the bus. I'm sure it would take more weight than any of us are putting into the bus to make it do a wheelie, but I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that my front wheels are still firmly planted on the road.

This makes sense, although on a dognose FE you'll be able to get away with a lot of weight over the rear axle because the engine and transmission are both at the very front of the bus. An empty FE will be very nose heavy.

I'd do like the very heaviest things like the generator right in front of the rear axle then stuff like the tanks in the very back.

[EastCoastCB]

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[jazty]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

This makes sense, although on a dognose FE you'll be able to get away with a lot of weight over the rear axle because the engine and transmission are both at the very front of the bus. An empty FE will be very nose heavy.

I don't see there being any real difference in loading the rear of a RE or a FE (well, except that it'd be difficult to put much load in the back of an RE, unless you're building your bed frame out of concrete). I see it this way:

Dognose buses have their axle around 2/3 of the way back. This is so that the rear axle will carry the brunt of the weight. Even with the engine up front, this produces something like a weight distribution of 40% on the front axle and 60% of the weight on the rear axle (I'm just guessing on these number, btw. Maybe 33% and 66%?).

RE buses typically have their axles closer to evenly spaced from the front and back, but the engine is in the rear. They probably still have the same axle weight distribution as the FE, or at least fairly close.

If you put all the heavy stuff in the rear of an FE or a RE you will change that ratio, reducing the percentage of the weight on the front axle.
The ultimate place to put the heaviest items would be the place that retains the buses intended weight distribution. My guess is that just forward of the rear axle would be the best spot.

Regardless, it probably doesn't matter. The weight of the bus metal far outweighs what we'll be adding, unless you have a jacuzzi in the plans

[nat_ster]

When I drove my 32 foot TC2000 front engine bus home with 4500 pounds of cement bags behind the rear axle, I had no nose dive.

Empty she dove her nose into every hole. Terrible ride.

So, IMO any front engine cab over bus should have most of the weight behind the rear axle.

Nat