Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 10-31-2016, 04:19 PM   #21
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
wiothout a tach its tough to see whats going on... MPH doesnt matter as much as engine / driveshaft speed when it comes to when the 545 shifts..

if you are not able to do 55 and you are running redline and you know you are getting all 3 shifts out of the 545 then it comes down to gears normally..

if you can find out your rear gears and tire height then we can calculate what you speed should be at a particular RPM..

both of my 545's shiuft when my engine hits its maxx RPM and begins to unload lsightly.. meaning im not going to rev any higher and im not just running against the stall of the torque comverter..

that translates to 4th gear engagement (foot to the floor) in my older bus (DT-360) at about 45 MPH... and in my newer bus at about 42 MPH... (its electronically handled)...

-Christopher

cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2016, 05:26 PM   #22
Bus Nut
 
Jolly Roger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 651
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
Fuel pincher/545/and 6.50 eaton rear gears? Thanks
Jolly Roger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2016, 05:55 PM   #23
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
50 MPH sounds about right for max speed..im assuming say a 41" tall tire.. (standard 11R22.5 drive tires)..

6.50 rear at 50 MPH comes back to a about 2700 RPM... i think the max on an 8.2 is 2700 or 2800...

your tires may be a little smaller or bigger rolling circumference.. I just used a number of what ive seen some tires...

-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2016, 07:03 PM   #24
New Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 8
That's exactly what mine does. And it is a Wayne County bus out of Goldsboro NC. The 500 mile drive home at 45 MPh was interesting, but I drive the heck of that bus. I've got a source for a 3.53 ratio axle that I'm probably going to swap in.
Transporter2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2016, 08:37 PM   #25
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Transporter2112 View Post
That's exactly what mine does. And it is a Wayne County bus out of Goldsboro NC. The 500 mile drive home at 45 MPh was interesting, but I drive the heck of that bus. I've got a source for a 3.53 ratio axle that I'm probably going to swap in.
I think you'll find that anything "faster" than about a 4.11 gear set may be too high of a ratio (lower numerically) for an efficient setup. The engine/trans is likely to struggle to accelerate and maintain optimal RPM's at cruising speed (unless you plan to run 75+, in which case you may need a bigger motor for anything other than flat ground).

Mine currently has a 5.38 gear and will run somewhere around 50-55 on the highway; if I regear it, I'll likely go with a 4.11.
Brad_SwiftFur is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2016, 09:59 PM   #26
New Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 8
You're right, but I do want to be able to cruise the interstate at 80 MPH. I expect I'll have to repower the bus and ultimately plan to go with a Detroit 2 cycle. The 6V53 would
Be the easiest swap but I don't think the little 318 can do what I want, so I may end up having to jump to the 6v92.
Transporter2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-01-2016, 08:15 AM   #27
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,782
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Quote:
Originally Posted by Transporter2112 View Post
You're right, but I do want to be able to cruise the interstate at 80 MPH.

!!!!????

If your bus is a Chevy short bus on a van chassis, then that shouldn't be too unreasonable. If you're driving a 1990 Chevy full size bus then you'll want to be certain your brakes, kingpins, suspension, tie-rods, wheels, bearings, etc are all in tip top shape. That's dang fast cruising speed for an old school bus...
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-01-2016, 08:44 AM   #28
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
at 80 you are going to have to hope your suspension and steering are DEAD ON or you will have that bus swaying easily....

my newest shortie has 3.56 Gears in it and 32" tires and will go 70 at 2600 RPM.. so I would concur that anything taller than a 4.11 is going to make that thing Lug severely on 40" plus tires...

-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2016, 03:21 PM   #29
Bus Nut
 
Jolly Roger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 651
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
Alright gentlemen, I am still to computer illiterate to start a new thread so I would like some advice/opinions on this? Lack of money has always plagued my build and now I want to rotate tires?
Both of my steer say regroovable and 3 out of my 4- drive say the same and look good and one says remold with the states school system's name on it.
Obviously from my front steer tires both wearing on the inside.
Sorry a little more explanation? I just started driving it more and more since January and starting to see what/where it's at? We passed a full DOT inspection in April with no complaints or you need to look at this and that was me dropping the bus off and them calling when they got to it.
Now even though I can do 49 I get a front end wobble at 35-40 and have been through/hands on tie rods /ball joints and even the power steering pump and no slack found with each pice disconnected from anything it serves.
Long story short i have one tire that says remold and five that says regroovable.
The two on the steer(re-groovable) could be moved to the same side as they are as steers and the inside rears (same date stamp and regroovable stamp) could be moved to the steers?
Can't buy new tread right now but can make a rotate happen with a front end alignment with a four foot level?
Jolly Roger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2016, 10:25 AM   #30
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: West Ohio
Posts: 3,660
Year: 1984
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 1753
Engine: 6.9 International
Rated Cap: 65
Are you running budd type or dayton's for wheels? Front tire wear sounds like toe out is too much. Have an alignment(or do it yourself) done. Have a tire shop check out your tires, I can't and won't comment on what you should do with those.
Booyah45828 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2016, 10:48 AM   #31
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
I know omn my carpenter bus when I got it and had it aligned, they said the Toe was off almost 3/4"! its amazing how much nicer the bus drove after I got it aligned..
-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2016, 04:38 PM   #32
Bus Nut
 
Jolly Roger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 651
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
I am running Dayton 9r20 tubed for now.
My understanding/research is that the remold style is a lot better than the recap. I haven't really found anything on the tires that say regroovable?
I know my local tire shop and if I don't go in there with some knowledge they are going say brand new tires or they won't touch it without even looking at what's there.
I am planning on changing to at a minimum to 9/22.5 tires until I can find 10" rims for all the way around.
I can see and know what the front end needs for adjustment.
My question was about the tires that said regroovable? And I understand about/with the liability of a comment on tires
I was hoping cowlitz coach would chime in? cause I don't want to buy new sneakers to fit rims that I am already trying to get rid of?
Thanks for the advice.
Jolly Roger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 12:30 AM   #33
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
If you have tube type tires you can swap them for tubeless for about the cost of what a new tube and flap will cost.

A 10R22.5 is pretty much identical in size to a 9.00x20.

If you have enough space you could move up to an 11R22.5 and get about 5 MPH more out of the top end.

As far as tires go, the only tires you should have on the steer axle are new tires.

As far as the drive tires are concerned, you may want to try recaps. The problem is, unless you have casings that can be reused you are not going to be saving very much $$$.

Whatever you have, make sure all of the tires are matched. If you have different brands or styles of tires you most likely will not have all of the tires the same height. If all of the shorter tires are on one side you run the risk of burning up your diff. If you mix the shorter tires with the taller tires you run the risk of blowing out the tire that is shouldering most of the weight.

If you intend to drive 10K miles per month don't even think about a name brand tire. Samsun and Double Coin are a couple of cheap Chinese knockoff tires that will cost about half the cost of a name brand and they will die of old age about the same time. Which will be long before lack of tread will be a problem.
cowlitzcoach is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 07:21 AM   #34
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Cowlitz: what are your thoughts on Samson tires?

I put name brand on my carpenter because Uniroyal had just released them, and the tire shop gace me a good deal as they wanted to push them.. ive driven roughly 8000 on those uniroyals and they are super...

my new bus has 6 matching Samson's on it.. little 225/70R19.5's that are from 2013.. no idea on the miles.. they have decent tread on them but I swear I get more steering wheel shake or out-of-round feel than I like.. im sure part of it is that with the smaller diameter the wheels spin faster than with the big 11R22.5's just interested in your thoughts of keeping the samsons if there ends uop being issues with them vs going to another brand..
-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 08:25 AM   #35
Bus Geek
 
Tango's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
Just a thought....many skoolies have spent more than a few months just sitting on concrete before they are sold and flat spots on the tires is not uncommon. They make for really annoying shakes at times. Some even out and some are there forever.
Tango is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 08:44 AM   #36
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Just a thought....many skoolies have spent more than a few months just sitting on concrete before they are sold and flat spots on the tires is not uncommon. They make for really annoying shakes at times. Some even out and some are there forever.
ive driven that bus 2000 miles now.. if there are flat spots I think they are not goin away..
-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 08:54 AM   #37
Bus Geek
 
Tango's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
I have my rig a quarter inch off the floor in my shop. The tires are about a year and a half old but would be a mess if left on the concrete that long without moving regularly. I HATE flat spots (like the ones on my '95 Jeep Cherokee that only gets driven a couple of times a year).
Tango is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 12:47 PM   #38
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
The Samsun tires are good for what they are. They will never go the distance of a Continental or a Toyo. On the other hand, you can usually purchase two sets of Samsun tires for the price of one set of Continentals.

I have a set on my travel trailer. I have only towed it about 60 miles since putting them on so I don't have a real feel for them yet.

If your tires are still bouncing after you know they should have rounded out I would suggest it is probably time to hit the tire shop for some wheel balancing. Believe it or not, some school bus garages do not balance their tires. They figure that since the buses rarely go over 35 MPH the tires will never reach speeds where balancing is important. While the cost to you for one set of tires to be balanced is not a big deal, in a fleet with hundreds of tires the cost can become a real big deal.

If you put the tires on a spin balancer you will also be able to observe whether or not the tire is round or if the wheel is straight.

It might just be a case of some weights have fallen off (it isn't unusual to have upwards of 16 oz. of balance weight on a big tire). Some tire techs don't know that if you have a big imbalance it could be because the heavy part of the tire is mounted on the heavy side of the wheel. Remounting the tire so the heavy side of the tire is opposite to the heavy side of the wheel can sometimes eliminate most of the weight to balance a tire.

Or it might be a case of you have some belts separating. If the tires are more than 5-years old you might have to bite the bullet and shell out for a new set of tires.
cowlitzcoach is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 01:26 PM   #39
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
I had the steers on the carpenter Bead Balanced... that seems to work well... im not sure how it works but that bus is nice n smooth..

I planned to visit the tire shop anyway with the new bird to have it aligned just because.. it drives fine but figured it cant hurt to have the alignment checked..

-Christopher
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2016, 04:53 PM   #40
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 1,001
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: International
Engine: TE 444
Rated Cap: 12
I just bought 4 11R22.5 Chinese tires for $240 each for the back of my motor home to replace the 13 year old ones on there, I want to make it to Florida in January, the tires were made this year, still have a few years left on the school bus tires
Kubla is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.