Can't go faster than 60mph max...30mph on hills

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

what's the rush? my bus tops out about 110kms around 65 miles an hour, I like to run about 95kms . best fuel mileage , nice relaxing drive, less noise etc.
gbstewart

I haven't figured out the need for speed either... But, I don't drive in traffic.

I need this made into a bumper sticker

[Spinksmatt]

Thanks again to all who are responding. For the record, I have done the Nicaragua trip before and am fairly aware of what to expect. Not everything, of course. I don't really care to drive much faster than 60mph, but I do care if my bus seems to barely make it over Indiana hills doing 25-30mph, when I will be traveling over much much bigger hips and mountains. My friends bus made it last year with little trouble. It just feels like this bus should have more power. I've been in many buses over 60mph and they didn't seem to barely be able to do it. I'm in no hurry, just want to get from a to b in more than just Indiana plains. I drove the hills of western Iowa already and I was barely over the legal minimum of 45mph on the interstate sometimes, and those were USA highway hills!

[Tango]

One trick worth stealing from some of the big dollar "motor coaches" is to add a wide roller across the back rear that is set to touch down before anything else snags. The ones I have seen are steel but there are some castor wheel types as well I believe.

[Spinksmatt]

Thanks man, I like that idea.

[Carytowncat]

Seems to me the motor to have for mountains is the dt466. If i were traveling that's the motor id want, but for the mostly flat driving i rarely do, this 366 big block GMC is perfect I test drove a full size dump truck last week and that thing felt like a darn sports car lol the torque was superb. Must has!
In motorcycles they say "it's not how fast we can go that matters most, but how fast can we stop?!"

[cadillackid]

I drive my busses through cities all the time, I seem not to have any issues with traffic other than its heavy and getting the lane changes i need is occasionally a challenge.. but im learning to use my size as an advantage.. amazing when you start to slightly straddle those white lines with your signal on how many people move out of the way quick then you make your move...

I think people in traffic expect a Bus to be going slow so even though they dont like being behind me, they are sort of ready for it...

runnign through NYC at evening rush was probably my most challenging city in the start, but soon the traffic just came to a crawl so speed wasnt an issue.. and that first 0-10 MPH in a school bus is actually pretty snappy esp if you get ready and spool your turbo then make your move..

-Christopher

[cowlitzcoach]

Just a random thought for a Sunday morning.

Back in 1990 I was assigned a brand new TC2000 with the Cummins 5.9L. It had so much more go on the hills than my previous bus, a 1978 IHC/Loadstar/Thomas with a MV404, that it never occurred to me that something may have been wrong with the new bus.

My new bus had to go back to the dealer for some "adjustments" so I was given a different brand new TC2000 until my bus got back home. When I drove "my" bus up the hill the first time I realized something was wrong--it sure didn't scoot up the hill like the other TC2000.

When I complained the mechanics discovered that with the pedal to the floor I was barely getting 3/4 throttle. When they adjusted the throttle cable "my" bus would scoot up the hill like the rest of them.

The point of the story is check and make sure you are getting 100% throttle when the pedal is all the way down to the floor.

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Just a random thought for a Sunday morning.

Back in 1990 I was assigned a brand new TC2000 with the Cummins 5.9L. It had so much more go on the hills than my previous bus, a 1978 IHC/Loadstar/Thomas with a MV404, that it never occurred to me that something may have been wrong with the new bus.

My new bus had to go back to the dealer for some "adjustments" so I was given a different brand new TC2000 until my bus got back home. When I drove "my" bus up the hill the first time I realized something was wrong--it sure didn't scoot up the hill like the other TC2000.

When I complained the mechanics discovered that with the pedal to the floor I was barely getting 3/4 throttle. When they adjusted the throttle cable "my" bus would scoot up the hill like the rest of them.

The point of the story is check and make sure you are getting 100% throttle when the pedal is all the way down to the floor.

Great point!