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Old 11-28-2018, 11:38 AM   #1
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Purchasing question - air brakes and air suspension

Is there a certain brand or type of bus that is more likely to have air brakes and air suspension? or does it depend on what the school district ordered? My impression is that air brakes are safer than hydraulic, and that air suspensions are safe and more comfortable than hydraulic..not sure if this is true or not?

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Old 11-28-2018, 12:45 PM   #2
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Location: Claremont, NH
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Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DT466E (195hp, 520tq)
I think the air ride depends on the configuration. Ours has a wheelchair lift and came with rear air bags. During our search it looked like most of the larger buses with lifts were equipped with rear air suspension. (Side note - we had to get the air bags replaced because of cracks in them, basically the only repair we had to do to get it inspected.)

As for air brakes, it seems that the larger buses (7/8+ windows) will have air brakes, but there are full sized units out there with hydraulic. We limited our search for ones with the air brakes.

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Old 11-28-2018, 12:48 PM   #3
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Year: 2007
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Chassis: CE300
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Air Brakes and Air Suspension are specified by the district at the time of purchase - all brands have all configurations.

Air Brakes are typically stronger than hydraulic brakes and can be safer - if there is a leak and air pressure is lost, the rear brakes will automatically apply and stop the vehicle - that's what you see on all big rigs.

Air suspension is not more or less safe than -mechanical spring- suspension, it is smoother and can provide variable lift. There is no such thing as hydraulic suspension on busses. As liquid does not compress, it provides a way of transferring force from one mechanism to another - think big earth movers, backhoes, hydraulic brakes, etc. This would be BAD and a harsh ride in a suspension application. The only application I can think of for suspension would be to raise or lower the chassis from the suspension such as a kneeling bus, but those are typically air driven. Even if there were such a suspension, it would still require mechanical spring or air suspension to smooth out the ride as hydraulic would be like there was no suspension at all.
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Old 11-28-2018, 03:54 PM   #4
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Location: Chattanooga, TN
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Year: 2000
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pengyou View Post
Is there a certain brand or type of bus that is more likely to have air brakes and air suspension? or does it depend on what the school district ordered? My impression is that air brakes are safer than hydraulic, and that air suspensions are safe and more comfortable than hydraulic..not sure if this is true or not?
Lucked into air ride with my 2000 Amtran Genesis FE! I've been very pleased
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