Roll Another One

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

2 air conditioners

wiring does look nice for sure compared to that 98's rats nest.. Texas sun will definitely bake stuff.. I got lucky that only some of my plastic stuff was sun baked to death.

those 4 black round knobs seemingly out of the way are your air-conditioner controls..

or should be anyway.
-Christopher

They are. They just don't do anything as of now.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

what size are the tires now? if you were at a 40" tire then you could sail along at 65 running 2100 or so RPM which is right where a DT likes to roll.

-Christopher

a 10R is what I want and yeah its about 40".
My thoughts exactly!
A set of full size tires and raising the top speed in the computer will REALLY transform this bus into a freeway machine.
Chris you gotta drive it, the steering is tight, smooth, and nearly effortless. No bump steer, creaking, or looseness. Engine pulls HARD. I've never imagined power like this in a shorty!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Twigg

I think the 5.29 is fine with the rest of the gearing. It will stop super-speeding while retaining acceleration when you need it. FD ratios in the 4's are great when you don't have O/D like the AT545 and MT643

With the .73 OD, and the 5.29 rear end, wouldn't my final gearing be roughly 3.91?

[EastCoastCB]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it. There's a rear hub odometer than reads 90k.
The dash reads 77k. I wonder what the real mileage is! No way to know till I see Chris.

[cadillackid]

super cool!!! a 5.29 rear and likely a 2500 PTS trans means your first and second gear are monster!! that thiungs gotta take off from the line really swiftly!
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

super cool!!! a 5.29 rear and likely a 2500 PTS trans means your first and second gear are monster!! that thiungs gotta take off from the line really swiftly!
-Christopher

Man, for a school bus this lil thing is FAAAAST!

What I don't get is the way they ordered it as though they wanted a bus for long distances at high speed, but its limited to 50mph.
I don't know what made them order it in the higher hp version, but I'm sure glad they did.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

With the .73 OD, and the 5.29 rear end, wouldn't my final gearing be roughly 3.91?

Yes, but people often emphasize the rear axle ratio without necessarily understanding that the whole ratio is what matters.

So looking for, or preferring, a bus with a 4.44 might be a bit misleading at times. Conversely, turning down an FD ratio of 5.29 might not be smart, if that's the FD ratio you need with an O/D gearbox. That's why I pointed it out.

[EastCoastCB]

I wanna go work on the bus today, but I've got that procedure tomorrow and the paperwork says I can't eat all day today or tomorrow.
Working on the bus without food is not a good idea, seems like a headache waiting to happen.
I'll find out tomorrow or soon after if I have what Eddie has.

[cadillackid]

high HP is ordered often due to A/C. most all of the shorties my bus' size were all 170 or 175 HP.. all the air-conditioned onces ive seen are 190. so yours may be 215 because it has dual A/C units in it.
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

high HP is ordered often due to A/C. most all of the shorties my bus' size were all 170 or 175 HP.. all the air-conditioned onces ive seen are 190. so yours may be 215 because it has dual A/C units in it.
-Christopher

I guess.
Josh and Hillary's bus has dual ac's with 175hp, though.
I could see if they needed the 215 to go through mountains or something. But a bus this powerful and fast seems odd to me. Oddly spec's bus overall, IMO. But that's good for me!

[brokedown]

I don't really feel the engine load when I kick in both units, but those 22 amp condenser fans plus the blowers show up on my bike gauge!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[cadillackid]

from what ive seen travelling through texas is that the school busses are usually rolling along.. it surprises me that mine was limited to 60 and yours to 50. when I habve gotten passed more than once in houston by busses easily rolling 70-75. certain routes perhaps have certain speed limiters.. they like everything Big in texas!

and def good for you esp if yopu ever want to use it was a work-horse you can easily pull your lawn-equipment trailer with it.

if you Really felt like the RPM's are too high you **could** technically replace the valve body and TCM and have a 6 speed.. but I doublt you'll need it.. 40" tires and that rear ratio with .74 OD will likely be just perfect for most of the travelling you ll do in it.. running below 2000 RPM on cross country drives does improve fuel economy till you get in the hills.. I turn my 6th Off in the mountains.. and sometimes run in 4..

-Christopher

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

from what ive seen travelling through texas is that the school busses are usually rolling along.. it surprises me that mine was limited to 60 and yours to 50. when I habve gotten passed more than once in houston by busses easily rolling 70-75. certain routes perhaps have certain speed limiters.. they like everything Big in texas!

and def good for you esp if yopu ever want to use it was a work-horse you can easily pull your lawn-equipment trailer with it.

if you Really felt like the RPM's are too high you **could** technically replace the valve body and TCM and have a 6 speed.. but I doublt you'll need it.. 40" tires and that rear ratio with .74 OD will likely be just perfect for most of the travelling you ll do in it.. running below 2000 RPM on cross country drives does improve fuel economy till you get in the hills.. I turn my 6th Off in the mountains.. and sometimes run in 4..

-Christopher

Texas has some roads with 85mph speed limits and 50 mph minimum speed. They probably don't want school buses doing 85 mph, but they don't want them hobbled either. Some of their Activity buses will be geared for decent cruising speeds. They go long distances on fast roads, especially out West,

[EastCoastCB]

Or maybe the mechanic and school REALLY DID sabotage things on the bus.
The port to attach the computer under the dash had the cover hanging off and looked like it wasn't as dusty inside as the rest of the bus. Maybe the spiteful mechanic set it to 50 to be a jerk.
Shaun said the guy was real unhappy about us buying that bus.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Or maybe the mechanic and school REALLY DID sabotage things on the bus.
The port to attach the computer under the dash had the cover hanging off and looked like it wasn't as dusty inside as the rest of the bus. Maybe the spiteful mechanic set it to 50 to be a jerk.
Shaun said the guy was real unhappy about us buying that bus.

School Districts tend to be honest, even if they are short of money and might skimp on some things ... That said, you can't odds human nature. If the mechanic did that he is simply a jerk, and they are everywhere.

[cadillackid]

thats possible too.. but someone else bidding may have asked for a computer printout to see the ECM mileage (and that ECM matches VIN).
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

thats possible too.. but someone else bidding may have asked for a computer printout to see the ECM mileage (and that ECM matches VIN).
-Christopher

I doubt it was for a potential buyer. They were less than friendly about answering questions, I can't imagine them taking the time to check anything.

[cadillackid]

true - it sounds like they didnt want anything to do with anyone.. well probably because some bean counter made him replace a good DT-466 bus with a brand new emission controlled unit.... or even worse had to ditch a bus without a replacement..

or like you mentioned "something funky" behind the scenes..
jack up the dash and wiring on a perfectly good bus so it "costs too much" to fix...

or could just be they were careless when they yanked out the cameras and such.
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

[EastCoastCB]