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 05-02-2018, 04:32 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 3
New Bus - Purpose Built..

Hi everyone, the Grand.Wizard has been viewing and diligently trying to read up on topics similar to what the Grand.Wizard and his wife are trying to build. If this posting belongs in another place Grand.Wizard hopes an Admin will blast this sucker into the right forum.

Let the Grand.Wizard begin with a little back story -
- Grand.Wizard is an outdoorsman at heart with surfing being the number one passion in his life.
- To no surprise of the Grand.Wizard, he is bound to a smokin' She.Warlock who has the sharpest eye behind the lens of a camera.
- Naturally enough both of our lives dictate us to be outside - in remote areas - sometimes far off grid.
- We own a dog of no magical talents, but we have to take him with us on our quest which led us to choose a skoolie for all of us to conjure comfortably.



This leads the Grand.Wizard to the next point. We have decided decided to purchases a 98' Thomas Vista 5 window bus with the t444e motor, and the AT545 transmission (dont hold the Grand.wizard to that - he will not know until he gets to arizona to drive her back home )

We will be converting this into our home for the winter time as we embark on our journey south into panama to see family who reside down there, along with filming a movie for both of our professions. This has led the grand.wizard to look deeply into more rugged over landing rigs .

So, the Grand.Wizard is requesting knowledge to certain things for anyone with mechanical inclinations the Grand.Wizard only wished he possessed to further extents.

- Do both wheels receive power or do only one set of duals receive power.
- ( if it was the latter of the two in the prior question ) do they make a certain ' Posse trac ' or " LS locker " that can be installed?
- The Grand.Wizard doesn't have an interest or truly see the super big point to fabbing a 4x4 conversion on it - from what the Grand.Wizard has read, its apparently not worth it?
- would Super Singles be worth placing on the back axle if power goes to both wheels? OR replacing the axles entirely to fit two bigger regular sized Truck tires (say 35' x 12.50 tires ) seeing as how the bus is a medium duty truck class?
- can anyone explain gear ratios in ' Barney Style ' levels so that the grand.wizard can easily or more easily understand what would be needed.

if you have any other tips or advice it is greatly appreciated, we intend on definitely putting a cable winch - keeping a shovel and a set of maxtracs with us at all times. we aren't looking to take our skoolie ripping through the dunes of baja sur catching air with the pre runner trucks. But be confident that we can have the clearance below us, and we have some extra grab n go should we have to get through a small rio - or over some more rugged, softer sand areas. thank you again so much.

Grand.Wizard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2018, 04:44 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
The Grand Wizard could have bought that bus right from the auction for a couple grand about six months ago. Its at AAA bus sales, eh?

Having seen a Vista get stuck on a dirt road, and having dug said vista out, I'd recommend an aggressive open shoulder design for the rear tires. If its on 19.5's its not gonna be a very good "off road" bus.
Yes- all four rear tires are driven on duals.

Vistas are ok, I've driven one and ridden in another, but there are better short buses out there with more clearance and a better ride- IMO.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2018, 04:51 PM   #3
New Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
The Grand Wizard could have bought that bus right from the auction for a couple grand about six months ago. Its at AAA bus sales, eh?

Having seen a Vista get stuck on a dirt road, and having dug said vista out, I'd recommend an aggressive open shoulder design for the rear tires. If its on 19.5's its not gonna be a very good "off road" bus.
Yes- all four rear tires are driven on duals.

Vistas are ok, I've driven one and ridden in another, but there are better short buses out there with more clearance and a better ride- IMO.
thank you, and yes spot on, we have already paid the piper on the deal and i fly out the 17th to go pick it up. i noticed the very small tires it had on it once i saw better pictures of it and then thought maybe if both sides receive power i could sell off the small duals in exchange for a set of Super Singles, they say they aren't ideal for truckers like their advertised to. but i figured for something smaller it could give that wider and larger clearance we would need and with both tires receiving power assuming the gearing ratio would be okay to run with it that it would be enough to serve the purpose we seek.
Grand.Wizard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2018, 04:52 PM   #4
New Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 3
also open to any recommendations as far as putting larger more aggressive tires on the front of the bus as well. thanks again
Grand.Wizard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2018, 05:18 PM   #5
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grand.Wizard View Post
also open to any recommendations as far as putting larger more aggressive tires on the front of the bus as well. thanks again
With a Vista you may be limited on wheel/tire size.
I'd think duals would give you much more traction than singles.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2018, 11:52 PM   #6
Skoolie
 
mikerob643's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
I've got a 96 vista 3600 and the rear portion of these busses is not going to be your limiter for clearance . they have a the front axel square thing of sorts that sits reaaaaally low to the ground . I actually stopped by aaa and probably looked at the exact bus you bought. It like mine leaves a lot to be desired in the clearance relm.
mikerob643 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 05:18 AM   #7
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikerob643 View Post
I've got a 96 vista 3600 and the rear portion of these busses is not going to be your limiter for clearance . they have a the front axel square thing of sorts that sits reaaaaally low to the ground . I actually stopped by aaa and probably looked at the exact bus you bought. It like mine leaves a lot to be desired in the clearance relm.
Yeah, they're NOT offroad machines by any stretch.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 01:55 PM   #8
Bus Nut
 
Rivetboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Huntington Beach CA.
Posts: 939
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: T/C 2000 28 foot Handy Bus
Engine: Cummins 5.9 Mechanical
Rated Cap: 2
"Yeah, they're NOT offroad machines by any stretch".

Sure they are. All you need is an orchard of money trees, well watered.
Rivetboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 03:29 PM   #9
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivetboy View Post
"Yeah, they're NOT offroad machines by any stretch".

Sure they are. All you need is an orchard of money trees, well watered.
LOL But only one bushel of money could buy an actual off-road capable bus.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 06:02 PM   #10
Bus Crazy
 
Ronnie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Virginia
Posts: 2,324
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Wayne
Chassis: International Loadstar 1700
Engine: 345 international V-8
I do not know what is standard in a bus, however would venture to guess it is an "open" rear. That is no locker or posi traction. The easy way to find out once you have the bus is to jack up one side and turn the tires, if they turn it is not a locked or a posi. No brakes on for this test, please block front wheels to avoid un needed excitement.....

My bus does have a locking rear, made by Detroit Gear. These are fully locked normally and unlock to allow a turn, you will hear it clicking when turning.
Ronnie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 06:09 PM   #11
Bus Crazy
 
Ronnie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Virginia
Posts: 2,324
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Wayne
Chassis: International Loadstar 1700
Engine: 345 international V-8
super singles give you no spare. with duels it is unlikely to have more then one go flat, so you can always move a tire to the front if needed and just run one in back to "limp" somewhere for a tire.
Ronnie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 06:19 PM   #12
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Owasso, OK
Posts: 2,627
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner MVP ER
Engine: Cummins 6CTA8.3 Mechanical MD3060
Rated Cap: 46 Coach Seats, 40 foot
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronnie View Post
super singles give you no spare. with duels it is unlikely to have more then one go flat, so you can always move a tire to the front if needed and just run one in back to "limp" somewhere for a tire.
If you can lift it and get the lugnuts off

Those tools should be part of the arsenal, plus a commercial version of the tubless repair kits and a compressor.
__________________
Steve Bracken

Build Thread
Twigg 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 09:40 AM.


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