Who made my chassis?

[Curatorsofcoolie]

Having a hard time finding a manual or anything for the actual mechanics of our bus.

It’s a 98 Bluebird CSRE 3408 with the 8.3Cummins and Allison Transmission.

I was able to do a body # search on bluebird vantage which lead me to a chassis# F084507 but I can’t seem to figure out where to search that number for manufacturer.

All in all I’m looking for all the specs and checklists for how to care for this bus as I’m a greenhorn.

We didn’t even know we had a coolant filter till recently and now I don’t even know where to look in order to change it out!

Any information greatly appreciated.

[Sehnsucht]

AFAIK Blue Bird made their own chassis for the AAs and the CS is built on the same platform so the chassis should also be Blue Bird manufactured.

[magnakansas]

axles, brakes, steering are for the most part, off the shelf items.

the frame rails and such are blue bird.

It is possible the steering box is even bluebird but I think even that is out of a supply catalogoue

william

[BamaBus]

Originally Posted by Curatorsofcoolie

Having a hard time finding a manual or anything for the actual mechanics of our bus.

It’s a 98 Bluebird CSRE 3408 with the 8.3Cummins and Allison Transmission.

I was able to do a body # search on bluebird vantage which lead me to a chassis# F084507 but I can’t seem to figure out where to search that number for manufacturer.

All in all I’m looking for all the specs and checklists for how to care for this bus as I’m a greenhorn.

We didn’t even know we had a coolant filter till recently and now I don’t even know where to look in order to change it out!

Any information greatly appreciated.

Looks like you will have to put together your own service manual depending on what systems and parts you discover you have. Some Blue Bird manuals are HERE but are not exclusive to your bus but may give you some ideas.
For an example, the J-230-SB Spicer Drive Axle manuals you may need are HERE and HERE
You can get info on the 300R transmission from ALLISON
CUMMINS QUICKSERVE will allow you to register the engine serial number and give you some information.

You can search for all of the filters currently on the bus and get replacements for future servicing etc....

Have you done any conversion work or driven it much since you bought it? I believe it had around 92,000. Nice bus.

[Curatorsofcoolie]

Yeah! She’s a beast and with less than 100K still she’s got a real long life on ‘er. We’re about 85% done with our conversion and just took it on a 10 day trip from Denver, CO to Portland, Oregon. However, she blew the radiator cap because we didn’t put it on right so she started to overheat. It was only then that I realized how many things I need to be aware of and need to check so I’m getting busy making the service list.

Thanks for your input.