Have I lost my mind?

[Hutchy]

I just bought a 28 foot Blue Bird handi bus sight unseen with 96k miles so I have to get it home to Raleigh NC from Hartselle AL. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And yes its an AT545 tranny. 5.9 Cummins with air brakes. The rear axle ratio is 3.54

[magnakansas]

This is one of those front engine, flat nosed busses.

so... Mine weighs 10,000lbs on the front axle and 6,000 lbs on the rear axle.

In wet weather the rear locks up and slides..... Doing that going down a hill in the twisties is not going to be a good thing.

5% grade for me meant doing 40 mph up hills with the engine at top speed of 2300 rpm....

you have a better axle ratio than I do. Keep it at 60 mph. dont try to go faster...

I got about 10.5 to 12.5 miles to the gallon.

Do what you want to do.

I advise - If you have never driven something eight feet wide dont do this in the dark. check and recheck mirrors - use the turn signals... you are way big compared to a honda civic and will easily push them off the road if you dont know they are there.

Go watch ten hours about air brake systems now. Most tires shred because of low air pressure..... If your bus is like mine... the diesel fill nozzles for big rigs dont fit worth a damn... I use the same pumps as cars do.

Watch over hangs.... watch over hangs and your sides......

make sure you know how to blow hot air on the windshields....

You need a air pressure gage for 130 psi or less.. You ever see a trucker use a billy club and thump the tires? they are checking for a flat tire... It is the sound you are listening for . They are not checking how much pressure, they are checking for no pressure at all.

You can catch your rear brakes on fire if you drive with the parking brake "ON". Way way bad deal.

check all fluids when you start. then check again in 50 miles, at 100 miles and 150 miles..... That will begin to give you an idea if you need to pay special attention to any fluid leak problems you have. Trust your gauges.

Your rear wheels run closer to the inside during a turn, just because you miss with the front does not mean the rear will clear. if you are driving with a seat that is ahead of the front wheels, you are going to be way into the intersection before you turn that steering wheel. when you do this...dont move at too many miles per hour. give your self the time to make the turn.

Those yellow coloured speed signs! those are for bigguns like you. Good idea you follow them. I can take a yellow posted speed sign 30 mph, at 70 mph in the porsche, but I have been caught out doing only 5 mph over the yellow posted speeds... be aware.

check your wipers.... and all your lights and that kind of stuff before you leave ...... this should be a once a day thing.... jeeze there is so much to do

william

[fo4imtippin]

I just picked one up 2000 miles away. Flew out with a crap load of tools and spare parts and brought it home. Type your engine serial into cummins and bring a couple of fuel filters with you. I brought extra water pump, idler pulley thermostats, hose clamps and got a spare belt before driving across the desert. You don't have very far to go and its very populated, so you'll be alright. If you can have a follow car in case of issues, that may take a lot of the worry out.



I saw all those buses in AL, and they look like pretty good machines.



I would certainly follow Williams advice. Specifically, knowing how air brakes work is critical to safely driving or working on these things.

[Hutchy]

thank you so much for the advice! I will let you know how it works out

[Hutchy]

Originally Posted by fo4imtippin

I just picked one up 2000 miles away. Flew out with a crap load of tools and spare parts and brought it home. Type your engine serial into cummins and bring a couple of fuel filters with you. I brought extra water pump, idler pulley thermostats, hose clamps and got a spare belt before driving across the desert. You don't have very far to go and its very populated, so you'll be alright. If you can have a follow car in case of issues, that may take a lot of the worry out.



I saw all those buses in AL, and they look like pretty good machines.



I would certainly follow Williams advice. Specifically, knowing how air brakes work is critical to safely driving or working on these things.

thanks, I guess I need to do a crash course on air brakes

[Hutchy]

OK, that was an adventure but I made it home this morning no mechanical issues at all. However I do not recommend anyone to drive 600 miles straight mostly up 2 major tractor trailer corridoors their first time driving a bus or using air brakes. Thanks American Airlines for turning a 3 hour flight into 8 hours. I'm operating off an hour of sleep today after that 24 hour ordeal. Luckily after 100 miles I found the cruise control, and halfway I got some ear plugs LOL.

[Hutchy]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

This is one of those front engine, flat nosed busses.

so... Mine weighs 10,000lbs on the front axle and 6,000 lbs on the rear axle.

In wet weather the rear locks up and slides..... Doing that going down a hill in the twisties is not going to be a good thing.

5% grade for me meant doing 40 mph up hills with the engine at top speed of 2300 rpm....

you have a better axle ratio than I do. Keep it at 60 mph. dont try to go faster...

I got about 10.5 to 12.5 miles to the gallon.

Do what you want to do.

I advise - If you have never driven something eight feet wide dont do this in the dark. check and recheck mirrors - use the turn signals... you are way big compared to a honda civic and will easily push them off the road if you dont know they are there.

Go watch ten hours about air brake systems now. Most tires shred because of low air pressure..... If your bus is like mine... the diesel fill nozzles for big rigs dont fit worth a damn... I use the same pumps as cars do.

Watch over hangs.... watch over hangs and your sides......

make sure you know how to blow hot air on the windshields....

You need a air pressure gage for 130 psi or less.. You ever see a trucker use a billy club and thump the tires? they are checking for a flat tire... It is the sound you are listening for . They are not checking how much pressure, they are checking for no pressure at all.

You can catch your rear brakes on fire if you drive with the parking brake "ON". Way way bad deal.

check all fluids when you start. then check again in 50 miles, at 100 miles and 150 miles..... That will begin to give you an idea if you need to pay special attention to any fluid leak problems you have. Trust your gauges.

Your rear wheels run closer to the inside during a turn, just because you miss with the front does not mean the rear will clear. if you are driving with a seat that is ahead of the front wheels, you are going to be way into the intersection before you turn that steering wheel. when you do this...dont move at too many miles per hour. give your self the time to make the turn.

Those yellow coloured speed signs! those are for bigguns like you. Good idea you follow them. I can take a yellow posted speed sign 30 mph, at 70 mph in the porsche, but I have been caught out doing only 5 mph over the yellow posted speeds... be aware.

check your wipers.... and all your lights and that kind of stuff before you leave ...... this should be a once a day thing.... jeeze there is so much to do

william

thanks again for all your advice it came in handy! thankfully my rig has cruise control and the sweet spot seemed to be 2300 rpm at 63mph on the flat then let it do it's thing up and down the hills(it seemed to vary from 55-65 depending). By the second tank with the diesel kleen it seemed to run better

[sportyrick]

Aw life is an adventure. You will question your sanity sever times while building your skoolie, faith and tenacity are key. Everything you need to know is right here you just have to search for it.

[Hutchy]

new album uploaded if anyones interested I might post a couple videos to my youtube, look me up on instagram @hutchy_4

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by sportyrick

faith and tenacity are key

You left out "the intelligence of a bar of soap".

[schoolbuscraig]

Welcome to skoolie family! Hopefully being from North Carolina you shouldn’t have to deal with much rust. Keep the dream going!