2007 C2/MBE906 5 Window

[cadillackid]

Good call on chocking. Brakes get tired, cables stretch. Nice to have a backup on a grade. A school bus rolling freely down a hill could take out most of your average Wal-Mart.

+1 on chocking.. I do it on my driveway.. at least on a skoolie you can tghten the park brake cable with the handle knob.
-Christopher

 

[Tango-SKO]

"at least on a skoolie you can tighten the park brake cable with the handle knob."


They should ALL be made this way! (and used to be for the most part)


I shopped all over for one then buddy Guido sent me a link to a Military Surplus outfit. $8 bucks plus shipping.

 

[Grasswaiting]

So I said 85 without explaining and paid for it. My bus currently goes 67 mph. Felt uber smooth in neutral up to about 85. I didn’t test past that. I would like to drive up and down hills without bumping the governor and without going to neutral. Everything on this bus can handle it. On freeways I would be 75 ish ideally; but downhill with a pending uphill I would like to let her run. Driving against the governor feels awful and I don’t have a clutch. So I thought get it to go 85 and give me some breathing room.

 

[Grasswaiting]

Nellie Belle first drive! I ask dumb questions. Turbo spool from 6 min on; I love it and never thought about it beforehand.

 

[cadillackid]

If you really want to go 85 and safely then you need to analyze things like tire ratings, driveshaft rated rpm, what if something goes wrong can you stop safely, brake capacity, will the engine and trans sustain those speeds under load hitting an unforeseen pothole at 85, but damn do your homework before you just recklessly careen a school bus down a hill at 85... there’s a lot of factors and just because the speedo has 85 on it doesn’t mean the bus is truly mechanically built for it..

 

[Grasswaiting]

Those are excellent points Chris; I will go through that list and let the bus dictate. Is there another way to ride up against the governor at 67 mph going downhill without the constant lurching (no clutch and without shifting to neutral)?

 

[cadillackid]

not that I know of.. the converter clutch is your friend in the hills. so you dont want to program it disabled, or you'll burn up the transmission.. if it was a navistar I could turn off your governor. but I dont have the software to operate on an MBE..



going 85 down a Hill in neutral is a scary prospect as the only way you have of slowing down that bus is the brake.. most likely if you needed any engine braking, at that speed your allison TCM will fail to engage if you shifted to 'D'. not knowing the limits of the MBE I dont know if 85 is possibly over its redline so that even removing a speed governor may not allow you to go 85 down a hill.. thats all in your engine and gearing.



I do know that the body of a bus seems to flex and ebb at speeds near 80.. when I was travelling back from Texas, I picked up a fellow skoolie and he was driving for a while to give me a break.. he was playing and tried to get my 6 window shorty up to 80.. (he made 79).. I was 2 seats back, it was night, I could see the dashboard light reflections in the windows.. the body panels were flexing pretty good from the various air pressure changes.. something that Ive never noticed driving at 65-70.. and always being in the driver seat never know what the back of the bus was like.. we were on a slight descent I think and he just punched it.. it dropped from 6 to 5, I remember my MPG gauge reading something like 4 or 5... where as running at 65 I get 11+ in that bus..

-Christopher

 

[Grasswaiting]

Modified roof raise

I am prepping and practicing right now to do a modified roof raise (top of bus only) by cutting the whole roof out approximately 8 inches in from each side from the top corners(like an ultra rare mega roof sprinter), boxing and reinforcing both sections and then lifting the roof section up 6-8 inches and welding it all back together before I fit in the skylights and the rooftop deck.

Does anyone have a link to a similar effort or any helpful guidance?

 

[liang2013]

Congratulations....

How many feet bumper to bumper? Thank u. I would love to get one..5 windows..

I already find more then 2 month, any information will be appropriate.

 

[Grasswaiting]

25 ft bumper to bumper; 17 ft behind driver seat, 6,6” head room, 7’6” interior width. 158” wheelbase. Good luck, hard to find with the big engine.

 

[TeacherJoe]

25 ft bumper to bumper; 17 ft behind driver seat, 6,6” head room, 7’6” interior width. 158” wheelbase. Good luck, hard to find with the big engine.

Can you verify 17' behind driver's seat to back door. I'm looking at a 2010 - which I have not seen - and the dealer told me 15' 8".

Joe

 

[Grasswaiting]

Yeah; I got 15’10” to top of driver seat in back position.