Add 6th gear in Bluebird bus with Allison Transmission

[jayb-SKO]

I've had my Bluebird bus for a few years and actually lived in it for the last year and a half. I have a friend that had a Thomas bus that is virtually the same as mine and he was my inspiration for buying the bus.

Back in the early days I remember that he had 6th gear unlocked in his bus and it was pretty straight forward. Since then I have read all the threads saying how hard it was to get Bluebird to do this that I pretty much put that thought away.

Now that I am getting ready to actually do some traveling, I decided to check for myself and see if Bluebird would ok it because I really don't want to hassle with taking out the TCM and sending it somewhere.

So I called the Bluebird dealer in my state and he said that he would turn in my request and that it would take about a week. He asked for my email address and said that he would send me an email to which I should reply to verify that he had it right. A few minutes later, I replied to his email, and received an approval about 2 minutes later.

As luck would have it, my wheelbase is 273" which required an upgrade to TC3000.

I have an appointment to get it done next week at an Allison Approved transmission shop. $175.

 

[desrtdog]

I've had my Bluebird bus for a few years and actually lived in it for the last year and a half. I have a friend that had a Thomas bus that is virtually the same as mine and he was my inspiration for buying the bus.

Back in the early days I remember that he had 6th gear unlocked in his bus and it was pretty straight forward. Since then I have read all the threads saying how hard it was to get Bluebird to do this that I pretty much put that thought away.

Now that I am getting ready to actually do some traveling, I decided to check for myself and see if Bluebird would ok it because I really don't want to hassle with taking out the TCM and sending it somewhere.

So I called the Bluebird dealer in my state and he said that he would turn in my request and that it would take about a week. He asked for my email address and said that he would send me an email to which I should reply to verify that he had it right. A few minutes later, I replied to his email, and received an approval about 2 minutes later.

As luck would have it, my wheelbase is 273" which required an upgrade to TC3000.

I have an appointment to get it done next week at an Allison Approved transmission shop. $175.

Good luck and let us know how it goes…

I believe that the letter must come from the BB factory, and also should have all of the details of your transmission included. Allison are real sticklers about this, and will refuse to do any work unless all of the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed…I know from experience' as I too had a letter from BB provided by a dealer - problem was the wording on the letter “requested” Allison’s permission to open 6th rather than “granting” permission. Lots of other commentary on this forum…

At the end of the day, if it doesn’t work for you there are any number of 3rd party outfits that can reprogram the TCM for about $400…this is what is did and now have 6 gears on my Allison 2500 PTS.

 

[jayb-SKO]

Dropped of the letter from Bluebird, Allison transmission disclaimer, and the TCM at the shop this morning. They said they would call me when it is complete.

 

[jayb-SKO]

Day 2

I got an email from the Allison shop saying that the serial number for the transmission was incorrect. I said that was impossible because the same serial number is listed on the http://vantage.blue-bird.com/ site and on the letter sent by Bluebird.
As it turns out, Bluebirds information was off by one number (third digit) and that Allison did not make a transmission with that number. I sent a picture of the transmission plate (I didn't take the bus, just the TCM to the shop). Anyway, we're back on track so far.

BTW, if you have a Bluebird bus, the information listed here can be handy as long as you know that you should double check.
https://vantage.blue-bird.com/Portal/Vantage-Home.aspx

 

[jayb-SKO]

6th gear

I got the TCM back today with programming completed. They charged me a couple of bs charges and it came to $231 but I guess it could be worse. Hopefully I can take her on a test drive this weekend.

 

[jayb-SKO]