DT530 Road Trip Readiness Guidance

Called my local international dealer and they were very helpful.
They had five options for the serpentine belt so I’m just gonna have to get it and look at it, Pull some numbers off of it or maybe measure it something like that. But the rear end is a 4.78! Would you classify that as a cruiser? It seems to be right in the middle so maybe a decent mix of both climbing power and highway speed
I think it will reach good speeds if I can get six gear and unlocked on the MD 3060
 
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Well that is excellent news! Thank you. I still may have 6th unlocked unless you think that hunting would be a problem.

skoontz said:
That would be a cruiser. You probably don't even need 6th, as at 65 mph, you'll be at 1700 rpm in 5th. For reference I have a 6.17 gear ratio and cruise at 55 mph at 2100 rpm in 5th.

You can play with the numbers here https://spicerparts.com/calculators/transmission-ratio-rpm-calculator. I used 42 for tire diameter. 4th gear should be 1, 5th is .74, and 6th is .64
Click to expand...
 
Looks like your transmission is WTEC-3, so getting it unlocked wouldn't be an issue as long as you're willing to throw money at the problem. Plenty of places and people willing to do that if you send them out your TCM.

My gear ratio is 5.38 and I top out at 62mph right around 2000-2100RPM, I've considered unlocking it but it wouldn't be for top speed, just to lower my RPM at my cruising speed. In your case, I doubt it'd be needed unless you're willing to drive your bus closer to 70mph which you probably wouldn't want to do, and I bet your bus can hit 70mph as it is already.
 
The main reason why I wanna unlock six is to just give the bus a lower operating RPM at cruising speed between 65 and 70 and For fuel economy plus just less engine wear and tear. I am concerned that I might be getting outside of the engines power band and I do not want to lug the motor at highway speeds in six gear. I also don’t want to create a hunting problem where the Allison is changing between fifth and six constantly. I think I’ll make the decision on the drive home and see how it feels. Now granted the bus will be unladen so when I get my full build out and I’m sure I’ll be much much heavier.
 
skoontz said:
That would be a cruiser. You probably don't even need 6th, as at 65 mph, you'll be at 1700 rpm in 5th. For reference I have a 6.17 gear ratio and cruise at 55 mph at 2100 rpm in 5th.

You can play with the numbers here https://spicerparts.com/calculators/transmission-ratio-rpm-calculator. I used 42 for tire diameter. 4th gear should be 1, 5th is .74, and 6th is .64
Click to expand...

My research shows that peak torque for the dt530 is around 1400 RPM. So a 6th gear unlock will put me at 1500 rpm at 65.54mph and 1600 rpm give me 69.9 mph. I think that is perfect and worth the money to send the control module off and have it unlocked
 
JasonHurst.studio said:
My research shows that peak torque for the dt530 is around 1400 RPM. So a 6th gear unlock will put me at 1500 rpm at 65.54mph and 1600 rpm give me 69.9 mph. I think that is perfect and worth the money to send the control module off and have it unlocked
Click to expand...

Drive it for a while and get a feel for the engine first.

I think the one overdrive gear is more then fine and you have a nice gear ratio. I would rather run an engine a little faster but you do have all the torque in the world with that engine.
 
JasonHurst.studio said:
What are the chances that my bus has cruise control? I can’t make it out from the pictures
Click to expand...

I have the exact same bus (but with a DT466E. I am very jealous!). I have circled your cruise control switches.

The rear seat bases pop off easily and then you'll see two gray fiberglass covers attached with screws. That's your "inside the bus engine" access.
 

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cruizinbiker said:
I have the exact same bus (but with a DT466E. I am very jealous!). I have circled your cruise control switches.

The rear seat bases pop off easily and then you'll see two gray fiberglass covers attached with screws. That's your "inside the bus engine" access.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I am trying to get the school to unlock the cruise and maybe remove the speed limiter
 
As my cross country trip approaches I am looking to order in a set of filters to have with me in case I need to change one out.
For the 2001 Dt530 I am showing the following filters.. are these correct?

LF3883, Oil/lube filter
FF5269, Fuel filter
FS19624, Fuel/Water separator
Also does anyone know the number to the air filter?
Many thanks
 
JasonHurst.studio said:
As my cross country trip approaches I am looking to order in a set of filters to have with me in case I need to change one out.
For the 2001 Dt530 I am showing the following filters.. are these correct?

LF3883, Oil/lube filter
FF5269, Fuel filter
FS19624, Fuel/Water separator
Also does anyone know the number to the air filter?
Many thanks
Click to expand...

My go to place is Wix filter look up
 
JasonHurst.studio said:
If it’s reliable I will trust them. Heading there now thank you
Click to expand...

I find they are pretty good.

However it is just an air filter. Unless it's totally plugged it mostly won't shut you down. I had 2 low power complaints and were plugged filters but it didn't leave the person stranded. You could pull the number when you see it and call someone local on route if it looks bad.
 
Omnibot2000 said:
I find they are pretty good.

However it is just an air filter. Unless it's totally plugged it mostly won't shut you down. I had 2 low power complaints and were plugged filters but it didn't leave the person stranded. You could pull the number when you see it and call someone local on route if it looks bad.
Click to expand...
Yeah I agree I just want to be prepared as possible. There seems to be 2 different types of air filters. One with a metal handle and one without. My guess is it’s the one without the metal handle. It appears to be inside a plastic box
 

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JasonHurst.studio said:
Yeah I agree I just want to be prepared as possible. There seems to be 2 different types of air filters. One with a metal handle and one without. My guess is it’s the one without the metal handle. It appears to be inside a plastic box
Click to expand...

Tough to say, you can have a primary and secondary filters. Essentially two filters in the same housing.
 
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