Finally Did It!!!

[Williami22]

Good Evening!

My wife and I finally pulled the trigger and bought a bus. We have 2 small boys with a third on the way. My wife is a stay at home mother and I work in education. The current plan is to use it throughout the year on regular camping trips and then spend either June or July each summer traveling to different National Parks.

Picked up a 2000 International with an Amstar cab, it has a DT466e and Allison 643 with lockout converter along with air brakes. Guy was asking 4k but talked him down to $2,700 due to the fact that he listed the bus as having 6'6" ceilings and 38 feet long where as it has 6'2" ceiling and is only 35 feet long. He did previously remove all the seats and subfloor/rubber so that saves me quite a bit of time.

I picked it up down near San Antonio and drove it back to Fort Worth (6.5hrs) and it did great other than being governed. A little surface rust on the floor, none on the chassis, good tires

We are taking it to a diesel mechanic on Monday to give it a once over as I am not much of a mechanic. Want to make sure it mechanically sound before putting too much work on the interior.

Its always hard to pull the trigger on something because depending on which post you read every power-train combo is either the best or the worst one ever made depending on who is typing. but at $2700 I felt like rolling the dice.

Couple questions/causes for concern:

Odometer only says 39k miles... clearly cannot be right
Top speed was only 55mph... Should be able to reprogram the ECM right?

Any comments, tips would be great!

 

[thrifty1]

Congrats on the purchase, I know sometimes the instrument clusters can be replaced and throw the mileage off. If the odometer was indexing as you drove then either you’ve got a very low mileage bus or the whole cluster was replaced like my bus. Excited to see what’s to come!

 

[cadillackid]

what is your RPM at 55 MPH? if it is below 2500 or ao the computer can be reprogrammed to give you more speed.. if it is at or above 2500 then thats all the faster it will run.
-Christopher

 

[Williami22]

Okay, Thank you both. The RPMs were hovering around 2000-2200. I am pretty sure the instrument panel needs some work done on the connections or replaced. The gas gauge worked, speedometer was slow to change (did not instantly drop when braking) and the temp gauge did not move much at all. Hopefully the tach. was accurate on the RPMs as I would really like to get at least 60 out of it haha

 

[Twigg-SKO]

Okay, Thank you both. The RPMs were hovering around 2000-2200. I am pretty sure the instrument panel needs some work done on the connections or replaced. The gas gauge worked, speedometer was slow to change (did not instantly drop when braking) and the temp gauge did not move much at all. Hopefully the tach. was accurate on the RPMs as I would really like to get at least 60 out of it haha

So if you approach this logically you can work it all out without getting frustrated.

You need the info from the rear axle housing that tells you the Final Drive Ratio.

You need the tire size.

You need the gear ratios in the transmission (easily found online)

You need an accurate speedometer (GPS works well).

With any three of those four you can calculate the other one. You can calibrate your speedo with the GPS, you can work out the revs with an online calculator once you know your tire diameter, FD Ratio, speed and gear ratio.

If any are off you can fix them.

You can then calculate your maximum speed at you maximum engine revs.

If the bus won't get to it's maximum speed, or close, then the engine is governed, probably electronically and this is easily remedied.

If the max calculated is less than you want, then you have a bigger problem to solve.

Most engines can take a few more revs, so that's one way, but you don't want your engine at maximum revs when cruising. The other way is to raise the FD Ratio (lower its number) from, for example 5.38 to 4.44.

That would give you quite a bit more speed at cruising revs at the expense of some acceleration. It costs quite a bit but would transform the bus.

Here is an excellent calculator:

http://www.tremec.com/calculadora.php

 

[Williami22]

Thank you all. Looking forward to getting started. Bus is at the mechanics right now getting a once over and a new tie rod. It is killing me not being able to work on it right now.

 

[dan-fox]

Thank you all. Looking forward to getting started. Bus is at the mechanics right now getting a once over and a new tie rod. It is killing me not being able to work on it right now.

Patience, grasshopper. There will be a time when working on is what's killing you. :biggrin:

 

[Nomadusa]

Hello congratulations on your purchase of a bus I was wondering I just purchased the best myself what insurance company are you are using thank you very much having a really hard time getting my bus and shirt

 

[cowlitzcoach]

If the final drive ratio is not on the data plate at the front of the bus it should be on a tag that can usually be found on the back side of the rear axle--on a rear engine bus the back side of the rear axle is towards the front of the bus. It should be found towards the top right corner as you are looking at it.

You can also call your local IHC/Navistar truck dealer or IC Bus dealer and ask to get a copy of the Line Setting Ticket. An LST is probably a good thing to get regardless. An LST is the birth certificate of your bus. It will have a line by line description of everything that was used to build your bus. Which engine and HP rating. Which transmission. Which axles, size of brakes, and what type. ETC, ETC, ETC.

If the bus is truly only going 55 at 2000-2200 RPM you should be able to get some more speed out of it. 60-65 MPH is probably the most you can expect with the current rear end that you have.

Good luck and happy trails to you!

 

[Dapplecreek]

Hello congratulations on your purchase of a bus I was wondering I just purchased the best myself what insurance company are you are using thank you very much having a really hard time getting my bus and shirt

Welcome! You asked about insurance above. Do a Google search for "Insurance site:www.skoolie.net" (the search function here is goofy: use Google with the site restriction). Or go to the insurance/etc. subforum. But answering your question, I found a local agent that sells National General and he took care of me. If you are in Virginia/DC/Maryland area, call Ricky Burgess at Sutphin Insurance in Moneta, VA.

Regarding the shirt: post details here when you find one! I bought my bus a week ago.

 

[2002Amtranvacationer]

amtran

cool i have a amtran also and love it and just getting started