From Denver to Madison....finally:)

[TravelingMan-SKO]

Sounds like a fun trip. Im sure you'll do all the regular checks of the engine, light and tires and such what I would do if you have no experiance with air breaks is have the owner show you how they work and what to look for, or ask a truck driver, I know if someone had asked me when I was driving I would have been happy to show them the basics.

If you rent your bus out be sure you know what your getting into your opening yourself up to alot of liability if somthing should happen.

 

[J.B.-SKO]

Traveling

I hope you don't think this is a silly reply but, I would change all fluids and filters in the bus prior to the trip. The only exception would be if the previous owner can show written records of the above mentioned maintenance.

I got my Crown last year and the owner assured me a one new battery(not ) and when I checked the transmission it read full . The problem was that to check the tranmission properly on a Crown with an automatic the engine has to be running and warmed up. They had been running it low because they had been checking it with the engine off which is very bad . One of my water filters was plugged solid . At this point I saw the light and changed all fluids and filters (oil, water , fuel & trans as well as front and rear end grease). I wrote the mileage and date on the filters as a reminder to my self when to change them again.

I can now drive "Farther" the bus with the knowledge that all is well for the bus and I may have saved myself a huge repair bill. Filters and fluids are cheap insurance.

J.B.

 

[lapeer20m]

I have a 1991 Ford 6.6 with allison at545 auto. I drove from michigan to burningman, then to LA and back to michigan for a 7K mile journey last summer.

Don't expect much speed with that driveline combo. My bus cruises about 57mph and i don't think the engine has enough power to drive the bus faster even if it had a different gear ratio in the rear axle. The biggest problem is the allison auto sucking valuable hp from the engine. I wish i had a 5 speed manual (or 13 speed!)

That aside, the engine is very very reliable. It's brazilian made and i've been told it was originally an off highway service engine. ie: dozers, loaders, ect. I usually get 8.5 mpg on diesel here in michigan with nearly every tank full. Out west i averaged about 9 or so. My best tank full was about 11 mpg, worse was just under 8 mpg. On veggie oil i get about 8 miles per gallon

With the allison auto, it's a very easy vehicle to drive. You can let nearly anybody drive the bus with just a couple little pointers.

How many miles are on your bus?

Mine has about 276,000 on the original engine, 2nd trans. It got a new trans at about 150K (before i bought it).

Good luck with the adventure.