Spring Vs.Air ride

[Ronnie-SKO]

He had possession of the bus for long enough to see the shifter or count the shifts. KY to GA is a decent drive.

That is enough of a drive to know, and to realize it is not well suited for highway or mountain travel as it is.

 

[musigenesis]

This is what I don't understand: my bus has a 2000-series transmission and the effect of the transmission on slowing the bus downhill (or even when coming up to a stop light and letting off the gas) is really obvious. I've never driven a 545, but I assume it would be easy to notice that the engine never slows the bus? Is the difference when driving really that obvious?

 

[cadillackid]

the main difference when driving is that the RPMs vary a lot when you let on and off the Go-pedal.. with a Lockup transmission your RPM's stay pretty constant when you lightly to moderatel;y get on and off the pedal at speed..



think of how your allison 2000 actis in first or second gear.. you hit the pedal and the RPMs jump up.. you let off and they fall back to near idle.. this is the way a 545 acts in all gears...



Having swapped a 545 into an allison 1000 and also swapped a 545 into a MT643.. its a very much noticeable difference in driveability..


going from 545 to a 643 in my DEV bus, just adding lockup(its still a non OD trans).. improved my fuel mileage at least 15% or more.. well worth the upgrade..



going from the 545 to the allison 1000 (same as a 2000 For this conversation) improved the fuel mileage on that bus close to 20% and it runs cooler.. my engine fan doesnt run constantly in hot weather.. and it doesnt get the engine or trans warm climbing hills..



while people can and do drive 545s in the mountains.. they just arent and never were really designed for it... they were hoeever one of the best stop and go transmissions on the market... Lockup with stop and go is actually a hinderance.. that clutch engaging / disengaging constantly in route service wears it out and the driveaility is rougher.. the MT643 was built to lockup midway through 3rd, however at zero throttle it locks up in high 2nd.. as a descent mechanism...



the allison 2000s can be programmed to not do this.. and from what ive seen most school bus transmissions only lock in 2nd if the shifter is placed in '2'.. otherwise they lock-in higher into 3rd.. at least on the 2500 PTS units that ive driven with 444E engines..

 

[musigenesis]

Interesting, I've felt since I've had my bus that it kinds of lurches in the lower gears (I have nothing to compare it to, of course). I might look into the reprogramming that you're talking about.

 

[cadillackid]

Interesting, I've felt since I've had my bus that it kinds of lurches in the lower gears (I have nothing to compare it to, of course). I might look into the reprogramming that you're talking about.

school busses in general shift rougher than cars do... Allisons are clutch-clutch transmissions.. they arent known for cadillac-smooth shifts

 

[EastCoastCB]

This is what I don't understand: my bus has a 2000-series transmission and the effect of the transmission on slowing the bus downhill (or even when coming up to a stop light and letting off the gas) is really obvious. I've never driven a 545, but I assume it would be easy to notice that the engine never slows the bus? Is the difference when driving really that obvious?

Its totally obvious. night and day difference.

 

[Booyah45828]

Wow did this blow up. I'm so sorry you guys got burned by [Mod Edit]. I know I and many others have had enough of him. I don't know what recourse you have for him, legal or otherwise. My grandpa told me once not to waste time on people who screwed you over, that it only takes away from your happiness. I really wish I had the capability to do that sometimes. I hope you'll get some sort of salvation.

I'm here to help you with whatever knowledge I can share. I'm a mechanic by trade, as are others on here, and most are good folks willing to do the same or more.

Now with that said. Thank god he's gone Hopefully people will no longer consult for his "expert" advice.

Well he may be American, but you Canadians brought us Nat. Those two would love each other.

Oh my god did you have to bring him up? Those guys are one in the same as far as I'm concerned and we're better off without them. Honestly, if the physical addresses of those two weren't confirmed I'd say they were the same person.

Don't know that dude, before my time but I can take your word as gospel anytime CB. We have some dandies for sure also, this is criminal in my mind. He can still go down for this with a little help from his friends.


John

He should go down, a few well placed emails showing forum posts/texts/etc to someone at the right place would get the ball rolling. I deal with folks like this from time to time, and know how these types of people work. I'd be shocked if this is the only thing he's guilty of, he'll have a file someplace with all his misdeeds. Uncle sam is always watching, and it's only gotten worse in the digital age. Who knows, this might be the catalyst to get the ball rolling on those bigger things.

 

[Sehnsucht-SKO]

I think it was Nat who drove me away from this forum years ago. I came back to find him gone but I think there's always someone to take his place. Online communities are what we make of them.

 

[musigenesis]

o1marc was very inspirational, though. He inspired me to start writing a javascript snippet to hide comments from specific users.

I guess this is another log on the fire, but the fire seems pretty big already.

 

[Booyah45828]

o1marc was very inspirational, though. He inspired me to start writing a javascript snippet to hide comments from specific users.

That would have been a nice thing for you to share lol. I, and many others, had him on ignore. But anytime someone quoted him it would show up, and I'd get drug into another thread trying to right the wrong.

 

[musigenesis]

That would have been a nice thing for you to share lol. I, and many others, had him on ignore. But anytime someone quoted him it would show up, and I'd get drug into another thread trying to right the wrong.

There's a way on the site to just ignore users? That would make my snippet kind of unnecessary. I was also going to write it to possibly just blank out a user's signature line, as that's sometimes the worst part of a post (like mine, heh).

 

[Booyah45828]

There's a way on the site to just ignore users? That would make my snippet kind of unnecessary. I was also going to write it to possibly just blank out a user's signature line, as that's sometimes the worst part of a post (like mine, heh).

Yup, here's how on a desktop computer.

Click User CP

Scroll 2/3 of the way down, and on the left side you'll see edit ignore list. Click on that.

You can add or subtract members from there.

Like I said, if someone quotes them, what they said will still show up.

 

[musigenesis]

That's certainly easier than writing a snippet. Thanks!

 

[Kaleth2]

Mountain Gnome, Are you full time on your bus?

 

[Mountain Gnome]

Mountain Gnome, Are you full time on your bus?

I will be after I get outta Limbo. But Pita is in the way.


I need to find a new home. Land-ho kinda home. Sweet community kinda home. Colorado, Oregon are on my list to investigate further (been pokin' 'round Oregon's central-west valley recently, and like it, but haven't seen what CO has to offer in maybe 20 years or so)


In the mean time, I need to drive to a spot where it don't rain for whiles, so I can pull the windows on one side, clean them, polish and paint them and reinstall them, properly sealing them. I thought that side was OK, but now that I installed cabinets, I saw a drip coming from a window, down the wall, into the cabinet floor. My luck with weather for the last 2-3 years has not been good.

 

[Kaleth2]

Mountain Gnome, I get that about a drier climate. I have family in CO. Beautiful country, but, poor land laws have allowed it to become another LA Basin. There’s some country around Alamosa that is less expensive and Alamosa is fairly close to some stellar skiing, Santa Fe, Taos, Pagosa Springs and Durango. Lots of country to hike in. We did a beautiful backtracking trip in our younger days on the continental divide down that way. Stunning country. Oregon wonderful too. Will never be I. My blood like CO though! Where is Pita?

 

[Mountain Gnome]

Pita is a place where everything is a P.I.T.A. = pain in the *ss


just personal life issues for me, hate to whine too much about them. Just keepin' me grounded for over a year is really starting to eat on me.

 

[joeblack5]

Little late to this story...


Hmm.. is 01marc "traveling" the new word for "banned"? I like it to be called what it is.



Kaleth, sorry to hear all this, I hope somewhere this will be made right..



Good luck, I plan to travel to Oregon next year around this time and hope to meet up with some of the folks there.


Johan