What kind of mileage do you get?

[talk2cfs]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Anyone pulling a boat or trailer or car with their bus? If so what kind of milage you getting? Thanks

 

[KevinCoughlin]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Pulling a 2500 pound car behind a bus that is 25000 pounds is a pretty small difference. I never noticed that my Geo Tracker was behind the bus except on corners when I could see it in the rear view. No perceptible difference in acceleration, and I can't think that the weight of the toad made that much mileage difference. The 10,000 pounds of "stuff" packed inside the bus cut me down about 1/2 a mile per gallon......

 

[KevinCoughlin]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Another propane powered bus in my driveway - this one is a 1975 Carpenter.... National chassis, Ford 534 "Super Duty" engine, and propane powered from the beginning. The 534 Superduty in gas used to get 2 - 3 miles per gallon.... mine just finished a trip from Seattle area to Spokane. 55 to 60 mph (max) with Snoqualmie pass in the middle of the trip - I burned 131 gallons of LPG to equate to 2.68 mpg. The speedo did not work, but I used the trip odometer function of my GPS (which also was the speedo). The only working gauges were tach, and brake air pressure!

Kevin

 

[hoser-SKO]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Another propane powered bus in my driveway - this one is a 1975 Carpenter.... National chassis, Ford 534 "Super Duty" engine, and propane powered from the beginning. The 534 Superduty in gas used to get 2 - 3 miles per gallon.... mine just finished a trip from Seattle area to Spokane. 55 to 60 mph (max) with Snoqualmie pass in the middle of the trip - I burned 131 gallons of LPG to equate to 2.68 mpg. The speedo did not work, but I used the trip odometer function of my GPS (which also was the speedo). The only working gauges were tach, and brake air pressure!

Kevin

Ouch!

How much a gallon is the propane?

 

[KevinCoughlin]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Propane fills ranged from 2.78 per gallon to 3.09.

 

[hoser-SKO]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

I don’t have a bus anymore …we bought a little motorhome that turns out needs a $4500.00 engine rebuild …

So to keep from getting depressed I’ve been collecting links pertinent to fuel & mileage in hopes of one day driving this motorhome .
Here’s a good site where you can find the best price on fuel in your locales.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/

And KOA put out a neat little Fuel Estimator where you enter , the price of fuel ,your MPG and the distance you’ll travel and the estimator tells you how much you’ll pay for that journey.
http://www.koa.com/where/fuelestimator.asp

What engine cost 4500 to rebuild, what exactly is wrong with your current engine?

 

[hoser-SKO]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

It's a 440 V-8 big block ... and I have'nt seen any better prices for a rebuild here in Eugene....
at least not from a mechanic we would trust.

Looked into buying a rebuilt engine from Auto parts dealers and found out even though theyre a good buy at approx. $1600.00... 3 out of ten fail.
I don't want to be one of those 3.
I also don't want to buy some junkyard engine because there's no way to actually know if theyre any good until you pull them apart.

Since the price surprises you ...Perhaps you can tell us all for future reference how to go about getting a cheap rebuild that can be trusted to run well.

440 so I assume its a dodge?

I rebuild my own engines I assume your price includes removing and reinstalling the engine not just the rebuild?

What exactly is wrong with your current engine?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Jasper can get you a rebuilt engine...they do good work (many fleets use them for rebuilds), and many have shops that install their engines.

Alternately, I think Mopar Performance offers rebuilt 440's.

 

[Brian-WTW]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Just for comparison, I just had my Dodge 361 engine rebuilt by a local machine shop that has been in business for 30 years. I had them pull the engine, complete rebuild including repair of a couple of block cracks, new clutch throwout bearing and reinstall engine. The oil and antifreeze was replaced and the total including $204.00 tax was $3050.00. I got a quote from another local rebuilder before I chose one, of $3000 for just the rebuild alone. I do not think that your guys are really that far out of line at all especially if you are going to feel confident that the shop is that good. I have a friend who is a city mechanic here in the town I live in and he told me I was getting a smokin' deal. I worked as a mechanic myself and after meeting and talking with my guys and seeing their shop and what they do (one of the owner/machinists is a Mopar nut) I feel very confident and that goes a long way with me. Good luck and happy trails....
Brian in NM

 

[Brian-WTW]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

One thing that is always interesting to me is that when folks figure mileage they assume that the pumps are registering accurate gallonage. Well guys, they don't. That is just the truth. In America they are often only checked once a year at best. I have been told that it can be as often as every three years....I don't know about you but I have bought fuel that came through pumps that look older than I am and that is old! It is kind of like meat inspections, the inspectors are far and few between and if they hit a meat packer once in a while, they are doing good. Same with the bureau of weights and measures...when was the last time you saw them checking a station's pumps? Looking at the inspection stamps on the pumps is a good idea but are you going to move to another station if they are last year's stamp?
I read a great book about a very anal Canadian with a Class C motorhome who drove all the way to Panama and back. He had multi-liter sized containers and he would compare the amount pumps were actually giving to what they said they were giving. Not so good here in the US but off the scales in Mexico and Central America....not even close. Your call but I always take mpg claims with a grain of salt....
Brian in NM

 

[Ray_WA]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Assuming a 10% error in delivery reading....

If the pump says I got 10.00 gallons, I actually got 9.90 gallons.

10% of 10.00 gallons is 1.00 gallon, not one tenth of a gallon. Getting shorted ten percent on gas is ten times worse than your math makes it out to be.

-Ray

 

[Brian-WTW]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Hey Ray, not bad math for a short bus rider.... .

My point is: high or low, it is not always going to be an accurate reading going by what the pump says and so any conversation about mileage has to have a very generous +or- factor. Or at least that is my personal filter when I hear talk of mpg.

From another shorty rider...
Brian in NM

 

[wtom24]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

We just made a trip from Sacramento to west Tennessee 2600 miles. Ford B-700 with 6.6 litre Ford diesel. 10.4 MPG trip average. Weight is somewhere near 21,000 lbs loaded.

 

[TENSIONSHEET]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

a 35' long 11' high bus, built on spartan chassis with 5.9 isb cummins 210HP, 650torque.

I picked it up and drove home from east coast to west coast. (2200miles) Measured MPG very carefully.

13.7 mpg through SC and GA, 11mpg up and down the rockies, 9-10mpg with 40mph headwind in AZ mountains.

I could have had better mileage, it had restricted tailpipe, old oil and underlubricated front axle.

 

[kamoo]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

B700 5.9 Cummins in Florida 60mph flat highway got 8.4mpgs

 

[C00LR]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

I have a manual shift in mine. I havent figured mileage.......I don't think I wanna know!

 

[Redbear]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

Cheese,
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

The results are exaggerated a bit by the fluctuation in price differential between low and high test for the three vehicles.
Olds: 20¢
Cavalier: 10¢ (but for 89, not 93)
Safari: 30¢

The Cavalier today would cost a little more on 93 high test, If you normalize to the Safari prices (which I assume are the latest):
Fill up 87 - $40.00, 10¢ per mile
Fill up 93 - $44.80. 11.4¢ per mile (assuming 93 has same mileage gain as 89)

FWIW, our Honda gets slightly better mileage on ethanol-free gas than the 10 % ethanol mix, but that fuel is hard to find, because taking the ethanol tax credit doubles the station's net income, according to one dealer. I haven't done a cost comparison.

I did have a Peugeot mini-wagon in the '70s that had a "slant 4, single-overhead-cam hemi" engine. It did not run right on less than 92.

 

[llamaSteve]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

The 10+ MPG I got on my first trip home with the new Blue Bird sure beats the heck out of the 6 MPG I was getting out of my E350 gas shuttle bus.

 

[chrisxj2001]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

After building the new engine (chevy 350) I now get 11mpg not pulling the jeep and 9 with it tagging along. With the old engine I got about 6. The new engine makes much more power and it only takes half the pedal to do the same mph. Mine is a 4 speed sm465 with granny gear and a split rearend. Not sure of the gear in the rearend but its a tall one. Spinning 2800rpm to do 55mph. Don't mind the slow speed much because when I use it I'm never in a hurry.

 

[diananoel1]

Re: What kind of milleage do you get?

1997 Amtran / International 66 pax 35ft. T444E engine, AT545 tranny, 122K, got 10.1mpg on the original pickup trip from Spokane, WA to Cheyenne, WY. I flew in, picked up my bus, filled the tank (100gal) and drove to Cheyenne to fill again. VERY windy and mountainous. 60mph when able on the flat (it won't go faster). Made up to 62mph downhill when straight a couple of times.