;D On the road again. . . .just can't wait to get on the road agaaaaaaiinnn! ;D
Larry's been working throughout the week prepping TempBus for the big trip to Arcadia. We put new Firestone FS560's on the back, (ouch, ouch, ouch) which match the new set on the front, and Larry's changed the oil, the transmission filter, the power steering fluid, added air dryer to the air system, anti-corrosion stuff to the coolant system, adjusted the brakes. . . all kinds of good stuff. . .even bought some spare fuel filters "just in case." He still has a ton of stuff to move over from the other shop, but he's really liking this one already. I was very proud that he backed TempBus in the first time, on his first try, which, considering that bay door is only 10' wide and about 1 1/2" taller than the tallest point on the bus, was no mean feat! It doesn't help any that the corner of the office is 38' from the shop, and just slightly protruding out in front of that door, meaning that he can't just back straight in, like he'll be able to do with BigBus through the large bay door.
Ok, so we headed up to the shop at 6:30 a.m. to get this trip started. . the wind is blowing about 40 mph, from the North, and it is co-old. Had to move seven work trucks to clear a path for Larry to pull TempBus out of the building, and then park seven work trucks back, chase down the office kitty who escaped while we were coming in and out retrieving and returning truck keys :P . . . .filled with water, loaded the last of the Christmas Eve leftovers in the fridge, finally, pulled down the hill and over on the side of the road in front of our place to hook up the Jeep.
I pause here, because those of you who know us, well, let's just say that by now, you've expected the pause and the trouble that has ensued. Sure enough, Larry plugs in the Jeep and. . . great. . . .all the lights go out on the bus! Crap >:(
After a little cussin', he digs out the book and I remove the panel by the seat to search for the miscreant breaker. Luckily, the book is pretty clear on the breaker position and as I move the wire a bit, bingo, we've got lights, we've got turn signals, and even the Jeep has lights. :D We agree that it seems tight now, and we've identified the exact breaker, so we'll go ahead and leave now and if we have any more problems, we'll change the breaker and put a new connector on the wire. Of course, in order to do that, we will have to remove a small section of wood, since the converter got a little carried away with trimming out the wiring box, maybe he had trained gerbils that could climb down behind there and change the breaker, but this gerbil can't get her fat meathooks down in there without major removal on the skin over all of her knuckles and maybe worse. >:(
So, we're on the road, it's 8:00 a.m., the wind is blowing us all over the place, but we're HEADED TO ARCADIA! YEE HAW ;D ;D ;D
The goal is to hit Shreveport tonight, which gets a nice chunk of road under our belt, puts us behind one storm and ahead of the next, and hopefully will be the last night we spent in cold weather!
Oh, BTW, it would have been nice if we had let some air out of those nice new tires we just had put on! ::) Didn't think of it until we were already on the road and hit the first section of jaw crushing washboard highway. We'll drop them down to 90 lbs each in the morning, and I think that will smooth out our ride just a bit. Other than that, dare I say it. . . .um, well, things are going pretty smoothly. :o What's the deal? Christy Hicks
Great News, Christy! See you and Larry in Arcadia...we should arrive there about noon tomorrow. We'll keep the greetings warm and the beer cold. Please travel safely.
Jackie & Bob
Christy- On the way down, stop at a truck stop with a CAT scale and weigh your bus with you in it. Then you'll know exactly what inflation to keep the tires at. If you don't have the inflation guide, post your results and I can look it up. Good Luck, TomC
Thanks for the advice Tom, but we actually weighed the bus the first week we owned it. We weigh just over 27,000 lbs, 9800 lbs on the front axle and 17,600 or something like that on the rear.
I searched and searched to find that darn Firestone pressure chart. . . finally found it, and we could run as low as 70lbs pressure according to the chart, +10% would put us up at less than 80lbs, so we feel comfortable running at 90lbs, which is much less and hopefully much smoother riding than that 120 lbs they put in those new tires, ha ha.
Had a good night here at the Flying J in Shreveport and will turn south today and maybe get into some warmer weather! Wish us luck, Christy
Christy- It might be prudent to reweigh the bus again since you've probably added to it since the first week you had it. Since the weigh is only about $10.00... Good Luck, TomC
Of course, it never hurts to re-weigh a bus occasionally, but we did fill it full of water and fuel before weighing it, and it was already stocked, so I doubt we've added enough to make much of a difference.
In fact, based on the charts, we could add over 3,000 lbs on the front axle and probably over 4,000 lbs on the rear before we were pushing the 90lb pressure values for our tires. I just don't see any way possible that we would ever add that much weight. It is only a 35' bus, so there simply isn't ROOM to add that much weight, ha ha. As it is, Larry only dropped them to 100 lbs this morning, as he was freezing his hands off in the cold air stream from the tires, so we may mount our Pressure Pro system in the morning, before heading out, and at that time, we may choose to drop them down to 90 lbs. We'll see.
Now you've got me thinking. . .I wonder how much less Alcoa's weigh than those old steel wheels. :-\. . There's an argument that even Larry didn't think of! ;)
Christy
Christy, as an FYI your GMC has a GVWR of 30,000#... 11,000 front, 20,000 rear (so much for the math, eh? :D).
When I bought my 4108, the P.O. was using an inflation chart and the 25.5k weight of the coach, running something like 85psi in the fronts and 70psi in the rears. While it rode OK that way, I've since been running them quite a bit higher: 90psi in the rears and 100psi in the fronts. MPG has gone up, consequently... about 1mpg at times (up to 8.5mpg on last trip... no toad). The ride is a bit harsher (I need new shocks, too), but the steering seems more precice.
Just some info for ya! Have a great trip!
Brian B.
Christy
Not only are the Alcos a lot lighter they also really look good. As class to any bus. I am glad I have them on mine thanks to the previeous owner.
ED
MCI 7
Christy- here at Freightliner the standard optional aluminum wheel is made by Accuride, which looks just like the Alcoa, but less expensive. Also, Accuride offers the Accushield finish which stays shinny all the time-you just use soap and water on them to clean them! On the 22.5 size, the aluminum will save about 36lbs per wheel. Personally, I like them since they look great and they dissappate heat better than steel wheels. Good Luck, TomC
Hey Christy
The alcoas also run much cooler adding to tire life.
Just another good excuse.
Melbo
Brian- are you sure of the GVW? My AMGeneral transit has a gvw of 13,000lb front and 23,000lb rear for 36,000lb total. And since motorhomes don't get weighed, you theoretically could use the full gvw-as long as the tires take it. Good LUck, TomC
Here's a pic of my tag. Tom. I'm assuming Christy's 4107 is the same (and all GM 2-axle parlor coaches, for that matter).
But, you're right... a private vehicle would never be weighed by the DOT.
Just an FYI,
Brian B.
I had purchased my Alcoa's some time back at a truck wrecking yard. They had several removed and in two piles. One pile the wheels were nasty looking. The second pile the wheels had been polished by a wheel man that comes around. This is a $50.00 each wheel option. Several of the wheels were off of garbage trucks. I asked the wrecking yard owner why would they put nice looking aluminum wheels on a garbage truck. He explained to me it was not for looks they put Alcoas on garbage trucks or any other 18 wheeler that it was they have a higher load rating and it allows them to carry more. Made sense to me as shiney wheels won't help the looks of a garbage truck. Myth or fact? (the load rating)
Ray
On a 10 wheeler about an extra 360lb per load! And that adds up over many trips per week. Good Luck, TomC