IS THE BEST BUS A GMC P8M4905A HELP PLEASE

[tekebird]

Today Still there are Owners and maint supervisors who say that if HM started producing v drive buses they would buy them solely from an ease of amint perspective

[4905 doc]

IS THE BEST BUS A GMC P8M4905A ?     
   Yup.

[Lonnie time to go]

I dont know how to thank everybody for there info.  I will say its great good or bad I  want to here it.
The guy who owns the bus is retired diesel tech from the army.  I will have the bus checked out by another diesel tech before i get it. v-drive sounds good and bad like other drives Very little rust on bus
to worry about   But i am wondering about the tag axel, dont know if i should take it out to use the bay for other stuff or leave it in.
As far as to improve MPG hoping to get 10mpg  Yes I am dreaming big
I will add that I would not even think of getting a bus if not for the help and info from the great people on this site , so thank you again.

[tekebird]

Take the tag axle out....you won;t need it and it is just anohter set of tires bearings bushings etc to worry about.

you WILL NOT GET 10mpg......figure on 6 and 7 on a good day...if your engine is tires or you have a heavy foot maybe as low as 4.5

you Should get a Bus mechanic to look at it, not a General Diesel Tech.

When you get it find yourself a bus mechanic to do work yoou don;t want to do.  Not a truck mechanic.

[kyle4501]

If it ain't the best, it is only because of the 4501 


You'd only need the tag for weight carrying capacity. Are you planning on carring all that weight? Most don't, so removing the tag would probably be a good move for you.


BTW, My last 4501 purchase got almost 10 mpg on the 600+ mile trip home & our T.O.A.D. was a ford ranger 
8V71 with a greyhound rebuild tag & a 4 spd. Didn't use much oil either 

[Barn Owl]

A GM is a very well engineered bus and in many ways was ahead of it's time. If they weren't so expensive to build and update they might still be around. As others have said, it is one of the easier buses to work on and parts are inexpensive and easy to come by. It is also one of the least expensive buses to purchase. Because of that they can be a problem if you ever decided to sell it. You will take three or four times the burn that you would if you did the same with a MCI or a Prevost. They cost little or nothing up front, and you get little or nothing for them in the end, but it cost the same to convert as the others. This topic has been discussed a couple of times so you might want to search this BBS for some past posts. BTW I am a big GM fan, but they are what they are.