4905 Puzzle?????

[GM0406]

Wheels inside bays?  Who knows what kind of a setup this is???  Bill T.

[GM0406]

Another picture of the same coach.

[TomC]

They had the option for the recessed pusher axle for extra weight carrying capacity.  Most bus converters will remove them since the bus conversion is relatively light compared to carrying people and freight.  Good Luck, TomC

[Dreamscape]

Big John and Blu have one. They just chained theirs up after removing the wheel and tire.
I had never seen on until they came to TBR 2008.

Paul

[Hartley]

That's where you mount the Olds Toronado drivetrain for limp home mode.

GM engineers were just having fun I guess....

[kyle4501]

Was expensive to do, so it wasn't just for grins . . . . I believe it had more to do with axle weight limits in some states. . . . .

[roadrunnertex]

Retractable landing gear for the GMC Buffalo's.
This was a option offered by GMC Coach Division for the PD4903 through the H8H-649.
Some intercity bus companies and charter companies had this installed on their coaches due to weight restrictions in some states.
This tag axle was raised and lowered using air pressure to the air bags on the retractable axle.
The control switch was located on the drivers side switch panel.
When the GMC coaches were in intercity use the drivers would retract the tag axle's when going through the toll booths on toll roads to keep from having to pay a extra toll fee for the 3rd axle.
The complete assembly can be removed from the coach and a floor can be installed to have the 3rd baggage bin.
Instructions on the removal of the 3rd axle can be found in the GMC Coach maintenance manual.
I was lucky my Buffalo did not have this option and it had the 3rd baggage bin.
GMC in it's time was way ahead of the other intercity coach builders in engineering of their coaches.
I sure hated to see GMC go out of the intercity coach production.
jlv

[niles500]

[When the GMC coaches were in intercity use the drivers would retract the tag axle's when going through the toll booths on toll roads to keep from having to pay a extra toll fee for the 3rd axle.]

ROFLMAO - That's going a long way to avoid a tax - I wonder how much in toll$ it saved them over the life of the bus?

[Jeremy]

Hidden third axles are quote common on coaches here. Also, I've noticed more and more trucks have liftable third axles fitted with wheels that are much smaller than the main drive wheels - as in half the diameter, not much bigger than a car wheel. Whether some coaches now have similar small 'occasional' wheels hidden behind panelling I don't know.

Jeremy