towing home the parts bus

[johns4104]

I thought some of you would be interested in a picture, my truck and new parts bus (4104).
pulled the axles, aired the suspension from truck, ran wiring for tail lights and built a tow bar to hook into the tow rings. pulled from mineral wells, tx to phoenix, az (apache junction, az)  1000 miles.
13mpg going out and 7.5mpg coming back with bus. truck12k lbs bus 17k lbs.
it pulled pretty good, used the exhaust brake to stop no problems.

John
now 2 4104's

ps picture in new mexico and a picture in mineral wells with my little helper.

[TomC]

Hopefully you had a class A non commercial license as that rig was over the 26,000lb that New Mexico uses as the limit for a class C license.  I'm glad you got it home alright.  Good Luck, TomC

[H3Jim]

Looks like a great adventure, thanks for the pics!  Your little helper will remember that the rest of his life.

[kyle4501]

What a cool way to do it!

Details, I need details! It seems I'm always needing to move a 'non-runner' & you seem to have done it with no issues. GREAT!

Come to think of it, I have 4 I need to move & that could be the most cost effective way for me.

Did you use the brakes on the bus?

[tekebird]

cool,

prior to wheel lift wrecker days we had freinds ( Crawford Custom Coach) who had a rig where you removed the front bumper and bolted the rig on which allowed the 4104 and any other GM to be towed without damage.

have seen quite a few that were hooked on the tow hook loops only to bend the bus just forward of the Axle.

what did you use for attatchemtn hardware on the bus end.

The Company that does out maint also had a neat rig.....to get road breakdowns home.  removed the rear bumper of an MCI and the rig attatched from the rear bumper to the Diesel Pickup/service truck.  Diesel truck was equiped with an air throttle.....and an air line was run from the truck ( compressor equiped) to the Bus and a throttle peddle was put there ( aux)......push the bus home using truck air and power

[lyndon]

Enjoyed the pics, John. Now I want to go out and buy a big truck and a bigger yard.

Don

[johns4104]

kyle,

it did stop pretty well using the exhaust brake on the 8.3 cummins and only the service brakes for the final stop. I don't think that a panic stop would have been much of a problem because I was not using my service brakes that is what I considered my margin of safety. I used air for the suspension but did not use the bus brakes.

the only thing that I would of done differently would be to add more weight to the rear of the truck for stability, that is why the 2 wheel and tire assemblies were up there.

I felt real comfortable at 55 mph.


I used a 2 5/16" ball rated at 20k and a coupler assembly rated at 12k
the attachment was using 5/8 dia hitch retaining pins thru a 5/8" thick plate above and below the tow rings with enough clearance for some vertical travel for the bus to truck.

the bus was complete less interior, even had pony engine and a/c compressor.

I am not sure of the weight of the senic cruisers.
bus seems like a possible way of transporting.

John