Considering a Bus Purchase

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

There is no problem with a older, smaller engine. Just leave a bit earlier. 

Unfortunately with a slow bus, once you are in the granny gear lane, you are stuck there till the top of the hill.  The other problem is getting onto a freeway from a get-on ramp on a bit of a hill, you have to wait for a BIG hole in traffic before pulling out.  Also be sure your hazard lights work because I think it is anything under 35MPH you are supposed to have them on, on the freeway unless that has changed. Of course for a 4 cylinder motor, you may want a slow moving triangle on the back of your bus like the Amish use. 

[scanzel]

I would never do it again, since I bought it in 2005 and was working full time and just retired we have only really used it maybe a dozen time the most recent to South Carolina when the OTR crapped out in New Jersey after the Prevost service center claimed they fixed it. After dealing with them on the failed OTR, they did do other work too the bill went from $6700.00 to $5300.00. Not happy but they are large vehicles and costly to repair. Buy a used one or just go the fifth wheel route. When you are dealing with 30 to 40 year old buses they cost a lot and to insure them is getting very hard as no body wants to insure a self made conversion. Good Luck !!!

[chessie4905]

If you can't do 95% of your own repairs, forget it. Even then you are venerable when you have a breakdown on the road. Buy a RV motorhome instead. Anybody can fix them, they are pretty reliable, repairs are much cheaper than we enjoy. Enjoy the trip without service and repair issues. Much easier to finance, sell or trade up. We have one because we do our own work, very familiar with all the systems on the coach, otherwise it would be unafordable

[eagle19952]

the newer 4 strokes if you are lucky you can squeeze 3 to 400,000 miles from one.

The problem with this logic is that the revenue service operators know this too.
You can bet they have squeezed the goodness out of them.
In this case, the 2 strokes are cheaper to overhaul.

[luvrbus]

the newer 4 strokes if you are lucky you can squeeze 3 to 400,000 miles from one.

The problem with this logic is that the revenue service operators know this too.
You can bet they have squeezed the goodness out of them.
In this case, the 2 strokes are cheaper to overhaul.

I must of not been real clear on the post  the 2 strokes you are lucky to squeeze  3 to 400,000 miles from one ,the 4 strokes the operators start dumping those around 750,000 to 900,000 miles just before all hell breaks loose.The series 60 and and the 8v92 are about the same in price to rebuild now,so price wise the series 60 is cheaper in the long run because the life is more than double of a 8v92,8v71 or 6v92 

   

[windtrader]

So what's wrong with going up a hill in the slow lane with the loaded semis?

It is simply no fun at least to me. I find the constant jockeying makes me on high alert. If there are only two lanes, god forbid a truck only slightly faster than the slow one in front decides to try to overtake it by going into lane 1, thereby pissing off all the cars now stuck behind a semi blockade going a bit faster than a jog. Even worse is when I finally am done slogging along and then do the same thing. Then trying to get back to the slow lane can be a PIA depending on what is stacked in front of that slow one. You old hands with thousands of hours in these conditions just chat and sip tea on these stretches. When it gets jammed up, there seemingly is a lot of stupid stuff going on that makes me nervous.

If you can't do 95% of your own repairs, forget it.

Generally agree that a busnut should planning getting hands very dirty and doing a lot of self-education; otherwise it is a fatal mistake.
95% seems a bit high. There are numerous other components that might require specialized skills. For example, digging into an inverter may be more than most can deal with. Generators and Webasto systems are other items a busnut might farm out service.

Doing an engine rebuild costs a lot, no matter how it's done. Not sure 9 of 10 busnuts are prepared or have the capacity to take on such a project.

And Clifford is right that most of the used Series 60 coming to market that are managed by fleet managers have a major (i.e. expensive) repair(s) are on the horizon. That said, as long as you are a smart buyer, there must be coaches that are coming to market for other reasons and may check out well. They are all gambles.

[Jon]

Hill climbing is a situation that disregards any attempts at common sense or logic. I agree with everyone, from the owner of an underpowered coach that needs to be in the slow lane at 10 MPH and with the guy that has over 500 HP and that can keep up with the cars. Actually the slow coach might be the best coach.

When I am confronted with a steep long climb I am either going to be able to climb it at my speed which means I will be able to pass most of the trucks in the slow lane and the fast lane will be open when I need it (a very rare event), or I am going to be at the mercy of the two slow trucks along side of one another with the one in the fast lane going less than 1 MPH faster than the slow one.

The folks with the slow vehicles never feel the frustration of hill climbing because they know to just stay in the slow lane, relax and enjoy the ride. Folks with a lot of HP that are not willing to just relax and go with the flow go insane knowing they can go faster, but can't unless they are willing to push the guy ahead of them.

Having more power than is required to do almost all of the travel is over rated. Yes it is nice to have, but we don't have schedules so why do we need to climb hills fast when most of the time we cannot anyway?

[Jim Blackwood]

The good thing about engine rebuilds is that as long as you haven't spun a main bearing, what with removable liners the rebuild can be done in-chassis. A simple engine hoist can deal with the head. What would concern me more would be the transmission. Unless you have a forklift handy that's going to be a struggle, and even then you need a way to jack up the rear of the bus.

Jim

[luvrbus]

The good thing about engine rebuilds is that as long as you haven't spun a main bearing, what with removable liners the rebuild can be done in-chassis. A simple engine hoist can deal with the head. What would concern me more would be the transmission. Unless you have a forklift handy that's going to be a struggle, and even then you need a way to jack up the rear of the bus.

Jim

Inframes rebuilds are like patch to squeeze a few more miles from a engine sooner or later it has to be pulled and done right with a out frame complete re-con JMO
 

[lostagain]

Engine rebuilds:
Nowadays we are paying so little for a used bus, that leaves a lot of room in the budget for a rebuild. Say you pay $50,000 for a nice converted bus that cost $2 to $500,000 a few years ago, and one day have to rebuild the engine for $6 to $10,000 (if you do it yourself), or $20,000 in a shop, you're still way ahead. You got to pay to play...

Hill climbs:
I don't see what the big deal is. You climb the hill at whatever speed is adequate for your rig. When you catch up to a slower vehicle, you either slow down and stay behind it, or pass it if you can, and merge back in when possible. If they are cars or semis stacked up behind you, so what, it is their problem. The truckers never hesitate to pull out in front of you when they want to pass. You have to get in the game and do it too. You can do it without being rude. Or stay behind the slow truck in the right lane and don't worry about it...

JC

[luvrbus]

Yep I took my tractor to Texas and back towing 12,000 lbs with the trailer behind the Trek I saw a lot of the right hand lane with a 6.5 Chevy diesel with 190 hp and 500 ft lbs of torque only added 3 hours to the round trip and fuel was almost the same a little off I averaged 10.1 mpg taking my time 

[Dave5Cs]

Agree with JC besides when we are on a hill it give me a chance to go back and take a nap or make a sandwich.

[neoneddy]

I'll chime in here, I think somewhere down the line someone mentioned either running 65 or 45-50 on the hills.  I've noticed exactly this.  Pulling any grade, even a headwind at 50-55 or 60-ish is nearly impossible without lugging on my 6v92 .  I was just telling me neighbor, if it's cooler out, I'll run down the hill touching 70-71 and keep it close to 65-63 by the time we crest the top keeping the momentum up and still not getting into more than 6-7lbs boost. 

Out west I got stuck in a cycle of hills, where if you get caught, you're running in 3rd gear for a while, by the time you hit the top even in 3rd, temps are getting up there, so you need to run higher RPMs going down to cool for the next climb.   I think eventually we pulled over at a rest stop to stretch the legs, then I got on the cycle more at 65 and we were good to go.   

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[luvrbus]

A "quote"from my friend Dave Galey buses come into the world making revenue for manufactures, operators and converters, then they leave doing the same making revenue for parts suppliers,mechanic's and shops, then for the scrap yards

[Jim Blackwood]

Inframes rebuilds are like patch to squeeze a few more miles from a engine sooner or later it has to be pulled and done right with a out frame complete re-con JMO

I'm honestly not sure why that would be. Yes, I agree the head work has to be damn near perfect, but as for the block, what part of it does not have replaceable parts that can't be just swapped out? (especially the 60 series) Everything removable, including the the liners, pistons, rods, crank, main bearings, all accessories and even the bull gear are replaceable with new parts. So what am I missing here that has to be done to the block, requiring it to be removed from the chassis for a "proper" rebuild?

Jim