Daylan C (Forum Supporter) said:
Guys. I love you all. But if I can't look cool doing this, it's just being difficult for the sake of being difficult.
I had to requote this because, berkeley, if this isn't the motto of my life I'm not sure what is.
The old interstate busses look too cool, it's a shame it sounds like so many of them have terminal issues in the unobtainium bits. (And...does that mean there's a business opportunity for someone there?)
I agree I think that the older Pete cabs look cool, and you can do some serious retro/gangster builds on them.
I think an old custom cab-over Freightliner would be super cool with a stretch chassis and a camper box on the back. I mean, If I'm gonna spend you dream dollars, dammit, lets DREAM:
So, I know almost nothing about them, but these big super sleeper cab FedEx trucks always struck me as a cool potential basis for an RV:
The front is already done, turn the back into a garage/mini shop and you're set!
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
As a single man, that was my dream home, but out of my price abilities!
Now that I have a wife and 4 furry kids with me, I need more living space and less garage. Sad, in a way, but all five of ‘em are worth it!
frenchyd said:
My opinion; A 379 Peterbuilt with either a 3406 Cat or Cummins big cam Has a cool factor of it's own. Not exactly Hippie but more of a classical good looks.
No it won't get the same fuel mileage/per ton that more Modern trucks will. But those engines are capable of up to million miles, and the rest of the chassis is capable of even more.
I concur 100%!
The mileage difference compared to modern semis is very minor... they are all more than 5-6, and all less than 7-8. Once you get past a class 3 truck (1 ton dually - still a light duty class in trucks) or van, mileage differences start getting measured in tenths! Insignificant unless ya do hundreds if thousands miles each year... 0.1 can matter to a fleet, but a rv owner will never know the difference.
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
Cab overs tended to be the cheap option back in the day. I started on ex JB Hunt International COE’s in 95. Best one had a Cummins 350 Big Cam and a Super10. Way over a million miles. No heat... drove in VA winter with a blanket Ofer my knees! Key did not shut fuel off - ya put it in gear and stalled the engine to turn it off.
But COE’s definitely have a cool factor today. Don’t ride as nice, but livable, and have to tilt the cab to work on ... bit more challenge to a rv conversion, but again doable
can ocaisionally find a road worthy one for a few grand. Since nobody else wants one!
When I read the title of this thread I thought it was about this:
11GTCS
HalfDork
12/1/20 6:54 p.m.
Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:
When I read the title of this thread I thought it was about this:
Quick thoughts; first that took a commited effort and second, it looks kind of like a hippo climbing out of a river.
What makes the buses so difficult to work on compared with a truck? Do they not have a regular frame?
In reply to Racingsnake :
I would guess it's the same issue you get with vans, namely that it's all well hidden under the body. With a semi you either open the hood or tilt the cab forward...
03Panther said:
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
Cab overs tended to be the cheap option back in the day. I started on ex JB Hunt International COE’s in 95. Best one had a Cummins 350 Big Cam and a Super10. Way over a million miles. No heat... drove in VA winter with a blanket Ofer my knees! Key did not shut fuel off - ya put it in gear and stalled the engine to turn it off.
But COE’s definitely have a cool factor today. Don’t ride as nice, but livable, and have to tilt the cab to work on ... bit more challenge to a rv conversion, but again doable
can ocaisionally find a road worthy one for a few grand. Since nobody else wants one!
I hate cab overs!!
I spent the better part of a year hunched over the wheel of a cab over GMC Jimmy with a 671 two stroke. Screaming up the hill of Donors pass with the tranny down in Granny at 2 mph. Foot flat to the floor and hating every hour of it. When that SOB finally started knocking around Ogallala Nebraska I went down a gear. Put my foot flat to the floor and waited for a rod to punch a hole in the block. When that happened i drove on the shoulder, went down a couple more and waited for another one. The lease we had said the company had to provide me with a replacement in 24 hours or buy the load.
That was my first exposure to a Peterbuilt 379.
In reply to frenchyd :
Yep that rig would have turned anybody off on cab overs!!! At least the 8v71 had enough torque to be a decent road engine, although not by “today’s” standards. A 6 71 had to be screamin’. I drove a ford dump truckeith a 6-71 from the factory... n. a. too. Not fast but gear’d well enough to do ok in town
the young ‘uns prolly never heard how to drive a truck with an ol driptroit... first thing every morning, slam your hand in the door as ya get in... drive all day pissed off at it , tryin’ to blow it up, and it’ll last forever!
Racingsnake said:
What makes the buses so difficult to work on compared with a truck? Do they not have a regular frame?
Box is not correct, you kinda are. There is no frame between the front suspension and the rear engine cradle... the original uni body! Actually called Moniquoc construction (edit:that’s not spelled right!) like on airplanes. The entire skin is a stressed member of the chassis. Not hard at all to work on the engine... if you have enough room to do it. Just pull the entire rear cradle out!!! I’ve seen it done in gravel lots. But NOT for the faint of heart. Ya won’t be using a $30 jack. And diesel mixed with used oil and dirt, takes about a week to wash off
thedoc
Reader
12/2/20 8:10 p.m.
Sorry, did I miss a meeting? What is the budget on this?
egoman
Reader
12/2/20 8:16 p.m.
In reply to Racingsnake :
No they use subframes and monocoque construction. There can be many areas of corrosion and rust damage that you will not find until its too late. A quick check is if any of the luggage bay doors are not working perfectly, walk away!
One of my friends recently converted a E350 chassis shuttle bus. It has the updated less unreliable V10, can comfortably tow a car, and has way more interior space than any Sprinter. His was owned by the state in some kind of retirement home transport role, so it was maintained very well. Once it hit 200k miles it was auctioned by the state. I think he paid around $5k and put another $5k into it. Not as cool as a stainless vintage rock band tour bus, but it works very well and this chassis is often overlooked.
03Panther said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Yep that rig would have turned anybody off on cab overs!!! At least the 8v71 had enough torque to be a decent road engine, although not by “today’s” standards. A 6 71 had to be screamin’. I drove a ford dump truckeith a 6-71 from the factory... n. a. too. Not fast but gear’d well enough to do ok in town
the young ‘uns prolly never heard how to drive a truck with an ol driptroit... first thing every morning, slam your hand in the door as ya get in... drive all day pissed off at it , tryin’ to blow it up, and it’ll last forever!
Oh it's not just the lack of power, with a cab over when the front axle hits a bump you're actually sitting right over it and you go up at least as High as the front axle. Then your back axle hits that same bump and it kicks you in the back like the kick off in a football game. Nope didn't have air ride seats either. Nor A/C or power steering. Then there is shifting a Cab Over. Maybe it was easier when it was newer. Every one I drove had this loosely goosey linkage that made finding gears like stirring a giant pot of soup with a bent spoon tapped to a mop.
A conventional on the other hand hits a bump at worst you rock a little. Usually the seat absorbs everything. Shifting, the levers are a lot longer and there are things you have to do with splitting gears and rear ends but basically it's straight forward.
I'm glad my experiance with cab overs was when I was younger. I think if I tried to do just one round trip in an Old Cab Over I'd be dead before I finished it. In a conventional it would be no big deal. There are older truckers still out there still pounding down the road.
If you’re really interested in old highway busses then Bus Grease Monkey is a channel you should subscribe to. He’s a bus mobile mechanic operating out of a 1947? GM bus that was at onetime a Greyhound. I’ve linked to a random video of his but he has a pretty popular channel.
https://youtu.be/hWIA15s3eZ8
As far as a 6-71 goes, that’s what he runs. Normally aspirated with I think slightly healthier injectors. Amazingly he stays in the LEFT lane most of the time. That engine can be turbo’d very easily too. In factory form they made up to 350 hp with turbo. Over 450 on the water. He worked on a boat in one episode and commented on the injector size. He says you can’t keep it cool with that much fuel on a land based vehicle.
03Panther said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Yep that rig would have turned anybody off on cab overs!!! At least the 8v71 had enough torque to be a decent road engine, although not by “today’s” standards. A 6 71 had to be screamin’. I drove a ford dump truckeith a 6-71 from the factory... n. a. too. Not fast but gear’d well enough to do ok in town
the young ‘uns prolly never heard how to drive a truck with an ol driptroit... first thing every morning, slam your hand in the door as ya get in... drive all day pissed off at it , tryin’ to blow it up, and it’ll last forever!
Fear not. In a bus it’s so far behind you it can scream all day and you’ll hardly notice. Not like a dump truck. And they were designed to scream. Day in and day out. For a private operator going to races and taking vacations it will last until you’re tired of the bus and ready for something else.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
I'm friends with Scott's son (who has posted in this thread, I'll let him speak up if he wants). Lenny is in fact a 1947. This is definitely one of the biggest places this idea came from.
A 401 CJ said:
03Panther said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Yep that rig would have turned anybody off on cab overs!!! At least the 8v71 had enough torque to be a decent road engine, although not by “today’s” standards. A 6 71 had to be screamin’. I drove a ford dump truckeith a 6-71 from the factory... n. a. too. Not fast but gear’d well enough to do ok in town
the young ‘uns prolly never heard how to drive a truck with an ol driptroit... first thing every morning, slam your hand in the door as ya get in... drive all day pissed off at it , tryin’ to blow it up, and it’ll last forever!
Fear not. In a bus it’s so far behind you it can scream all day and you’ll hardly notice. Not like a dump truck. And they were designed to scream. Day in and day out. For a private operator going to races and taking vacations it will last until you’re tired of the bus and ready for something else.
Not really my point in that post, but taken out of context, I can see why someone might think so. I did cover the screaming durability in the little old school story... run ‘em like your mad at em, and they LLC last forever!
frenchyd noted that it wasn’t the lack of power, but the ride quality, but I had mentioned that in my previous post as well. But the op, while I have never met, I get the impression he’s young and tough enough to consider one. And the lack of power hauling 80K lbs. prolly had as much to do with being turned off by that old gmc coe as the ride did, despite the ride standing out in his memory. The 6-71 in a buss or a dump truck, will not be trying to pull 80K or more up long hills.
To the op; the shop down the road has a bus, but it’s a customers. I have seen a few cool motorcoaches made out of this:
Prolly a cat 3208/A. T. Allison 4 speed. I doubt he’d sell it without the fire rig on it but he’s a full time wheeler dealer and trading.
Newer, but has more miles. Prolly a better engine than the 3208, but that old cat V8 sure is reliable, when treated right!
And then he also has a MH with the cool factor, but lots of “restoration “ needed..
dodge traveco!!!
