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Message |
Jay Colas (162.119.232.100)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2001 - 6:26 am: | |
I have noticed that many Bluebirds powered by an 8V92TA are advertised as recently rebuilt at 100,000 miles. Is this typical for this engine? Is it true they are designed to take a triple rollover and maintain their structural integrity? Do hardcore BNO's consider Bluebirds Busses or RVs? |
FAST FRED (209.26.87.35)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2001 - 11:17 am: | |
A Bird Wanderlodge is a fine example of just how nice a Skoolie can be.
Wanderlodge's unfortunatly get sold to folks that want a great RV , and althoug it is a great RV ,the engine and other components need a very different type maint than a gas Wynnibuggy.
The reason most RV on commercial chasis dont even go 1/3 he milage of an identical commercial unit is the ABUSE at the hands of somone that has NO idea what needs to be done , to ensure long life of the equippment.
SO they sit for months on end , with old filthy oil in the crankcase ,,
or some very foolish fellow kills them by ideling them to an early death , starting it weekly and letting it sit running for hours "to help move the oil".
This of course washes the oil from the cylinder walls and the low temp of ideling only adds to the load of acid and moisture in the crankcase.
Its not the 8V thats got a problem , its owners with no knowledge of their lack of knowledge thats the problem.
AS Wanderlodges are NOT CHEAP, the folks who own them are capable of paying for real maint ,,
they just dont know whats at risk, or how to go about finding or purchasing service that will be Preventive Maint.
The factory says to do what the engine mfg recomends, but have you ever seen D'a Book in a Wanderlodge?
This unfortunatly is also true for the RV folks that have factory conversions,Prevosts ect.
They want a safe, expensive looking RV ,good to be seen in, but usually have absolutly no interest in coaches , except that their interior is installed in one.
I recenly went to see a nice older Custom Coach Conversion, the owner was employed at a truck tire place in CT.
You would figure he would at least know somone to ask about maint.
But no , a few questions , and he was proudly telling how often he changed the oil ,, WITH 10-30 CAR OIL !!
How long do you think this 8V will last?
FAST FRED |
Jan and Denise (Jan_Den) (64.188.242.19)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2001 - 11:48 pm: | |
We agree with Fast Fred about the care and feeding of a bus
BUT
from what we can tell, the Wanderlodge of today is not your factory converted schoolie. When we visited Blue Bird in Holland last year, we found motorhomes closer in specs and size (not to mention price) of a high end Prevost!
To tell the truth, we have fond memories from our youth of friends from the old neighborhood and their old Wanderlodge. Now that one looked like what it was, a school bus pulled off one assembly line and sent to another. Those were tough, rugged and far ahead of commercial RV's of the time. |
Mark O. (204.245.228.203)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2001 - 11:19 pm: | |
Up until about 10 years ago Blue Bird made three basic buses, the conventional, the All-American front engine, and the All-American rear engine.
If you purchased a Wanderlodge, you got a motorhome which was originally built as a school bus. Or rather it was pulled off the school bus manufacturing line before it was painted chrome yellow with black stripes.
With the advent of the TC2000 and TC1000 models in the later 80's and early 90's Blue Bird started to get into other areas of busing. In order to get into the motorcoach business Blue Bird revamped the All-American and created a new bus line they call the LTC. It has a flat floor, increased inside height, the large motorcoach windows, full air ride suspension, and all the other amenities one associates with Prevost, MCI, etc. The new Wanderlodge R.V.'s are now based on the LTC.
While the LTC may have a school bus heritage it no longer is built to school bus spe'c's. In other words steel is replaced by lightweight material wherever possible.
The Wanderlodge is still a very good product. It just isn't the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago.
But then, what is?
Happy trails.
Mark O. |
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