| Author | Message | ||
| Peg Rating: N/A |
Okay. Months later, after no other vs2-8 could be located anywhere, Tom at Vehicle Clinic finally agreed to have me ship the Nimco take-out to him. He claims there were a few minor parts missing he had to pull off the old tranny, but it's now running again. He discovered upon a test drive just how bad our brakes were, and said he tightened them and now they should be fine. He also discovered a bad leak in the fuel line he was surprised no one else noticed it. We are also replacing all 4 rear tires as they have been dubbed worthless. Now, we are saving ourselves the trouble of bringing this bus to our house in MN, since we're selling it anyways. It's going to get parked on my parents' property while we shop for our house in NY. I80 looks pretty flat, but if I recall correctly there are a few grades on a stretch of mountains in PA that I don't particularly care for. Since the vs2-8 is totally automatic, does this mean it will downshift accordingly when you are going down a steep grade? I hate driving my suburban down mountains, and I know my husband is an experienced truck driver, but of course, I wouldn't mind hearing what anyone with experience has to say about the vs2-8 and mountains. Thanks again to everyone for all their advice, and wish us good luck as my husband attempts to get this "home" for a third time. | ||
| Don/TX
Rating: N/A |
I did it with a 4106 and VS2/8 a few years ago, no troubles really. The VS2 does not control like any other transmission, but until you are down to around 20 mph, it is in direct and you have some engine braking, it kinda turns loose when it gets to the hydraulic, but at 20 mph you can control it with the brakes OK. There is NO throttle modulation, so it will do its thing based solely on transmission output shaft speed. If hubby has trucking experience, he should have no troubles with it. By that same set of facts, going UP the mountain is a bit of a different experience. You will pull down to around 1100 rpm before it shifts down, so you may just lug along up some hills forever at say 1150 rpm. What you must do is to let OFF the fuel pedal slightly, it drops speed, and shifts down nicely, then you can nail it again. You can valve it to stay in direct, but not worth the trouble if you are selling it in my opinion. | ||
| DMDave Rating: N/A |
I-80 is up and down up and down nothing major look out for the deer at night in PA. What part of NY? | ||
| Peg Rating: N/A |
My folks are in Poughkeepsie. It's going to be a pretty easy drive for him otherwise, 84 is cake and My mom & sister are meeting him right off 84 on route 9 so they can get him to their house the bus-easy way, which happens to be the really difficult to describe way.:0) Thanks for the words- I have never been content with the way my big old Suburban descends a mountain, so it is hard for me to imagine a bus doing it easier- but from your descriptions it sounds like it is! Thanks for the deer warning. After 2 unsuccessful attempts to get this bus ANYWHERE other than brokedown, and with both breakdowns happening after dark, He's decided he won't drive after dark, which suits my peace of mind all the better- I hate them mountains even in daytime! Yes, I am the classic cautious driver who everyone on the highway passes, who drives an '86 Suburban because it feels so safe (obviously not for its'fuel economy!) Oh- my bad English...I don't know if we'll keep the bus or not. We ARE selling our house, though, and we reckoned it was pointless to drive the bus here now, with the price of diesel near $3 a gallon here, just to turn it around and head east again. I will be happy with the bus if it works now- if we can afford it, I think it stays. It's hard for me to think about my opinion about it- We have done nothing but shell out money, and I haven't even seen it in person. The secretary at Vehicle Clinic told me she thought it had a lot of potential. I want to see my bus! | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
There are support groups, Peg. Look up "bus nuts anonymous" Peg: "Hello. My name is Peg. I'm converting a bus". Group: "Hello Peg" | ||
| Don/TX
Rating: N/A |
I thought that the "GMC" on it meant "Gimme More Cash" | ||
| Peg Rating: N/A |
LOL!!Well, that is why I'm writing here, right? At least now I know what the initials really stand for. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
NO, NO, NO! GMC doesn't mean "Gimme More Cash". . .It means "Great Motor Coach"!!  (Don/TX, of all people, you should know that!) It's MCI that means "More Cash Invested"  Prevost, OTOH, means "Prevosts Require Equity Vs Other's Small Toys". . . (That one's for Ace, and it's NOT meant to "dis" him or his coach in any way - it's all in fun, good buddy!!) RJ | ||
| H3-40 Rating: N/A |
RJ that's funny! I don't care who you are! Ace | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
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Hey RJ - Bet you can't come up with one for Gillig... (but then - why bother? Even I'll admit it's an ugly duckling!) -Tim | ||
| Bill Gerrie
Rating: N/A |
Peg Many years ago I had a VS2-8 and there is a way to put on a switch to force it to downshift when you want it to. It makes hill climbing a lot easier as it keeps the revs up. If you are interested I can look for the wiring diagram. It's been a long time but it should be around somewhere. Bill | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
Tim - How about: Girls I like. . . Like I, girls? (Obviously written for the single guys!!) (And almost still a palindrome, too!) Oh, wait, this is a bus forum. . . "Gillig Insists Loopy Looks Inspire Greatness"  RJ | ||
| DMDave Rating: N/A |
Gosh It Looks Like Its Going | ||
| Peg Rating: N/A |
It might be cool to investigate the wiring option for forcing the shift on the tranny- I wouldn't mind at least investigating the option. | ||
| Don/TX
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I did it to mine, and somewhere I still have the wiring and plumbing photos and diagram if you are interested. It is low cost, two skinners, several fluid hoses, and a toggle switch. The toggle becomes a 1-2-3 gearshifter! Really cool to have a gear shifter that is only 1/2 inch long. I really never used it that much, driving mostly flatland areas, and I had learned so well how to work with its shift points. I found it useful mostly when pulling an entrance ramp to a freeway, you could hold it down a bit in gears for faster acceleration. The factory shift points are essentially 1150 for time to shift down, and 1700 for time to shift up. Also, in slow hilly conditions, you can keep it in the non overdrive, overdrive locked out position, and it gives you essentially the same gearing as stock gearshift in fourth gear, and you can run it for days in that position with no harm or heat buildup. Without it, in Kansas hilly country you can easily get into a speed that it shifts up everytime going down hill, back down everytime you start back uphill. Annoying. | ||
| Bill Gerrie
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Peg I wish I could find a picture of the installation but I can't. If anyone else has one maybe they can post it. Basicly how it works is you need a 3 way skinner valve. One port marked "IN" one port marked "OUT" and one port marked "EXH". You cut into the line from the govenor that feeds the control valve for the O/D clutch pack. The line from the govenor goes to the skinner valve port marked "IN" the other one to the control valve goes to the port marked "OUT". With no voltage to the skinner valve the oil flows to the control valve as normal and you upshift. When 12volts is applied to the skinner valve the oil flow is stopped from the govenor and the oil is allowed to drain from the O/D clutch pack via a line on the skinner valve connected to the "EXH" port. This line goes to the sump to drain the oil to. I hope you can figure this out. Bill | ||
| Don/TX
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I emailed you several Bill, I forgot how to post them on this board and Peg doesn't show her email address. | ||
| Peg
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Here's the email- I am just naturally paranoid, so I don't usually put that kind of stuff anywhere publicly accessible. | ||
| Don/TX
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Thanks, I emailed three photos to your address, you should have them by now. |