| Author | Message | ||
| JImC (169.207.87.66)
Rating: N/A |
Thanks everyone for the replys, I have to admit I may have termed the shifting wrong due to my untrained ear, I would say the eagle trans slammed into gear, similar to what a race car, or hot rod car would do. I have received emails from some that say this is pretty much normal, and that makes sense since the trans is made to last longer than a car. The one question that did come up, IS THE TRANS FLARING like Darryl asks. That may be the case, I will have a mechanic friend come check it out prior to purchansing. IAN, the first thing I did when I cought the BUS BUG was to buy Dave Galey's Bus Converters Bible.I have been a car nut all my life and one thing I learned running heavy equipment, and building street rods, and muscle cars is that I don't know it all. To answer the other question, I am hoping to keep the cost of the conversion at $30,000 not counting the initial cost of the bus I buy. I KNOW, I KNOW, I may be dreaming, but that is the plan I laid out with the little lady (boss) I can do about 95% of the conversion myself (with an electrical contractor buddy)The only things that scare me about the project are the bus repairs, I am not a diesel guy, Thanks again JIm C Wisconsin (drop the XXX in email) | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
They called the non-synchro trannys crash boxes because that is what you heard and felt if the shift was not perfect. The dog clutches are designed for it up to a point. Mistakes happen. You will get the hang of it. They used to teach 18 year old kids to shift the famous (infamous?) Fuller RTO-910 10-speed Roadranger which also has no synchros and can also grind like mad. These trannys were in Crown School Buses. The young drivers caught on very fast. Even me. All I think you need is just a few dozen hours having fun driving your coach around. The wife can learn also. Heck, my Dad and Mom were flying airplanes during WW two at ages 18 and 17! You can learn to shift your MCI. It is very easy with practice. Understand your $budget$ limitations. I plan on spending only $20K on my Crown conversion. This means cutting out all the frills and concentrating on creating a functional coach. Learn to do diesel bus repairs like the rest of us. Nothing really different than fooling around with hot rod cars and such...the parts are just bigger. I still know very little, but am spooling up as fast as practical. Good luck!  | ||
| BrianMCI96A3 (69.34.99.39) Rating: N/A |
Henry, actually Jim went to look at an Eagle, and I THOUGHT that it had an automatic in it, but really I'm not sure if Jim ever said, for sure. When I bought my MCI one stipulation was that the Fuller tranny got taken out and an allison electronic shift HT748 was put in it's place! Oh, an funny that you should mentioned that your folks flew during WWII... both my Mom and Dad were in the Navy during WWII and were aviation mechanics. Yours flew'm, mine fixed'm Brian | ||
| choochoo (206.176.223.14) Rating: N/A |
Jim C There is a lot of knowledgeable bus nuts in Wisconsin I belong to The Midwest Bus Nuts located in Wisconsin and many other midwest states. We have bus meets every month in and around Wisconsin Minn. Ill. etc You could get a lot of help from people that have done it !!!! plus a look at what they have done. I live west of Wausau If you are interested E-mail me for more details. This weekend we are having a at Elk Mound WI. last one till spring which will be at the Dells. Ted ChooChoo FMCA 2535 MC 9 there several Eagles in club. buesch@pcpros.net | ||
| Johnny (67.241.232.88) Rating: N/A |
"When I bought my MCI one stipulation was that the Fuller tranny got taken out and an allison electronic shift HT748 was put in it's place!" Why in the world would you ruin a perfectly good bus with a slushpump? | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong) (24.127.74.29)
Rating: N/A |
"Why in the world would you ruin a perfectly good bus with a slushpump? " Well, Johnny, even tho I really like driving a manual gearbox for fun, when it comes to being stuck in traffic, wiggling around to get into a campsite, low speed stuff in a parking lot, or simply driving around town running errands, the automatic is a whole lot less tiring for us older folk. And if you're someone who's had knee surgery on you left leg, and that leg's weaker, the clutch can become a real chore real quick. One other point: some of the newer electronically controlled automatics are as fuel efficient as a manual box, so that argument goes out the window, too. Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE driving the manual gearbox in my 4106, but I've gotten to where I really prefer an automatic for running around, especially in town & traffic. BTW, are you aware that it's virtually impossible to buy a new bus (other than a skoolie) with a manual gearbox in it? Even skoolies are doing away with manuals - can't find enough drivers that know how to drive them, plus the EPA's got it's fingers in the bus market now, and it's a lot easier to smog certify an automatic. I understand your thoughts and feelings about a manual gearbox, I've felt that way also. There's a real thrill to pounding over a winding mountain road in a BMW M3 with a five-speed, working that sweet six up and down the rev range as you toss the car from one corner to the next, going thru the gears to balance performance and handling. But that same sweet snick-snick of the five-speed becomes a pain in the a** when you've come down off Mullholland Drive and are now stuck in 5 mph traffic on the San Diego Freeway at 4:30 in the afternoon. . . BTDT, sold the car. Such is life, eh? RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (216.67.217.43)
Rating: N/A |
Johnny, It's personal preference and as RJ says that damn clutch can be a real pain especially for people with bad knees or bad back, as in my case. To operate that clutch in heavy traffic for me would be nearly impossible. I still don't see why it is ruining a perfectly good bus? As already stated, modern autos are nearly as fuel efficient as a stick. In fact, sometimes more efficient when driven by an unskilled driver who doesn't know when he should shift that stick. Peter. | ||
| BrianMCI96A3 (65.41.248.58) Rating: N/A |
To be honest, in a car, I love my manual tranny's but, my honey has a bad back and neck, and we got her an automatic, though she drives my car on occaision. My back isn't the greatest either, and while I'm not exactly old, I'm not getting younger either. With the lock-up converter, an automatic is going to be far more enjoyable for me OR my honey to drive and be as efficient mileage wise. And to be honest, I've always had it in for fuller transmissions, it always amazes me that the europeans get to have syncros in their trucks... I can't tell you how many HUGE 15 speed trannys I had to pull because some bozo burned up that itty bitty clutch brake (BEFORE two piece clutch brakes)!!! PLUS, amazingly enough, in over 20 years, in the millions of miles we've put on allisons, in the dozens of trucks we've had them in, we've never had one fail! Brian | ||
| two dogs (66.90.216.197) Rating: N/A |
JimC..... he's in your state..2437659723...I sure hope you don't buy the first bus you look at..Ian...I did not say it was on ebay.. | ||
| Johnny (67.241.232.152) Rating: N/A |
I have blown out my left knee playing baseball ("takeout slide" is apt at times)--my F-350 has a ZF 5-speed, my bus has a Spicer 5+2, my Gremlin has a Super T-10 (and is getting a Richmond 6-speed). The wreckers I drive are an F-350 with a T19 4-speed, an F-550 with a ZF 5-speed, & an F-800 with a Clark non-synchro 5-speed (and the stiffest clutch I've ever seen). The only reason my Cadillac still has a TH-200-4R is because I haven't figured out how to swap to a 6-speed yet. "wiggling around to get into a campsite, low speed stuff in a parking lot" The finer the maneuvering required, the more I want a manual tranny. I squeeze large flatbed trucks (rollback wreckers) into tight areas almost every day--and every time I do, I'm glad I have a manual transmission. "BTW, are you aware that it's virtually impossible to buy a new bus (other than a skoolie) with a manual gearbox in it?" Yes--I know that almost all coaches have slushpumps now. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a new school bus with a handshaker in a long time--mine is one of the NEWEST I've seen--I was told that legally, all school buses now MUST have automatics, air conditioning, & seat belts. For a HD gearbox, I MUCH prefer non-synchronized gears. I can't float-shift, though. Gotta work on that. Near as we can tell, the F-800's Clark is untouched after 21 years of hard use & 10 years of sitting--we're certain it's the original tranny. The F-350's T19 is untouched (exceppt for 2 clutch replacements) in just over 500,000 miles. This winter's project: teach my 16year-old bother how to drive a manual tranny, probably on the F-800. | ||
| BrianMCI96A3 (65.173.65.147) Rating: N/A |
Johnny, I can tell you that I have had to rebuild a Fuller Road Ranger, (lots of fun, took forever to get the parts too), and have seen other mechanics that had to rebuild them, truthfully for the amount of abuse, not so many really. I personally detest the Fuller, but many people swear by them. Is it that you dislike sycros, or is Fuller your preference, and it has none? Buddy of mine was a trucker in europe and he thinks we torture our truckers compared to some of the fully syncro'd rigs he's driven, some for as many as 16 hours a day. I currently have 8 vehicles with manual trannys and three with automatics one of which is the coach, I like stick shifts, love them even. As I've posted before, we run and have run hundreds of rough duty 10 wheel dumps, transports and equipment, millions of miles over the last twenty years and never had to rebuild an Allison. This from vehicles that are truly abused... Brian | ||
| Johnny (65.224.20.115) Rating: N/A |
I actually am not a great fan of the somewhat finicky Fullers (especially the Rangers)--my hands-down favorite is the bulletproof, almost completely idiot-proof Spicer 5+2. I drove a synchro'd 6-speed Freightliner FL70 (Cummins ISC) a while back, & kept thinking I was going to grind the gears. That box (no idea who made it) went about 95K before being pulled for (you guessed it!) synchro replacement. A larger truck (IH 10-wheeler, I think with a DT530) is pushing 380K on an untouched 10-speed Road Ranger. This 10-wheeler truly sees some brutal treatment--like grossing 65,000 (while pulling a trailer with 2 Bobcats on it) for several miles of hilly, somewhat muddy gravel & dirt 2-track, with the splitter locked & the pedal usually on the floor. This is pretty normal use for that 'Binder, and no, the truck doesn't see public roads running 65K (GVWR is 49,500). I've never driven the IH (I don't do well with a Ranger), but I've never seen the driver miss a gear...which might be why it hasn't needed a rebuild. Yes, he does float the gears, shifting up & down. Not counting the GMC transit's V730, we have 5 buses at work with Allisons (1 Spartan pusher, 1 Blue Bird TranShuttle, 3 Freightliners, the Spartan & BB are ISB's, the FL's are 12-valve Cummins 5.9's), with mileage from somewhere north of 200K (Bird) to about 25K (1998 FL). Of those 5 trannies, we have three that have been either replaced or rebuilt. In fact, the Bird is on its third transmission. The Spartan (35K) & one of the FL's (~75K) have rebuilt Allys (different shops), & both seem to be almost ready for another trip to the shop--both "hang up" in first gear & will not upshift unless you lift the throttle. Also, the spacing between 3rd & 4th gear on these are too wide--they make the engines bog on hills, especially the lower-powered FL's. They're also confused easily on hills, & hunt badly (again, worst in the lower-power buses). |