| Author | Message | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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Back bay, MC9. TIA! | ||
| Derek (Derek_l)
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Not too much, if you get that tag axle down  | ||
| Brian (Bigbusguy)
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I would try it and if the bottom rips off back it off a few pounds. What you putting back there?? Brian 4905 Klamath Falls Oregon | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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It would be *really great* if I can squeeze 110 gals of water *and* batteries back there. Wasn't planning that, but in reconfiguring after a few trial & errors I think I can fit both of these utilities. But before I do it, I want the experts' thumbs-up or down! And Derek, you remembered my little saga. The good news on that coming within 30 days! | ||
| Jim Stacy
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The rumor is that Greyhound transported DD engines in the luggage bay. My '04 carries two 80 gal fresh water tanks, one 100 gal black & one 100 grey all in one bay. They would not all be full at the same time but I have had both fresh tanks full. No problems after 65,000 miles including Alaska. HTH Jim Stacy | ||
| James Maxwell (Jmaxwell)
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That's not rumor, it's fact, they did carry DD's in the bays for field replacements. I have a friend that is retired from Hound as a field mechanic in N. Cal. | ||
| Ed Roelle (Ed_roelle)
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In my rear bay, I have a 1040# battery, water tank that I usually carry 1000#, holding tanks with some weight, and misc. stuff. Estimate of 2200# most of the time. I inspect often, top and bottom. No indication of problems. If your structure is good 1400# should be no problem. Ed Roelle Flint, MI | ||
| Charles Seaton Rating: N/A |
Have put Allison transmissions in luggage bays of GM SDM Suburbans. | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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I see no problem Chuckie..I have freshwater,black&greywater ,66 gallon propane tank,20 gallon water heater,water pump...all in back bay...golf cart in middle bay,spare trans in front bay...(probably won't ever need it,but,it would cost a ton to have it shipped to me "IF" I did need it.... | ||
| Lin Rating: N/A |
Are you sure one spare transmission is enough? | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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it's a standard....would have to have ALL bays full of transmissons. if I used automatics | ||
| CoryDaneRTS Rating: N/A |
Go ahead 2dogs You deserve to make you life easier, put them automatics in and enjoy the drive. besides the mice need a hole, where the clutch was, to come inside when it is cold outside. You have plenty of bay space for an automatic trans or 2, or 3 or 4. Lucky you, they are fat on one end and pointy on the other so you can pack em to save space, right next to your go cart. Careful you don't unplug the cord from the cart to the bus battery when you throw the auto trans in the bay. That would be a calamity! cd - the engineer, Lionel trains | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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NO AUTOMATICS FOR ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj)
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No doubt Grayhound transported spare mills tossed/chained/bound into a luggage bin, but the question that needs to be asked were they supposed to and how often they did and what were the reprocussions or possible damage done to the coach as a result? 1500 pounds is a lot of weight for any single bin to bear for any length of time. You may want to figure just how often your coach would experience such a loading and for how long. Also... ...in spite of what others may suggest, one does have to pay attention to the weight and balance of the coach, both in unloaded and loaded conditions. Would hate to find out too late that the bus is lop sided or ass end heavy. Good luck. | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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50 passengers and their luggage is 10,000 pounds | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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TD, I know the cargo capacity is about 10K, but it is distributed. If you figure 170 lbs. per wetware unit, that leaves only 1.5K for all the bays. 1.5K/3= 500 per bay, which I know is exceeded by almost every conversion with just one 100 gal tank. Hmmmm...at first I thought it would be OK, but am not so sure now. "...the average weight for men aged 20-74 years rose dramatically from 166.3 pounds in 1960 to 191 pounds in 2002, while the average weight for women the same age increased from 140.2 pounds in 1960 to 164.3 pounds in 2002." -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | ||
| Brian (Bigbusguy)
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I dont think you could fit 50 passangers and their luggage in on bay! I think the 500 per bay is off also. 10 bags could weight that. I come up with 32000 gvw 49 people 9800# bus empty 10000# gives me 4066# per bay. I dont know what the fully seated 4905 weight was. If it was 16000 I would still have 2066 per bay. I know the GMC's are a lot lighter then the same size MCI but 1500 should be ok. I was useing a average size of 200 per person and in 1975 would be very fat. Now pushing 300# per person is the avarge  I know a few people carring their car in the bay of the 4905 and the 35 foot version also. I would bet its about 1500# or more. Brian 4905 Klamath Falls Oregon | ||
| Pat Bartlett (Muddog16)
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Laughing TwoDogs, 50 passengers and baggage 10,000 pounds, you haven't see my wife pack have ya? This woman doesn't travel lightly! She would give an Air Force Load Master a headache! | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Henry, Chuck, Brian, et all - I spent 25 years in the bus industry, getting into it initially back in the early '70's when the Scenics and PD4107s were still in Greyhound's fleet. Many a time I saw four (yes, 4!) 8V71s on pallets in the baggage bins of those two coaches, with the passenger's luggage stuffed in, over and around the engines. These were on buses working the schedules between Los Angeles and San Francisco, shuttling them back and forth between maintenance bases. I've even watched the shop in SF load them into a Scenic, using a forklift. Did they do this every trip? No, but then again, they did it often. Remember, this was back in Greyhound's heyday, when they had over 4,000 coaches on the road, so there was always the demand for a powertrain somewhere. Blue Pooch discontinued this as the MCIs came into the fleet, not because the coach couldn't handle it, but because the baggage bins weren't tall enough! (Shameless GMC plug, eh??) BTW, some of you may be familiar with the "combo" Scenics Greyhound used for awhile. For those who aren't, these were units that had 10 seats downstairs, and all the seats removed on the upper deck, with a cargo door installed at the RR of the coach, and used for package express service. I remember one evening in the middle of December, visiting with a friend of mine who was a dispatcher at the Fresno 'Hound depot, when one of these came thru headed from LA to SF, via San Jose. Driver came into the dispatch office, and said he couldn't believe he had to drop to first gear climbing the Grapevine out of LA, a grade normally pulled easily in second by the Scenics. Said the coach ran fine, was just slow goin' up the mountain, and he had a large package load. So my buddy and I went out to have a "look-see", and were we surprised!! Downstairs in the baggage bins were four 8V71s, with packages literally crammed everywhere around them. Upstairs, the coach was packed, literally, floor-to-ceiling from the upper deck windshield all the way to the rear window. Plus it was carrying 10 passengers and their stuff, too! Thank goodness they didn't have to run that coach over the scales - can't even begin to imagine how overloaded that unit was. . . Scenics were subjected to an awful lot in Greyhound service, and did so for over 20 years, longer than any other make or model coach before or after - a real tribute to GM & Greyhound's engineering staffs (at least after the Rube Goldberg twin 4-71s initially installed were discarded for the venerable 8V71 powerplant!) The point of all this verbage is that IF your coach is structurally sound, chances are you aren't going to hurt the chassis with the type of gear installed in the typical RV. The risk is much greater for body damage done by a towing company that incorrectly hooks it up!! What could bite you, however, is the axle weight limits, should you happen to be visited by an overzealous Motor Carrier officer with a set of portable scales, and who's buckin' for a promotion and a better table at the local Krispy Kreme. Or a liar-for-hire if you happen to get in a fender-bender with bodily injury. . . One final thought: The heavier your coach, the greater the hit on your wallet at the fuel island!! FWIW, RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Wow, RJ. As always, great post. You should write a book about your bussin' experiences and insights. I'd sure buy it! As RJ says, watch that weight. Maybe we could/should provide our coaches with lots of tankage... but consider treating it as a "rainy day" capacity. That is, keep the volumes down on the highway drives... then only top 'em off if you're heading to the backwoods for an extended stay. 4 8v71's?! Holy cow! Brian Brown PD4106-1175 Longmont, CO My Bus Site | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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I contacted MCI Technical Support, which forwarded the query to Engineering. Should be interesting to see if there's a response. I don't think 100 gals is lots of tankage, BB. Seems about average from what I've read. The only thing I'm trying to do perhaps outside of the norm is stuff batteries in the same bay as tanks. | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Hi, Chuck... sorry, I didn't mean to imply that 100G's is a lot of tankage. It's probably about typical for a coach your size. Mine has that size fresh tank, too. I was just saying that it might be wise to provide a bunch of capacity for those times when we'll be doing extended "unpluged" camping. And it's probably prudent to only drive around with enough fluids to get from point A to B, since each gallon is over 8 pounds. When I was driving the Winnie, my whole family of five took about a week to go through 40 gallons of fresh. But this was pole-to-pole driving and taking showers at CGs. Your camping lifestyle will dictate how much fluids you build in and then how much you take-on for each trip. That said, I can't imagine 900 lbs. of water and a couple hundred lbs. of batts will make your bay "sweat" even a little bit. A stuffed suitcase weighs maybe fifty pounds and they could probably easily pack 20 of 'em into a bay during revenue service. On the old newspaper runs I bet they could easily get a whole ton of the Sunday papers in the back bay. I say, Fill 'er up! BB | ||
| Doug Dickinson (Dougd470)
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Something to also consider - When we finish the bays in a coach, we often line the floor with 1/2 or 3/4 plywood, which helps spread the up/down load to the edges of the compartment where the structural attachment is made to the coach. In doing so, we are helping to make this load situation work a little better. The 'hound guys used a pallet under the engine which did some of that also. (I remember seeeing that when I was a kid) In our fragile coaches (remember, they ARE fragile when mis-loaded)we have to make sure the spot load (a concentrated load) is not confused with a distributed load. That can make a lot of difference. Tanks, by their nature, spread a load somewhat. Don't forget to keep an eye on GVW AND axle weights. We may have a lot of load to play with, but it is not unlimited. Doug St Louis MC9 |