New School Buses Arrived!!

[Greenleaf]

Holy Cow Man These new buses have more safety gadgets on them than Carter has pills :{



With all these switches and sensors I can't believe they will be very reliable. Remind me of a new pickup truck with all them electronic gizmos. There is even a switch on the cross walk arm :--)



84 Passenger Bluebird w/Cat C7 and Allison



I have to adjust the valves right away and change the engine oil. Have to pull all the tires and brakes, lube everything with anti-seize so the cam rollers don't stick and the wheels come off three years from now.

 

[PToombs]

Yup, job security right there! Did they send you to school to learn how to fix them?

 

[abrankod]

I assume these are the vision series you have purchased?



I really have to wonder sometimes about decisions made about school district purchases. Are the people making the decisions actually taking into account the long term service life of the vehicle? Or is it just which engine looks prettier or matches the outside of the bus better?? The vision is a nice bus, but the C7 is a crap engine. Its basically an emissions compliant rehash of the 3126/3116 and replaces the 3116's mechanical injectors with old IHC/ford HEUI engine technology. High maintenance costs and low reliability. Not to mention, at 7. 2l displacement, its over a liter larger than the Cummins option which just adds low mileage to a poor engine. I'm amazed that your district didn't go with the cummins option which is the obvious choice especially from a maintenance standpoint. Plus, Cat's parts prices are rediculous. I mean come on, adjusting valves on a brand new engine, jeez.



In regards to slathering all the brake rollers and hardware with antiseize, good idea, especially new from the factory, theres a lot of prep that many people don't do to a new bus. Well, I'm sure you know how it goes. Theres a lot to get done before a new bus' first passenger inspection. I've had brand new buses drive from the manufacturer to our shop for their first NY DOT inspection, with tens of miles on them, and fail miserably due to out of adjustment brakes, bolts not tight, and other various things.



RE:Tires off... Three years from now? Are you planning on actually having a set of brakes last that long in your district? Not to mention you should be removing wheels at every pre-inspection PM to mic the drums. God, I can't go 6 months without a brake job on any of our buses.



Anyway, good luck, I hope all your new buses get their stickers without problem!





-Dan



The Truck & Bus Stop Inc.

Brooklyn, NY

 

[JFaulkner]

I assume these are the vision series you have purchased?



I really have to wonder sometimes about decisions made about school district purchases. Are the people making the decisions actually taking into account the long term service life of the vehicle? Or is it just which engine looks prettier or matches the outside of the bus better?? The vision is a nice bus, but the C7 is a crap engine. Its basically an emissions compliant rehash of the 3126/3116 and replaces the 3116's mechanical injectors with old IHC/ford HEUI engine technology. High maintenance costs and low reliability. Not to mention, at 7. 2l displacement, its over a liter larger than the Cummins option which just adds low mileage to a poor engine. I'm amazed that your district didn't go with the cummins option which is the obvious choice especially from a maintenance standpoint. Plus, Cat's parts prices are rediculous. I mean come on, adjusting valves on a brand new engine, jeez.



In regards to slathering all the brake rollers and hardware with antiseize, good idea, especially new from the factory, theres a lot of prep that many people don't do to a new bus. Well, I'm sure you know how it goes. Theres a lot to get done before a new bus' first passenger inspection. I've had brand new buses drive from the manufacturer to our shop for their first NY DOT inspection, with tens of miles on them, and fail miserably due to out of adjustment brakes, bolts not tight, and other various things.



RE:Tires off... Three years from now? Are you planning on actually having a set of brakes last that long in your district? Not to mention you should be removing wheels at every pre-inspection PM to mic the drums. God, I can't go 6 months without a brake job on any of our buses.



Anyway, good luck, I hope all your new buses get their stickers without problem!





-Dan



The Truck & Bus Stop Inc.

Brooklyn, NY

HEUI is cat technology not IH, and works fine as long as the oil is changed.

Cummins is the obvious choice if you've never had problems with them, but all engines have problems and the cummins is no exception. I'm anxious to see how the new C7 works with common rail.



School districts don't know crap about what to order, around here they finally switched to pilot wheels from those stupid Dayton spoke. (only about 20 years behind) Claiming fuel milage numbers is a joke on a vehicle that stops and starts all the time. They also thought air ride was a luxury until they figured out that on rough roads the bus has lower maintaince.



As far as adjusting the valve on a new engine, that need done more than you'd think regardless of the color of the paint. IMO the C7 isn't their best work but I don't think "crap" is the word I'd use. Keep in mind mechanics don't see the ones that are running great.

 

[amsoilman]

Our School district have mostly Blue Bird buses with Cummins Power, but we do have 2 International Buses, as well as 2 Thomas Buses, all with Cats.



We have 120 Buses in our fleet, and the Blue Birds are the best for us. The only reason we have the Thomas and International's is our "Director" wanted to make a "statement" just before he left for another job!



We like the Blue Birds with the Cummins Power! I drive a 2000 model with the 5. 9L Cummins and Allison "World" Transmission.



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Greenleaf]

Our fleet are transit model buses. No "Vision" here. The Cummins isn't offered in the Blurbird "All American" models. This year it is planned to introduce the 6. 7L Cummins. I had to order these buses way back in May.



So far the C7 is working. I have one that is 1. 5 years old now.



The brakes generally last about three years. As far a removal of the drum to memasure for wear..... I have 25 buses and I'm the only guy. I cannot keep up with repairs. Espessially with the State Highway Patrol looking over my shoulder and performing spot inspections



I see about 10K miles per bus per year.

 

[benhall]

I used to work in a Blue Bird plant, until I left for the Air Force. The plant I worked in was closed to move production to Mexico and Georgia, because the Georgia plant had better numbers. It was later found out that the numbers were made up, because as soon as the plant closed, BB lost all Government orders and many districts only wanted buses from our plant. BB does set the standard for quality when it comes to the buses, but I wouldn't support them.



Ben