Re: School Bus Chassis

Posted by Grandpa's Fords on January 21, 2019 at 05:26:38 from (50.107.184.112):

In Reply to: School Bus Chassis posted by modirt on January 19, 2019 at 15:43:01:

Modirt I should have elaborated. The Glider came from International trucks as a complete frame suspension driveline with everything that the vehicle needed to start drive for all intensive purposes was a completely functioning truck without the actual box or school buses body. The only body pieces were the hood and front bumper. Anything that was part of the school bus body was not included. The windshield and firewall to the emergency door in the rear were part of the original bus body including seats heaters and most of the lighting and wiring with exception of the headlights. This one had a harness that that just plugged in to from the chassis to the body and the wiring was pretty much done.

The body was constructed as unit that was extremely ridged. This repair had to be inspected by state inspectors specializing in school buses and were very particular about any cutting or modification to the body as it could flex and become compromised.

We noticed the flex of the chassis when starting to remove the bolts that held the body to the chassis starting in the back the chassis would droop binding the next set of bolts. We had to crib and jack in several spots as to support the chassis. The weight of the rear and just the chassis would drop the frame about 5-6 inches before we got in front of the rear axle. Reversely though we used that to our advantage when reassembling, just by putting pressure on the gapped area to easily put into place for bolting.

A Blue Bird rep had also visited to ensure we were following proper techniques for the repair. IIRC school buses had 9-10 years from new for a useful life as a school bus and to carry passengers. If the repair was not done in this manner it would not have been approved for passenger service again.

The kit from IH trucks was exactly what they delivered to the Blue Bird Body Company for installation in a new bus.

The body was the ridged part and the chassis flexed. Once together completely there was no negligible flex. I recall one of the inspectors counting bolts and bolt holes on the drawings to ensure they were all put in. Once completed and fully functioning it was then taken to a state inspection facility for school buses and thoroughly inspected before it could be placed in service again.

The removed chassis was parted out as the owner had several other buses that were similar and the chassis was cut up for scrap. We had considered cutting the frame down for a shorter truck but had not real use for it.

I did gain a healthy respect for how school bus bodies were built.

Replies:

Add a Reply Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video URL: Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.   Advanced Posting Tools   Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial # List  Return to Post  Upload Photos/Videos Press to select files to upload Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 8MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]