Bus Down, Deuce Up

Well,
I'm moving back home to SC, because I start my job in March. I have A LOT of stuff, so moving it all was going to be a long process. I have a 1973 chevy bus that I had taken all the seats out of to turn it into an RV. Well, the RV part never came along, so I made sure she would make the trip with all my PM, and replaced the Master Cylinder with a new hydro-boost one.

Loaded up most of my garage in her, and headed south around 8am on the 16th. Stopped by John Winslows to drool and get some parts.

Over all the bus ran great, average speed was about 56mph. I was expecting more trouble with the bus than the deuce.

When I got to my parents, I had to change out the two front tires, mount the spare, and install the alternator.

Ted and Karen from Ted's trunks N stuff were a big help, getting the alternator shipped out on Wed. DHL went above and beyond again, letting me pick up the crate as it was unloaded off the big truck at like 7am on Friday. I wanted to get on the road as early as possible. I also had removed the drivers seat to put on the new cushions I had gotten and fix the lumbar control. Got on the road at about 1pm, not as early as I had hoped, but still ok. Got up the road a ways and realized my back tires were not tracking each other. One axle was pushed towards the driver side rubbing the pass tire on the springs, while the other axle was the opposite. So I swung around and went back to my parents.

My brother and I jacked up the rear frame, and slid the axles over, then put little blocks of wood to shim the springs in their carriers, and everything lined up right. I guess I will need to check my torsion bars.

Got on the road again at 3:30pm. Got just out of town and filled up, then hit the road. Got about 40miles into NC, and the truck starts surging, just a little at first but then it gets worse and worse. Like driving along and then hitting a patch of soft sand. I pulled off many times, spent about an hour in one place, called Recovery4X4 (Kenny) for any tips, dumped some motor oil in the fuel, blew clean the air filter, drained the filters, and put on the grill cover to warm her up. Nothing seemed to help.

Running out of energy, I decided to press on to at least the love's truck stop right over the VA border. She finally kind of mellowed out, but with about a 10mph loss in power. the pitch of the exhaust was different too. So I get to love's, top off the tank, grab some McDonald's, and hit the road again. Now, I didn't shut it down when I stopped and fueled up, but with a fuel tank she was going great. I did 62mph most of the way down hwy 58 to Norfolk.

So something must be wrong with my intake pump, as when the fuel drops below 1/2 it starts doing it. And, my horn valve died I guess. I took my wife to work this morning in it (she's been dieing to ride it to work) and I didn't drain the tanks when I got home because I had only like 3hrs of sleep and I just wanted to hit the hay. Well, I woke up about 3 hrs later to a horn, realized its MY horn, and run outside to drain the tanks. By the time I got dress, the whole neighborhood was coming outside to complain. So I guess most of them don't like it already... At least it won't be here long.

Enjoy the pics!

More photos,
And the creature comforts that the bus allowed me, satillite radio, the garmin, plenty of room should I need to take a nap. Oh, I forgot to mention that I left at 8pm in the bus and arrived at 5pm, so 9hours. I left at 3:30pm in the deuce, and arrived at 2:10. So almost 11 hours. Those stops and the loss of power really hurt me, because it had a better cruising speed than the bus, but the bus did have about 8,000lbs of my garage in it...

Oh, and I always thought it was funny that the bus speedometer went to 90mph but the deuce's stopped at 60mph... I wouldn't want to do 90 in either! I did do 80 in the bus once, really long hill and first engine (blew that one up)

Now for the deuce ride up!

Oh, and a couple of videos I shot of the ride up.

Before the fuel issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q7x6fpGvn0

After: (sorry, dark)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0TstDqBYbU

And me on the commentary!

And the last couple pics

Just looked at my tires, the wooden shims I put in the springs are bashed to heck, so the tires are the same as the above picture. I'm guessing that I need to replace the torsion rods?

And no one has anything to say? Odd...

Ferroequinologist said:

And no one has anything to say? Odd...

Click to expand...

i've been waiting for all the pics to download. I have dial up!

When mine did that, one of the links was competely off. Check both end of all 6 links. I can't see the axle moving that far with the 6 links in place.

i have dial up also so it took awhile to see your pics.it sounds like a fun trip. you look pretty relax listening to music while driving.we also have a old school bus that i turned into a camper and our first trip with her to fla there was no music playing ,i was listening for sounds coming from the bus, so going home was less stressful ,the music was cranked. wanted to post pics but i kinda screwed up the comp. and will have to wait until the wife gets home to fix it. steve

That's the thing Kenny, everything looks good, only one of the end bushings looks like it might be going, on the top rod, frame mounted end.

I didn't think about all the pictures...

I always thought a bus was a good option for a cheap camper ! Did you find out about why your tracking is off ? I enjoy reading about roadtrips ( yours was interesting ) and your lucky it could have been much worse .

Oh by the way love the RR crossing sign !

The tracking thing is messing with my head. PM or email me lots of pics please. BTW, I stil have 2/3 of a deuce winch in Franklin VA if your passing by.

Post the pics here too, there is no such thing as too many pics. I would like to see the rear driveline problem closer.

Ok, I'll go out and take a dozen or so tomorrow morning, if this snow thing isn't too bad.

Adam:
Great story and pictures I am looking forward to hearing the recovery of your van trailer and the pick up of the dolly convertor. You must be facing some big fuel bills moving all that steel over the highway. I hope you are going to find the details of the offset soon that is really bugging me too as the axles should be lined up correctly with everything in place and servicable. I would use the test I used for secondary loads; a big hammer, to check the linkage. I am hoping that you are coming up to my place with the pickup to make the switch of the lube trailer for the dolly.

I know that the Navy lost a great sailor when they lost you and I hope all is going well with the move and new job. I wish I could be home for the time you are coming up to Baltimore and I talked to Christian and he got everything ready for making the switch of the dolly and lube trailer. I am taking leave in March and plan to do some major real estate management in the driveway to make it more managable. Is the new Avatar shot from your new job engine?

Ferro - it is a blessing, although some real challenges, that you weren't stranded. Glad you made it with some nice creature comforts. Where in SC are you anyway?

Hey David,
Not too bad on the fuel, only about $300 for both the bus and the deuce. The bus got about 8-9mpg and the deuce when it wasn't surging got about 10mpg. The avatar shot is on the locomotive I run now, my new job is at a steel mill.

ADR, Yes, I'm glad neither left me stranded. Murphy (the bus) has put me through a lot of pain the years I've owned her, I think she just wanted to R.I.P (rust in piece) when I saved her from the junkyard, she fought me every step of the way getting her road worthy again. But when she gets out on the hwy, even loaded she likes to run now, taking trips isn't such a big deal. I think she is happy to be 'alive' again, and owned by someone who takes care of her. Remind me at Aberdeen and I'll tell you the full bus story.

My property is near Kershaw, with is about 30min north of Camden, and about an hour south of Charlotte.

The tracking thing is bugging me too, I'll go take some pictures in a little bit, and use your advice and tap the ends with a hammer, maybe something is just loose.