Something to ponder over??? School Buses in disguise

[Jon]

I was just reading something on one of the other bird sites that
stated that one of the reasons for short engine life in these old
birds was due to non-maintaince plus most commercial big rigs go much
farther in a year than some of these rigs go in 10.

Well I was just thinking about the fact that our old Wanderlodges are
just big school buses in disguise. Now most school buses do not make
long runs on freeways for days on end but run four to five days a
week. And of course they usually never get over 35 mph with a bus
load of kids. And on top of that they stop at about every other
corner that can be located in any given school district. So why do
the old 3208 engines run so good? because they are built tough and
made to run at given RPMS that match the oust of the bus itself.

I have noticed on the various Wanderlodge sites of a few people here
that have had to replaced there engine or transmission early in the
engine life but why??? I guess the one of the reasons most of those
owners either never read there start up manuals or just drove them
wrong. Or I sould say the previous owners operated there rigs
without checking out there blue box.

I would say the basic 3208 engine is almost bullet prooft and if they
can endure what the various school district put on there old buses
than an owner should be able to run his old rig with no problems as
long as it serviced and run accordily so.

Now as to why our old buses seem to have alot problem on these sites
it simple only the owners that have Wanderlodges have problems show
up here. And most of the problems are of the auxiliary parts of the
coaches such as heating systems, fresh water systems, ext.

So with that said I hope to get another 150,000 miles out of my old
reliable 3208 Caterpillar engine.. (I hope?)

Jon (With lots of time on his hands)

Rebel Bird

[bubblerboy64]

Hi Jon, I am with you on this! The part about hoping for a lot more
miles on the ole 3208. Very complex subject for which I have no real
knowledge or understanding. I think if you studied the way the these
3208 cats are used in wanderlodges there might be some statistical
information which might tell us a lot about why there are winners and
losers on these engines. I am trying to mentally prepare for the
worst while hoping for the best.
John Heckman
central Pa
1973 FC
>
> I was just reading something on one of the other bird sites that
> stated that one of the reasons for short engine life in these old
> birds was due to non-maintaince plus most commercial big rigs go
much
> farther in a year than some of these rigs go in 10.
>
> Well I was just thinking about the fact that our old Wanderlodges
are
> just big school buses in disguise. Now most school buses do not
make
> long runs on freeways for days on end but run four to five days a
> week. And of course they usually never get over 35 mph with a bus
> load of kids. And on top of that they stop at about every other
> corner that can be located in any given school district. So why do
> the old 3208 engines run so good? because they are built tough and
> made to run at given RPMS that match the oust of the bus itself.
>
> I have noticed on the various Wanderlodge sites of a few people
here
> that have had to replaced there engine or transmission early in the
> engine life but why??? I guess the one of the reasons most of those
> owners either never read there start up manuals or just drove them
> wrong. Or I sould say the previous owners operated there rigs
> without checking out there blue box.
>
> I would say the basic 3208 engine is almost bullet prooft and if
they
> can endure what the various school district put on there old buses
> than an owner should be able to run his old rig with no problems as
> long as it serviced and run accordily so.
>
> Now as to why our old buses seem to have alot problem on these
sites
> it simple only the owners that have Wanderlodges have problems show
> up here. And most of the problems are of the auxiliary parts of
the
> coaches such as heating systems, fresh water systems, ext.
>
> So with that said I hope to get another 150,000 miles out of my old
> reliable 3208 Caterpillar engine.. (I hope?)
>
> Jon (With lots of time on his hands)
>
> Rebel Bird
>