Mountain Driving with 1995 42', 42,000 lb. Blue Bird

[Stephen Birtles]

Lube tracks with paraffin wax a small amount goes a long way


If you really worried about escaping from the bedroom through the window
a spring loaded center punch will make the window disappear with one shot
it is tempered non-laminated glass and will crumble
One good piece of equipment on any emergency truck or vehicle usually
located in rescue worker's pocket for fast access along with seat belt
cutter
Stephen 77fc35





--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Leroy Eckert"
wrote:
>
> My windows in the bedroom are the same way. I have lubed the track
with limited success. I keep a small sledge hammer in the bedroom jic.
> I posted back in April a potential major source for fire. I have
removed the source from my bus. The freeze heaters on my coach burned
a hole in the water pipe under the night stand while in the infield at
Talladega. The event did not trip the circuit breaker. Flooded the bus
also. I am glad the water was in the line and the pump was on! Or???
The reason for the failure was two of the wires were touching when
they failed. That is not allowed per specifications. I still do not
know why they operated at 85 degrees. In any event, they are gone
now. With hydronic heat, there is no real reason to have them.
> It is not easy to do and inspection of these wires as they are
encased in insulation covering the water pipes. However, if two of
these wires are crossed or get together from movement over the years
the result is inevitable.
> Kinda off the original subject but very important.
>
> Leroy Eckert
> 1990 WB-40"Smoke N Mirrors"
> Niceville, FL
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ron Thompson
> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 7:01 AM
> Subject: RE: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Mountain Driving with 1995
42', 42,000 lb. Blue Bird
>
>
> Brad,
>
> Man am I glad you jogged my memory about that bus fire during the
Houston evac. I remember seeing that thing burn too. What a tradgedy.
>
> Yes, you are right about a fire on a coach being a serious matter.
I was just thinking about what I would do if I was in the bedroom and
a fire broke out in the galley. There is no door to get out. I tried
the windows in the bedroom and you would have to have a pry bar to get
them open. I don't think they have ever been open so they are stiff as
hell. Going to have to lube them to get them moving again. A little
WD-40 will do wonders. I notice too that the window latches are very
difficult to release. One of the windows I had to go get a screw
driver to get the latch to release. All of the windows are stiff like
that. Is that a usual thing on these Blue Birds?
>
> Thanks again Brad.
>
> My best regards,
>
> Ron Thompson
> Waller, Texas
> 1995 Wide Body 42" BB
> Detroit Diesel Series 60 470 HP
> Kubota, 4 cylinder, 1681 cc.
> Phone 936-931-2802 land line
> cell..713-295-0119 Cingular
>
> brad barton <bbartonwx@...> wrote:
> Ron,
> One more ramble and I'll quit.
> Marty is right about heat. A dragging brake on a tour bus
evacuating nursing home patients from Hurricane Rita in Houston, blew
out one time on I-45. The driver didn't understand English, so he
continued on after the tire was changed. The brake heated up again
even in stop and go traffic. The wheel became red hot and caught the
rear of the bus on fire. The driver failed to notice until portable
oxygen tanks used by the patients began exploding. The bus turned into
a crematorium for 24 of those patients. I'll never forget watching the
bus burning up live on TV. Also, I left my magnetic retarder on by
mistake in Flagstaff and nearly caught my 84 Bird on fire. I burned
through the air line that operated the driver's seat slide. Imagine
smoke coming from under your coach and you're struggling to get to the
extinguisher with your seat next to the doghouse. Fire on a motorcoach
is almost as serious as fire on board an airplane. Brad Barton 00LXiDFW
> bbartonwx@...
>
> To: WanderlodgeForum@...: martingregg598@...: Tue, 26 Jun 2007
00:32:18 +0000Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Mountain Driving with
1995 42', 42,000 lb. Blue Bird
>
> Ron, if you have a Allison HT-755 five speed with a retarder, I
have know advice, if you have a 1995-42' you should have a Allison
HD-4060 and a DD series 60 with a 3 position Jacobs engine brake.
Jacobs's brakes close the valves and turn the cylinder into a
compressor creating braking horsepower, each position adds more
cylinders. I haven't driven a 95 in the mountains but I have driven
over a lot of the passes in the Cascades, Montana, Idaho and so on,
but I can't imagine that if your in the right gear at the right RPM
that the engine brake won't hold it back. For me with a less effective
Pac Brake, it is 4th gear at 50 mph at about 2400 rpm's on a 6% or so,
on a steeper grade it's 3 gear at 35-40 mph and I almost never have to
use my air brakes. If I am in 4th and it starts to run away, faster
that I like, I use the brakes to get the coach down to the speed that
I can select the next lower gear. If the Jacobs brake doesn't hold you
back, maybe there is something wrong
> with the Jacobs brake? As for the "Drum type" air brakes, if you
have been on the road for a time and the ambient temp. is hot, and If
you ride the brakes for a long period of time the drum can expand away
from the shoe and you lose your brakes. With some real bad luck you
could heat the wheel up so hot that it heats the tire up and
blowout.Marty95 BMC 37Kennewick Wa
>
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