THE BLUE BIRD BOUNCE

[davidbrady]

True, BB had so many axle Field Service Campaigns on the LXi lineup that they put the later buses on a diet. The earlier LXi's have a water tank in the pass thru bay, mine doesn't. Also, mine has a 260 gallon fuel tank as compared to the 300 gallon tank on the earlier ones. BB started with 14600# steer axles then 15500#, and finally 16000#. It would be worthwhile for Al to check the tag on his steer axle to make sure he's got an I160 for 16000#. But exceptions abound, Rob Robinson's '99 weighs in at 46750#. Mine's an 2002 and it weighs in at 47500, so it's heavier than Rob's. I have maple cabinetry as compared to laminate, also I now have hardwood floors but it originally came with a laminate resilient tile as compared to ceramic tile in some of the early ones. Some early LXi's had wood flooring which kept the weight down. Interior appointments factor into this too. Weights varied quite a bit from bird to bird throughout the LXi production run. But, clearly your correct Jennifer, at some point BB said, "let's see what we can do to reduce the weight". BTW, everything we're discussing here is for the 41' and 43'LXi built from 1998 thru 2003.