LXI vs. WB's

[David Brady]

Bruce,



I'm with Brad - the S60 is a remarkable engine with a long

successful history in the trucking industry. My axles, like

the rest of the bus, are overbuilt too. GAWR: steer: 16K,

drive: 23K, tag: 13K. My actual axle weights are steer: 14.5K,

drive: 21K, tag: 11.5K for a vehicle weight 47K and a CCC of

5K lbs. I know that the steer axle on early LXi's had a GAWR of

14K lb, but I think they were all recalled and swapped with 16K lb

units. (Definitely something to check). Some of the early units had

steerable tags, a very cool option, but known to present it's own set

of problems. A non-steer tag is probably preferable. My LXi has

been great - reliable and spacious. The only issue I've had is ride
quality.

When I bought my coach it rode rough primarily at the steer axle. I

found that the ride height was almost an inch low at all axles. Setting
it

up with the proper ride height, Koni FSDs, CrossFires, and Centramatics

improved the ride significantly. Recently though, I discovered that

BlueBird put an excessively stiff front anti-sway bar on the steer axle.

I removed the steer axle anti-sway bar and now the ride is as close

to a Prevost (and I've driven a few) as your likely to find. A lighter

weight Roadmaster anti-sway bar is in the works.The non-slide LXi

does use a lighter anti-sway bar (1.75" diameter versus my 2.125" bar),


but I still think 1.75" is too stiff. I'll be going to a 1.5" bar. The
great thing

about BB's (as I'm sure you know) are the capacities, and the LXi

follows in that BB tradition including a 40 gallon LPG tank and a dual

fuel refrigerator. The non-slide LXi has the typical

triangulated basement bays; the slide equipped LXi adds to this by

incorporating longitudinal frame rails running the length of the
basement.

These rails are under the basement and are also triangulated (take a

peek under any LXi and you'll see what I'm talking about). These were

added to compensated for the slide opening. In addition, the inside of
the

bus has a layer of sheet metal riveted to the inner frame members
spanning

the length of the bus and spanning the distance from the floors to the

bottoms of the windows. This is used to compensate for the rivet-less

exterior look; i.e, hide the rivets on the inside. The slide equipped
bus

also has a set of triangulated frame members stretching from the top of

the steer axle to the bottom of the basement longitudinal rails, which I

discussed earlier. As Bruce Morris put it, your not losing any strength

by going from a non-slide bus to a slide equipped LXi (lots of
compensating

strength was built in.



David Brady

'02 LXi, NC





brad barton wrote:

Bruce,

David Brady has been working with the front end of his LXi. Mine is
not overloaded, but overbuilt. I don't think there is a better engine
than the Series 60, but I like any Detroit. Mine has a standard
non-slide bedroom without a rear closet, but the bed's a lot eaiser to
get around. We have a full length closet on the front wall of the
bedroom and 3 hall closets. Plenty of storage on board.



Brad Barton 00LXiDFW

bbartonwx@hotmail.com

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To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com

From: birdshill123@yahoo.com

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:21:33 +0000

Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] LXI vs. WB's

We are still looking at larger BB's. I have
seen a few LXI's of the 98

vintage 41,s and 43,s for sale as well as a few 90 to 96 WB's. I

understand some of the differences such as the Detroit 60 and the

dropped engine for the rear closet. But I am interested in knowing some


of the possible problems with a 98. Is the 60 DD a good engine? Are

he 98's overloaded on the FA? I remeber reading something about some

BB's having this problem. Any other things I should be aware of? Would

really appreciate some assistance.



Bruce

1988 FC35

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