41',43' LXi Gross Axle Weight Ratings

[davidbrady]

Hi Al,

It could be that BB retained the nominal 14600 lb axle but uprated it to 15500 by changing out the hubs and/or spindles and or tie rod ends.

A person in heavy vehicle manufacturing once told me that the final arbitor in axle ratings of its vehicles is the manufacturer which in this case is Blue Bird.

[davidbrady]

Here's my placard with axle weight ratings, (note the minimum requirement of 315/80R22.5 load range J tires; I'm currently running load range L):

[davidbrady]

And, here's the label on my steer axle. 161BN208-1 crosses to Dana I-160Wide-TR which is 16000 lbs:

[timetravelers]

I've tried to attached a photo several times, also reduced size to 640x320, but it only puts a square on the reply.

Anyhow, here is my label info:
DANA # 140BN1095
SER# 253-D
MODEL # I 1405
RATIO 98210 (must be date code)
BB 1961606

Looks like mine was never changed. So I better:
1. Clean out bays and storage of excess inventory and tools.
2. Get rid of extra bay mounted water tank?
3. Keep my fuel tank max at 1/2 full.
4. Any other tips, owners?

[al perna]

Morey . Like my LXI , your upgrades must be from other components on the front end . I am at Josam s and I plan to find out about this weight rating .
when Iam done I will post my findings .

[cmillsap]

(06-02-2013 20:02)timetravelers Wrote:  I've tried to attached a photo several times, also reduced size to 640x320, but it only puts a square on the reply.

Anyhow, here is my label info:
DANA # 140BN1095
SER# 253-D
MODEL # I 1405
RATIO 98210 (must be date code)
BB 1961606

Looks like mine was never changed. So I better:
1. Clean out bays and storage of excess inventory and tools.
2. Get rid of extra bay mounted water tank?
3. Keep my fuel tank max at 1/2 full.
4. Any other tips, owners?

Hey Morey,

Before you assume that your steer axle is limited to 14,600#s; look at the data placard above the windshield behind the rear view mirror. It may show that the front axle is rated at 15,500#s. BB may have upratded your front axle by replacing some of its components and changed the windshield placard but not the axle placard. I hope this is the case.

I hope Al's axle has been uprated by BB too as it may be expensive to replace the necessary components to get it uprated..

[al perna]

Chuck , I to hope my axle has been upgraded . I expect to know for sure when I leave Josam s .

[timetravelers]

Chuck, my data placard above the windshield also says 14,600, so I guess it was never upgraded. Time for a diet.

[encantotom]

i just weighed my 2002 newell so i thought i would share my data with you guys for fun.

tom

after we filled with fuel today we unhooked the car and weighed the coach.

we weighed with empty waste tank, full water tank and full fuel tank and darlene and i at our seats.

attached is the picture of the scale readout. it is a little confusing to me as it is lower than i expected.

my vin plate shows gross weight of 55,000 pounds with 12k at tag, 18k at steer and 25k at drive.

corresponding tire pressures on the vin plates for 215/88r22.5 lrl are

100psi at tag, 110psi at drive and 140 psi at steer

i have changed the steer to 365/70r22.5 lrl and have been running 115psi.

my scale readings were 9940lbs tag, 17500 steer and 23360 drive

for a total of 50,800

the michelin chart show that the tire pressures could be wayyy lower than what i am running. it was a cat certified scale.

tom

[davidbrady]

Impressive numbers Tom. Thanks for sharing. Where are the tanks located on your Newell (water and fuel), and how large are they? Whose IFS do you run? I'd be very tempted to reduce the tire pressure on those massive 365's!