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View Full Version : What's drivin the bus?!?



GSwaim
07-16-2010, 02:10 PM
:o The other day on a fairgrounds in the midwest I got the bus a little stuck. I say a little because it was on a 2 degree incline in a grassy yard with littel to no sinking. I had been setting for a week with rain almost everyday but it didn't look as if the bus was settling into the sod so I wasn't worried. . Needless to say the ground was soaked when I needed to leave so I gently eased the throttle to depart the site and the bus wasn't moving. taking a closer look I found I had spun the driver's side dual slightly. I decided to try backing up a bit since is was down hill that way and the bus moved back a foot but a post prevented me from going further. I tried going forward again ever so slightly and again it wanted to spin the driver's dual. I decided I would let it spin a couple times since it wasn't digging in to awful bad in hopes that the differential would shift the engine power to the passenger side dual where maybe more traction was available. No luck, I guess my suspicion of a limited slip differential in a Prevost bus was too much to ask for. So is there any limited slip bus diferentials out there? Better yet do they make a locker for these type of occasisions?

rahangman
07-16-2010, 02:27 PM
Having gotten stuck shortly after buying our coach (this is a learning exprerience for me) I am cautious when parked on grass or any dirt combo when it rains. Enough so, that I carry 4 2x10's strategically cut in length to fit inside one of my smaller bays but doubled up crossways to my drive tires to prevent sinking in or to induce enough traction to get er goin...So far, only used them one time but got me out.

jack14r
07-16-2010, 04:04 PM
You can also lift the tag and that will apply more weight to the drive tires,this might not work in soft stuff.

Jon Wehrenberg
07-16-2010, 04:06 PM
I believe Newell offers a locking differential. As to parking I will not park off pavement unless whoever wants me to park off the road can prove what happened to you will not happen to me. I was parked at OSH one year and in the wee hours of the morning I heard the sky open up and just dump on the area. As soon as I could get my pants on I was driving out before the grass and soon to be mud created a problem.

But having said that there are some things you can do. First, to improve traction lift your tag. That should not be done if the surface is soft, but since you said you didn't sink that might be all it took. Second, if you can use your toad to help. Sometimes the difference between being stuck and being able to move is just a slight push. Third, avoid any spot that eliminates one direction of travel. That post screwed up your chance to back onto a spot that might have allowed you to develop some forward motion. Driving one of these buses is all about thinking ahead. Sometimes as you realize, days ahead.

jelmore
07-17-2010, 02:15 PM
I still keep up with what you guys are up to. Had to mention that someone, at Prevost maybe, told me that gently applying the service brakes will lock in both sides of the drive axle.