My 4x4 Bluebird - [UNNAMED]

[RepairmanSki]

That bed is probably a roll-your-own affair.

I've been to the skoolie site, but not registered. Your assessment is spot on. There are some great things there, but more of the hillbilly "I've got $3 and a 2x4" projects than I care for. They also seem far less welcoming than the community here.

 

[RepairmanSki]

Fixing the cabin heat

One the issues I had on my return trip was a profound lack of cabin heat. Sleeping at a rest area on Siskiyou Pass when it was 20degrees F. outside was not terribly pleasant. Actually my down comforter kept me toasty, it was the waking up at 3am to hit the road again that sucked.

In addition to the cabin heat not working, there was also a leak in/around the bulkhead that needed repair.

Here's a view to the left of the driver's foot well.



The steering wheel is in the upper left foreground and I had to remove the seat to squeeze my fat head in there. The heater core is lower left and the plumbing and shutoff valve is lower right. The black line running vertically in front of the heater core is the air line for the air-ride seat. I'm not totally stoked with the location and will be putting in a bulkhead fitting shortly.

The leak should be both easy and hard to fix. Easy because it is just a stretched out section of heater hose where the pipe makes a tight 90; difficult because of limited work space and needing to drain the coolant etc.

After much head scratching I found the cause of of my heatlessness. The valve in the photo acts as a system cutoff, there is also a valve on the top side of the water pump. Turns out that there is also a third valve (the sneaky bastard!) at the radiator that was partially obscured (visually) by other engine bits. Flipped it open and glorious heat poured forth.

I'm not entirely sure why there would be three valves on what is effectively a loop. I can only presume it is for service so that the entire system doesn't require draining and refilling. If anyone else can shed some light on the reasons for such construction I'd love to know.

Tomorrow I will head out the the parts store for some repair hose +extra for the road. I also found that the mechanical actuators controlling defrost dampers etc. need a spot of adjustment and in one case to be connected entirely. I was hoping to eventually be able to extend the lines rearward for an additional heat point but I'm not sure there is enough room to plumb anything without heading back outside and under the chassis with it. There is a smallish (5x5) blower port in the aft end of the unit, I may attempt to duct it rearward, not quite sure about that yet.

 

[RepairmanSki]

Rear end and Engine considerations

It's a bit out of the ordinary, or so I understand, for this to be a gas engine bus. The other bit of wild info was that it has a 7.17:1 final drive.

One of the very first things I began to do once taking ownership was to (attempt!) to catalog all of the various bits and bobs on this monster so that I would know what the hell I was talking about or looking for once it came time to repair or replace parts.

I was seriously stumped when it came to the front axle. I had all of the data plates and was getting nowhere on the almighty GOOG, Dana's website, heavy truck part supply companies... One moment of sunshine came after a call to a parts place indicated that a casting number on the gear carrier had hit paydirt. I'm so glad I wasn't planning to buy on the spot, because they were totally wrong.

After some calls to Dana corporate and getting bounced around hither and yon, I wound up speaking with a nice fella at Dana's Off-Highway division. He totally figured the whole mess out. For the curious, it's a Dana Model 097BA126-10 front axle with a #584219C91 carrier. (in case some other poor soul stumbles on this from a search result)

The other available ratios for this front end are:

7.17 Part# 584219C91
6.67 Part# 584218C91
6.17 Part# 584217C91
5.38 Part# 584216C91
4.78 Part# R30CA123-1X

That's great news, parts are available. Let's see where that crosses up with the rear axle, Eaton 19060-S:

7.17
6.50
6.17
5.57
5.29
4.88
4.63
4.33
4.11
3.90
3.70
3.36
3.08

Oh awesome, I can drop from 7.17 to 6.17... that'll help.

A Diesel conversion is in the potential future, so I'll need something much, much smaller. Since y travels will likely be entirely off-road or entirely freeway, a wild thought appears. What about ghetto-drive, where I switch carriers based on need. Sure, it's a pain in the ***, but the swap shouldn't be more than a 2 hour affair. Certainly not the best outcome, but doable.

Putting a 4.88 rear end in looks to be just about ideal. With the Allison 545 tranny I'll get 65mph @ ~2450 RPM and by swapping in a Cummins 6BT with a 47RE I'll get 65mph @ 1680RPM. I can't really ask for better swapover conditions. If finances permit I'll look into having new front gears custom cut, or just wait til the savings account says I can.

Because it is running a divorced transfer case, I have tons of options, this appears to be my best ones. The other reason I like it is that it allows me to step through the upgrades as time and money permit. Any thoughts?

 

[shortbus4x4]

My bus axle ratio is either 6.17 or 7.17, very very slow. I am planning on swapping in a Cummins with 5 speed OD manual. I am also planning on going up a couple of tire sizes, poor mans overdrive, doesn't look like you have room to fit any bigger tires. My t-case is divorced too and I got a three speed gear splitter to go between it and my transmission. It has OD, DD, and UD. You see them come up on craigslist every so often, I think mine is a spicer unit. They came in different sizes, some are even small enough for a fullsize pickup. You could run one with an auto, it just wouldn't be quite as easy to shift while cruising down the highway. I thought about running an Allison 643 auto but it was non lock up and I am trying to get the best mileage I can.

Once you know where all the coolant valves are its kind of nice having them. You can isolate different parts of the cooling system when it comes time for repairs. Its amazing how much coolant is just in your heater core and hoses to it.

 

[shortbus4x4]

I think changing the carriers out every time for different cruising speed would be a pain, they are big, heavy, and full of lots of oil. The front one would be really fun with having to pull the front axles. Not something you would want to do in the field. Its not like you can lift that carrier in by hand, there would be equipment involved. I would really really try to get your rig geared so you don't have to even think about this option.

My bus has the dayton style rims and an old obsolete front axle. I have a new front axle with around 4.xx/5.xx ratio from a 90's International 4x4 that I am going to swap in. I just need to find a rear axle next. Then I can run 10 hole bud style rims.

 

[RepairmanSki]

It's certainly not the greatest plan ever, I'll freely admit that. I've done a full axle swap on my '80 P30 so I'm confident about just the carrier.

I'm going to call around tomorrow about getting custom gears cut for the front end. I may just have to roll a properly geared rear and go 2wd until I can have them made.

 

[UHAULER]

You might be able to use the 4.78 and 4.88. Its only about 2% difference. If you need to put it in 4wd you are more than likely going to be spinning the tires a little.

 

[ben2go]

You might be able to use the 4.78 and 4.88. Its only about 2% difference. If you need to put it in 4wd you are more than likely going to be spinning the tires a little.

If you go this route,make sure you are on loose terrain.Hard pack or road surface may cause the drive line to bind and break something.

 

[RepairmanSki]

If you go this route...may cause the drive line to bind and break something.

No doubt, it's custom cut (matching) or nothing.

 

[RepairmanSki]

Nice Rig Man!

Pardon me for not responding earlier, but I've been adventuring in my truck down in baja.

Thanks, I've followed your thread also. I hope you're having fun down there, we're looking to go in November, all things permitting.

Whenever your are off a paved road, make sure you're hubs are locked and your are in 4x4! I know this sounds extreme but the biggest mistake that newbies make with medium heavy-duty 4x4's is overloading the drive line! balancing the load between all wheels is cheap insurance, especially when you "find" a soft spot. Big trucks don't just shift into 4x4, sometimes you need to back up the un-load the drive-line... virtually impossable when you are stuck! ABSOLUTLEY make sure you're hubs click into lock! I'm telling you these things because of the thousands of dollars of damage I've done to Casa's drive-line over the last 17 years i've owned her! Not fun & not cheap.

This is great information. I'm more than happy to learn from someone else's experiences, most especially when they come with the sorts of price you quoted =)

 

[RepairmanSki]

As far as where things are now, I posted this in a thread I have over on 4btswaps.com:

I talked to a guy at EmWest Powertrain, the closest place to me that supports Dana's off-highway products. He indicated that the front diff I have has been obsoleted but he would be willing to attempt to assemble a 4.78 carrier from parts.

That took me to looking at any heavy truck rear axles I could find in 4.78. Not surprisingly, I suppose, I found a suitable match and it's also a Dana/Spicer product.

So the next order of business is to get in touch with him again and see how to get started. I may send him my front diff carrier and just keep the 7.17 ring and pinion after the swap. All of that hinges on the dreaded price quote though. We shall see.

I hope to have some more work progress and photos soon, thanks all for keeping the motivation flowing.

 

[IdaSHO]

Another option you might consider is a front axle specific tire. Different size tire on the front to adjust for the gearing problem.

You would have to carry two spares at all times though.

 

[RepairmanSki]

Another option you might consider is a front axle specific tire. Different size tire on the front to adjust for the gearing problem.

You would have to carry two spares at all times though.

If I'm reading that right, you're saying after a rear end carrier swap to 4.88 I could go to a taller tire in the front to compensate? If that's what you meant, I'd need a ~65" tall tire to achieve the same effect.

 

[arlon]

If I'm reading that right, you're saying after a rear end carrier swap to 4.88 I could go to a taller tire in the front to compensate? If that's what you meant, I'd need a ~65" tall tire to achieve the same effect.

I think he was talking about the difference between 4:78/4:88, not 4:78/7:17... (-:} 2% taller shouldn't be a 65" tire unless you are already running 63" tires..

 

[RepairmanSki]

I think he was talking about the difference between 4:78/4:88, not 4:78/7:17... (-:} 2% taller shouldn't be a 65" tire unless you are already running 63" tires..

HA! That makes much more sense. Teach me to check replies before I've even had breakfast!