Those frame cracks tell me that bus took some wicked hits!! No surprise the shocks and airbags are hammered too. Old girl took a beating for the Lord!!!! She's in HEAVEN now!
In Ohio, any bus requires special inspection by the State Trooper DOT division. This includes all church and school vehicles. It’s yearly. You can’t renew tags until you have it inspected. They go over those things with fine tooth combs including the seats and all the exits.
No sort of hopes and prayers by the congregation that used this MCI could prevent the unholy levels of PURGATORY discovered by the BGM crew. Good work, boys. Keep it coming!
I like how your mechanics work (learn) under your Direct Supervision, Scott. Hopefully, each young mechanic senses the skills & knowledge they are gaining as well
I've seen a Scenicruiser for sale in Tulsa for $3k. It has all the glass but has been gutted. Part of me REALLY wants it - but the rest of me is scared it's a complete mess. Of course it "ran when parked."
Scott. How you have the patience to go through each and every wheel is beyond me. I guess that's why I don't work for myself. I'dve ripped everything out after seeing 1 bad one. Kudos to you for being so honest and only replacing what actually NEEDS to be.
Thank you Scott for continuing to provide a wealth of knowledge for all of us to with old Buses, dreams and ambitions to restore them to the best of conditions. Happy New Year! Gerald
The driver of the bus turns the radio up radio up the driver of the bus turns the radio up to block out all the noise. Next verse he installs more speakers
I may not be getting on another gambling bus to Reno, no matter how lucky I'm feeling, unless it's got a plastic Jesus, like this one had! No wonder I was so thirsty on those busses!
It always escapes me how people can/will buy a commercial grade/weight vehicle, be it bus/rv or what have you, and because it doesn’t necessarily fall under cdl guidelines, some will think that means it’s ok to ‘skate’ on safety issues. Thank God there are people who won’t just look the other way like they didn’t see anything.
That MCI bus/RV is a good looking unit. Needs some coin spent on fixing a bunch of stuff to bring it back up to snuff, but when finished, the new owner will have a nice platform to start off with for the conversion to the RV unit. Good move 1st bringing it to you and getting started off right.
Scott and team, another great video. It is great to see the methodical and attentive care that all buses that come into your workshop receive because it is that attention that reveals everything that needs to be fixed to keep everyone safe on the roads. No doubt for you it is the same old problems over & over again and I admire your determination and consistent application of sound engineering principles. Well done. Brian
In Michigan, any Vehicle over 15 Passenger owned by a Church or Non-profit are required inspection for Registration renewal and Operators must have a CDL, and if equipped with Air Brakes, an Air Brake Endorcement.
Scott, I love your videos and subscribe to your channel. Your comments at the end and during the video prompted the following comments. First off, I hold a Class A CDL with every endorsement except hazmat. Including both passenger buses and school buses. I've driven motor coaches for a charter company part-time and am currently in my fifth year driving part-time for a private church-affiliated school. My driving consists of school field trips and sports teams and a church group every now and then. Churches are exempt from DOT requirements. This usually leads to shoddy maintenance practices and dangerous buses. Particularly if they own a motorcoach. I've fought an uphill battle with surplus school buses until I refused to drive one unless it went to a bus repair facility to fix it. The result was a new used super well-maintained bus. I think a lot of churches operate motorcoaches and smaller buses on faith alone. That church did the right thing selling that bus. I'm glad the new owner sent it your way.
It seems like that stuff is big and intimidating, but once you start disassembly it looks pretty accessible and not bad to work on and re-assembly. I'm glad the owners can work on the rig with you in Tow Scott. I know I'd feel better under your watchful eye. great thing you do Scott. The wheel bearing set? How much? In the Hundreds? like $300?
Hey Scott, when we had that bus, I was just the driver, all the work we had done on it was at Choo Choo bus in Chattanooga. The church purchased it from a church in Trion Georgia. They said it was a Greyhound and when they got it, it only had about 50,000 miles or less on the engine. I drove it for about 4 years. If you look on the windshield center post, I wrote the date of the new batteries. The tires have been changed by someone else, we had good tires on it when we had it. I would not drive it with bad tires on it. Please feel free to contact me for further information about it.
I can guarantee you that most if not all of the issues we found were present a year and a half ago. It’s very doubtful this bus has more than 500 miles since it traded hands. One of the tires is 2001. I do believe it’s very likely someone took the tires as they have lots of value. Also the lug nuts are for aluminum rims. Perhaps you had aluminum rims and good tires. I will say that i suspect your maintenance shop was not doing a good job if this was last in service 1.5 yrs ago and sat for 1 year.
Did the state require a yearly inspection? Also was the inspection done at the same shop that maintained the bus or at a state location? I know in the state of Ohio it's yearly. I find the laws governing big RV's and buses converted to RV's lacking. But then again I find any business selling a bus or any vehicle without disclosing known problems a problem.
In my country (France) you can't sell any vehicle over 4 years old without a "clean" Technical Control (inspection) sticker issued more than 6 months before the sale. It has be displayed in the wind shield and you need another sticker on the title document too.
That rigs owner did good by going straight to you to go through it. I wish there was some sort of DOT regulation that said any vehicle over a certain weight has to get inspected annually. Is there a rig you guys have worked on this year that you would call the most improved? With as many videos and busses you lay your hands on I am guessing some stand out more then others. Either way it's been a busy year for you guys making all of them safe or safer on the road then when they first rolled in. The work besides the busses has been amazing too...looks fantastic top to bottom Scott! Happy Holidays to you and yours Scott :-)
I remember a friend showing me how to break a lug nut loose almost everytime. Most people assume putting the bar on the left and pushing down, or standing on the bar puts the most torque on the nut, but if you put the bar horizontal with the ground on the right, and lift up, it takes way less force (effort), or torque for some reason. Great knowledge to save your life on the side of the road somewhere changing a tire! I thought about that watching him try to break the axle nut loose.
I saw that too and began to think of body mechanics. When you pull up on the bar, there are opposing forces between your feet and upper body using your back and abs as the the link. When you push down on the left. No opposing forces as both upper body and feet are going in the same direction…down. Hence more torque to the right and less to the left. At least that’s how my mind sees it. I could be wrong…
I used to be an ops director over a bus fleet.. they used to require an annual inspection in Michigan....but last I knew it's been changed to every 2 years. A motor carrier officer that I had to work with for inspections in my region of Michigan became a friendly professional friend ....he always carried some type of instant camera (before electronic format pictures) and kept 3 photo albums of absolutely scary things he found on busses and things that shade tree mechanics had done.....Guess what...9 out of 10 of those busses were church or privately held. Not school or commercial/charter services. I once was getting some follow up inspections done at a weigh scales he was based at one day as he was pulling double duty... Had one church bus ahead of me. All of a sudden he freaked out and jumped off a bus screaming reaching for his sidearm.... He cuffed the guy and sat him on the pavement....The moron had an uncased compound bow with broad head arrows mounted on a quiver next to the driver's area.... Church had to find a new driver to bring home their bus that day
Most owner drivers are happy to drive a safe vehicle, with good steering, suspension, brakes and an engine & transmission that provides reliable power. After watching this channel for some time, it shows that some mechanics are not as good as they should be.
You can bet some owners skimp when they see the cost of maintenance too. That last bus was $25k+ to make it roadworthy. Not many have that kind of cash to fork over. It’s like buying a boat: easy part. Cost to own / maintain can be a killer.
Vermont is really lax with respect to motor vehicle titling and registration, at least in comparison with other states. “Uncle Tony” over on the Uncle Tony’s Garage RU-vid page ran a segment narrated by a guy who gave advice on getting a no title car titled in Vermont. It’s all above board, the only stipulation being that the car must be over 25 years old. You can do it by mail and you do not need to be a Vermont resident. I have to contrast this with Florida where my late uncle owned a body shop. A few years back he told me that Florida had closed the door on reconstructed salvage vehicles. If it’s been totaled, the salvage title is the last title that car will ever get.
All "non-profit" organizations including church buses are exempt from DOT regulations and believe it or not these "non profit" organizations can and do rent out their buses for charter work. I've been in the bus business since the late 90's and this practice is still going on today. The "non-profits" pay a much lower insurance rate then commercial operations and then undercut the commercial companies on charter price. On top of this local, state and federal governments will be more than willing to give contracts, grant money to "nonprofit" companies over for profit companies. These are completely illegal operations under DOT regulation but the loop hole is setting the company or church up as a "non-profit" and by doing so they do an end around state and federal DOT safety regulations.
A snide comment: If there is anything good about that tag tire it is that on that model of MCI, there is a suspension release valve in that rear compartment. So it technically doesn't have to carry its weight. :) Scary stuff!
Excuse my French~But JEEZ~That thing was "Riding on a Wing & A Prayer..."! There could've been so Much Loss of Life, just Getting it There! Thanx 4 The Share!
Thanks for another great vid Scott,, maybe the new owner just wanted it fixed right... seems to me the odds on that outcome from a used car yard was too great
A suggestion. I notice you appear to be using standard soap and water mix with a spray nozzle for detecting air leaks. One item that might be a bit more reliable in some circumstances is some refrigeration leak detection fluid like BigBlu from Refrigeration Technologies. It's basically fancy soap and water mix, but it is meant to be applied as a solid stream rather than a spray, which allows you to better pinpoint leaks, and helps prevent false bubbles like you dealt with briefly in this video.
Those Budd wheels, from a European perspective it does seem to be an overly complicated way to do a simple job with twice as many ways for problems to occur. You not only have the possibility of the outer nut coming loose but you can also have a situation where the outer wheels seem to be secure but the inner wheels are loose. You have in the past highlighted instances where the inner studs have been stripped allowing the outer nut/stud combo to be pulled of easily.
I saw a gizmo the other day in a video and it made me think of you guys...it's called Wheel Slogger. Looked kinda like the granddaddy of the torque multiplier I've seen you all use.
Yup, regardless of your knowledge(many get their knowledge from watching sketchy RU-vid vids) and what the seller says, always have an inspection before money changes hands. That is of course if you already know you're buying something you are going to put put a lot of time and money into it. This bus was most likely sold/traded because the owner knew of many of the issues and didn't want to put the money into it. It's a very good chance the dealer also knew, because they usually know what they are buying or taking in on trade, especially a large ticket item like this. Keep up the good work. Soon you'll need another shed and more workers to keep up with the business. Happy New Year
Personal opinion church vehicles as a whole are not maintained well. I especially notice dodge maxi vans and the ford equivalent extended pass vans on the side of the road with dropped or twisted off driveshafts. Plus more than a few NTSB reports involving church vehicles where they weren’t maintained correctly.
I can't believe the amount of vehicles you get in with spalled bearings, I have bearings in my fleet with over 2 million Km's and they are still going good.(repacked every 200k, and checked for adjustment every 30k.
@@BusGreaseMonkey Semi trucks, I cant imagine the Busses you work on are doing as many miles. Trailers are on Grease and they are repacked every 200,000 km and are not tarnished at all, usually the grease is starting to break down. Truck diffs with diff oil lubrication are checked at the same interval purely to replace the hub seals. Diff oils are changed every 100,000 km.
I learned long ago, don't buy any former church equipment, it's usually used until the value is lower than the cost of repairs and with minimal maintenance just to keep it going.
I'm here in the UK enjoying your videos as usual Scott - thank you. When I saw the bald tyre (@ 13:52) I expected to see many comments expressing surprise that the bus was still on the road! In the US is an annual vehicle safety test carried out for all vehicles over (say) 3 years old? Is the test standard - i.e. the same across the entire country, or does it vary between states? In the UK, if a police vehicle stop revealed a bald tyre, the vehicle would need to be taken off the road immediately. In addition, the vehicle's insurance cover would be invalidated.
Several years ago, Utah did away with annual safety inspections on private automobiles. I’m a big fan of less government intrusion in our lives, but this one was, I think, a big mistake. Drivers pay for it by increased insurance costs. Never mind the inherent safety issues of sharing the road with cars having bad tires, bade brakes, failed shocks, and struts. I believe commercial vehicle inspections still take place.
The purchase price is only part of the cost. I’d add $15 K to take care of “deferred maintenance “. Too many people see a 5 or 10 thousand asking price and think they are getting a deal.
Spend the extra $$ and make sale CONDITIONAL that Scott inspects it and comes back with a realistic purchase estimate. Were it me, that would absolutley positively be the only way I would ever ever touch a bus.
@@silasmarner7586 you’ll never get a seller to agree to that. Sellers aren’t concerned one bit about whether you buy it or not cause there’s plenty of buyers out there and if you put mandates on them like that then they will move to the next buyer whose willing to buy it with only seeing pictures online, and yes, that is happening. I just finished a 5 year search for a bus when I bought mine this past month. It had been inspected by a large RV/Truck shop and it’s scary the things I’m still finding. The engine has 10k on it and I think I’m gonna have to have Scott go back into it and find some issues. Mine was also a church bus and I got rooked by a church, lol. I missed out on 3 other buses because I was asking for inspections and sellers just went with the next buyer. Look at the Eagle bus Scott just finished a couple days before Christmas and how bad it was and it also had an inspection. Inspections, unless done by Scott, aren’t worth the paper their printed on nor the money wasted to get them done unless you have a really credible mechanic like Scott ping it and they are 4-6 months out on being able to do a good inspection. A good quality bus inspection can not be done in two hours like a car can and therefore can’t just stop by the shop on a whim for a bus inspection. At least these are my findings over the last five years. I ended up going with a nice looking church bus cause I felt I was getting the straight scoop but found out within 60 miles of a 500 mile trip home that churches lie like everyone else in order to sell a vehicle!
It seems like no one really does any maintenance on any bus that's sold. But they're hard to come by apparently so the buyers are gleeful to buy them without giving them a once over, because it appears that it's between buying a lack-of--maintenance horror story or NO bus at all.
Inner lug nuts being too long is a little awkward, but seems not so worrisome - or so common - as them being too short. At least these don't look to have been on the verge of falling off at 70mph. I chalk it up to "it could be worse."
Y’all get it sorted. 💪👌🏻👍🏻. Still loved my ex-girlfriend’s Pop’ Bluebird. I wanted it. Then he bought a new/used Wanderlodge. He got to keep his single digit Vintage plate...well because he wrote the rules. First met him in Albuquerque for balloon fiesta. He drove the new Lodge from Titusville to places a bus can go in Alaska and some he shouldn’t have. On return loop he stopped here in Colorado. He was parked at KOA. The only part he needed fo genie to run aux was here. We changed it at KOA. Took a shower and took the Caddie Escalade Esv towed vehicle out for steaks.
I'm a retired Motorcoach driver is a relatively new subscriber. Is that ex church bus you are inspecting a 96A3 or an MC9? from the rear it looks like a MC9 while the front looks like a 96 series. In the future could you please elaborate on the model number as well as the year and make? I enjoy watching your videos and I look forward to your next one.
Vermont allows any bus that isn't yellow to be converted to an RV by just sending paperwork in with a fee. No conversion or inspection required. And once they call it an RV any state will accept that.
My understanding is Vermont will allow about any vehicle to become a Rv. I live in Kentucky, in the past you could get rv title/tag on about any vehicle. I did a ambulance, and a m1078. They have recently changed the laws. You now have to be a manufacturer to do it. Lucky for Vermont to save everyone. Wonder if Vermont would do a firetruck to RV?
It strange to me why any heavy vehicle is allowed on the road without a DOT (certificate of roadworthiness) or something to validify its safety. I also do not understand why you don't need a bus license even if it is registered as a RV. The danger of allowing a driver with no idea of how to drive a heavy vehicle or who has never had any experience of driving a bus/truck behind the wheel. very weird.
$$$ politics and influence of lobbyists $$$ every loophole in our laws is there for one reason to protect special interests. You need a special license to drive a motorcycle but not a giant RV.
Problem with a dot sticker is it’s only as the guy that puts it on just like any other service work corners can and do get cut. It’s only when there’s an accident when the shady guys get caught
I highly doubt a dot would find all the things we find but several would have been detected like leaking wheel seals, and bald tire, airbag rot, bad shocks, maybe that giant broken weld.
The lord and his disciples on tour again..don't know for how long though. Good catch..how's your tumble dryer going in the background? In Straya church's are not for profit😉😉 so miss a lot of taxes etc.
My oh my oh my The Good Lord certainly had his hand on that Bus as it was going down the Highway, Was that tag axel tire a Bald Eagle Brand ? And to think it was possibly loaded up with good Christian people, they could have going through the pearly gates before their time , Stan Edinburgh Scotland .
The modern cars and pickups with hardly a grease fitting to be found have spoiled/ruined vehicle owners and mechanics as well. Years ago, it was called OIL CAN MAINTENANCE.... but that is a thing of the past, sadly!! Go Gettem, Guys!!
Looky looky inspections instead of takey aparty inspections barley uncover anything. Wheel bearing maintenance is so overlooked. Although leaking wheel seals is a sign of a problem. That broken weld is not new. But it’s in a place you probably don’t normally look.
Someone went aboard of me when I suggested that the Eagle that he posted for sale for $3K with no photos of the underside might be something to be very cautious about. Too many people seem to get into the bus thing without considering the adage that beauty is only skin deep! Caveat emptor friends.
I see you use a lot of battery tools like the impacts instead of air operated, is that providing more torque ? Just curious as to what the difference is pros and cons maybe. Have a Blessed Day and Prosperous New Year 🎉
@@BusGreaseMonkey. I wish they had that quality cordless 40 years ago when i did semi tires for a living. My 1” drive Chicago Pneumatic weighed a ton even as a young man.
I have always worked in shops with air or had a nitrogen bottle in my service truck and am a firm believer in air tools for one reason alone and that is the service life of the tool. All of my air tools with the exception of die grinders are over 30 years old. My 3/4 and 1 inch drive impacts I purchased used from a mechanic getting out of doing heavy work and are are 50 years old. I doubt I have spent 100 dollars total on keeping my two 1/4”, four 3/8”, four 1/2”, two 3/4” and one 1” impact guns running in tip top shape in the entire time that I have owned them. I keep air tools oiled greased and have always had a good air dryer on my air compressors. My air drills and air chisels have run without problems. The only air tools that I have replaced or had to put any amount of real money into are my air ratchets and die grinders. That said I have tried cordless/battery powered impact guns, and ratchets and found them to lacking in durability, and longevity, to be expensive to repair/maintain compared to my air powered tools. Yes it is nice not having to drag around an air hose but the air hose is a small inconvenience when compared to cost of batteries and having to keep several batteries charged as well as having to replace them periodically. Yes I have the additional expense of an air compressor(s) or refilling my nitrogen bottle. I purchased two 5 horsepower Champion V style air compressors 30 years ago used at an auction both compressors were less than 3 years old and since I have owned them I had to have the electric motors refurbished, and overall the air compressor motors in each compressor once and besides the monthly electric bill and initial purchase price have apx 1,500 dollars in repairs plus periodic oil changes and air filter changes. 4 things keep electric air compressors happy and living a long trouble free life. The first is good clean A/C power, the second is installing them where they have plenty of air flow around them (in other words don’t install them in a closet or small shed that has no way to exhaust the heat they generate and have air flow to cool them, third make sure you supply you compressor with sufficient cool clean air (I learned long ago to build an air box for air compressor intake that has air filters on it but also sufficient size and air flow to it so not to starve the air compressor motor. Lastly change the oil and filter if equipped periodically. My compressor motors have oil pumps (not splashed oiled) and I have installed auxiliary oil coolers on both them.
started out looking ok...was wondering how on earth you ended up with an easy one...no, wait, there are the problems. nice seats, might turn a tidy profit on them. scott, does lenny or your son's bus need some seats?
@@BusGreaseMonkey Yes of course, some regulation will come eventually when an RV takes out a car or worse a school bus, but I have to say even with the horrors you find they seem to be very robustly constructed due to the huge miles and loads they carry for so many years. in the UK a bus get a 6 week check as do trucks, and a yearly one on any vehicle once it's 3 years old.
6 weeks seems a bit overkill but it also shows that you put safety first or just maybe that the mechanics lobbyists paid more money to get them more work to keep busy. Everything happens for a reason and if you follow the money you can find the reason
@@BusGreaseMonkey Yes it does, but our roads are quite shite so suspension etc takes a hammering, even Taxis have the 6 week testing, I used to be a courier with a Sprinter van, I could do a couple of thousand miles per week easily and double that in a busy week, so a double manned truck would do even more so the checks are mandatory, and run by the government above 3.5t and even under 3.5t it's 12 monthly, it's all government checked or you lose your testing licence, very keen here
Ass backwards is buying a bus then spending years converting it to an rv and never even looking at the mechanical condition of the bus before hitting the road. That’s what happens 95% of the time. Owners build them out beautifully but never do any vehicle maintenance
The eagle purchase that was very expensive clearly a good inspection should have been done, but on a bus like this it’s purchased for near scrap price or parting out value only the inspection may cost more than the purchase price.
@@BusGreaseMonkey Buying a vehicle at scrap or parting out price and then trying to bring it back to roadworthy seems like a poor investment. Keep up the good work.
How often do you have these coaches brought to you that aren't worth the cost of repair? Or is it always cost-effective vs. buying a newer/healthier bus?
They are all worth it to me to repair ;) Jk but this one is far far far from that threshold it’s going to be a great safe bus platform for the rv conversion.
