Just like "old times" back when I discovered your channel and you were on the road living in Lenny going around the country. You've certainly come a long way and attained some amazing goals, Scott! Well done!
i still find it amazing that anyone can buy and just take off in an old bus and drive it with out an idea of how it works or that you don't need annual inspections
Scott, the recreational bus community is extremely fortunate to have your skillset and honesty to rely on! When safety issues arise on these very heavy vehicles you step in to save the day! Mega kudos! PS Lenny is one very sweet running bus! He is your magnum opus!
You save lives for real. Please keep doing this because from my experience you are one of the few who are doing the work properly, in this day and age it is becoming quite rare. I wonder if Jonathan realizes the enviable position he is in being able to learn from a professional such as yourself. Be blessed Scott and say hi to your family for me and maybe let your son know I would love to see another video from him again.
Isn't it so much fun working on busses? Everything is so cramped and difficult to get to. That and nothing ever comes apart easily. I very much enjoy your channel.
Great footage of the drive. Lenny does sound like a beast. How fortunate for the timing of the breakdown. Glad it was not a horror story in the Rockies. Whew.
When I bought our eagle it came with a bucket of spare parts. One of which was an air governor. I had no idea that it was an air governor until I watched this video 😆 Thank you
Lenny sure is a sweet ride. I love the sound of the ole 2 cycle engines, hearing that turbo whine is music to the ears. I remember riding on a bus like Lenny in the 60's when I was in elementary school and we went on a field trip with the class. When the buses are made into mobile living spaces you think that someone might think about the access panels inside for ease of maintenance or repair.
Yes most definitely. Never block access points for maintenance! Will save you the owner of the bus major headaches and expense. Service facilities charge by tge hour on labor so will be additional costs if the crew has to disassemble additional parts to successfully fix the actual problem 🙄 😊
Scott, i wish there was a way we could clone you and have you at every weigh station, and truck stop in america, because you would save so many lives per year! just think about how many you have already saved, and dont even know it, because you found the problems and fixed them before they became a wreck. god bless you for what you do!
Nice video from Lenny's new camera on the road. Lots of gunk and crud on the air dryer. Had the pleasure, if you want to call it that, of manually purging a wet air system. Nasty smelling stuff.
I'll never forget one time when I was driving commercial (we had over 100 coaches in Ohio). We were on a multi-coach move and one bus had a part of the air dryer system (somewhere under the front axle on an MCI 102 60 series 45 (I forget the designation) that would blow off every 30 seconds in the freezing cold Ohio winter. My boss, who was a certified mechanic on MCI (and some aircraft!) came out, crawled under the bus, got the stuck valve unfrozen and got us on the road. I don't know what happened to him, but I will never forget him.
When I was first driving back in the 70's, the 6/71 was very common in tractor trailers. I never was much of a fan because they just didn't do much with an 80,000 lb vehicle--they'd smell a hill a mile away. But, watching these videos has renewed my respect for the 6/71. Powering a bus is a much more reasonable request for it rather than a tractor trailer. Doesn't hurt that it sounds great, too.
Lenny and his people to the rescue - one thing is apparent watching Jonathan work, he has a lot of hand strength. Some repairs are a matter of life and death. Very interesting episode.
Another good save Scott! You guys are diligent in tracking down issues and don’t just throw new components at everything. Always a pleasure to watch you solve issues. Keep up the great work.
LENNY, I never expected such complexity in the air system. But that bus was built for safety and few breakdowns. Also it sure is nice to be able to order a rebuild kit for a component and not have to guess and worry about parts individually purchased. Very enjoyable video keep them coming. And also noted "That engine sounds great". Sam
I drove MC-7's and MC 9's in one of my jobs..I loved them. I almost bought one years ago but a 30' Gas Winnie ended up in our household. After viewing all your Bus Adventures I'm sure glad I didn't buy one to travel in our retirement. When I had an issue with our rigs, just off to the shop wrench dudes. No way could I afford what needs to be done to be safe and have fun on the road for retired David. Thanks for sharing what you do. 2 strokes ROCK!
Oil and contaminants in the system...when I worked on big trucks back in the day I found that the head gasket on the compressor went bad on a Western Star I was working on. Changed the gasket, purge valve and governor , air dryer cartridge, drained the tanks cleaned it right up
Amazing the issues that you come across in almost every episode.. that air fitting nearly worn through etc.. Bus conversions are great… working on them and around the issues the conversions themselves bring up not so…Love these videos and kudos for getting stuck in there and getting your hand dirty!
Maybe I missed it but that wire goes to a heating element in the bottom of that dryer. When I did maintenance on them units, I also use an ohmmeter to check the heating element.
What an incredibly challenging repair with such limited access to these components; especially that rear floor access hatch that was carelessly covered up during the RV conversion. Too bad some folks don't take repair access issues into consideration before doing their RV conversion builds.
Friends that have run trucks from 20 to just under 40 years, get a rebuilt air dryer every fall. They used to be, just over $100 more than the filter and rebuild kit. Cheap insurance. All the rest of the problems do add to the grief. Best wishes all.
You guys are on the right track. Dirty air going into the compressor gunked everything up, and now very likely the compressor rings are shot. Best to replace the compressor. You problem with the air dryer not purging could also be a restriction on the line from the governor to the dryer, line could be kinked or again plugged with gunk. Can't believe they built right over the access panel for the compressor. No wait, I can believe it. You guys do very nice work, your customers are fortunate.
Think about all the people that lost their lives due to corrupt shop owners. I wonder how guys like that sleep at night. Every one of them should be exposed. It takes a certain amount of dedication to do this work properly. It's tough work. I am hooked on your channel and I'm a retired Carpenter. A big "thank you" to you and your crew.
What scares me is that the owners of these buses often dont realize that at the age and mileage they are at now essentially everything! needs at least a thorough inspection or rebuild.
great content...love watching the BGM channel on a saturday morning. I've posted before that its very very cool to have a classic bus conversion, but you should be very mechanically inclined and enjoy the process, as well as a tolerance for breakdowns, ...or, have buckets of disposable cash and a good network of mechanics and backup vehicles, to run one of these OTR. Having a boy who doesn't mind getting greasy to skinny up around transmissions is a benefit too. And I would not have my business dependent on it being 100 percent operational...should be just for fun with the knowledge you got one running and can safely be on the road. I own several classic vehicles, no busses!, and that's where the satisfaction comes from
Scott don’t that air dryer have a big filter on top of it? Mine has a huge filter and a desiccant. It had never been changed in twenty years, I had to pull the whole unit off and it was above the rear end. That wasn’t to bad but getting the filter off was a mother. Well keep up the great vids. Oops at the last minute I saw the filter, I guess the detroits have a filter encased in a sleeve, mine was a great big screw on filter.
I was losing air pressure due to a faulty governor as I entered New Mexico on I-40. The entry port had a booth for officers to examine the documents of trucks. The LOW AIR alarm sounded as I approached the booth. I knew I would be put out of service if the officer heard the alarm so I turn up the radIo VERY LOUD and covered its noise. I then proceeded less than a mile to a truck stop to have it repaired.
WOW! I've seen some neglect on RV's before but that air dryer took the cake. It's hard to see but it also looks like some severe weather checking/cracking on the instead of the tires as well.
Ugh. The whole build out of that bus is ill-planned, ill-executed, ill-advised, etc. What a mess. and that semicircular erosion on the rt. angle fitting? What the hey???? But good work from you guys!!!
While the compressor is out consider making the governor remote and easily accessible and clear the purge line from the governor to the dryer with brakeclean and high pressure (140psi) air
Scott, after you’ve replaced the unloader valve and compressor you will need to get the vehicle onto a roller brake tester to do a comprehensive brake test. Given the horrors that you have already discovered you can be pretty sure that there are further serious problems in the air system with the amount of crap that came out when you were draining the air down.
NOW AT 80 yrs old and a lifetime on all things mechanical i am AMAZED at the ZERO level of preventative maintenance and the amount of CRAP /DIRT on these motors. Doesn't any of the owners ever clean and check the underside of their motors OBIUSLY NOT
A great video. Interesting to see how heavy busses work. The inspection pit seems to be working good. You should have cast in stops when you poured the concrete. Any reason the walkway slopes?
My compressor relief valve on my compressor is 250 psi on my Prevost. I was surprised it was quite that high as my normal running pressure is around 130 psi. I am not sure if the air dryer releases based just on pressure or if there are other factors involved. Interesting video.
It’s an insta 360 camera and an invisible selfie stick bungee corded to the bumper. Very close to the tail pipe and captures the sound of the engine great!
Did you check the power supply to the purge valve heater? I also noticed the heater ground wire dangling. Need to pull one of the 4 heater mounting screws out to put that ground wire on. Good luck.
People need to have a better understanding of how the basic systems work of the vehicle they drive whether it’s a car or a large vehicle. There are many “professional “ truck drivers that don’t know how air brake systems are supposed to work. Once you know the basics then you start to realize when something isn’t working as it should
Do you guys not order brake cleaner by the drum and just put into refillable pressure containers, seems that would be cheaper than buying cases of cans?
Where has Tyler been? What happened to Lance's business? It went from growing like crazy and doing all sorts of renovations and upgrades to liquidating?
Incredible how much work you had to do to get that system to the point you did. Now it's on to more fun getting at that compressor. It's kinda ridiculous the builders didn't install an access plate.
The rod in the canister removed da me of my oil filter on my 58 Massey Ferguson tractor. It is so long going down the filter into the block it takes forever to remove and screw back in. I always thought there must be easier way. Now I know there is not.
