Air Ride on a Bus

[davido]

I recently purchased a 1958 Chevy bus that I' m setting up for tailgating. I saw the UPS truck on the site. That' s a larger vehicle, but not quite a bus. Has anyone done a large bus (30 ft. long = heavy)? I missed the sales/tech line today (I guess they close out 10 mins early :)) so I thought I would post up here first. Thanks.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Just yesterday...we had a Street Rod Tour stop by on their way to Louisville.
What kind of weight are we talking about? What type of suspension?

[davido]

Both great questions Darren. The answer is I don' t know.

I' m not sure yet how much it weighs. Probably upwards of 10k. I should be able to find out more as we dig into the body. It' s really a mess right now. Planning on cleaning it up next weekend. But that' s probably a good ballpark to start the discussion.

It is currently leaf sprung, front and rear. I-beam front axle. Giant 2spd dual rear axle. I' m looking for ruggedness and simplicity. I' ve customized the suspension on my Land Cruiser before, so I' m not affraid of the torch and spark. From brief discussions, I could stick with the leafs, just remove most or all but one. I could also go to a 3 or 4 link. I' m flexible with those ideas. My main concern is getting it up and down. That' s the part I know nothing about at this point.

Thanks again.

[darren@ridetech.com]

The 4 link would definitely be the best suspesion option. We can work with either suspension design, but the largest air spring that I carry have a max load capacity of about 3500lbs each. So you won' t be able to have much more that 7000lbs per end fully loaded. Might want to contact Firestone Industrial for some larger bags, possible off a big truck.

[davido]

Thanks Darren. In the case of Firestone air bags, what components would I need to power/control them? I can handle the custom fab suspension/mount issues with no problems.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Any of our 4 way compressor systems would work. Depending on which air springs you are using you might need larger or multiple air tanks.