Hi all,
thought it made sense to start a new thread for the project I've been rolling around in my head because I actually have a specific vehicle now.
I picked up a 2004 Eldorado Aerotech shuttle bus - this is based on the E450 superduty chassis. I think it has a lot of potential - it has a 6.0L diesel (while it is the powerstroke that many have had issues with, this bus was fleet maintained and the E series 6.0L was detuned compared to the F series and so lower boost, lower fuel cutoff, etc.
Eldorado also used a composite fiberglass shell for the entire bus section - it is 1 piece from the cab back - and it is a honeycomb construction - so light, tough and pretty good insulation.
Stock, it appears i have a 4.10 rear, and the "happy spot" for RPM/Fuel is ~1900 RPM which currently is ~58 mph. highway mileage is reported on fuelly as between 10 and 20 mpg, but, when i visited some of the various forums they tend to report around 12 city, and 16-18 highway as configured from factory.
it..
kinda looks like this transmission has 2 ranges for each gear? i'm not sure
my ratios are listed as follows:
Max Min
1st: 3.09, 2.71
2nd:2.20, 1.54
3rd: 1.54,1.00
4th: 1.00, 0.71
5th: 0.71, 0.71
i may be able to get different rear gears as low as potentially 3.08 (probably a bit to high for usability - but maybe not since i do not plan on any towing?)
i'm not sure if this is something that the controllers will decide on, or if there is a low/high range selection or if i'm just reading too much into this? - i haven't seen ratios listed like that before (but I've also not looked at vehicles of this size before)
Eldorado seems like they made some effort at aero, and, being a single piece composite monocoque shell it is significantly lighter than it's metal contemporaries (plus, subjectively, it looks better
) I'm thinking I've got some real opportunity to enhance the aerodynamics and mechanicals to be a relatively efficient package.
i'm planning on adding a boat tail with a platform bed in the rear, serves dual function of giving me a "master suite" and some presumably better aerodynamics - i'm alsp planning on stripping the big mirrors in favor of cameras with the mounts intact and mirrors stowed for emergencies - they attach with a couple of screws so i think i can have a block off plate using the same screws to quickly revert them if needed.
i suspect that the bulkhead where the destination sign would normally go might need to be trimmed/eliminated. I kinda already have skirting on the bottom sides, so i'm not sure in the front if i should look into an air dam or diffuser or maybe a pan on the bottom?
a pan would serve double duty to protect tanks and wiring, etc. that likely will be stored under the frame rails.
since the interior shell is already finished and a honeycomb composite - I'm not sure if i'll need to add any insulation before furring strips for framing, the thermal performance might already be pretty good - that'll save money and weight.
it has rear AC but the condenser is located under the bus instead of on the roof, so no custom blisters need to be added for me!