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krista
New Member
Canada
1 Posts |
 Posted - 04/16/2003 : 8:07:15 PM
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IS IT TRUE THAT 72 PASSENGER SCHOOL BUSES WITH AIR BRAKES & AIR RIDE COST LESS TO MAINTAIN THAN THOSE BUSES WITH REGULAR HYDRAULIC BRAKES AND SPRING SUSPENSION?
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Brad Barker
Administrator
USA
874 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2003 : 9:16:52 PM
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That is debatable. Air brakes vs. Hydraulic brakes has been a topic in the past. There are those mechanics that feel that hydraulic brakes are cheaper to maintain. Air brakes are the standard for Heavy Duty use. A 72 passenger bus could work very well with hydraulic brakes if it runs mostly on flat land, non-mountainous terrain. If you run in mountainous terrain I would recommend air brakes. My personal preference is air brakes for any class C or D bus.
Suspensions, Spring vs. Air is debatable too. Both have wear points. I have just recently purchased the latest version of Hendrickson Air Suspension. We have been doing so for the past two years and have more buses ordered for next school year with the same. I have not seen any mentionable wear in these buses as of yet. Time will tell. I started purchasing air ride to reduce spring suspension maintenance costs which were quite high for my district due to local road conditions. I suspect that the improved smooth ride obtained with the air ride will provide other reduced maintenance costs in the long run that might have been caused by the stiffness of the spring suspension in previous years. Maintenance items that would have been caused by vibrations and jolting of the stiffer spring suspension, I believe, will be deminished.
Both air brakes and air ride suspension are much more expensive in the initial purchase. That is why, in my opinion, you see so many hydraulic braked buses and spring suspensioned buses. Initial purchase price is very important to many districts. I have been forturate enough to persuade my district that a little more money spent up front saves money down the road. We also get a higher resale value on our buses.
BRAD
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2003 : 08:58:19 AM
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We've been purchasing air ride for wheelchair equipped buses for about 10 years with no trouble. We use International, Bluebird and Freightliner systems, and all seem to perform well with very little maintenance or repairs needed. We have gone to air ride as standard equipment all around for a lot of reasons. Chassis components seem to last longer with air ride in addition to the obvious ride quality improvement. On the brake issue, I feel it's a price deal. Hydraulic brakes cost less for the initial purchase, period. An air brake fleet will be at least as inexpensive to operate as hydraulic, and the parts are more readily interchangable. This certainly makes them (air) less expensive to maintain, in my opinion.
I've taken a very long time to say that I believe the answer to your question is YES. Like Brad says, it's debatable. However, I have run both and, given a choice, I'll never run hydraulic brakes or conventional suspension again.
Joe
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jimbo20
Senior Member
USA
159 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 10:52:29 AM
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When it's time to change a rear spring on a bus it is substantially lower in cost, parts and labor, to do this with air bags. Same with brakes.
jimbo
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Topic |
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AIR BRAKES/AIR RIDE VS. HYDRAULIC BRAKE/SPRINGS
