Time for another update, I stopped by to look at the bus frame yesterday as I had heard the body had been removed. Unfortunately, when it went to salvage last month, the axles that had been pulled out for towing were laying in the floor of the body. Now's where you need a good backup plan. And he just so happened to pick up more parts from another wrecked bus. This one was a Freightliner, only a couple years old, and I think I'm making out much better with this deal. Air bags are good, brake shoes still look new....crisis averted. I was off from work today so I decided to pick up some parts. Here's today's load, the rear clip and some loaner wheels to roll it around the yard...






And as the parking brakes remain locked until air is applied, here is the temporary fix to get it moved off the trailer...





Tractor also came in handy flipping it over.....missed that picture though, I was rather busy...





Some nice yard art until we gat the tandems pulled....

 

Need to mount a cannon on that yard art, lol.

 

How's the width? It looks narrow, could just be because no DRW's at the moment.

It doesn't seem to take much to total-out those buses?! The first one hardly looked hurt.

 

The new frame is about 1/4" wider than the old. As far back on the frame as it will be sitting, that little bit of a spread should work just fine.

 

Scott, it's aimed at the neighbor's house, I'd be sure to attract attention that way!

Dragged my nephew Chris out early this morning and we got the front axle we'll be using. This is off the same bus I got the rear from, so a low mileage piece that we should be able to hook up and go (although it will need some sectioning). This had leaf springs in the front, so I'll get the air ride suspension off the older bus (the flat nosed one above) and adapt to this axle and the truck....





With modern air brakes front and back the old F7 should stop on a dime.....

 

Looks like an F1 axle on steroids. I bet it was very HEAVY!!!!

 

We tried to manually slide it while on the trailer, and it didn't budge. Had to use the tractor and bucket again to unload it.

One of the issues I'm facing, the front axle is too wide to fit, and will need to be sectioned 16" to match the original F7 axle's width. I plan to cut 16 out of the top center, and 8" from both ends at the bottom. Chamfer the cuts, slide together, and weld it up. Any thoughts?

 

My only thought is to know what type of steel it is. Be it forged steel, cast steel, or whatever; knowing what you have, and the techniques applied to each are pretty important. You don't want it to crack. Maybe TIG? pre heat, post heat, and cooling slowly.

 

+1... I would guess (and it's only that) that you'd want a TIG root pass on a preheated assembly, with stick welding passes on top of that. I thnk MIG would be too brittle, but the right wire might work. Slow cooldown, in a jig. It won't be easy!