Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd

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Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd

Home > Discussion Forum > Bus Conversions - School

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All Messages in Thread	Author	Date
Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	Jack Edwards	4-19-02
Have a chance at one of these in nice condition. Will they cruise at 55 and at what MPG. Is it a good combination and if not what is available and better. Regards, Jack
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	Mark O.	4-20-02
The Cat 3208 in a Gillig will cruise all day at 60 MPH without any problems. You will get a little better fuel mileage with the Allison. I doubt you will notice much difference in hill climbing between an automatic and a stick unless you have a Road Ranger with lots of gears. If the price is right, like under $3K, it should be a pretty good bus for you. Good luck and happy trails. Mark O.
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	BreakerBreaker	4-22-02
Dont buy a gillig! They have a terrible problem with rusting all the way through at the roof rain drip rails. They rust all the way through. (not just surface rust ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!) The bus you may buy is probabaly 90% rusted from the inside that you cannot see. In a few years time it will start to show up by little bubbles in the paint. THe point is that once you see the bubbles its gone. ANd there is no way to fix the bus. Its not just a little rust problem. Its the equivilent of a HEART ATTACK for the bus. You cant use it anymore. Unless you like rain pouring into the interior or you want to make it a convertible. See the pics I posted below and notice the roof rain drip rails. Notice the huge rust through??? I have seen this on lots of gilligs. If you dont see it on yours, you will in a few years. This was gilligs major design flaw. Crown buses never have this problem because they are aluminum in their roofs. <img src="http://communities.msn.com/isapi/fetch.dll?action=MyPhotos_GetPubPhoto&PhotoID=nJgBTCkwJn4VjxgmnJx2mHPehxCzVB0ZylLq8STY!dyYVJcnZ88tMMWmayWvZm7OoiuSSmk!a5yk> <img src="http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/GC2.jpg"
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	John the busboy	4-28-02
First It should do 55. Check the ratio on the differential. Any number smaller than a 6.14:1 will get you 55 with 900R20 tires. Second What is a five speed Allison? Third How does it ride? This should be important....... Fourth Get the 3208 checked out. You don't want a maintenance hog. Fifth Look for signs of rust. There seems to be a bit of controversy about Gillig's rusting. You might be able to get the maintenance records from the school district that used to own it, if it hasn't been gone to long. Good luck and have fun. School buses are a kick to drive. John the busboy
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	John the busboy	4-28-02
First It should do 55. Check the ratio on the differential. Any number smaller than a 6.14:1 will get you 55 with 900R20 tires. Second What is a five speed Allison? Third How does it ride? This should be important....... Fourth Get the 3208 checked out. You don't want a maintenance hog. Fifth Look for signs of rust. There seems to be a bit of controversy about Gillig's rusting. You might be able to get the maintenance records from the school district that used to own it, if it hasn't been gone to long. Good luck and have fun. School buses are a kick to drive. John the busboy
Re: picture 1	BreakerBreaker	4-22-02
See the rust in the roof drip rail?
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	Steven Rosenow	4-22-02
I disagree. Gilligs are NOT rustbuckets. I have taken an aluminum-skinned Gillig apart, and the steel framing was remarkably CLEAN and FREE of rust. That picture you used is a BAD example of WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A Gillig IS poorly MAINTAINED. That Gillig has obviously sat for MANY years without being taken care of, and has received LITTLE maintenance. I can show you MANY Gilligs that DO NOT have this problem, and they are over 30 YEARS OLD. It matters on how well the bus is taken care of - NOT the fact that it is a Gillig alone. See my homepage (The Gillig Transit Coach/Pacific Schoolcoach Resource http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches) Dont buy a gillig! They have a terrible problem with rusting all the way through at the roof rain drip rails. They rust all the way through. (not just surface rust ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!) The bus you may buy is probabaly 90% rusted from the inside that you cannot see. In a few years time it will start to show up by little bubbles in the paint. THe point is that once you see the bubbles its gone. ANd there is no way to fix the bus. Its not just a little rust problem. Its the equivilent of a HEART ATTACK for the bus. You cant use it anymore. Unless you like rain pouring into the interior or you want to make it a convertible. See the pics I posted below and notice the roof rain drip rails. Notice the huge rust through??? I have seen this on lots of gilligs. If you dont see it on yours, you will in a few years. This was gilligs major design flaw. Crown buses never have this problem because they are aluminum in their roofs. <img src="http://communities.msn.com/isapi/fetch.dll?action=MyPhotos_GetPubPhoto&PhotoID=nJgBTCkwJn4VjxgmnJx2mHPehxCzVB0ZylLq8STY!dyYVJcnZ88tMMWmayWvZm7OoiuSSmk!a5yk> <img src="http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/GC2.jpg"
Re: picture 2	BreakerBreaker	4-22-02
See the rust in the roof drip rail?
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	BreakerBreaker	4-23-02
What could you possibly "maintain" to keep the roof from rusting away from you??? You can maintain an engine but how the heck are you supposed to "maintain" the roof? I never heard of any other bus needing to have its roof maintained to keep it from disintegrating. I think you just like gilligs and dont want to accept the truth.
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	KAF	4-22-02
I agree with some of the statements made to a certain point. First of all, it's very true that Crowns aren't as prone to rust in the same way that other buses are because of the way aluminum was utilized in their construction. There's no question in my mind about that. The picture of the Gillig that was posted on here, though, shows the extreme of what could happen to any bus if it's parked and left to rot away. Yes, I've had Gilligs before that had rust problems, but I've also seen others that don't have rust problems. I've also seen Crowns with severe rust problems. A friend of mine owns a 1974 Crown that has very large rust spots along the drip rails, and it's even rusted-through in a couple areas around the windshield. I don't want to start a Crown vs. Gillig argument here, so I'll just leave it at that. Me, I'd probably choose a Crown over a Gillig if I were to convert one into a motorhome, but I'm sure there are many others who would do the exact opposite. Anyway, that's just my 2¢.
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	Ron	4-23-02
I have a 35 year old gillig that came out of washington st. with NO rust. the bus looks 5 years old. gillig bodies are heavy galvinized steel. they don'''t rust easily. pat young prefers them over crowns for his south anerica trips as they hold up better off road. i also just bought a crown. What could you possibly "maintain" to keep the roof from rusting away from you??? You can maintain an engine but how the heck are you supposed to "maintain" the roof? I never heard of any other bus needing to have its roof maintained to keep it from disintegrating. I think you just like gilligs and dont want to accept the truth.
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	Steven Rosenow	4-23-02
So, you're saying you don't have to maintain the roof of your car, or maybe even your house? Umm... I don't get what you're saying one bit. As a part of standard vehicle maintenance, ALL parts have got to be MAINTAINED WELL so as to AVOID what happened in the example you gave, which by the way was a VERY POOR example. It should be regular routine maintenance to get rid of all the debris that builds up in rain gutters on a bus, 'cause if that doesn't happen - it's BOUND to rust. And the roof on that one bus, my friend, was only rusted in several SMALL spots, NOT like one huge cancer like you depict. I'm even willing to bet that it'll clean up and look like new! Gilligs are NOT bad vehicles. As I've said before,. it's all a matter of how well the bus is MAINTAINED. And believe me, Crowns aren't the best bus in the world too.. they do have their faults as well. What could you possibly "maintain" to keep the roof from rusting away from you??? You can maintain an engine but how the heck are you supposed to "maintain" the roof? I never heard of any other bus needing to have its roof maintained to keep it from disintegrating. I think you just like gilligs and dont want to accept the truth.
Re: Gillig/Cat 3208/allison 5spd	BreakerBreaker	4-24-02
I would have to say again that you cannot see the rust. Gilligs rust from the INSIDE out. You wont see surface rust till its toooooo late. If you knew anything about steel boats or ships, you would know that they also rust from the inside out. Just 'cause you cant see it doesnt mean its not rusting.