which year?

[Mike Wheeler]

Hi to all,

I'm a new member looking for info as to what year, model are the most desirable before purchase. Some of the things I would like to know is,
1 What year did they go from 2 stroke to 4 stroke diesel?
2 What size do I need to go over mountains?
3 What do I look for in a used bus as far as rust, electrical etc. goes?
4 What can I expect to pay for a bus that is in great shape?
5 How much am I looking at to get said bus ready for cross country full time living?

Why Silver eagle over MCI, Bluebird, Newall, Prevost?

Thanks in advance

Sincerely,
Mike Wheeler

[beltguy]

Hi Mike Welcome to our forum.

Here are some thoughts on your questions:

1) I am not sure when Eagle went to 4 strokes, but it was towards the end of their production. I don't think there are many of those coaches on the road. There were some models made in Belgium that had 4 strokes early in their production. Most of the 4 stroke buses you hear/see, are conversions.

2) This question comes up on many of the forums. Folks make the point that there were tons of buses with 6V71 and 8V71 pounding the pavement all over the states. The issue is how fast do you want to go up the hills? 8V71 for the most part are not turboed and that makes for a slow accent. 6V92 are turboed, but are a bit marginal if the bus has been dressed out with lots of heavy stuff.

3) I just bumped a great inspection thread to the top of the "active thread" list.

4) Price can vary all over the place from maybe $5K marginal chassis to $100K professionally converted coach. It all depends on condition of the basic bus and if/how well it was converted. Notice I say price. Actual purchase price can be very different. The market is still pretty soft, so there are some good conversions in the $30-50 range.

5) Again, the range of cost is huge. If it needs tires, they are in the $400 per tire range. A complete fluid change could cost well over $250. A complete DOT (don't have them do it for the record - just the inspection) would probably run in the $100 range. However that would be the same for any bus.

Asking why an Eagle is better that other buses on an Eagle forum will get you some pretty non-objective answers Most of us love the style and the ride.

Jim