Interesting they had to count on the old Dodge when the non-Mopars broke down! :1st:TWX said:Never rode in a Dodge commercial chassis as a school bus, but we had an old heavy-duty Dodge tow truck to bring disabled buses back to the fleet yard for repair...
They had it until about five years ago. Got to the point they couldn't easily find tie rod ends and other necessary parts.
Awesome to see! Do you mean CHippewa Falls, Wisconsin?PCRMike said:I rode Dodge school busses, full length, at Chippewa Hills Schools in the 80's. They were mid to late 70's models. There were three in the fleet of 16. All were big blocks. According to Mr. Wiable the driver.
What they needed was a Cuban immigrant. Not an ethnic joke. This is the truth: when Fidel took over Cuba, the natives didn't like the Iron-Curtain rides, and of course the U.S. embargoed exports (Sorry folks, no Chargers or Challengers or EEKs). From my understanding you can still find American cars from the 1950s and earlier with expertly hand-machined replacement parts. Any of those mechanics and machinists making it to the United States could have some job security fashioning parts for rigs. Of course it might have been cheaper to replace the old Dodge with an inferior product with cheaper replacement parts.TWX said:Never rode in a Dodge commercial chassis as a school bus, but we had an old heavy-duty Dodge tow truck to bring disabled buses back to the fleet yard for repair...
They had it until about five years ago. Got to the point they couldn't easily find tie rod ends and other necessary parts.
Unfortunately the truck had already had its engine replaced with a Cat 3508, and even still it wasn't the easiest thing to drive, I remember watching the guy struggle with it.Dr. Dan's Caravan said:What they needed was a Cuban immigrant. Not an ethnic joke. This is the truth: when Fidel took over Cuba, the natives didn't like the Iron-Curtain rides, and of course the U.S. embargoed exports (Sorry folks, no Chargers or Challengers or EEKs). From my understanding you can still find American cars from the 1950s and earlier with expertly hand-machined replacement parts. Any of those mechanics and machinists making it to the United States could have some job security fashioning parts for rigs. Of course it might have been cheaper to replace the old Dodge with an inferior product with cheaper replacement parts.