Well, I got it halfway home today. :) It's getting new tires, then it'll be home.
Mechanically I think it may need less than I was planning on. I was going to replace all fluids, filters, belts, etc but I may only need to do filters and oil. I need to test the coolant, but visually it looks brand new.
After driving it 45 minutes on the freeway and up some hills the oil pressure is consistently 40psi @ 55mph and goes up to 43psi or so at 60-65. This seems to be healthy and well within spec (30psi min @ rated power, and I was below rated power/rpm). Idle was 20psi @ 700rpm, again within spec which says 10psi min. I was thinking these numbers were low at first, but searching around these seem pretty typical for the C8.3, and idle pressure is actually higher than some newer/lower mileage 8.3s which some people have said they see 10-14psi at idle, hot.
Coolant temp ran 180F for the entire drive, trans temp showed just above 90F on the gauge. Sounds like some people usually see around 100F with these Allisons?
Air pressure was steady at, I think, 110psi. Very little fluctuation, would only drop down a little if I moved the throttle a bit or applied the brakes, of course. It has an air throttle. Kind of sensitive.
The brakes work great, no pulling and they're really sensitive at low speed, no problems slowing the coach coming off the freeway. The ride is very comfortable, especially considering our lovely concrete freeways down here. I kept it at 55mph most of the time as I didn't want to push my luck with the old tires. It really seemed happiest running 60-65mph.
The 2-speed rear works like a charm. Freeway onramps aren't too bad if I start out in low and then shift to high as I approach freeway speed.
No obvious signs of fluid leaks, nothing dripping onto the ground.
So far I'm stoked. :)
