Gasoline Pushers

The rear engine gas was used in school buses in the 60's. They were never very popular. Mechanics hated to work on them because of the lack of space. There were cooling problems with the engine and also heat problems inside the bus. Many were big V-6 engines that had their own issue. The crankshaft was not strong enough to handle the 400 cu. in power. This often caused block damage when the crank broke. The advantage in school bus was more space for entry and exit. They were also quiet. The concept is good, but no one spent the money to eliminate all of the problems.

Of course engine placement had nothing to do with the bad heater thingy. Bad heater had everything to do with it being an air cooled engine. There was no hot water for air to blow over to heat of the cabin.

Greydennyhawk wrote:
Cooling is the main issue, remember the Volkswagen Beetle? Bad heater, also.

Thanks for bringing the coach name back that I almost bought. I could not recall the name and long ago lost my paperwork. A business man here in town owned one. He loved it for handling and floor plan, but admitted he had problems with cooling it's engine.

Probably the most famous would be the FMC Coach, with its industrial Chrysler 440.

My former Boeing supervisor has an older 38' gas pusher Not sure what make.

There is no technical reason. There have been rear-engine gas motorhome chassis and rear-engine gas passenger coach chassis in the past, and there are rear-engine LPG and CNG coaches running today.

Why you don't see them in RVs is probably a market issue, the last one offered was not well accepted, it was almost as expensive as the same class of chassis with a small diesel engine (e.g. the leaf-spring Roadmaster). That was also a market flop.

Really, the difference in cost from rear engine gas to the lowest cost diesel Freightliner is less than the difference in cost from the Workhorse W-22 to the Workhorse UFO. I think if buyers are willing to pay the cost of getting a rear engine, they are usually willing to go a little further and get the rest of the advantages (air springing, air brakes etc) of a low end diesel pusher.

I have done a fair amount of research on the rear engine gasser and what has been said above it pretty much what I came up with. It is too bad because the idea is a good one. Their have been various manufactures of these rear gassers all went out of business. They made some good looking coaches. I came so close to buying one, money was the not right. I wonder today how much more I might have known from owning one.

Matt_Colie wrote:
As a refugee from Detroit, I will answer this succinctly.
The reasons are much simpler than most would like to believe. It is call The Market Place.

Most DP are built on chassis that are designed and marketed to bus builders and operators. (This is why the door is where it is.)
They want diesel.
Two reasons: Horsepower and Longevity.
To do the engineering and testing for an engine that has a limited market will cost the manufacturer too much to recover. And, now with no large truck V-8s in production, it makes even less sense.

Matt

PSI is producing a 525HP V8 capable of 1000 ft.lbs. of torque and is soon to be introduced in the Workhorse W18 and w22 chassis this year.
It will be interesting to see if they reintroduce the UFO rear engine gasser in the future.

As a refugee from Detroit, I will answer this succinctly.
The reasons are much simpler than most would like to believe. It is call The Market Place.

Most DP are built on chassis that are designed and marketed to bus builders and operators. (This is why the door is where it is.)
They want diesel.
Two reasons: Horsepower and Longevity.
To do the engineering and testing for an engine that has a limited market will cost the manufacturer too much to recover. And, now with no large truck V-8s in production, it makes even less sense.

Matt