Our first "Skoolie" bus!

[Power Hungry]

We had our first converted school bus, knows as a "Skoolies" come by the office today to let us put our hands on it and give it give it some of that Orion magic!

With the 65HP tune (intentionally kept conservative due to no Pyrometer), we saw a 20 second reduction in 0-65 times. We're still waiting for additional feedback regarding the fuel economy, but initial calculations have shown about a 2 MPG increase. These are huge numbers, folks!!!

Anyway, here's the video we put together We hope you enjoy it. :-)

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Many thanks to Joe Vissichio (aka Joe Steel) for being our first official Alpha Tester for the Orion Reflash System. We greatly appreciate it! :thumbs up yellow:

[RamRod4]

Looking forward to the beta for this! There are quite a few people interested in this product.

[pwerwagn]

This was an awesome video! I just watched it, the initial acceleration is the same, if not better, than my VT365 supernova. Getting on the freeway in mine is downright dangerous on short ramps, sometimes Im only going 25mph when I finally am on the freeway. Then WOT with the "100hp" tsmp8 tuner turned all the way up, It takes a solid mile or more to get to 65.

I will second what Joe said about beating the bushes finding someone to tune these things. I have spent about 2 years talking to different people. The only reason I came across PHP was because I was considering sending my FICM to Ed to get it upgraded, and started researching the atlas tune.

Glad I found this forum!

--Jeff

[Power Hungry]

I will second what Joe said about beating the bushes finding someone to tune these things. I have spent about 2 years talking to different people. The only reason I came across PHP was because I was considering sending my FICM to Ed to get it upgraded, and started researching the atlas tune.

Glad I found this forum!

--Jeff

We're glad to have you here, Jeff.

As for the tuning, I'll tell ya... We've been trying to get this working for almost 15 years. We've finally been able to break down the flash routines which was the only thing really holding us up. Now that we have that down, we're really pushing forward with the Navistar stuff.

We're super excited and we know there are tons of folks out there just waiting to get their hands on this. Not much longer now. :D

[cleatus12r]

We have an 02 7400 plow truck at work with a 466. When it's full of sand (and other crappy chemicals) it won't get out of its own way. Nobody likes driving it because it's a TURD. I love it though because it doesn't make enough power to hurt itself and it's ALMOST government union employee equipment operator-proof.

[Power Hungry]

We have an 02 7400 plow truck at work with a 466. When it's full of sand (and other crappy chemicals) it won't get out of its own way. Nobody likes driving it because it's a TURD. I love it though because it doesn't make enough power to hurt itself and it's ALMOST government union employee equipment operator-proof.

You could still bump it up a tad, though. :whistle1:

[cleatus12r]

I'm not sure how much the Allison in it can take above and beyond the rated power as they're mechanically calibrated for a specific power output.

It's not really worth adding power to and I did 10K-mod it years ago....still a turd.

[Power Hungry]

I'm not sure how much the Allison in it can take above and beyond the rated power as they're mechanically calibrated for a specific power output.

It's not really worth adding power to and I did 10K-mod it years ago....still a turd.

Torque capacity depends on the model of trans.

AT 545 - Good for up to 445 Ft. Lbs.
MT 643 - Good for up to 700 Ft. Lbs.
1000 Series - Good for up to 650 Ft. Lbs.
2000 Series - Good for up to 650 Ft. Lbs.
3000 Series - Good for up to 1250 Ft. Lbs. (in certain gears)

Most of the lighter duty applications use the MT 643 or the 1000/2000 series which clearly limits allowable torque output. However, since most of these engines have low HP output at the rated RPMs, the actual torque outputs are pretty low, too. For example, a T444e with a rated HP of 175 @ 2300 RPM produces about 400 Ft. Lbs. of torque. Bumping it up to 250 @2700 RPM moves the torque curve up to 480 Ft. Lbs. which, while being a bit high for an AT 545, would be well suited for an MT 643 or later model trans.

Of course, if you're running a manual then you shouldn't have any problems at all. The Eaton trans commonly found in them (the 5+1 and 6+1 O/D models) are rated north of 700 Ft. Lbs.

All this to say that unless the truck has an AT 545 in it, you should be able to safely bump the power up around 60-70 HP without any significant drawbacks or reliability issues. :D

[Ganske]

Power Hungry I also have a 2001 T444e skoolie that I am looking for tuning for. I have tried emailing your sales email but haven't gotten a response. When is this available for purchase? How can I order one?

Thanks


Josh

[Power Hungry]

Josh,

I apologize for the delay in response. Ward is on vacation this week. His e-mails were supposed to be forwarding to Angela, but for some reason they didn't. He will be back in the office on Monday and will respond to your e-mail as quickly as possible. I'm sure there are going to be a ton of them to sort through.

In any event, we are expecting to release the kits this Monday (06/07/2021). If you'd like to order one, please call our office and we will be able to get one sent out to you. Our contact information is located at:

https://gopowerhungry.com/contact/

I hope this is helpful. Have a great weekend! :D

[Ganske]

Thanks for the reply! I ended up getting it all sorted out. The tuner is awesome!!!! I have the 230 hp tune in it currently. It has helped my bus so much! I want to try some of the other higher tunes. Unfortunantly I have the low rated AT545 people say how terrible this trans is. What is your feelings on running the 250 hp tune? My bus isnt full size, it is a 35 ft long so it is about 5 feet short so hopefully down on some weight. I have been looking into swapping a allison 2000 5 speed in it this winter to try to make it a better highway traveler, but until then just wondering? Thanks

[Power Hungry]

The 250 HP tune will put your engine torque in the 570 Ft./Lbs. torque range. (These are flywheel numbers). Unfortunately, the AT 545 is just not rated for that torque output. You have a bit of an advantage being a smaller and lighter bus, but the long term solution is what you've already indicated... Replacing with a later transmission.

The MT 643 is rated for 640 Ft./Lbs. and would handle the power output nicely. You could also look at going with a heavier Allison MD 3060, which is good up to 1250 Ft./Lbs., but that would require a number of changes including PCM and any associated harness. The big issue is that the AT545 is an SAE 3 bellhousing and the MT643 or MD3000 series is an SAE 2 bellhousing. This would require conversion of the engine to transmission bellhousing adapter. CadillacKid on the Skoolie.net forum would be able to help advise on that one.

Here's a good page describing the differences in bellhousings. https://www.sbmar.com/articles/understanding-bellhousing-and-flywheel-measurements/

I'd say at this point you may want to just keep it at 230 for the time being. Nobody wants to replace a transmission unless absolutely necessary, and we want you to be able to travel reliably.

I hope this is helpful.

[Ganske]

Thanks! That is helpful. I will work on getting that trans swap done before pushing more power.