Oh Three 03
New Member
Hi all,
First post (from Australia), and probably a bit of a long one.
I own a 1979 Mercedes 0303 Bus/Coach, which has been converted into a Motorhome. In largely typical fashion at the time, it would have been shipped here to Australia as a chassis with a front on it, and a local Coach builder (Ansair) then built the body and commissioned the Coach.
It's a typical 36"/11M MR Bus of the era, running an OM422 (14.6lt V8) and - in this case - an Allison 5-speed auto. trans.
I'm told that many of these coaches towed trailers etc. back in the day, and some towed reasonably heavy loads (using ring feders etc.). However, like most buses, the compliance plates on this bus (there are three, two from Daimler Benz, and one from the local coach builder) do not have any mention of a Gross Combined Mass (GCM).
I'm hoping to find/be pointed in the direction of someone who might know of a similar era 0303 which does actually have a GCM nominated on the compliance plate. If I can find such a thing, I'd be hoping to get some details to take back to Mercedes here in Australia, so their engineers can review it (and its similarity to my bus), and (hopefully) provide me with the documentation I need to have an engineer nominate an actual GCM for my bus.
The reason I'm doing this?
Without a GCM figure, I'm legally bound to tow within my bus' GVM envelope. The GVM on my bus is 16T. Loaded, it's around 14.5T, and so I'm left with ~1.5T of towing capacity. Our car weighs more than that on its own, so I've no hope of legally towing pretty much anything within that figure.
I should also add that the bus has a very solid tow mounting and hitch, which have been there a long time - most likely when the body was built and the coach commissioned.
But without the appropriate paperwork/compliance information, it's all pretty much useless.
I've reached out to Mercedes, who are "unable" (read unwilling) to find documentation on similar buses which had GCMs nominated. They've asked me to find a similar bus, and take the info. to them, hence me reaching out this way.
I'd appreciate any advice or help people can give, even if it's "reach out to this person, (or this forum) for the help you need..."
Thanks in advance.
Michael
First post (from Australia), and probably a bit of a long one.
I own a 1979 Mercedes 0303 Bus/Coach, which has been converted into a Motorhome. In largely typical fashion at the time, it would have been shipped here to Australia as a chassis with a front on it, and a local Coach builder (Ansair) then built the body and commissioned the Coach.
It's a typical 36"/11M MR Bus of the era, running an OM422 (14.6lt V8) and - in this case - an Allison 5-speed auto. trans.
I'm told that many of these coaches towed trailers etc. back in the day, and some towed reasonably heavy loads (using ring feders etc.). However, like most buses, the compliance plates on this bus (there are three, two from Daimler Benz, and one from the local coach builder) do not have any mention of a Gross Combined Mass (GCM).
I'm hoping to find/be pointed in the direction of someone who might know of a similar era 0303 which does actually have a GCM nominated on the compliance plate. If I can find such a thing, I'd be hoping to get some details to take back to Mercedes here in Australia, so their engineers can review it (and its similarity to my bus), and (hopefully) provide me with the documentation I need to have an engineer nominate an actual GCM for my bus.
The reason I'm doing this?
Without a GCM figure, I'm legally bound to tow within my bus' GVM envelope. The GVM on my bus is 16T. Loaded, it's around 14.5T, and so I'm left with ~1.5T of towing capacity. Our car weighs more than that on its own, so I've no hope of legally towing pretty much anything within that figure.
I should also add that the bus has a very solid tow mounting and hitch, which have been there a long time - most likely when the body was built and the coach commissioned.
But without the appropriate paperwork/compliance information, it's all pretty much useless.
I've reached out to Mercedes, who are "unable" (read unwilling) to find documentation on similar buses which had GCMs nominated. They've asked me to find a similar bus, and take the info. to them, hence me reaching out this way.
I'd appreciate any advice or help people can give, even if it's "reach out to this person, (or this forum) for the help you need..."
Thanks in advance.
Michael
