Freightliner FS-65
| Freightliner FS-65 | |
|---|---|
1999 Blue Bird/Freightliner of Shelby County, Alabama
|
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Freightliner LLC |
| Production | January 1997-December 2006 |
| Assembly | Gaffney, SC |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Type C (conventional) |
| Layout | conventional 4x2 |
| Body style(s) |
Cowled chassis
|
| Vehicles | see listing |
| Related | Freightliner FL-Series |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine(s) | Caterpillar 7.2L 3126 I6 Caterpillar 7.2L C7 I6 Cummins 5.9L ISB I6 Mercedes-Benz 4.3L MBE904 I4 Mercedes-Benz 6.4L MBE906 I6 |
| Transmission(s) | 5-speed Fuller manual Allison 2000 automatic Allison MD3060 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 150–276 in (3,810.0–7,010.4 mm) |
| Curb weight | 18,000–35,000 lb (8,164.7–15,875.7 kg) (GVWR) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Ford B-Series (indirect) |
| Successor | Freightliner C2 |
Cowled chassis
The Freightliner FS-65 is a Type C conventional bus chassis that was manufactured by Freightliner from 1997 to 2007. Used primarily as a cowled chassis for school bus applications, the FS-65 was developed from the Freightliner FL-Series medium-duty conventional.
While developed before the sale of the Ford heavy-truck line to Freightliner at the end of 1996, due to the ties of the two companies, the Freightliner FS-65 would serve as an indirect successor of the Ford B-Series bus chassis. After the shutdown of Ford medium-duty truck production in 1998, the Freightliner school bus chassis would take over much of the market share owned by Ford.
The FS-65 chassis was assembled in Gaffney, South Carolina by the Freightliner Custom Chassis subsidiary of Freightliner; as an incomplete vehicle, the chassis was shipped to body manufacturers for final assembly of a bus. After a total of 62,764 units were produced, the final Freightliner FS-65 chassis rolled off the assembly line in December 2006.
Following the 1991 introduction of the Business Class medium-duty trucks, Freightliner Trucks began development of a school bus chassis based upon the vehicle. In May 1996, the first prototype (with a Thomas body) was unveiled. The first completely new school bus chassis introduced since the 1980 redesign of the Ford B-Series, the Freightliner school bus chassis (later named the Freightliner FS-65) was scheduled for mid-1996 production; the first Freightliner bus rolled off the assembly line in January 1997.
During its production run, the FS-65 chassis saw relatively few changes. For 2002, the Mercedes-Benz MBE900 diesel engines were added to the powertrain line as an option. For 2004, the Caterpillar 3126 became the Caterpillar C7 (as part of an emissions upgrade). Additionally, the gauges of the instrument panel were redesigned, using the instrument cluster shared with the M2 and Sterling truck lines.
In 2001, Freightliner introduced the second-generation Businesss Class, the M2. In 2004, the Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 was introduced as the school bus variant of the M2. Sold alongside the C2, the FS-65 remained in production into the 2007 model year; the final Thomas school bus based on the FS-65 was produced on December 13, 2006.
Alongside severe-service trucks, the FS-65 marked the end of the FL-Series, as medium-duty production ended after 2004.
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