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Who’s done the school bus thing - skoolie

WoodburyZuk

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Just like the title says. Anyone done it, love it, hate it?

From a cost perspective and the general strict maintenance records busses are required to keep, makes it seem like a decent option. Family of 4 plus dog and cat and my short samurai. Ideally I’d chop some off the back and dove it and not need to tow a trailer (but still can if I need to). The common complaints I hear is that they are geared high (slow) and sometimes underpowered. If I can go 65 I’ll be happy.

My dads in the wholesale car biz and said 5-10 years ago you couldn’t give these things always, now because of social media #wanderlust they’ve gone up in price. Also a MDT isn’t out of the question, so long as it has sleeping quarters or the ability to build something out fairly straightforward.

Thoughts, input, pics.
 
School bus, in general, are worn out by the time the are resold. Yes, maintained. But also worn out.

That typed, many districts don't have AC, are underpowered, get crappy fuel economy, have a poor top speed, leak water like crazy, and ......
 
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Depends on what you want out of it. We did it for a few years, family outgrew a 53 passenger bus (now 4 kids, 2 adults), plus it wasn't born with AC ('97 International/T446E/Allison 545) worked fine for towing my wheeling rig, would burn whatever I threw in the tank (last trip ran it on 5w-20 prototype oil from work) delivered OK mileage (Between 6-11, depending on how fast you wanted to go). As said previously, many are governed (mine, flat out was 65mph, if you beat it against the governor you could get to 70 downhills). If I did it again I'd get factory AC, 5.9L Cummins or 466 International, with a 5-6 speed manual, and 72 passenger (for my situation, if you are sleeping 2-4 the 53 passenger would be fine). Unless you are going to put 25k on it per year I wouldn't worry about it being worn out. I would say get a rural bus. Just like buying city cars vs. rural cars, rural busses may have more miles on them but typically aren't beat on as bad IMO as they don't do as much stop-go driving. Usually kept up better as they go further from home and it's a bad look for rural school boards to leave kids stranded 15 miles from town in -10 below.
That said, I'm by no means an expert, I've owned exactly 1 bus and worked on a few for others so there ya go.
 
How difficult is a axle/gear swap to highway gears? Or is it a transmission gearing issue?
 
ANGELO said:
How difficult is a axle/gear swap to highway gears? Or is it a transmission gearing issue?
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All the busses I'm familiar with have common 19k or so truck axles, single or 2 speed. Gears are easy to get. What you really need on an electronic controlled bus is a reflash to eliminate the vehicle speed governor. My bus was only turning 2600 in high gear when it hit the governor, engine was capable of 3200 or so. Single speed rear busses with the auto are probably geared lower than the 2 speed manuals or more modern autos/manuals with the single speed. Not saying a gear change is necessary, though I'd suspect the city busses are more likely to have even deeper rear gears than rural busses, especially if the school has a 'town fleet' and a 'travelling road game/field trip' fleet, which some of the big city districts have that I'm familiar with. If I'd have kept my bus I'd have had it reflashed first to get rid of the governor and figured out if I could live with it. The T446E with the AT545 combo would've been a turd with higher axle gears for what I was doing with it, I'd have had to run a 2 speed if I wanted less RPM at cruising speed to be able to pull a trailer. Don't get me wrong, it did fine in the hills we have here, but if I was climbing Donner pass with a trailer it would have been... painful, even though it would have done it. Prolly would need a trans by the time I got to the top (trans temp only ever crossed 220F when I was pulling a long grade loaded with a trailer loaded).:laughing:
 
So, bumping this.

I was texting with my buddy who’s got a 2007 Chevy express dually school bus and he says it will do about 90mph. Im wondering if the srw will have different gears…. Do any of you know if the busy “body” is different in size/width from DRW to SRW. At a glance, my eyecrometer says yes.

I found this one on marketplace, seems like a decent deal for what it is…

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2 adults, 2 small kids and a dog… whatcha think? Plus it’ll tow my samurai comfortably.
 
Probably has more to do with if it has a speed governor and where it is set. The few busses I've been around had a speed limiter that would only allow 65-70mph, had nothing to do with gearing/power.
 
A good friend of mine build a bus camper. Its bare bones, but does him and his dog well. I've always wanted to do that swap, but I'm too tall for those short ceilings.

He cut the whole back section in half and it opens like a barn door. Then notched the back frame rails and made a ramp that folds up and easier to drive up. I'll look for the other pictures I have later. After that, He put 11R24.5s on it, and swapped out the 6 speed eaton for a 13 speed road ranger. Its got the stock 5.9 industrial 24v and a bigger turbo.

bus 1.jpg
bus 2.jpg
 
Have you looked in to buying a retired tour bus or greyhound bus? The ones they are selling off now have Alison trannys with a d60 or a Cummins. They cruise at any speed you could want and are big.
 
NorCalJalopy said:
Have you looked in to buying a retired tour bus or greyhound bus? The ones they are selling off now have Alison trannys with a d60 or a Cummins. They cruise at any speed you could want and are big.
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Yes, I know a few people with them. Normally they are completely clapped out and the bus company's want stupid money for one. I like not having a trailer and it would be impossible to put a rig in the back of a charter bus since the motor goes there.

I bought a 80's 4wd camper at an auction and want to fix that up, but its on the back burner.

That toyota buggy weighs like 5500 lbs or more. It tows up the mountain faster than most pickups.
 
bad zuki said:
A good friend of mine build a bus camper. Its bare bones, but does him and his dog well. I've always wanted to do that swap, but I'm too tall for those short ceilings.

He cut the whole back section in half and it opens like a barn door. Then notched the back frame rails and made a ramp that folds up and easier to drive up. I'll look for the other pictures I have later. After that, He put 11R24.5s on it, and swapped out the 6 speed eaton for a 13 speed road ranger. Its got the stock 5.9 industrial 24v and a bigger turbo.

bus 1.jpg
bus 2.jpg
Click to expand...

That's pimp :smokin: Feel free to post anymore pics you have
 
bad zuki said:
Yes, I know a few people with them. Normally they are completely clapped out and the bus company's want stupid money for one. I like not having a trailer and it would be impossible to put a rig in the back of a charter bus since the motor goes there.

I bought a 80's 4wd camper at an auction and want to fix that up, but its on the back burner.

That toyota buggy weighs like 5500 lbs or more. It tows up the mountain faster than most pickups.
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The busses I referenced are all still good running and in decent shape. They have to get rid of 2 generations of the mci coaches due to not being compliant due to emission standards. You could still tow with it, engine placement doesn’t matter. There’s venting at the top of the coach that helps circulate the air. The fan is more than up to the duty. You’re def right about being a huge bitch and too long to tow a rig.
 
I work on lots of school buses at districts in eastern WA and northern ID. All the good mechanical buses are pretty much long gone. Every once in a great while I see one traded in, the last one I knew about I bought from the dealer. It was a 1997 International by Bluebird and had a DT466 with a P pump and an Allison MT643. I still see some older pre 07 blue DT 466Es and work on them. Stay away from Maxxforce, they are expensive to work on but if you get one get a Maxxforce DT.

If you're making a crawler hauler find a FE(front engine) to keep your length down. The RE(rear engine) suck to work on with a Maxxforce DT, the older DTs or newer Cummins aren't bad. The best to work on are the CE(conventional engine) which is your typical school bus that has a hood. If you're taking it off the beaten path the CE is the best bus to get.

Prices have gotten stupid on the skoolies since Covid but they seem to be slowing down some. If any inmates on here are looking for a skoolie let me know, I have my eye on a couple of pre 07s that are almost out of depreciation and will be traded in soon.
 
Did he make some YouTube videos on the build up of that bus? I remember seeing a similar setup on some videos a while ago.
 
shortbus4x4 said:
1992 Bluebird TC2000 FE, just got it. Like I need another project.:flipoff2:
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I drove the shit out of the TC2000s in the Army back in the day. Decent buses, but it all comes down to the specs. Most were AT525 Allisons, which bring the suck. If that's what you have, swapping to the MD3060 will do wonders for highway drivability. If its already the 3060, check to make sure 6th gear isn't locked out as a governor. Sometimes merely pressing the "MODE" button unlocks 6th, depends on the programming.

If it has a shift handle, its not the 3060.

Those mostly came with ISB210 5.9 12v P-pumped Cummins' under the hood. Standard P7100 power mods work the same as with the 2nd Gen Dodges, but you'll need a pyro before doing any of that.

They mostly had spring ride out back, so if you can, switch it out to air ride rears. Most of the springs will be worn out by now and the rear will sag badly with any weight in there (and they bounce like crazy with any bump).
 
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