it's been a long time since I was in a school bus, but I seem to remember them barely able to get up to highway speeds. Granted this is back when the national speed limit was 55, but by todays standards, those were OLD buses. The newer diesel pushers might do better.
I would be tempted to RV one. Put the "master bedroom" behind the axle and all the heavy living stuff in the middle, cover up some windows (lots of windows, really) and repaint
True. The first one I drove was a 93 GM diesel. Slow, noisy, smelly. The dog house took up up a lot of room, as well as a small foot box. But it was reliable. The newer ones are more betterer.
Some camping friends of mine have a Bluebird with a 5.9 and Allison. It was something like $4000 with 6 new Michelins and 60k miles on it.
They converted it to an RV. It has storage bins galore underneath and they just leave all of their RV/camping crap, firewood, etc in it. It has a woodstove for heat.
Pound for pound, you can't beat the value. But it's slow. And if it were to break, I don't think I have the right tools to even know where to get started.
One advantage to having school age kids is that I've been in modern busses quite a bit. And by modern I mean anywhere from 1-10 years old. The ones they use around here (at least for field trips) cruise at about 62. They're not too tightly wound at those speeds and the drivers are NOT nice to them at all. Could I drive across the country at 62? I'd need to think about that.
If you are planning a Family Tour, 62 is fine, enjoy the scenery. If you need to get somewhere on a schedule, use the AMG.
I drove in the late '90,s. Max speed was 62 and on one lengthy hill it was a struggle to maintain 35 while cars cruised at 60. I don't see much difference today on that hill.
If you really want a bus, my suggestion would be a short one. 16 passenger or less. More like a box truck. They will travel the highway as fast as you dare to go.
I work on my friends' ~22ft Class C rv based on a ford van with the v10 gasser and 4R100 trans. It isn't particularly slow and he has done over 90 mph in it and i have verified it will maintain 70mph on any kind of hill you'd find on a highway in Texas. I'm guessing it will go right up to the stock speed limiter which i assume is 90 something. Even my old Clark Cortez RV which supposedly weighs around 9000 lbs and had a 100hp slant six dodge engine supposedly had a top speed of ~85. I think it's far more about gearing than power. I don't know how much more expensive it really is to change gears in a bus than in something that uses a regular 1-ton truck axle, but regearing a regular truck axle full retail at a shop usually wouldn't go over $1k all in. The gears themselves are a few hundred bucks.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to oldopelguy :
There is one on CL with a 5.9 Cummins and an Allison. Not sure if that's enough motor to move a brick this big through the air AND tow a race car, but it's the direction I'd be likely to lean.
Yes, just not quickly. Most of the ISBs/6BTs in commercial medium duty applications were 180-210 hp. I had a 6bt in a 26' box truck with an Eaton Road ranger 6-speed, and the gear splits were flawless for the torque band. The turbo started singing at 1800 and it was governed at about 2800. If you ran it up to 2750 and shifted, it always put you at 1850 in the next gear so you stayed in the sweet spot.
I used that truck (loaded past its 26k GVWR) and towing a 10k flatbed. It wouldn't win races, but it topped the rockies at a safe speed. With careful shifting I topped Vail Pass at 50mph.
Its not for people who like to get in a vehicle, stab the throttle, and not work for it, but it gets the job done if you don't mind a little active thinking and smart use.
Plus, as long as you're not careless about it (install an EGT gauge) a 3/4" wrench and a flathead screwdriver on the P7100 pump can pretty easily get you 50 hp. Replace the governor springs with 3200-rpm versions and that can be good for another 70-80 hp. Keep in mind that those diesels were tuned for absolute maximum service life. They have an overhaul interval of 600k miles. You can up the ante significantly and expect them to need rings and bearings at 400k instead. We had a Thomas 77-passenger snub that we widened for the company's dirt track car. That Cummins only ever needed to haul the car and some tools, so we had it making 500+ hp and the weakest point proved to be the Allison (it wasn't pretty).
The other common diesel you'll likely see in schoolies is a DT444 which is more or less a Powerstroke 7.3L. They're even easier. Step one: buy chip. Step 2: install chip.
The main reason you don't see me with a Schoolie RV is because I'm just over 6' tall. Its hard to find a bus that I don't have to duck
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