| Author |
Message |
bobm
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 8:40 pm: | |
I was stopped at a light next to a nice looking new blue bird school bus. diesel pusher, two bays on drivers side (didn't see other side)emergency door mid way on drivers side. large looking engine compartment. rear window raises above large engine hatch. obvious conversion potential? |
Mike (Busone)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 8:50 pm: | |
I live near Denver in Jefferson County. The school district has a ton of these buses in their fleet. When I was a senior in high school they had just started buying them. They are not like any school bus I have ever been in before. They ride just like a highway coach. My friend who is a driver said they have a Cummins 8.3 coupled to a B300R transmission. I remember as a little kid riding the old Bluebird buses on an international chassis, talk about rough ride. |
Doug G
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 25, 2005 - 10:33 pm: | |
The Hare Krishna Youth Ministry was looking to upgrade their '91 IH schoolbus so I called the Bluebird dealer and took a new schoolbus for a test drive. Wow! It was fantastic. The rear engine Cat had plenty of power. the 5 speed Allison auto shifted smoothly. There were two seperate small A/C compressors for the front and rear A/C respectively. The engine compartment is incredabley roomy and easy to work in. (Especially compared to a coach) Nice air seat too. You can spec two full width bays and higher rear gears for a higher top speed. New cost in schoolbus yellow was $80,000 with a 5 year warrenty. The youth group didn't have the funding but a few months later a doner came through with a smaller pledge and we picked up a 2000 Thomas ER schoolbus with a Cat/Allison auto drivetrain that we converted to bunk beds, a bath room, and left some seats up front. It still has a few months warrenty on it. This bus has great conversion potential if you don't mind 2 small bays and a little noisier engine than a coach, at a much lower cost than a comparable year coach. |
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 1:34 pm: | |
When one is looking at new school buses, it is sort of like the choice between Ford, Chevy, or Dodge when one lookes at IHC, Thomas, or Blue Bird.
About the only reason one would choose one over the other is for the power package. The DT466 or DT530 is available only in the IHC. The M-B engines are available only in the Thomas.
Regardless of manufacturer, if the A/C system has the two little compressors, look for another bus unless you enjoy expensive A/C repairs every year. Spend the extra and get a real A/C compressor like those found in transit buses or motorcoaches. The two little A/C compressors have to work at 100% capacity all the time and have a very limited life cycle in comparison to the big Thermo-King or Carrier units found in transit buses or motorcoaches.
If one understands the limitations of the school bus chassis, a school bus makes a pretty good choice for a lot of applications.
Mark O. |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 5:44 am: | |
Some of the Intl can be ordered with factory 4WD, if youre the adventure sort.
With high Skoolie ground clearence , even more interesting roads than coaches dare await.
FAST FRED |