Decent skoolie conversion candidate?

Scott & Heather · August 29, 2015, 08:52:54 PM

I'm not really into skoolies, but I can't help but wonder if these new school buses will make pretty decent looking conversions sometime down the road when they are selling for $5000?

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Iceni John · August 29, 2015, 10:18:29 PM

I hear plenty of horror stories about the unreliability of new school buses' electronics. Like so many vehicles these days they have CANBUS, great when it works but a nightmare to troubleshoot when the electrons don't want to cooperate. Maybe because school buses these days are built as cheaply as possible, the electronics are the first to suffer? Some school districts in CA are still running old Crowns, older than mine, because they are more dependable and economical than their newer buses.

I'm not impressed with the flimsy plastic dash panels and instrument clusters of new International/Amtran and Thomas school buses. I guess this doesn't matter if they're designed for only a fifteen year lifespan and a few hundred thousand miles.

Get a Crown or Gillig - handbuilt, tough, simple, reliable, good to drive, what's not to like? (Just kidding!)

John

somewhereinusa · August 30, 2015, 03:14:07 AM

I don't particulately like them. I've often wondered if 20/30 years from now someone will see one of them, or todays cars and say "what a cool looking car/bus". Somehow I don't think so

Scott & Heather · August 30, 2015, 07:19:29 AM

True, definitely no "cool classic" factor, but could it be turned into something similar?

TomC · August 30, 2015, 07:33:28 AM

Freightliner owns Thomas bus. The only thing about skoolies is that they are usually only 96" wide and many times limited on headroom. That Thomas pictured at the top is a good looking bus and since it uses the Freightliner front with Cummins engine, should not be hard to service. The nice thing, Thomas makes some really short versions of this skoolie.

I know sacrilege what I'm a going to say. But-I'm think about buying a shorty Class C for weekend quicky trips. I have my eye on a Lazy Daze 23ft rear king. Huge windows (my wife and I like to see out), and you see lots of older Lazy Daze still on the road. I would buy one if they start using the Ford Transit front with the 5 cylinder Diesel. Good Luck, TomC

LuckyChow · August 30, 2015, 07:52:09 AM

I think this is a Thomas bus. I really like the look of them compared to the older traditional school bus. I think this would be a really interesting bus if they started building them 102" wide with a high roof. Maintaining the mechanicals on it would be easy compared to a coach.

TomC · August 30, 2015, 08:03:57 AM

Maintaining the mechanicals on any truck is easier then on a bus. This is why I'm making my truck conversion on my 1985 Kenworth 90" Aerodyne cabover. When you tilt the cab, you have overhead access to the complete engine and transmission. And-you only have to tilt the cab for major engine work, and to change the air cleaner. For changing oil, oil filter, fuel filters, water filter, transmission filter, checking the oil on the engine and transmission, checking the water in the radiator, there are access doors-and I can wash the windshield while standing on the ground. From driving nothing but cabovers for 21 years, I can tell you they are much more convenient then any conventional. With a conventional, everytime you need to check anything, up comes the hood-including washing the windshield-which requires a long handle squeegee or climb up on the front tire. And on a conventional truck, to work on the clutch and transmission requires crawling underneath the truck. Cabovers are high enough that unless you crash into another truck or bus, will be above the car or pickup. Give me a cabover everytime. Good Luck, TomC

moosemanusa · August 30, 2015, 11:29:08 AM

I've often wondered this as well.. I'm just not a fan of the way schoolies look, with the flimsy panels and rivets everywhere.

I'm on the schoolie groups and the discussion of "real" bus v's schoolies comes up a lot..

I have to correct people constantly who claim that transit and highway units are only designed for 10 years and limited miles and that they dont fall apart driving around town. (funny they never counter answer)..

But as schoolies are SOOO cheap its worth considering these days!

usbusin · August 30, 2015, 12:26:52 PM

How about this one from another board?

http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=119680#entry797246

Keep on busin and truckin

Lin · August 30, 2015, 12:37:27 PM

Is that second picture supposed to be a skoolie? Looks like a Super C. Our first bus was a skoolie-- a Superior Super Cruiser with flat front, rear engine and basement bays. It worked fine as a conversion. Obviously Crowns are great conversion platforms too.

HB of CJ · August 30, 2015, 04:46:46 PM

The older Crown Supercoach ex schoolie would work great, but one would have to work at the Bus Conversion. I lived in a Crown 40 foot 3 axle 10 wheeler (VIN 37317) for a number of years slowing doing the conversion thing.

The problem with Crowns is that they are getting more and more rare and long in the tooth. No early models since about 1990-91 or so? All the few HD parts I required were just a short stop away at the HD truck parts auto store.

The coach itself was superb. If you can find one and learn up on the platform, a Crown Supercoach would make a great Bus Conversion. You would have to work at it, but the results would be worth it. Time marches on and stuff.

Iceni John · August 30, 2015, 05:07:31 PM

It's certainly possible to do a good conversion of a mid-engine Crown or Gillig, but it's much more difficult to find space for all the needed tanks/batteries/generator/etc that most conversions need. Several folk have done so and produced nice conversions, but for me the extra work wasn't worth it so I took the easy way out and bought a pusher Crown. I hope I have the best of both worlds! A FE bus, either flat-front or dog-nose, was out of the question, not least because there's a driveshaft running all the way back taking space that I need for tanks and storage. Besides, they're too darn noisy - after 25 miles in a FE Amtran Genesis my ears were ringing!

John

Scott & Heather · August 30, 2015, 07:51:23 PM

Lin, the second one isn't a skoolie but it has a similar shape and body line. Just an idea of what you might be able to turn the new aerodynamic skoolies into

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belfert · August 30, 2015, 08:07:21 PM

Quote from: Iceni John on August 29, 2015, 10:18:29 PM
I'm not impressed with the flimsy plastic dash panels and instrument clusters of new International/Amtran and Thomas school buses. I guess this doesn't matter if they're designed for only a fifteen year lifespan and a few hundred thousand miles.

How many years should schools expect to get out of school buses? 15 years for something that is run 200+ days a year stopping and starting all day long seems pretty good to me. They all rust out around here anyhow from the road salt. The federal government pays to replace transit buses every 12 years.

Crown apparently had a good thing going for areas without road salt, but schools apparently decided that buying a cheap bus more often was the better way to go.

CrabbyMilton · August 31, 2015, 09:19:47 AM

You also have to remember that that some skoolies are built for other applications other than hauling little monsters to and from school. So those may be better taken care of. The cover story in the current magazine fits that bill. The BLUE BIRD VISION has a sharp look to it. Unlike the THOMAS C2 and IC version, BLUEBIRD builds it chassis exclusively for bus use in the type C
On the other hand, the BLUEBIRD ALL AMERICAN can trace it's heritage back to the original WANDERLODGE.