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I just had a full page response to all of this that was lost because of logging in. I even copy/pasted it before hitting the submit button but then got distracted when the page took forever to load and started copying hyperlinks for something else.
Round 2
Andrew,
Here's the gist of it:
1) Robin doesn't know what he's talking about. His bus is a "van" and doubles as a fishing cabin. Ask him how many fish he's caught.
2) RE/FE have nothing to do with drivability... not mutually exclusive.
3) Robin is off by a 1/4" on widths
They (Blue Birds) measure 89 3/4" wide.
4) Naming conventions and measuring.
Conventional = dog nose, transit = flat nose. There are grammar nazi here. Only a couple but this will make a difference when shopping.
I've heard but not confirmed that Blue Bird makes/made a "7 window" bus in a flat nose. So, "medium" can be had in both conventional and transit buses. "Windows" are the layman's "standard" for measuring a bus. Never mind the fact that my bus has both 25" and 32" wide windows. A 12, 13, and 14 window/row bus may all be 40' long. Nothing short of a tape measure will give you a true length. There are just SOOOO many factory options in buses.
When looking at buses online, you'll see "transit" on some. This means it's a city metro bus, a dog nose with underbelly storage, or a flat nose school bus with or without underbelly storage.
Flat nose buses have the advantage of having more interior space with the same bumper to bumper length as a dog nose. You lose 5 feet for the engine and another 5' for the dash and driver's seat. Flat nose buses only lose the 5' for the drivers seat.
FE/RE (Front Engine/Rear Engine)... Rear engine buses have a bench and then engine deck in the rear. Perfect place for a bed. Cabinets wouldn't really work unless you got knuckle dragging arms as the engine deck is about 3 feet deep. The bench is about a foot tall and foot deep in front of that. That would make one DEEP cabinet.
Flat nose buses are supposed to be harder to do engine work on. Maybe that's the FE flat noses? I've got what looks like plenty of room on my RE but I've not tried turning a wrench with a 3' extension on it yet.
Driving; flat nose buses have the steer wheels BEHIND the driver. You pull into an intersection about half way , then turn the steering wheel. I like it but I'm comfortable in anything with more than 2 wheels. On the same chassis length, the wheel base will be shorter on flat noses and smaller turning radius. You won't be making any U turns on 2 lane roads tho.
Height; 74 or 78 inches interior. Mine is 74" at the moment. In the middle of a 15" raise. Blue Bird love rivets. Thomas/International loves screws.
Thomas bus windows tilt inward. Raises are usually done under the windows else the ceiling get narrow.
Copy/paste/post.