Skoolie actual weights (UVW)

[waywardfool]

Anybody scaled their skoolies, either before or after conversion?

I'm just hoping for a sampling of GVWR as compared to UVW (unloaded vehicle weight). I can guess (like 100# per skinnybutt taken off of GVWR), but would like some real-world numbers.

[lapeer20m]

i put my old bus on the cat scale and i think it was right around 12 tons with the jacuzzi half full. maye it was only 22K pounds, i can't remember for sure. 72 passenger ford/ward conventional dog nose front end

[waywardfool]

that bus probably grossed (gvwr) at 30k, so that'l leave 6-8k for passengers, about right for skinnybutts at 100 lbs each (72 pass, plus a couple hundred lb driver). Just doesn't seem they'd run that close to max capacity, weight-wise.

But then again, it's probably designed close like that so school systems would not do something like put a bus-trailer behind each one to haul another 50 kids.

[Castro]

When my bus was delivered they stopped at a CAT scale and weighed it. The bus had 1/4 tank of fuel and 1 driver. It had a bed and a small wooden partition built as a kitchen counter and two closets. No bathroom, tanks, or other heavy stuff. Basically it was empty save the driver and fuel. It weighed in at 16,500lbs. The GVWR on the bus was 26,500. This was a 91 International Thomas-Built that was almost identical to lapeer's (before I sold it).

[waywardfool]

how about GCWV ratings? Any buses have that stamped, or just GVWR? What happens if the data plate does not give that #, can you still *legally* tow, if total wt of the combo exceeds GVWR (in absense of GCWR)?

[the_experience03]

I'm pretty sure my bus weighs more than the 18,000 lbs tax base it's registered for, but it's still a whole lot more honest than the 5000 lbs tax base the guy at the DMV suggested I register it as to save a buck or two. I'm not sure about the GCWR as my bus doesn't have it stamped on the plate, nor does the book give any insight. I think a good starting point would be finding out what the tranismission's max GVWR is. I'm pretty sure the AT545 is the weak link in my bus in terms of towing.

Regardless, I will not exceed 10,000 lbs with a trailer as that requires a CDL. Also, if the combination exceed 26,000 in Minnesota you need the CDL. Basically that limits me to an 8000 lbs trailer with my current plates. Realistically the heaviest thing I can ever forsee myself towing is my truck (on street tires) with some spare parts, tools, and the swampers in the bed. GVWR on the truck is 5350 in stock form. I'm sure I've added plenty of weight with my various modifications and I'm pretty sure it COULD haul more with the suspension I've designed, but I really don't think it weighs more than 5000 lbs right now.

IIRC, the "passengers" on a bus are allowed 13 inches of room for their cottom side and are allowed to weigh right around 125-135 lbs. You could use that as an estimate of weight. Funny....our buses are built on similar chassis than a lot of straight trucks, dumps, etc, but seem to haul way more day in and day out than any single axle gravel hauler could think about.

[sportyrick]

21,900 in it's finished form with 2 people and the cargo area empty, 30.500 sticker GVW. Just went on a canoe trip and estimated the eight people with all their camping gear, coolers, tents, beer and 500 jello shots came to 4,000#. Probably about the same with bikes in the back. I'm still under 26,000 by a hair. Does the bus get lighter when the gals take their tops off? Sportyrick

[the_experience03]

Originally Posted by sportyrick

500 jello shots

[RadarRick]

18,125 lbs.

[soused moose]

Being a helpful chap who believes in the advancement of Science ….
I called my friends up over at MIT and asked them to run an experiment for you SportyRick….

So armed with one school bus , 35 cheer leaders and 500 raspberry jello shots …they proceeded to find out if the Bus gets lighter or not….

After 80 jello shots …. 50 percent of the Cheerleaders took their tops off …but the bus did not get any lighter.
After 150 jello shots …49 percent more of the girls whipped their tops off and one passed out….but still no weight difference.

After 229 jellos shots were consumed ..this is where things started to get very interesting , from a scientific standpoint that is.
All the girls left standing …took their bottoms off . ..to the delight of the scientific team , who ran around doing scientific things.
After copious research …they told me , indeed the bus did get a lot lighter.
They’re not quite sure why … but they’ll run it by the Chaos Math department next week …

After that amazing scientific news , my phone went dead… so I anxiously waited for updated info on this experiment…
15 minutes went by ….nada …
30 minutes went by …nada….
At 45 minutes … I couldn’t take the suspense any more and gave them a call.
Larry answered with …. “Leave us the hell alone , were busy “ …and hung up on me.
I’m not sure what that meant …most likely they were doing another experiment …

[the_experience03]

Originally Posted by soused moose

After 80 jello shots …. 50 percent of the Cheerleaders took their tops off …but the bus did not get any lighter.
After 150 jello shots …49 percent more of the girls whipped their tops off and one passed out….but still no weight difference.

Is that 49% of the remaining 50% or 49% from the original 100%? One would yield a bus almost completely full of half nekkid cheerleaders while the other would yield about 75% nekkidicity which is still respectable, but you know....

[Elliot Naess]

1981 IH BB Conventional, MV 404 gasoline engine, 545 Allison. 11 rows of seats, 35 feet bumper to bumper. When I drove it home from First Student it weighed 6500 on the front axle and 11700 on the rear for a total of 18200. GVWR is 27080. Those are the facts.

But the scientific approach sounds more fun!

[the_experience03]

That makes me nervous since your dimensions are the same as mine basically, but I have a lot of conversion stuff installed and a big, heavy diesel engine on top of that with plates that are only good to 18,000 lbs. Oh well....no cop in his right mind would pull THAT bus over.

[Elliot Naess]

1992 Bluebird TC2000, 84 pax, 40 feet bumper to bumper. GVWR 31.000 lbs. Weighed 19.000 driving it home when I bought it. 9.500 on front axle with me in the seat and 9.700 on rear. Half fuel.

[SeanF]

1993 AmTran/IHC, 30'

GVWR 29,500 lbs
Post-conversion weight: 22,000 lbs