Towing?

[navonifamily]

Yep I'm full of questions..

Towing whats the capacity?
Where do you get a hitch?

I'm currently flat tow but really want the Jeep back on our trailer.

[karrlot]

What vehicle are you using to tow?

[navonifamily]

Well right now we use a 1993 Airstream Legacy which will donate all it's RV systems to our Skoolie build.
Just looking for info a School bus towing capacity. Our travel plans call to mainly do old school 2 lanes around the US and very, very limited freeway. We love the slower pace.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by navonifamily

Well right now we use a 1993 Airstream Legacy which will donate all it's RV systems to our Skoolie build.
Just looking for info a School bus towing capacity. Our travel plans call to mainly do old school 2 lanes around the US and very, very limited freeway. We love the slower pace.

There are many different buses on different chassis with different engines and transmissions.

Any different combination will tow differently.

If you Want to tow a jeep I would recommend that you look for a bus with a big engine and overdrive transmission. 8.3 or DT466 engine and MD3060 or 2000 series transmission.

[navonifamily]

So far the 3 we are looking at all have the DT466 in them

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by navonifamily

So far the 3 we are looking at all have the DT466 in them

What transmissions?

[Tigerman67]

I don't think that many of the buses will ever have published towing ratings since they weren't originally designed for that, but most of them are basically medium duty trucks with a long body. If you don't mind the slower pace, then towing should work for you. Less powerful motors will mean slower towing. Towing with a AT545 is not ideal, and you would have to be very observant of the trans temp. But some of that depends on what you are going to tow.

As far as hitches, a few places will shy away from anything that they can't look up in their computer and won't want to work with you. But there are lots of options for hitches. I would recommend for any hitch install you stick with certified welders, as a hitch isn't something you want a buddy to weld on with his Harbor Freight welder.

When looking for hitches, the RV world has some universal hitches, usually class III, I think several of those I saw had adjustable center bars to accommodate the different widths, and they could be bolt on or weld on depending on model.

There are some heavy duty universal weld on hitches as well, that will mount on just about anything. I know I personally was looking at both draw-tite and Curt models of those hitches. I can post the part numbers if you aren't sure which ones I was talking about.

You might also get lucky and determine your frame is the same width as some common vehicles, such as mine is the same width as the Ford Super Duty trucks, so there are some bolt on that could work as well that you can look up using the Ford info.

Keep in mind, your frame is significantly higher than most hitches are going to be expecting, so you will probably have to add a lot of drop to tow something. You could also mount the hitch lower as well in the case of some weld ons, but you risk scraping very easily depending on how much the back of the bus overhangs the rear axle.

[2kool4skool]

I tow 4000 plus lbs often up and down 6% grades for the last 3 years with a 5.9 Cummins and a 545. The new then trans fluid hasn't changed color or odor.

5000 lb Curt universal hitch.

YRMV.

[Drew Bru]

We were able to bolt on a Curt 14082 Class 4 hitch to our Amtran bus. No welding required, we just had to drill a few new holes. We flat tow our Xterra (curb weight ~4500lbs). As Tigerman67 mentioned, you'll likely need a drop hitch. We learned, the hard way, that if the tow bar is too low you'll scrap the hell out of it on dips in the road. We need to get a new base plate for our Xterra to raise the tow bar a bit. Something to keep in mind while you're planning all of this out.

[Hvbuzz]

Perfect tow rig
20170624_194833 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr

Dt466, 7spd spicer.
Made my own hitch and trailer. Receiver is tucked under bumper, and use a 6" drop.
20141113_120000 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr

[navonifamily]

Originally Posted by Tigerman67

I don't think that many of the buses will ever have published towing ratings since they weren't originally designed for that, but most of them are basically medium duty trucks with a long body. If you don't mind the slower pace, then towing should work for you. Less powerful motors will mean slower towing. Towing with a AT545 is not ideal, and you would have to be very observant of the trans temp. But some of that depends on what you are going to tow.

As far as hitches, a few places will shy away from anything that they can't look up in their computer and won't want to work with you. But there are lots of options for hitches. I would recommend for any hitch install you stick with certified welders, as a hitch isn't something you want a buddy to weld on with his Harbor Freight welder.

When looking for hitches, the RV world has some universal hitches, usually class III, I think several of those I saw had adjustable center bars to accommodate the different widths, and they could be bolt on or weld on depending on model.

There are some heavy duty universal weld on hitches as well, that will mount on just about anything. I know I personally was looking at both draw-tite and Curt models of those hitches. I can post the part numbers if you aren't sure which ones I was talking about.

You might also get lucky and determine your frame is the same width as some common vehicles, such as mine is the same width as the Ford Super Duty trucks, so there are some bolt on that could work as well that you can look up using the Ford info.

Keep in mind, your frame is significantly higher than most hitches are going to be expecting, so you will probably have to add a lot of drop to tow something. You could also mount the hitch lower as well in the case of some weld ons, but you risk scraping very easily depending on how much the back of the bus overhangs the rear axle.

We tow a Lifted 2 door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. And it might be flat tow or it might be on a custom flat trailer. Being we wheel I already have my tow bar mounted high (About 28" from ground level)
And yes part numbers would be great. We plan to pull slower and stay mainly old school 2 lanes as we travel.

[navonifamily]

Lots of great info here. Thank you all

[HandyMatt941]

Originally Posted by navonifamily

Yep I'm full of questions..

Towing whats the capacity?
Where do you get a hitch?

I'm currently flat tow but really want the Jeep back on our trailer.

Just towed like a boss. Cross country TAMPA to N.CALI. Custom welded hitch, double axel trailer car transporter, Bluebird TC1000 citybus 59 Cummins 2000 series Allison Trans. In the middle of summer Phoenix was 120 degrees! Up mountains down mountains. Pulled the thermistat block never got hotter than 180 degrees.....Poon-Tang is a beast!!!

[reedy]

You Might want to know . I used to tow a Datsun truck and haul a Motorcycle on the front bumper of a 66 pas. GMC. At 65 feet long there was one place between Chattanooga and New Orleans that you could pull over. Lucky it was a truck stop. Just plan your trip.

[Mekanic]

Seeing how a Jeep is most likely less weight than a full bus load of students. I reall can’t see there bing a problem if the bus is in good working order.

You would deftly need a custom made hitch.

[IWC Bus]

Still, is everyone having a custom tow hitch made or is there a brand we can pick up?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by IWC Bus

Still, is everyone having a custom tow hitch made or is there a brand we can pick up?

There are many universal mount hitches out there that will bolt up to your frame rails. I can make my own for about 25% of the cost of a store bought one. Curt and DrawTite both have units that will work.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by IWC Bus

Still, is everyone having a custom tow hitch made or is there a brand we can pick up?

We got a Curt Class IV hitch that bolted right on.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We got a Curt Class IV hitch that bolted right on.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is so cool that a common Ford/GM. Pickup truck part fits the frame of a bus.