Non-affiliated buses for sale - thread

[TheRollingBones]

LOL! This owner needs to be very skilled at body work restoration (rust).

[Gregory The Scot]

This one looks like a mid-size bus. 1987 Ford E350 front, odometer says 38k miles and auction owner says it's accurate.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...45&acctid=6026

Also looks different from most since it has dual rear axles with only 2 wheels per axle.

[halsey]

Interesting 4x4 in WY

https://kalispell.craigslist.org/rvs...967220539.html

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by Gregory The Scot

This one looks like a mid-size bus. 1987 Ford E350 front, odometer says 38k miles and auction owner says it's accurate.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...45&acctid=6026

Also looks different from most since it has dual rear axles with only 2 wheels per axle.

Those tri-axle mini-buses were sort of popular for a while until the operators discovered what garage queens they became. Our church owned one that was on a Chevy G-3500 chassis. We spent more $$$ on that bus for maintenance and repairs than the other three buses and two vans combined.


We finally had to sell the bus for junk because the brake system on the tag axle went out of service and no one, and I mean no one including the bus manufacturer, was able to get parts to fix it. The OEM vendor who supplied the system had gone out of business and there was no update for the system. The bus manufacturer said that if we brought the bus back to the factory they could re-engineer the brake system and make it work again. Let's see, a minimum of $4,000.00 to ship the bus on a truck (remember the brakes were red tagged) back to IN, a minimum of $1,000.00 to fix the brakes, and at least $2,000.00 to drive the bus back to WA state. All on a bus that on a good day might have been worth $5,000.00.



What I am saying is to stay as far away from one of those tag axle buses as you can get because they are a very deep money pit!

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by halsey

Interesting 4x4 in WY

https://kalispell.craigslist.org/rvs...967220539.html

I have seen a lot of different buses over the years. This one has to take the cake!


In my experience the Type 'D' FE buses are THE worst buses on the road when the roads get slick. With so much weight bias in front of the front axle most of the time there is more weight on the front axle than there is on the drive axle. That much weight forward means the rear end never had traction and the front would oversteer on slick roads. Adding a driven front axle may have helped with the traction issues but it sure wouldn't have helped the weight bias towards the front.


It would be interesting to see how the driven front axle works and how many drop down steps it must have in order to get in the service door. I bet the bottom step is closer to 36" off the ground than it is to 24" off the ground.

[Gregory The Scot]

I've got debt to pay off before I get my skoolie, but I really like the look of this one, especially for the price. Currently at $175, 1 day left in the auction.

1989 GMC, seats already out (I assume it carried equipment not kids), 111k miles on it, from Virginia and don't see obvious rust on it. Ad says it ran before it was taken out of service.

Really, I bet that you could buy this bus and sell the tires for more than you paid for it.

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/au...ew?auc=2425077

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Gregory The Scot

I've got debt to pay off before I get my skoolie, but I really like the look of this one, especially for the price. Currently at $175, 1 day left in the auction.

1989 GMC, seats already out (I assume it carried equipment not kids), 111k miles on it, from Virginia and don't see obvious rust on it. Ad says it ran before it was taken out of service.

Really, I bet that you could buy this bus and sell the tires for more than you paid for it.

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/au...ew?auc=2425077

Ran when taken out of service, 15 years ago. Bus has a reserve price, so don't get excited about how low it is. If I were interested, I would certainly go look at it and bring a battery to get it started. If I couldn't start it, I'd walk. AT 545, makes me look away.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Gregory The Scot

I've got debt to pay off before I get my skoolie, but I really like the look of this one, especially for the price. Currently at $175, 1 day left in the auction.

1989 GMC, seats already out (I assume it carried equipment not kids), 111k miles on it, from Virginia and don't see obvious rust on it. Ad says it ran before it was taken out of service.

Really, I bet that you could buy this bus and sell the tires for more than you paid for it.

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/au...ew?auc=2425077

That bus has a Detroit 8.2 engine and an Allison AT-545 transmission. Probably one of the least desirable drive train you are likely to find in a school bus. I wouldn't get too excited about it.

I was browsing commercial truck trader earlier and saw several decent looking buses with the T444e and AT-545 got under $3000. Still not a dream combination but much better than the 8.2.

Take your time and find a bus that fits your needs. I spent 18 months browsing the auction sites daily and bidding on buses that fit my criteria. After bidding on a number of buses and loosing I finally had success. I was the winning bidder on a bus with the Cummins 8.3 and Allison MD-3060 for $3450. It has around 170k miles and drives great.

Good luck.

[magnakansas]

1999 blue bird, flat nose, front engine. 40 ft long, 19.5 ft wheel base. seats out. no air conditioning systems. three heaters, one firewall, two in the back. air brakes. 24 valve cummins 5.9 activity bus. four under storage lockers, each about 6.5 feet long. allison 643 transmission missing tag on axle so I dont see a rear gear ratio... but again this was an activity bus. 60 gallon fuel tank mounted in the rear between the frame rails. this is not a arizona rust free bus, but I dont see any real problems. probably good idea to replace air tanks, two of them. transmission oil/water cooler is pretty corroded. probably good idea to replace all hoses. coolant and oil hoses. fuel lift pump has been replaced recently. some exhaust tubing replaced with flex tubing and does not look like a good long term fix. add for it is on topeka craigslist for $2500 ... this is not my bus ... I am putting the word out about it.

[Gregory The Scot]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

That bus has a Detroit 8.2 engine and an Allison AT-545 transmission. Probably one of the least desirable drive train you are likely to find in a school bus. I wouldn't get too excited about it.

I was browsing commercial truck trader earlier and saw several decent looking buses with the T444e and AT-545 got under $3000. Still not a dream combination but much better than the 8.2.

Take your time and find a bus that fits your needs. I spent 18 months browsing the auction sites daily and bidding on buses that fit my criteria. After bidding on a number of buses and loosing I finally had success. I was the winning bidder on a bus with the Cummins 8.3 and Allison MD-3060 for $3450. It has around 170k miles and drives great.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I'm feeling a little worn out with the daily grind, and though I know that bus life wouldn't solve all my problems, I'd love to travel more even if I'm still working remotely. I'm also the type of person who wants to research everything before doing anything, so here I am on the forums and checking on auctions occasionally even if I'm not ready to bid yet.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Gregory The Scot

Thanks for the advice. I'm feeling a little worn out with the daily grind, and though I know that bus life wouldn't solve all my problems, I'd love to travel more even if I'm still working remotely. I'm also the type of person who wants to research everything before doing anything, so here I am on the forums and checking on auctions occasionally even if I'm not ready to bid yet.

Take your time and read through the builds and travel threads before you pull the trigger on a bus. Figure out what you need in a bus then start shopping.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Gregory The Scot

I've got debt to pay off before I get my skoolie, but I really like the look of this one, especially for the price. Currently at $175, 1 day left in the auction.

1989 GMC, seats already out (I assume it carried equipment not kids), 111k miles on it, from Virginia and don't see obvious rust on it. Ad says it ran before it was taken out of service.

Really, I bet that you could buy this bus and sell the tires for more than you paid for it.

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/au...ew?auc=2425077

It's up to around $1400/ Bus was in service for 29 years, pulled from service last year. Used tires are not as easy to see as you might think. I've had a set for sale for $1K for 6 months on CL.

[PNW_Steve]

Over $1500 now.

Has the value of scrap gone up that much?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Over $1500 now.

Has the value of scrap gone up that much?

Which one are you looking at, the 89 is still at $1325, with 2 hours to go. Scrap value is way down. When I scrapped minevehicles were paying $7/100lbs. Scrap was $6. right now it's at half that. I made money on that bus then, now I would lose money.

[brokedown]

I see a bunch of t444e/at545 buses selling in Florida for the same kind of money. I wouldn't give that 8.2 a second look. While the t444e might not be the most powerful engine they used in a bus, you can at least rely on it to run.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Which one are you looking at, the 89 is still at $1325, with 2 hours to go. Scrap value is way down. When I scrapped minevehicles were paying $7/100lbs. Scrap was $6. right now it's at half that. I made money on that bus then, now I would lose money.

Don't mind me. Just mild hallucinations...

I clicked on the link and thought I saw $1525...

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by brokedown

I see a bunch of t444e/at545 buses selling in Florida for the same kind of money. I wouldn't give that 8.2 a second look. While the t444e might not be the most powerful engine they used in a bus, you can at least rely on it to run.

Keeping in mind this bus was in service for 29 years says something. Surely the 110k mile is probaly closer to 300k. I'd consider this bus before a worn out cannabalized rust bucket from Fla. that's 10 years newer.

[brokedown]

I might agree on a worn out rust bucket, but the ones I saw looked to be in pretty good shape. Just base model, no frills, 200k or so miles each.

[Kubla]

crown for sale somewhere, not sure
https://skagit.craigslist.org/rvs/d/...953772077.html

[EastCoastCB]

I'm semi-affiliated as I'm the caretaker for this bus, but if anyone wants a low mile, non-rusty, high headroom, pre-emissions Thomas hit me or Kubla up. Nuke Bus needs a new home.