DT466 vs. 5.9 Cummins

[BandK]

On the hunt for a bus and I've read a lot of back and forth on the net about the DT466 vs. 5.9L Cummins and wanted to get some feedback from experienced Skoolie Members on the topic?

What is the best drivetrain from front to back for a Bus Conversion?

Flat Nose vs. Hood also?


Thank you, BandK

[SDR76]

Flat or hood?---Preference.
Cummins 5.9 vs DT466. --Preference (and a bit of power).

welcome to the forum... I'm sure better answers are on their way.

[Alan N]

Originally Posted by BandK

On the hunt for a bus and I've read a lot of back and forth on the net about the DT466 vs. 5.9L Cummins and wanted to get some feedback from experienced Skoolie Members on the topic?

What is the best drivetrain from front to back for a Bus Conversion?

Flat Nose vs. Hood also?


Thank you, BandK

Welcome!
The DT466 is an excellent medium duty truck engine.
The 5.9L Cummins is an excellent pickup truck engine.
The best choice of drivetrain depends on what you want to do with your bus.
Horsepower and tall gears are nice if you want to run down the highway.


However many people seem to be quite happy with less power and lower top speed.
Get a bus with the engine and transmission you want rather than thinking you can swap things around later, unless you like spending money.
After changing engine and transmission in my bus I could have easily bought a bus that would do what I want for less money.
In my opinion the back of the bus is the best place for the engine.
Drive as many different types of bus as you can before you make up your mind about what you want.

[ntrain6942]

Its not even close, the DT466 is superior in everyway to the 5.9 Cummins(and the 5.9 is a great engine regardless)........I have em both.

[SDR76]

Originally Posted by ntrain6942

Its not even close, the DT466 is superior in everyway to the 5.9 Cummins(and the 5.9 is a great engine regardless)........I have em both.

Except mileage... If you're looking for anything with any size, Im agreeing with This post. Go with the DT466. There are other smaller sized DT's out there too, but get the big one. I have a 5.9 Cummins in my Bus, (30ish foot FE BB). I wish I had the 466 instead. My buddy just drove from Kent WA to Utah in an empty 30-ish foot Blue bird. Claims he kept it around 60, and got 9mpg the whole way, (and still wish he had a bit more pull on the hills)... As for my 5.9, I will likely do some mild pump work, a little injector work, and compound the turbos (it NEEDS it more than I want to admit)....

[GreyCoyote]

I'm a total, unabashed DT466 fan-boy.

I just drove my 1998 IH/BBIRD 71 pax skoolie 5k miles to burningman and back. Other than replacing a fan clutch (which was an original, factory part according to tye service records), there was zero drama. The damn thing is a Hoss! Tackles hills with a long grunt and a turbo whine. Excellent engine. Highly recommended.

[cadillackid]

also remember ALL of these engines came in various variants.. esp the DT's..

my bus has a jasper DT-360 in it which is set up for 185 HP @ 2700 RPM..

there were DT-360s that only pushed out 165 HP.. and there was a 195 HP variant..

the DT-466 also has variants so look up the year and application before you just say "oh its a DT-466"..

I have no idea about the cummins other than I know they are deemed to be very solid / trusted and reliable engines...

-Christopher

[Tango]

Roger that. Nearly all diesels are built in a number of different configurations. Some are set up as pumps & power plants (off road use) while others within a specific designation may be available in a wide range of HP packages for different applications.

For example...the little mechanical Cummins 4BT like I put in my rig can be found from 55 HP up to 170 (mine is 135). Same displacement, just various factory tweakings of the injectors, pump settings and turbo.

So as Cadillac notes...you would be well advised to determine exactly how any engine of interest is configured.

[cadillackid]

in a way thats why i miss gassers... it wasnt uncommon for me to drive a car with a 210HP 350 chevy into my garage and then a couple weeks later back out of my garage with a 475 HP (same 350 chevy)....

and then of course soon return the same garage with a 5 gallon bucket of gears and metal and bits and back out with a BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION!..

-Christopher

[Bangbus]

Originally Posted by Tango

Roger that. Nearly all diesels are built in a number of different configurations. Some are set up as pumps & power plants (off road use) while others within a specific designation may be available in a wide range of HP packages for different applications.

For example...the little mechanical Cummins 4BT like I put in my rig can be found from 55 HP up to 170 (mine is 135). Same displacement, just various factory tweakings of the injectors, pump settings and turbo.

So as Cadillac notes...you would be well advised to determine exactly how any engine of interest is configured.

Also what am I looking for to see how the engine is configured?
If I’m also looking at a dt466
What would I specifically look for the rear ended gears or the trans combo?

[brokedown]

Provided a bus has an engine in the normal cummins/navistar list (5.9, 8.3, t444, t466) i'd be much more interested in the transmission and read end gearing than deciding between the motors. I drive in a variety of conditions across the US. If I was planning to mostly tow up and down mountains or something special I'd look to a bigger engine.

[HappyInTN]

Originally Posted by BandK

On the hunt for a bus and I've read a lot of back and forth on the net about the DT466 vs. 5.9L Cummins and wanted to get some feedback from experienced Skoolie Members on the topic?

What is the best drivetrain from front to back for a Bus Conversion?

Flat Nose vs. Hood also?


Thank you, BandK

Both are great. The DT466 is nicknamed the "legend" and its well deserved. It has more power and could last longer not having been over strained its whole life..

The 5.9 is about bullet proof itself, however, and finding someone to work on a 5.9 is soooo easy comparatively.

Dog nose- cuts trough the wind better which can save your fuel $ and the bus will shimmy less from driving at hwy speeds.

Flat nose- is really for your bigger busses giving your more usable interior space to convert.

Good luck.

[SolomonEagle]

I have a dt360 bus and a Cummins 5.9 in my truck. Dt engines are more Stout and have a wet sleeve design but I feel that the Cummins can be over heated and" ran ragged" better than dt engines due to not having the wet sleeve and oil cooler to fail. Also, the aftermarket for the 5.9 is huge and everyone knows how to work on them.small engine though and likely won't t have as long of a life in a bus as they will in a pickup. Dt's are also way easier to rebuild, though who is rebuilding school bus engines. Go with a 466 if you can find one.dont pass up a good 5.9 either if that's what you come across.

[PNW_Steve]

No replacement for displacement.....

Both good motors in their applications but for moving 25k-30k lbs around I would definitely lean towards the DT-466.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big Cummins fan. I have owned 3- 5.9's and an 8.3 . Love the 5.9 in my pickup. I have run over 25k # gross and, even with (longevity reducing) mods to make it pull stronger, I have occasionally wished for more cubic inches.

[EastCoastCB]

Just throwing this out there- I realize that the discussion is cummins vs navistar but the Cat 3126 is a nice engine too. Compact and powerful for a 7.2 liter. They're in a ton of buses and they usually go pretty cheap. I like mine.

[2RideTheGlobe]

Bangbus:
You and I are looking at the same time for the same bus, in the same place, I think.
With respect to hp variants of the DT466, there should be a tag on top of it that lists hp (and torque?). I've looked at a few in 30' buses lately that were 170hp.

[cadillackid]

definitely look at the sticker on your DT-466 (e).. if its an E it very well may be a low spec as noted by 2ride, the 170 HP variants were common.. theoretically Navistar can turn up the power on these.. however if there is an AT545 behind a 170 HP 466E chances are even if navistar will turn up the computer it would wreck the transmission rather quickly. while the T-444E was considered the "budget" engine, from what ive been told by people working for schools is that many schools wanted only DT-466's and when navistar released the 'E' they allowed fro a lower spec that cost a bit less and a cheap AT545 could be use as the transmission.. Caterpillar and Cummins also had lower-spec inline 6 engines as competition with the capability of being weak enough to support an AT545.



I know for navistar as mentioned you can get the VIN, call a dealer and they will tell you the HP spec of that engine and what trans is behind it.

-Christopher

[Bangbus]

I know man we’ve been both ready to buy and think we got the same things in mind.
Have you seen the 54 passengers in New Jersey on gov deals. They have about 18 hours left. Been sitting since June though.