Bus Find with 8.3 Cummins & MT647?????
Our family of 6 is searching for our bus to convert to RV. We have limited our search to a 40' high-top RE with DT466, DT530 or Cummins 8.3. We are looking for 5/6 speed with OD and lockout. We found one within 4 hours of our house which is somewhat of a miracle. It even has a couple of our dream features like tinted windows, underbelly storage, and air ride. It has an 8.3 Cummins but a MT647 tranny. 1992 Thomas with 141,000 miles. We kind of had our hearts set on a 3060. I have been searching for info on this transmission with little success. Would we regret having a 4 speed transmission? We won't be driving full time, but we do hope to explore the entire US over the next 5 years so we need it to be competent on the highways and over mountains. We MAY need to have a toad at times, too.
This bus is already converted, too, which is an unexpected find. The ceiling wasn't insulated, however, so likely we'd gut the whole thing anyway. The asking price is $7500 which is more than I'd spend on a bus right out of service but we'd be able to reuse a lot of the materials so maybe it would make up for the price.
Thoughts????? Too old? Keep looking for different transmission?? We have been researching this to death, but the thought of actually popping on something makes me sick to my stomach a bit. We made a bad purchase about 4 years ago of a vintage 1970 Dodge Travco money-pit and feel a bit gun-shy now.
Thank you for any input!
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