The In Between TC-2000 Handybus

[o1marc]

Good to hear it ran on 17 year old fuel, kinda shuts up the bad talk of old fuel 2-3 years old being bad. For a second I thought you did all that work today. One trick many don't know about for removing seat bolts with one person, use a strong impact and tighten them. If they are already snug, it will snap the head off them. Nice work.

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by Larrybird

I have a 1998 5.9 12 valve tc2000 as well but mine is 34’ long. Ive heard mixed reviews on the bus due to underpowered issues. I just bought mine a month ago but am trying to confirm that i can get this thing to do more than 55mph at 2500rpms. Trying to come up with a plan to do so because Ide like to drive it to california from Massachussetts and obviously have mountains to go through and heard horro stories about transmission going because of overheating. Would love to hear from other 5.9 12 valve guys with bigger busses. Btw it has an allison at545 tranny

Mine does 55 at about 2100. So I would guess my gear ratio is a little different than yours. There are many ways to get more power out of a 5.9, but that won't really help the RPM Vs highway speed issue. On my short list is replacing the 545 with an Allison 1000/2000 transmission so I get an overdrive / lock up type transmission. If you search the forum here you will find a bunch of people who have done it.

The other option is swapping rear end gears to something numerically lower than what you have now. It's cheaper but won't fix the no overdrive non lock up trans that the 545 is.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Larrybird

I have a 1998 5.9 12 valve tc2000 as well but mine is 34’ long. Ive heard mixed reviews on the bus due to underpowered issues. I just bought mine a month ago but am trying to confirm that i can get this thing to do more than 55mph at 2500rpms. Trying to come up with a plan to do so because Ide like to drive it to california from Massachussetts and obviously have mountains to go through and heard horro stories about transmission going because of overheating. Would love to hear from other 5.9 12 valve guys with bigger busses. Btw it has an allison at545 tranny

Unfortunately your bus is most likely geared for a school route, which means ring and pinion replacement to a more favorable highway gear. If it's in the budget a swap to a 643, 2000, or 3000 series trans will make a huge difference.

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Good to hear it ran on 17 year old fuel, kinda shuts up the bad talk of old fuel 2-3 years old being bad. For a second I thought you did all that work today. One trick many don't know about for removing seat bolts with one person, use a strong impact and tighten them. If they are already snug, it will snap the head off them. Nice work.

That is a great idea ! next time, hopefully there will not be a next time.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Trooper2

That is a great idea ! next time, hopefully there will not be a next time.

If you want to go family camping, you'll want another bus for sure. Might as well just plan on it. But think of how far ahead you will be before you even start that build.

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by Larrybird

Same happened to me with the seats.lol i got sent to the hospital after iwas prying and grinding a bolt head and it came free shortly after handing my glasses to my friend who was doing the grinding. Fml lucky im ok

Now in my late 40s I am impressed I still have eyesight in both eyes and all my fingers are attached and work properly. These days if I don't have my safety glasses and gloves on I don't get to work. Glad you made it out ok.

[Trooper2]

Was able to get the shoe molding finished up on my floor last night. Since it wasn't raining I decided to get started on the heater installation.

I have friends who have had zero issues with the amazon Chinese knock off of the Planar type heaters, and ones that had to get two or three of the them until they had one work reliably. Part of me wanted to take the gamble, the other part didn't want to hear about how the heater stopped working and can you please fix it.

The benches I built into the sides of the bus serve a few functions
Seating for the classroom
Storage for supplies
Heater / Battery / Water System Distribution

The first bench on the passenger side overlaps the busses fuel tank. I wanted to try and keep the fuel line as short as possible between the tank / pump / heater.

Working above and below the bus I laid out the cut out for the thimble I purchased with the Planar 44D heater.





Cut the through the plywood subfloor with a multi-tool then used a jig saw with metal blade to cut through the sheet metal floor. I was able to place the thimble between two of the flooring supports. One of which ties to the hoop for the roof.

I painted the edges of the plywood then bedded the thimble in butyl caulk. Used self tapping screws to fasten thimble through the subfloor.



Cleaned the area around the penetration and caulked.



Heater bolted down, tonight I will install the small amount of duct work and intake / exhaust.

[Trooper2]

My weekend was full of family / life activities so I spent a few late weeknights getting the wiring finished up.

The short list of the electrical, there are minimal loads on this this system so it is not overly large or complex. Plus you can always upgrade as needs change.

2- 100AH AGM batteries, yes they are AGM, but they are new and basically free from a friend in the UPS industry.
Simple 40A progressive dynamics RV panel for distribution and charging the AGM batteries. Charger function not wired to panel, but wired to line side of ATS with a 15A breaker so it only functions when the bus is plugged into shore power or run off a generator.
Renogy Battery Monitor
Progressive dynamics ATS
2000A

[Trooper2]

[QUOTE=Trooper2;459310]My weekend was full of family / life activities so I spent a few late weeknights getting the wiring finished up.

The short list of the electrical, there are minimal loads on this this system so it is not overly large or complex. Plus I can always upgrade when needs change.

Main parts of the system

2- 100AH AGM batteries, yes they are AGM, but they are new and basically free from a friend in the UPS industry.
Simple 40A progressive dynamics RV panel for distribution and charging the AGM batteries. Charger function not wired to panel, but wired to line side of ATS with a 15A breaker so it only functions when the bus is plugged into shore power or run off a generator.
Renogy Battery Monitor
Progressive Dynamics ATS
2000W inverter, nothing fancy but one of the better ones on amazon in terms of failures, or lack of failures.

[Trooper2]

Simple panel with battery monitor, inverter control, water pump switch and lighting dimmer.



Battery Compartment



Panel / ATS/ Inverter

Yes I vacuumed all the dust and chips out

[Trooper2]

So I bought one of these.....



Then started to look at the connections, while it came with hose thread adapters, I noticed all the threads were strait and not tapered like NPT would be. All the fitting were marked BSP, in googling it I found it was unique and along the lines of whitworth. Some of you are already laughing if you know about those.

Fortunately it came with the hose adapters as BSP to NPT fittings are not that easy to find, yes you can get them, just in a few weeks.

So I grabbed a male and female HT to 1/2NPT fittings and some PEX swivels.



The gas line appears to be 3/8 flare so that won't be hard to attach a line to.

Next the venting , because 4-1/4" is standard where ?

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Larrybird

I have a 1998 5.9 12 valve tc2000 as well but mine is 34’ long. Ive heard mixed reviews on the bus due to underpowered issues. I just bought mine a month ago but am trying to confirm that i can get this thing to do more than 55mph at 2500rpms. Trying to come up with a plan to do so because Ide like to drive it to california from Massachussetts and obviously have mountains to go through and heard horro stories about transmission going because of overheating. Would love to hear from other 5.9 12 valve guys with bigger busses. Btw it has an allison at545 tranny

My Blue Bird is 40' with a 12v, 5.9 and it will do close to 80 at redline. I have the 3000 series tranny though, 6th still locked out, and a 5.38 rear end.
It's not fast getting there though.

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

My Blue Bird is 40' with a 12v, 5.9 and it will do close to 80 at redline. I have the 3000 series tranny though, 6th still locked out, and a 5.38 rear end.
It's not fast getting there though.

The 5.9 in my short bus gets me to 55 plenty fast, but with the 545 that is where it ends. I am gathering the parts to install a 2000 series Allison and related parts to make the bus more highway friendly.

[Trooper2]

Had some time to install the drawers and cabinet doors.

[Rwnielsen]

Looking good. Cabinet work intimidates me something awful. It's impressive to see others do it well.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

Looking good. Cabinet work intimidates me something awful. It's impressive to see others do it well.

I can buiild an engine, a transmission, an Air-conditioner, even write the software to integrate everything together.. but I cant build a wood box to save myself.. let alone cabinets!!



I have a special appreciation for those who can work with Wood andc do it well!

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I can buiild an engine, a transmission, an Air-conditioner, even write the software to integrate everything together.. but I cant build a wood box to save myself.. let alone cabinets!!



I have a special appreciation for those who can work with Wood andc do it well!

In my career I started a commercial millwork company and built just about anything you can imagine under the sun. I honestly had more fun getting the CNC equipment configured and the software that took the designs and created the code to run them.

I envy your posts on the software and data points / understanding of things. I have done that stuff before and always felt I never really got it right, did it work yes, could it have worked better? yes.

When I was younger I swapped lots of GM LS motors into jeeps, sand rails, earlier GM products. This was before the time of pre-fab conversion harnesses, stand alone ECM's. I would wire it all up, send the ECM's to a friend who would disable VATS make a few other changes he felt were needed and send it back. I have no idea what he did, it just worked when I plugged it in.

[Rwnielsen]

I come from the time of relay boards controlling machinery. Back when changing how something operated required rewiring rather than reprogramming. Lacing cord, pre ty-wrap. I still think that way.

[Broachbilly]

Trooper2,
Your goals of a dual purpose skoolie is on it's way.


The classroom is looking great.


And you may not be building a full time skoolie, but you are on way for camper skoolie. High and dry metal tent camping. Build a queen size bed-frame and spread across two of benches,add mattress of choice. Get some magnet hooks and hang curtains for separation etc. ps they have some of those hooks that are heavy duty. You could use multiple hammocks for more sleeping arrangements.



You are a half a day drive for some great long weekend trips and a days drive for week long trips. Even put a hitch on the back and pull that toy hauler along and be making memories before you know it.


Question for all, Do they make the TC-2000 handy-bus in a RE model? Where the Lift is in front of the rear wheels.



Thanks

[Trooper2]

Originally Posted by Broachbilly

Trooper2,
Your goals of a dual purpose skoolie is on it's way.


The classroom is looking great.


And you may not be building a full time skoolie, but you are on way for camper skoolie. High and dry metal tent camping. Build a queen size bed-frame and spread across two of benches,add mattress of choice. Get some magnet hooks and hang curtains for separation etc. ps they have some of those hooks that are heavy duty. You could use multiple hammocks for more sleeping arrangements.



You are a half a day drive for some great long weekend trips and a days drive for week long trips. Even put a hitch on the back and pull that toy hauler along and be making memories before you know it.


Question for all, Do they make the TC-2000 handy-bus in a RE model? Where the Lift is in front of the rear wheels.



Thanks

Thanks on the compliments, I need to upload some progress pictures with the tables installed.
I built the tables to go bench to bench and fill in the gap. 4 tables = the width of a queen mattress. I used the typical RV removeable table legs.

Already ordered the magnets and have a bunch of curtain material left from when I was going to build insulated window covers for the travel trailer I sold before I got to sew them .

My kids would be down with the hammocks , but was thinking of punishing them with lee cloths ( sailboat deal keeps you in your birth ) on the benches not being used by the bed. They are good for a few more years being 7 & 10 years old .

Picked up a hitch that will work with the frame rail width on the bus. No idea why the local used / new metal supply had a pile of them including the display rack but the price was right.

For now we will just tow the old Isuzu Trooper we have behind it.

I measured by bus and it is 25'-6" bumper to bumper, I have never seen an RE that short. So far the only one I have seen in person was a 30' ex book mobile RE.