blue bird shuttle quality

[carneiro1292]

so im looking at a few blue bird shuttle bus. are these made with the same quality and toughness as the school buses or should i just skip these?

[EastCoastCB]

Pretty much...
But they aren't built to the SAME specs as school buses. They have less ribs and rivets.
But PLENTY tough enough to build a house/rv out of.

[carneiro1292]

so these are going for waaaayyy more than reg school buses, im assumming they prob arent worth the xtra few thousands? also the tires seem pretty small...is tht better or worse then the larger tires on reg school buses?

[EastCoastCB]

The ones ive seen are BEAT and usually are dirt cheap. I think these things live a hard life usually.

[nat_ster]

They go by the name TC1000

They are a smaller version of the TC2000 full size bus.

The TC100 still has just as many ribs as a full size, they simply cut every second rib to install the bigger windows. Same thing gets done with the full size when installing larger, non school bus windows.

Main difference is the bus uses fiberglass front and rear caps, vs the steel of the full size. Other differences include a lower power rating from the 5.9 Cummins engine they all use. The full size TC2000 is 190hp and this TC1000 is 160hp.
The TC1000 also have no wheel wells inside the bus. This means a perfectly flat floor, with nothing in the way of your conversion.

The tires are commercial 19.5 rubber. They used them so they didn't have wheel wells in the bus. To overcome the smaller diameter, they just use a higher gear ratio in the rear axle. Nothing wrong with the 19.5 tires or suspension.

Best thing I like about them is the short turning circle. The three TC1000 buses we have at the shop have 50 degree's of steering, meaning they will turn in their own length. Very easy to turn around when diving down streets.

So there you have it. Some real feedback from someone who has driven one.
They are good little buses. I would like to own one myself to make into a 4x4 or tracked unit for exploring the wilderness.

Nat

[carneiro1292]

ive been reading tht people tend to have lots of issues with tc1000, also they r discontinued, is tht a problem

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by carneiro1292

I have been reading that people tend to have lots of issues with TC1000, also they are discontinued, is that a problem?

Please share the known problems and the sources.

We run 3 of them as buses picking up children everyday.

We will not be buying more due to them being discontinued.

Nat

[WIbluebird]

I probably wouldn't buy any that had been used in public transit simply because they're in stop n go traffic all day which means the drivetrain is usually wore out really bad. Also public transit authorities will use buses until they're shot to pieces with absolutely no life left in them.

A school-bus spec TC1000 seems like the way to go, esp since it's got the steel front/rear caps as opposed to the fiberglass ones found on the transit TC1000

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

A school-bus spec TC1000 seems like the way to go, esp since it's got the steel front/rear caps as opposed to the fiberglass ones found on the transit TC1000

Do they?

Our 3 school bus spec TC1000's have fiberglass front and rear caps.

Around here, the school buses see just as much stop and go.

I don't think that bus was used for public transit. That's nothing more than a category of bus.

The TC2000 and TC3000 are also called transit style buses.

Nat

[2kool4skool]

FWIW.
My TC1000 Skoolie has glass caps f and r.

[PDXTom]

My mechanic says my steering shaft needs replacing - “ bearing and a slip joint in the steering shaft that are extremely worn.”

But now he says the parts are no longer available. Any ideas about where I could look for salvage parts for the steering mechanism?

Thanks, Tom

Originally Posted by nat_ster

They go by the name TC1000

They are a smaller version of the TC2000 full size bus.

The TC100 still has just as many ribs as a full size, they simply cut every second rib to install the bigger windows. Same thing gets done with the full size when installing larger, non school bus windows.

Main difference is the bus uses fiberglass front and rear caps, vs the steel of the full size. Other differences include a lower power rating from the 5.9 Cummins engine they all use. The full size TC2000 is 190hp and this TC1000 is 160hp.
The TC1000 also have no wheel wells inside the bus. This means a perfectly flat floor, with nothing in the way of your conversion.

The tires are commercial 19.5 rubber. They used them so they didn't have wheel wells in the bus. To overcome the smaller diameter, they just use a higher gear ratio in the rear axle. Nothing wrong with the 19.5 tires or suspension.

Best thing I like about them is the short turning circle. The three TC1000 buses we have at the shop have 50 degree's of steering, meaning they will turn in their own length. Very easy to turn around when diving down streets.

So there you have it. Some real feedback from someone who has driven one.
They are good little buses. I would like to own one myself to make into a 4x4 or tracked unit for exploring the wilderness.

Nat