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Old 11-23-2015, 10:41 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
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blue bird shuttle quality

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?

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Old 11-24-2015, 06:28 AM   #2
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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.
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Old 11-24-2015, 04:14 PM   #3
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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?
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Old 11-24-2015, 04:28 PM   #4
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The ones ive seen are BEAT and usually are dirt cheap. I think these things live a hard life usually.
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Old 11-24-2015, 05:01 PM   #5
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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
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Old 11-24-2015, 05:31 PM   #6
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ive been reading tht people tend to have lots of issues with tc1000, also they r discontinued, is tht a problem
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Old 11-24-2015, 06:33 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carneiro1292 View Post
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
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Old 11-24-2015, 07:06 PM   #8
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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
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Old 11-24-2015, 07:18 PM   #9
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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
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Old 11-24-2015, 07:20 PM   #10
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FWIW.
My TC1000 Skoolie has glass caps f and r.
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Old 10-30-2020, 03:26 PM   #11
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Steering slip joint parts not available

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


Quote:
Originally Posted by nat_ster View Post
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
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Old 10-22-2022, 09:28 PM   #12
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sorry to bump this post, but I came across something relevant and wanted to ask. I found what looks like exactly like the above picture, and when I looked up the vin it says blue bird c1. And it was a school bus.

The dual headlights dont look like a tc1000/2000... Is there a difference between the 2?

Also - it has a AT545. Bummer. But is that a dealbreaker?
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Old 10-23-2022, 09:24 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ori_hab View Post
sorry to bump this post, but I came across something relevant and wanted to ask. I found what looks like exactly like the above picture, and when I looked up the vin it says blue bird c1. And it was a school bus.

The dual headlights dont look like a tc1000/2000... Is there a difference between the 2?

Also - it has a AT545. Bummer. But is that a dealbreaker?

the AT545 becomes an issue if you plan to trek the whole country rocky mountains and all with a heavy conversion.. if your main plans are a weekend warrior then the 545 probably wont hinder you much. if you plan to tow a trailer or car the 545 will totally suck...
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Old 10-23-2022, 12:26 PM   #14
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Honestly, I do plan to trek across the country.. this would be our full time rig.. hopefully not super heavy but yes, weight. Definitely not planning to tow.. The specific bus I saw has an electric brake backup.. How hard is it to switch out the 545 for a 2000 say?
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Old 10-23-2022, 03:39 PM   #15
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theres various threads for doing allison 1000/2000 swaps.. im not necessarily a good one to ask because to me its not a huge deal as im used to building / swapping drivetrain pieces around.. if you find a donor bus where you can harvest the trans / TCM / Harness then its somewhat straight forward.. (the transmissions weigh around 400 lbs a piece so some good Jacks and such are required.. (I used an engine hoist and harbor freight trans jack as well as plenty of cordless impact tools).. mny thread redbyrd transformation talks about building one from scratch without a donor bus and doing lots of custom programming and tuning.. rolesvillemarina had a donor bus and swapped everything over.. both are succesful swaps (rolesville is the model for having a donor.. its simpler than the route I took which netted me a completely dialed-in solution)..
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Old 12-17-2022, 11:35 PM   #16
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No one else seems to have mentioned that the bus pictured in the original post is not a TC1000 - it is a CS model, based on the All American instead of the TC2000. Just in case anyone wants to come back to this thread later on!
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