Collective intelligence of the group

[reprobate]

Ok everyone,
I need the collective intelligence of the group.
Went today and looked at some International 71 passenger buses 91 and 92 models with DTA 360's. All are high mileage, 200k and up. VERY well maintained. Was talking to a bus mechanic who was there looking also and he swears by this engine. Not real powerful says he, but very reliable and inexpensive to fix. He wasn't at all fazed by the high mileage. Good tires on them all. 2 fuel tanks on them also. Talked to another mechanic who also had no fear of this engine or the mileage. Also looked at and rode in a 91 bluebird 66 passenger w/5.9 Cummins. What a thrill! We cruised at 65 and the guy didn't even have her all the way to the floor. Well I know this is my bridge to cross, but if anyone has any opinions, I would love to hear them. All are comparably priced.

[crazycal]

Well, let us see. If you add up the collective intelligence of the group, I would say that we're at least one six pack short of a full deck or was that a few cards shy of a full case. Or something like that. But if you want to know about a school bus, you came to the right place. You didn't say what the price was. That's the deal breaker. If you ask me, I would want cubes and lots of them. My Bluebird weighs 23000 pounds and has an 8.3 Cummins. I got a solid 10.5 mpg from Arizona to California. It all boils down to what you want. There will be no shortage of feedback though. Just wait a couple of hours. Good luck.

[KC10Chief]

Yeah, we need the price! I'd pay $3,000 for one of those buses if I were still in the market for one. The DT360 and the 5.9 are both excellent motors. I'd probably pick the 5.9 myself. But I sure wouldn't worry about either one as far as reliability goes.

[lapeer20m]

i have driven over 30K miles in a skoolie with a dt360 and i think it's a great motor. It's a reliable motor, apparently cheap to fix (although i never had to fix anything on mine) but it doesn't get very good fuel economy. The 5.9 (which works out to 360 cubic inches) that phill has in his bus gets almost double the fuel economy of my dt360.

My next bus will hopefully have a 5.9 (well not the next bus, but the next bus i plan to keep for a while)

[the_experience03]

The motors are a toss up so my vote goes for the biggest bus with the nicest body, whichever one that might be.

[phillbus914]

If both bus's have a tac. check to see which one is running lower RPS's at cruising speed. Or if the mechanic knows, ask which one gets better fuel mileage (and by how much) It's like crazycal said, it all boils down to what you want. If you do plan to travel a lot fuel economy would be the biggest factor in my opinion. I have the cummins 5.9 in my bus and get way better mileage than Jason (with the DT360) When we stopped for fuel my bus would cost about half to fill up as his bus did. After a few trips the fuel savings would really add up. I guess another big factor would be the tires, a set of new tires can cost as much as most of us paid for our bus's.

If you get a chance post some pictures and the prices of the bus's, we may be able to help out more.

good luck, keep us posted.