Driver leg room in RE

[MollyCMo]

As a 6 ft. tall person, I'm concerned about leg room in the driver seat of a flat nose RE. I would be uncomfortable if I couldn't stretch my legs out all in the way in front of me from time to time (my left leg while driving, at least, and right when stopped ).

Is there really only about 3 feet from the inside of the front bumper to the back of the driver seat in these types of buses?

[o1marc]

If you're lucky enough to get an "Air" bus with an air seat, you can adjust the height with a touch of a button.
I'm pretty sure the drivers seats are the same from the front whether FE or RE. Back of mine is 5'. Some have tilt wheel/ telescoping wheel, seat adjust fore and aft and up and down.

[Iceni John]

Originally Posted by MollyCMo

As a 6 ft. tall person, I'm concerned about leg room in the driver seat of a flat nose RE. I would be uncomfortable if I couldn't stretch my legs out all in the way in front of me from time to time (my left leg while driving, at least, and right when stopped ).

Is there really only about 3 feet from the inside of the front bumper to the back of the driver seat in these types of buses?

I'm 6' tall with longish legs, and I have more legroom in my bus than my car. I can either rest my left foot on the footrest to the left of the steering column, or straighten that leg completely out. I feel no more fatigued after driving my bus than after driving my car for a similar time, even though their driving positions are completely different. I'll try to remember to measure my bus's bumper-to-seat distance tomorrow.

John

[MollyCMo]

Originally Posted by o1marc

If you're lucky enough to get an "Air" bus with an air seat, you can adjust the height with a touch of a button.
I'm pretty sure the drivers seats are the same from the front whether FE or RE. Back of mine is 5'. Some have tilt wheel/ telescoping wheel, seat adjust fore and aft and up and down.

Thanks!

[MollyCMo]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

I'm 6' tall with longish legs, and I have more legroom in my bus than my car. I can either rest my left foot on the footrest to the left of the steering column, or straighten that leg completely out. I feel no more fatigued after driving my bus than after driving my car for a similar time, even though their driving positions are completely different. I'll try to remember to measure my bus's bumper-to-seat distance tomorrow.

John

Thanks John! What type of bus do you have? Flat nose or conventional?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by MollyCMo

Thanks John! What type of bus do you have? Flat nose or conventional?

John is spoiled and has a Crown Supercoach, not a school bus.

[ewo1]

I to am 6' tall... got an Amtran RE bus, air ride seat.

Plenty of leg room for driving !

[EastCoastCB]

With school buses you gain some legroom if you remove the divider/barrier thing behind the driver seat.

[cadillackid]

+1 on moving the driver seat and installuing as tilt telescopic steering column if they dont have one already.. some of the nicer RE's have tilt / telescopic column so you can move the seat back and still hasve a comfortable steering wheel position
-Christopher

[ol trunt]

For us taller sorts (I'm 6'1"), three feet between the front of the seat back to the firewall just isn't enough. There is no stretch room. If I were building my bus now I'd at least have made some sort of "toe pocket" to add a little comfort. Tango and I both used an Isuzu NPR tilt/telescoping steering column and that helps some. But with our very short buses, adding floor space to the driving area at the expense of the living area makes for a tough balancing act.
Jack

[Alan N]

I have never noticed a lack of leg room in our rear engine bus. I am 6 ft tall.
I replaced the stock seat with an air ride seat from the big truck junkyard.
I mounted the seat where it is comfortable for me.
If you move or replace your current seat consider making or buying a seat that will swivel.
I put an aftermarket swivel assembly between the air ride base and the seat. It makes the living area of the bus a little bigger with one more place to sit.
A tilt and telescoping steering column is on the to do list.

[MollyCMo]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll def look into removing the barrier behind the seat and getting telescopic steering column and tilt seating. Appreciate the replies!

[Miles O Roads]

I have a IC re and it has tilt and maybe telescoping cant remember. And though short 5'7 with the seat aired way up I am no where close to touching pedals. As mentioned if divider is removed you can go back a little further or remount your seat further back I guess.

[cowlitzcoach]

School buses are built with seat spacing that is very different. In the same size body with maximum knee spacing you will find 13-rows of seats. In the same size bus with the the minimum knee spacing you will find 15-rows of seats. In the bus with the minimum knee spacing even the driver's seat gets less knee spacing. In CA there were even some 16-row buses but oh my goodness were those seats close together.



I can remember one bus that was spe'c'ed with the maximum number of seats. I hated driving it because I could never get my left leg into a comfortable position. The seat wouldn't go up high enough or move back far enough to give my legs a normal position while driving.

[MollyCMo]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

School buses are built with seat spacing that is very different. In the same size body with maximum knee spacing you will find 13-rows of seats. In the same size bus with the the minimum knee spacing you will find 15-rows of seats. In the bus with the minimum knee spacing even the driver's seat gets less knee spacing. In CA there were even some 16-row buses but oh my goodness were those seats close together.



I can remember one bus that was spe'c'ed with the maximum number of seats. I hated driving it because I could never get my left leg into a comfortable position. The seat wouldn't go up high enough or move back far enough to give my legs a normal position while driving.

Thank you! Even if I did end up with a 16 row bus, could I still remove the barrier and move the driver seat position back a bit?

[Alan N]

Yes, that is one of the nice things about doing it yourself, your way

[ReverendWilliams]

Originally Posted by MollyCMo

As a 6 ft. tall person, I'm concerned about leg room in the driver seat of a flat nose RE. I would be uncomfortable if I couldn't stretch my legs out all in the way in front of me from time to time (my left leg while driving, at least, and right when stopped ).

Is there really only about 3 feet from the inside of the front bumper to the back of the driver seat in these types of buses?

I am 6'4" tall and I weigh in at 400 lbs. I replaced the driver's seat with a air seat via a Big Truck Salvage yard. I did move the seat back a couple of inches (about a 1/2 foot).

[CaptSquid]

I'm 6'2" with a 2003 Thomas Saf-T-Liner transit-style bus. I drove her from Kankakee, IL to Billings, MT and had plenty of room. Mine has a Tilt/Telescopic wheel and an air ride seat. Totally comfortable.