General Newbie Stuff

[AndrewB]

Hey all!

As stated in my "intro" post, I'm looking to get something for weekend travel as well as 1-2 cross country trips out west.

Although they may be a pain to maintain in terms of major work, i think my best bet seems to be a cutaway due to the ease of part availability as well as low gearing for higher travel speeds/gas mileage.

That leaves me with my next question, because I seem to read a TON of opinions everywhere so i figured this would be a nice place to get everyone's two cents at once.

A.) a solid, durable engine! I would much prefer diesel and i know there's this one or that one you should stay away from and this one or that one that's better; so drop your opinions here!

B.) GVWR!!! so I feel like I've seen a bunch around 10k and then a handful around 14k. I've also read about a lot of people finding it difficult to convert a "5/6" window" cutaway without cutting it too close to the GVWR, BUT I've seen tons of projects where they did a wholeee lot and more (for example, the cutaway that Navigation Nowhere did), this leaves me with slighttt confusion as to the reality of what i can fit safely.

C.) Shuttle bus vs school bus cutaway. Personal opinions besides the interior space factor. I would assume shuttle buses are lower to the ground but I'm sure that's what ski resorts out west are using to bring people to and from the mountains so should I be THAT worried if that's a better route?


D.) Breaking down the electrical system. I watched Navigation Nowhere's video of breaking down the electrical system and all its safety features to get it down to the bare bones of signals, brake lights, reverse lights, etc. and boy did that seem overwhelming. is is really THAT difficult or more time consuming than anything? id assume a shuttle wouldn't have all those features but id hate to pass on a school bus if its not "as hard as it looks"


thank you again to ALL of you! this community is incredible so far!

Cheers,

Drew