What size?

[TB2Blazer]

Okay[I], I have been searching this site and the net and doing as much research as I can but I just don’t know each bus’s capabilities. My wife and 2 small kids are going to be taking a trip out west and spending about 2 maybe 3 months out there driving around to all the usual areas as well as some others. We will be traveling through a bunch of mountains roads I’m sure. I have read the awesome post about the good motors and transmissions as well as the differences between the dog nose, FE and RE buses.

I’m undecided on what LENGTH would be best. I know that the shorter bus would probably do better in the mountains due to weight (brakes, climbing mountains and heating up)and it would do better on small campsites etc. Especially since I am going to be trying to stay away from crowds and people as much as possible. I’m having a hard time selling my wife on it as well as losing the extra space a longer bus would provide. My my kids are 2 and 4 so they need room to keep toys and run around so the longer bus would be more beneficial. I’m also bringing a brand new dirt bike and with the longer bus I could build a mini garage in the back for safe storage.

I want what is going to be safest and best for the trip. I don’t care if I have to do 40 mph to get up a mountain as long as it doesn’t overheat or damage the motor. I don’t want to be halfway down the mountain and the brakes go out (I know I know buy a manual). We originally wanted to go the motor home route but I wanted something safer and built better (my last pull behind was horribly built and I bought it brand new). That and I absolutely love to tinker and build things. So with everyone’s experience with each and my planned usage should I go with a shorter bus like a 8 or 9 window or get the bigger 12 or 13 window?

[Oldyeller]

Someone else will be along to discuss engine and transmission, I'm not going to do that.

Not sure anyone can tell you what length bus is right for you and your family. Maybe one way to help you decide is to find a space big enough and lay out the size on the floor with tape and start 'placing' your furniture in it. That'll give you a good idea of what size bus you could get by with. Or since you said you had some kind of trailer you could just base your estimations on the size of that trailer and how well it worked for you.

My bus started out as a 35' dog house, 11 window. I chopped off 3 windows worth of the rear so I have an 8 window now. That gives me 21' behind the driver's seat and my bus is 90" wide inside (I just calculate it as 8' wide cause I'm lazy) so I have about 160 square feet empty. I'm going to do a queen size platform bed so I'll have about 40 square feet of storage under that as well. This just to give you an idea of size in my particular 8 window bus.

The thing I noticed as soon as I read your post is you're thinking of converting a bus to take a 2 or 3 month trip. It generally takes many months to years to do a conversion depending on whether you go bare bones or stick build a house in it. You'll also have to spend time going over (or having it gone over) mechanically which is a step you SHOULD NOT SKIP. Lots of folks do elaborate builds and take their first trip and end up on the side of the road because the bus wasn't mechanically sound - bad JuJu.

At any rate, welcome to the forum. I'm not trying to be overly negative but you need to be thinking clearly about the job you'd be taking on. If you're thinking about doing this for one 2 or 3 month trip, I suggest that you consider finding a used RV. On the other hand if this is going to be your 'forever' adventure making machine then understand the time investment and go for it. This place will be here to help you with all your insurmountable problems.

[fo4imtippin]

I have two kids and plan do similar things. I can fit a bunkbed, dinette, shower/toilet, kitchenette, and full size bed in mine. I kept the handicap ramp and am building a partition wall for a garage. I have a 28ft 9 window FE. Ideally, i would like to have 2 more feet. There is a commonly available Amtran that is 30ft, DT466e, MD3060, high ceiling, and handicap door. Theres a guy near DC that seems to get these in often. I think that's a solid middle ground.

[TB2Blazer]

Thank you for the replies! This is definitely something that we will probably keep for a long time and use it quite often. The very first thing will be going through every bit of it and having someone check out all areas to make sure it’s sound. I am very mechanically inclined and very good with woodworking. I absolutely love to tinker and this will be the ultimate project. Yeah it will probably take quite a while to get everything “perfect”. Im really just trying to find out if the bigger bus would make it and if it would be a wise choice for this trip or would I be better off with the smaller one.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by TB2Blazer

Thank you for the replies! This is definitely something that we will probably keep for a long time and use it quite often. The very first thing will be going through every bit of it and having someone check out all areas to make sure it’s sound. I am very mechanically inclined and very good with woodworking. I absolutely love to tinker and this will be the ultimate project. Yeah it will probably take quite a while to get everything “perfect”. Im really just trying to find out if the bigger bus would make it and if it would be a wise choice for this trip or would I be better off with the smaller one.

I want one of the more qualified members to talk bus drivetrain but I will say that the size of the bus isn't necessarily the critical consideration, rather how it was optioned by the original purchaser.

[cadillackid]

in my opinion the general idea would be that kids shouldnt run around while the bus is moving.. and that you stop often enough so the kids arent stir crazy.. stop often enough to spend lots of time enjoying the sites... the bus becomes a place to eat / sleep / Poop / Shower... the only way I would see the bus needing to be large would be if you both need to have work days where there wont be any travelling or sight-seeing and thus the kids would be stuck indoors for days at a time...


long busses can be a challenge if you are on any really far back switch-back roads.. 11R22.5 tires give you more ground clearance over smaller tires.. Not having underbelly storage also helps with ground clearance.



transmissions.. even modern automatics do well at downhill being manually shifted.. the only one to stay away from the is the AT545. the rest of the autos have Lockup and give you a bit of engine braking.. for a really heavy really long bus id want a retarder that gives you extra driveline braking beyond downshifting..



Lower rear gear ratios give you better hill climbing ablities but lower top speed.. you also dont really want to go down the highway with the engine running at its redline.. as that just burns more fuel..



a lot of how you gear it depends on the roads you plan to take.. one of my busses is geared wit ha max top speed of 68-70 MPH.. I usually drive it at 55-60 on the state routes instead of interstates.. my fuel MPG drops by 20% to go from the engine in its sweet spor RPM to running it flat out max speed..



one of my other busses is geared so that it cruises at 70 and isnt even in top gear... so i can run that one the interstate and keep up with traffic easily..



when ive driven the mountains.. I tend to be the slow guy in the right lane so I dont get the brakes / engine hot.. im happy to sit in the slow lane with the Semi trucks.. i also tend to run thew interstates as I know the curves are designed for large commercial vehicles.. when I want to see things then I jump off the freeway and pay attention to the road signs and my Commercial GPS, along with my commercial Motor Carrier rand mcnally road atlas.. my 2 main road trip cruisers are short busses so I dont worry much but I do check things out.. in your case you can look at such an atlas if there are places you have earmarked to go and want to see if there are weight / height / width limits before you buy a bus.. see if a 40 footer hinders your plans vs a 30 footer..

[magnakansas]

I have six grand kids... I have the bus to haul them around places....

step one... take out all the seats you dont need.

I bought a 12 volt compressor refrigerator, well two actually for a total of 90 liters of refrigeration space. for food

usb port for phone chargers.

magnetic hooks that will stick to ceilings and walls.

packed air mattress, pillows, sleeping bags, tents, bicycles, blankets.. one of those coleman propane cook stoves, two of those two gallon containers of water. stuff for cooking...

crap gotta go get the little buggers from school

okay back, so the big thing for me was to keep the bus on the road, not parked or out of commission. I think this is a mistake made by lots of people.

Keep the air conditioning and the heaters working for now...

later deal with "upgrades" or changes.

william hey call me 785 207 7600