ISO RE 30-40ft West Coast

[b&vadventures]

Hey there! We've been dreaming of converting a skoolie for a year now and it's time to finally get one in our hands. I've been following this site for a while and I'm hoping you can send a little magic our way and help us find our right bus! We're located near San Diego, CA and are hoping to find a bus on our side of the country.

Here's what we're searching for:
- Budget: <8k
- Rear Engine Pusher
- Cummins/Alison Combo (Prefer but not limited)
- <250K Miles
- Underbelly storage (MUST)
- Diesel (without DPF)
- Needs to be in running/working order

We plan on building it out ourselves so it doesn't need to be converted but if the seats are gone, we won't be mad (: Our plan is to live/travel full time in the conversion. We appreciate any/ALL advice! Thank you in advance

[EastCoastCB]

be patient and keep watching public surplus and govdeals.

[o1marc]

If Cummins, I would opt for the 8.3 and avoid the 5.9 in a 40'er.
You should be able to find just what you want for ha;f your budget.

[b&vadventures]

Thank you both!

In your opinion, is a Cummins my best option for a 40ft? Or is there a better option..

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by b&vadventures

Thank you both!

In your opinion, is a Cummins my best option for a 40ft? Or is there a better option..

Maybe a DT530E if you could find an IC RE with one, I'd say they're more rare than the 8.3 buses though.



CAT seems to do alright as well, they are slightly smaller (only 7.2 liters of displacement) but some people on here have had success with them. Look for 3126 motors, avoid C7 if you can.



I held out for an 8.3 and am glad I did. Traveled to Colorado for mine and paid $4K (had some rear cap damage but nothing serious).

[o1marc]

DT466 is a good engine in any size bus.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by b&vadventures

Thank you both!

In your opinion, is a Cummins my best option for a 40ft? Or is there a better option..

Cummins, Navistar, Cat- any of them can be good if take care of properly.

[b&vadventures]

Thank you all for the input! Does anyone have experience with Wolf Creek Bus Sales, Western Bus Sales, or AAA Bus Sales?

[Doktari]

My cutaway E350 Crummy was a great vehicle and reasonable in price from Western Bus Sales. Wish I’d kept that one.
Out of the 7 buses I’ve owned I never know where I’m going to find them. One from a dealers lot; One from a auction; three from Craigslist; and two by asking if they were for sale.
But I still haven’t had a RE so don’t know much about them.

[b&vadventures]

Originally Posted by o1marc

If Cummins, I would opt for the 8.3 and avoid the 5.9 in a 40'er.
You should be able to find just what you want for ha;f your budget.

o1marc how come you would avoid a 5.9 in a 40'er?

Curious because I'm currently looking to buy one a 40fter with 5.9 cummins and mt643 allison combo. Thoughts?

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by b&vadventures

o1marc how come you would avoid a 5.9 in a 40'er?

Curious because I'm currently looking to buy one a 40fter with 5.9 cummins and mt643 allison combo. Thoughts?

The short answer of course is that bigger is better.

If you do a search here you'll find a lot of people don't think it's the best engine for that size of a bus. That doesn't mean it won't fit your needs.

My FE Bluebird is 32' and I'm real happy with my 5.9 but I haven't been to many places yet.

[Sehnsucht]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

The short answer of course is that bigger is better.

If you do a search here you'll find a lot of people don't think it's the best engine for that size of a bus. That doesn't mean it won't fit your needs.

Agreed. I haven't read a single post complaining that they got a bus with too much engine but plenty that complain about too little engine for their needs. And their needs, as I always point out, are significantly different than the needs of the original owner which means you're far more likely to be underwhelmed than overwhelmed by it's performance.

The Cummins 5.9 is a popular and robust engine which with deep gearing is very capable of pushing a 40-footer up to about 55mph but will be much happier doing under 50. Regearing for more top-end speed usually sacrifices launch torque and forget trying to climb any type of grades. 4- or 6-speed automatics simply don't offer enough gear choices to complement adequate torque with reasonable speed.

Ultimately the step-up Cummins is the 8.3 but they are harder to find. Most school districts simply didn't want to spend more money for a bigger engine that could cost more in fuel when most of their driving is not highway speeds. The common exception in my area at least are wealthier districts which could afford a dedicated sports team/event bus which is going to be one out of a hundred in their fleet. But if you can get your hands on one is well worth it as most of us plan to do more highway speeds than the typical school bus is designed to see.

[EastCoastCB]

engine size has almost NOTHING to do with top speed.
I've personally driven a 5.9 bus that would happily exceed 70mph.

Gearing, trans, and tires have a lot more impact on speed.

[b&vadventures]

Thank you everyone for all your input!

Here's the specs of what we're looking at with this bus...

- 40ft RE - 91 Thomas
- 5.9 Cummins, 24 valve with turbo & 240hp
- currently has roughly 80k miles on it
- mt 643 Allison (w/ a lock up torque converter)
- Front tires : 90-100% Tread
- Rear tires : 40-50% tread
- CA bus - no rust
- Serviced through the school district
- 2 underbelly storage

** Asking 6k ****

The story behind the engine swap:

Old engine was a cummins 8.3 with only 190hp and the school district had money in their budget that they had to get rid of so they put in brand new 5.9 (more fuel efficient/better performance according to them). They swapped out the 8.3 at 210k miles in 2004.

We've been searching for a year now and it's been difficult to find a bus with these specs and 8.3 or higher engine. We plan to build it out and live/travel full time. Does this seem like a good find for us? Or would you leave it? All opinions welcome!

[Sehnsucht]

To me the big sell is no rust. There's plenty of buses out there with comparable specs but in more than half the country they succumb to rust by the time they hit our market and it's almost impossible to combat. I'm still not sold on a 5.9 in a 40-ft RE but best bet is if you have an opportunity to test drive it and decide for yourself if it meets your expectations.

[FAC]

I would just like to chime in and say I’m very happy my 5.9 but it’s the 260hp version. I have an md3060 behind it with 5.38 rear end ratio and top speed is 76mph on flat ground. Fuel start getting governed at 74 and cruises nicely at 60 any faster and you can feel the engine starting to work much harder. It’s the quickest bus I’ve driven and actually faster than some old ford pickups I’ve had. You might be plenty happy with a high output version of the isb.

[JeffsMagicBus]

I just now stumbled across this BAD BOY that just may be the one....


>>>NICE BUS FOR A DECENT PRICE!!!<<<

~Somebody Save It!!!!~

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/7088893578.html


1994 bluebird bus
fuel: diesel
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
1994 bluebird school bus. It has been used as a church bus the last few years. Rear engine 8.3 Cummins engine and Allison transmission. 218k miles. 22.5 tires. Runs and drives good. Interior and seats in good shape.

[b&vadventures]

UPDATE: We found our bus!

- 91 Thomas RE 40ft
- 8.3 Cummins with Allison Mt643
- 329K Mileage but the engine/tranny were both replaced 50k Miles ago
- 2 Large underbelly pass-through compartments.
- Detailed maintenance logs/repairs/replacements, etc. came with it
- Drove home like a dream!
- Paid 6k

Thank you all so much for you help/advice!

We already got rid of the seats (craigslist) and are working on getting the floor and ceiling removed.

Much love,

Blake and Valerie
Instagram - @begin.adventures

[Oscar1]

Originally Posted by b&vadventures

UPDATE: We found our bus!

- 91 Thomas RE 40ft
- 8.3 Cummins with Allison Mt643
- 329K Mileage but the engine/tranny were both replaced 50k Miles ago
- 2 Large underbelly pass-through compartments.
- Detailed maintenance logs/repairs/replacements, etc. came with it
- Drove home like a dream!
- Paid 6k

Thank you all so much for you help/advice!

We already got rid of the seats (craigslist) and are working on getting the floor and ceiling removed.

Much love,

Blake and Valerie
Instagram - @begin.adventures

Congrats on the new ride, that's a sweet, clean looking bus.
Can you clarify on the engine/trans replacement? Was that a rebuild? Used replacement? or brand new? New that combo would be well in excess of $30,000.