I am looking for a mid chassis or 3/4 length Rear Engine school bus. What would be the biggest engine and best Tranny Combo. Looking to travel mountainous regions. Open to suggestions. Thank you in advance.
My friend Dave has a 32-ish foot RE Thomas with an 8.3 Cummins. Its one of my favorite buses of all time. Keeps the horrible clattery noise of the Cummins in the back lol! Any transmission other than a 545 is fine with me but if you want the BEST find one with a 3060. I'm not brand loyal about engines. Any Cat, Cummins, Or Navistar before 2004 is fine for me when bus shopping. Condition is more important than brand. A well kept pre-emissions bus is worth getting and holding onto.
His is from somewhere in VA. IDK where to tell you to look. Shorter RE's aren't super common. You'll either look for a good while or pay a lot or both. Or get lucky.
Patience and vigilance with get you the prize.
If you lose patience and want to look at other options consider a CE. They're pretty easy to find and have some advantages of their own.
Macalister had several C7 Bluebird AARE pushers in their used lot when I was there last spring. They had AC and a mid-ship WC door but they were RUSTY.
Probably the only time where I've seen a mid length pusher in the wild.
I don't know if 35 feet is considered mid-length or not, but I have a 35 foot Bluebird. I saw a 30 foot Bluebird, but it was FE and had a wheelchair lift, so I was not interested in that one.
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