Hello Everyone

[kcarsey]

Hello everyone, been lurking here for a few days so I thought I would sign up and become a member of the community.

Currently I don't have a rig of any sort, but i'm an aspiring bus owner who's looking to ditch my apartment in the next 6-12 months and start a crazy journey.

I'm 33 years old, married to my wife, dog, and 3 cats and work at a small software company in Central Ohio as primarily a Network Engineer, but also do Linux/Windows administration. I've also got electrical background, welding and mechanic experience, and also some diesel experience. (ford 7.3 and 6.0 turbo, injectors, etc and also gas stuff)

I've been grinding away for the past 10 years and now that i'm in my early 30's I feel like i've waken up from a bad dream, and i'm ready to hit the road. I've known about van life and rving and also bus conversion for quite some time, but just recently found this site dedicated specifially to skoolies and hope to learn a ton and also maybe share some info with others as I learn and figure out what I want my rig to be.

[kcarsey]

I just thought i'd post some more info and thank everyone in advance for replying

I've started out over a year ago looking at vans, (sprinter type) and decided pretty quick that would be too small, and also the fact that i'm a bit afraid of any newer engine combinations due to all the emissions (def, dpf, etc) related to diesels, and super high repair cost, and special tools to work on them.

I decided to start looking at busses, and went from short busses which are basically just van chassis, then to medium busses.

Now i've decided that i'm 99% sure I want a full size bus, and possibly as big as reasonable because i'm also considering a small motorcycle garage in the back for a dirt bike, or light adv motorcycle.

I've been looking at International 3800 which are what I rode in when goin to school myself. It seems most have D444 or DT466 with AT545 and both of those engines are extremely reliable. I've worked on the ford 7.3, injector changes, etc so i'm familar with that particular platform. I did a bit more research and found that DT466 that are a little newer also have HEUI injection systems just like the 7.3.

Basically at this point i'm sure I want a full size bus, but I have no idea which one, what is the best to look out for. I thought at first that a bus with a forward opening hood like a 3800 would be easiest to work on, but then I realized that it seems the bus where the driver sits over the wheels (not sure what these are called) have more room and are also probably more manuverable.

Anyone have any good suggestions as to what brand/type of busses to look for, and also what engines they come with? Most school busses are ment for around town driving so i'm sure they have low gear ratios. Are there any busses that may have taller gears better suited to highway use? What engines do they come with? DT466? Cummins 8.3? Cat? Im looking exclusively at front engine busses I think.

Sorry for the long post, I guess you could say i'm getting straight down to business haha