Short Rear Engine

[T-Bolt]

Does anyone know of any short RE busses? My inlaws are thinking about doing a conversion and they love my RE but don't need a 40' bus.

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Does anyone know of any short RE busses? My inlaws are thinking about doing a conversion and they love my RE but don't need a 40' bus.

Can't offer much help, but since people here have very different versions of what constitutes "short," it would probably help if you clarified what you (or your inlaws) consider to be short.

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by dzl_

Can't offer much help, but since people here have very different versions of what constitutes "short," it would probably help if you clarified what you (or your inlaws) consider to be short.

Not exactly sure but thinking like a mid-size.

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Not exactly sure but thinking like a mid-size.

So like 25ish to 32ish?


Might be able to find one around 32ft, not sure, hopefully some folks more knowledgeable on the subject than myself will chime in (also you should do a search, I remember at least two other threads where similar questions were discussed in the past year).



I've seen at least one RE bus under 30' but it wasn't a skoolie it looked like it may have been an airport shuttle, fiberglass I think, low to the ground, didn't look very highway capable

[dzl_]

Just searched the site a bit. Tons of posts on it. Sounds like you will be hard pressed to find a Rear Engine <35ft, but there are some in the mid thirties

[Sehnsucht]

Originally Posted by dzl_

Just searched the site a bit. Tons of posts on it. Sounds like you will be hard pressed to find a Rear Engine <35ft, but there are some in the mid thirties

Agreed. Last I recall this topic coming up the consensus was any RE under 35-feet will be something of a unicorn specially built and therefore extremely rare and probably not a school bus at all. There may also be a little bit of physics to this too because unlike front engine conventional and flat nosed buses the rear engine is outside of the wheelbase which makes it a counterweight to the bus's own weight so the shorter the bus the less weight it has to 'handle' the mass of the engine when it bounces. I could imagine driving a short bus with a rear engine being a harrowing experience when the engine AND the kids are all piled in the rear which lifts almost all the weight off the steer tires! It's kind of the same issue which doomed the 15-passenger vans especially Dodge 15pax because too much weight aft of the rear axle had a dramatic effect on the steering. Dodge was dumb though, they only had one wheelbase and just kept extending the body at the back whereas GM and I think also Ford did make longer wheelbase frames to try to keep the rear axle under the center of the weight but then they also had to consider the weight limits of the tires and single rear tires weren't up to the task. I've seen a few Ford vans with dual rear wheels and dually fenders like a pickup but I'm not even sure those were OE, might have been homemade or some aftermarket upfitter. Ultimately that's how vans morphed into the Euro style Sprinter vans which are all the rage now. The little ones are front wheel drive like minivans so maximizing cargo capacity and the heavy duty ones with duals still have a capacity limit on passenger models which I think is 12. You could perhaps still cause the flighty steering effect if you pack the back with cargo or tow an overweight trailer but anyone who has an ounce of sense wouldn't deliberately put themselves at risk like that. The problem is nowadays people have no common sense and love to sue manufacturers which is why everything is over-engineered and idiot-proofed and if you've ever read the owners manual it's obvious they think we're idiots because some of us are! So in conclusion the bus manufacturers would be hard-pressed to build too short of a rear-engine bus simply because they don't trust bus drivers and fleet managers to be smart enough to not let everyone sit in the back then lose control and then the parents turn around and sue the pants off the bus manufacturer for building such an unsafe model of bus! Pretty perverse, right? But unfortunately the reality in which we live these days

[Meathead]

11 window < 31’. She rides better the more weight I get in the front to compensate for no kids.

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by Meathead

Attachment 46672
11 window < 31’. She rides better the more weight I get in the front to compensate for no kids.

Very Cool!

[BeNimble]

I posted an airport shuttle bus that was relatively short and rear engine in the for sale. That would be where to look.

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

[snipped]

Whats the bigass yellow thing on top (or is that an optical illusion/building in the background)?


Our city buses have a module like that on top and they are LPG buses. Could this be too?

[BeNimble]

Originally Posted by dzl_

Whats the bigass yellow thing on top (or is that an optical illusion/building in the background)?


Our city buses have a module like that on top and they are LPG buses. Could this be too?

yes it was a propane powered bus. Just think of how long your propane tank would last after you swapped the engine for another gas powered one.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

I posted an airport shuttle bus that was relatively short and rear engine in the for sale. That would be where to look.

Except the engine is dismantled and no good, the bus is stripped of most everything. Its a pile of scrap.

[BeNimble]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Except the engine is dismantled and no good, the bus is stripped of most everything. Its a pile of scrap.

Sorry you don't know how to fix things, a bus with all the stuff already removed and an engine you can replace with a good one (not one ABOUT to blow up, which is why they are sold, they are 'worn out' to the schools and cities..)

In any case, the point is they make shorter rear engine buses as shown.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

Sorry you don't know how to fix things, a bus with all the stuff already removed and an engine you can replace with a good one (not one ABOUT to blow up, which is why they are sold, they are 'worn out' to the schools and cities..)

In any case, the point is they make shorter rear engine buses as shown.

I definitely don't know how to fix an emissions era bus that's been picked apart and scrapped at auction. No sir. If you can- please show us the way.

There's nothing much left of that bus-

This unit was used at the Sacramento International Airport and does not run.The engine is partially dismantled and has a damage cylinder-piston, missing cylinder head, turbo and other miscellaneous parts. This vehicle is missing various switches, modules, and warning lights in the drivers area, missing door actuator, missing fire suppression bottle, rear bumper has been removed/damaged, interior panels partially disassembled/removed, steering box leaks severely, wheelchair ramp actuator missing parts.

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by Meathead

Attachment 46672
11 window < 31’. She rides better the more weight I get in the front to compensate for no kids.

That is the perfect bus for what they want to do.

[demoman]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

yes it was a propane powered bus. Just think of how long your propane tank would last after you swapped the engine for another gas powered one.

Whenever you see that hump on a bus it means it has natural gas tanks. Propane is heavier than air so the tanks are usually mounted under the floor in case of leak. Cng tanks are usually .mounted on the roof because they take up so much room that there is not enough space for a low floor bus to have enough capacity underneath. Sacramento airport does not use propane they are all cng powered. A propane powered bus might be usable for an rv. A natural gas powered bus would only work if you never left your home area where you knew you could fuel up. I have cng cars and the limited range make them only work within a smaller radius of home
Also I can't think it would be economical to swap the engines out for a gas powered one. That's a lot of electric, mounting, and emissions workm for a one off job.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by dzl_

Whats the bigass yellow thing on top (or is that an optical illusion/building in the background)?


Our city buses have a module like that on top and they are LPG buses. Could this be too?

My bus came with a See II air foil on the rear cap, but I just thought it was a building in the background of one of the seller's pics. It's a nice surprise to learn months later that your bus has a cool extra something. Much cooler than all the dead stinkbugs.

[cadillackid]

thomas made some shorty HDX's. i looked at one a couple months ago that was I believe right around 31-32ft.. it was a rear engine Cat

[musigenesis]

This unit was used at the Sacramento International Airport and does not run.The engine is partially dismantled and has a damage cylinder-piston, missing cylinder head, turbo and other miscellaneous parts. This vehicle is missing various switches, modules, and warning lights in the drivers area, missing door actuator, missing fire suppression bottle, rear bumper has been removed/damaged, interior panels partially disassembled/removed, steering box leaks severely, wheelchair ramp actuator missing parts.

They could have shortened this whole section to "if you don't literally see the thing in one of these pictures, it is gone."

[Meathead]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

That is the perfect bus for what they want to do.

Call M and M salvage in Ruckersville, VA. That’s where I got my 11 window Thomas HDX pusher. If you want a quick look at some of their inventory got to Craigslist Charlottesville, VA.
Several ppl here have dealt with them.

Peace