4x4 really that rare?

[BoggerBus]

just keep jacking it up higher it will eventually clear everything lol

 

[banman]

Yeah you can have them retread your tires. Just don't run retreads on the steer tires.

Retread is not the same as regroove --
My steer tires, also Michelin's, also say regroovable onto the sidewalls...

 

[EastCoastCB]

Retread is not the same as regroove --
My steer tires, also Michelin's, also say regroovable onto the sidewalls...

Ah, I see. Yeah I've never had a bus tire that didn't say that. Never looked into it much as most of the tires I've had were over a decade old.

 

[kidharris]

2009 Bluebird, factory 4x4 on Craigs List

How hard is it to find a 4x4? I have only seen a few.
Are they really unicorns?
How much of a price increase compared to similar 2wd?

I don't know where to post this, so here it is. I know it is an old thread....



https://mohave.craigslist.org/rvs/d/lake-havasu-city-2009-bluebird-school/7412907581.html

 

[fo4imtippin]

Wow. I mean I think it's rare enough to command that price. Other than the C7, what a gem! Glad that wasn't at auction or I couldn't have kept my finger off the buy button.

 

[Booyah45828]

Ticks a lot of the option boxes that's for sure.

md3060 trans
4x4
automatic chains
telma retarder
air conditioning

and the list goes on. Biggest downfall is the c7 and it being an emissions bus.

I wonder what the seller gave for it.....

 

[Rucker]

The 4x4 buses I've seen on youtube and elsewhere ended up on their side. Turns out they are very good at getting you into a bad situation, maybe not so much at getting you out of them.

Just sayin' maybe trying to take a house cross country is asking too much.

 

[Booyah45828]

No doubt.

I wouldn't go wheelin' in one on a mountain trail like you would a jeep or side by side. But it'd be nice for forest service roads and other situations where slippery and loose surfaces are prevalent.

 

[kidharris]

The 4x4 buses I've seen on youtube and elsewhere ended up on their side. Turns out they are very good at getting you into a bad situation, maybe not so much at getting you out of them.

Just sayin' maybe trying to take a house cross country is asking too much.

The departure angle doesn't exist, around here (desert) it would wind up stuck in a wash, either high center or with the back wheels hanging in the air, or both. Could cut that rear overhang down though. Shortening the bus would also help in turning sharp corners or turning in tighter spaces. Could still carry a lot of weight (water for most people, around here it would probably be prospecting gear).


As far as turning over though, I think that has more to do with the driver. A lot of idiots out there.

 

[magnakansas]

4x4 bus

Is it not more like how you would drive an army truck? Seems like in most cases you get out and scout out where you are going. With satellite photos and even drones with cameras, going some of the old desert mine roads would give a better idea of go, no go. My bus currently weighs about 15,000 lbs and have 9,000 winch and other bits, I have seen to many other stuck busses. I think I will try to move up to a 12,000 lb winch for this bus.

William

 

[kidharris]

Is it not more like how you would drive an army truck? Seems like in most cases you get out and scout out where you are going. With satellite photos and even drones with cameras, going some of the old desert mine roads would give a better idea of go, no go. My bus currently weighs about 15,000 lbs and have 9,000 winch and other bits, I have seen to many other stuck busses. I think I will try to move up to a 12,000 lb winch for this bus.

William

I think that those winches are rated for pulling on level ground, not up hill. Bigger is better in my opinion, but remember that they don't work without electricity.



If in doubt I walk ahead & check it out. I try to figure out if I can make it in and on the way back to the vehicle I try to figure out if I can make it back out. My experience has been that it is often easier to go in than out (out is way more important) especially when hills are involved. One thing that I have found out is that, even when it feels solid on the way down the hill, when the wheels start slipping on the way back up the hill, out here, the tires can quickly sink in and create a hole which makes it impossible to go up the hill. I usually carry a bundle or 2 of asphalt roofing shingles to lay down on soft or slippery surfaces, but they don't always work. I also carry a solid steel pointed rod and sledge hammer to create an anchor point to use to winch out.


The satellite pics are often useless. The old roads/tracks often look much better from above than they really are and it only takes one good rain to make it impassable even to Razors (if a Razor can't make It the don't even try the Jeep). On some of the old mining roads or ranch roads it might be years before some one comes along so you might as well start walking and hoping. A simple lapse in judgement can be the end for you or your vehicle.


It is expensive or sometimes impossible to get rescued. Best to have 2 or more vehicles traveling together to help each other out. Spring and fall offer the best traveling weather, but if you are walking you need to remember that if it is comfortable for you, then it is comfortable for the Mohave Greens and Western Diamondbacks. Winter is cold, but at least the snakes are supposed to be taking a break.



You are on your own. NO medivac or evac like the military. Cellphones are really iffy.

 

[HamSkoolie]

If you REALLY want a 4x4 there's an outfit in Wolf Creek Oregon that will put HD 4x4 gear under a bus. It's $44 grand on top of the bus price but if you REALLY want 4x4........

 

[baipin]

Is it not more like how you would drive an army truck? Seems like in most cases you get out and scout out where you are going. With satellite photos and even drones with cameras, going some of the old desert mine roads would give a better idea of go, no go. My bus currently weighs about 15,000 lbs and have 9,000 winch and other bits, I have seen to many other stuck busses. I think I will try to move up to a 12,000 lb winch for this bus.

William

In my opinion, that's the way to do it. You don't want to get a vehicle that big, stuck, so taking a moment to walk it through is wise.


If anyone is curious, I'm building a 4x4 bus. Projected weight of 13,000lbs when all is said and done. Dana 60 front, NP205, Dana 80 or 11.5AAM rear, probably sticking with 4.56 gears: https://www.instagram.com/thatbuschoseme/ The bus is basically designed with traversing Ontario, Quebec, and BC's forest service roads/abandoned logging trails, in mind.

 

[kidharris]

In my opinion, that's the way to do it. You don't want to get a vehicle that big, stuck, so taking a moment to walk it through is wise.


If anyone is curious, I'm building a 4x4 bus. Projected weight of 13,000lbs when all is said and done. Dana 60 front, NP205, Dana 80 or 11.5AAM rear, probably sticking with 4.56 gears: https://www.instagram.com/thatbuschoseme/ The bus is basically designed with traversing Ontario, Quebec, and BC's forest service roads/abandoned logging trails, in mind.

I'd like see it, but I don't do Instagram. Do you have an idea of the conversion cost?

 

[baipin]

I'd like see it, but I don't do Instagram. Do you have an idea of the conversion cost?

Heh, I despise instagram, :biggrin: but it's an easy way to get in contact with other skoolie folks and post photos easily, without a painstaking upload process that cuts into my actual work time.



I'm estimating about $15,000 CAD. That only includes the absolute basics for the interior. That's another phase of the build, further into the future. I do virtually all of my own fabrication though, which cuts down on costs immensely. All electrical, plumbing, metal fab and welding, parts design for the 4WD conversion, is done by me, and the only thing I have others do is mill a couple of parts from CAD drawings.

 

[Mercuric Mind]

There is a place in Tulsa, OK that does 4x4 conversions for medium and heavy duty chassis.
https://tulsatruckmfg.com/index.fsp?avs_what=schoolbus

 

[magnakansas]

DIY 4x4

There is an older gasoline international/superior bus - about 1971 I think.... for $1000 and a similar vintage international fire truck that is 4x4....... for $1700

I have seen some 4x4 international 4300 series trucks in 4x4 with bad engines... for under $3000. That would probably work with the 3600/3800 series international bus.


Seems to be the internationals are just a little more common with the 4x4 and that would be my choice.

Now that I said that. My 1954 ford/wayne is using a 2010 f450 chassis, if I used a 4wd front axle, a divorced transfer case from one of those 4x4 internationals ....

I have also been thinking about using a 200-250hp rated electric drive unit on the front axle only...... So front wheel drive, or 4x4 would be a matter of turning on the front drive unit systems. I am sure tuning software to work as a hybrid with the a rear drive diesel system would provide challenges there too.

I see adding the power of the front electric drive for going up hills and using the electric drive as regen braking going down the hills too.

oh the possibilities

william