Need help narrowing down what chassis I should start looking for

[plexus_nexus]

Hello all,

I need help narrowing down what type of chassis I should look for. Knowing what type of bus and what length will help me figure out what size parking area I need to secure before I start bidding on a bus, as well as to know what engine and transmission options will suit the other things I need out of the bus. I’m a thirtysomething planning on solo living and cross-country traveling out of a converted bus full-time for a couple years, maybe more, but maybe not. I'm going to do a barebones conversion before moving in and then figuring out the build from there.


I initially thought I was going to go for a conventional dognose bus as close to under 27’ to be able so stay in national parks, with a reliable engine and transmission combo for handling driving through mountains, but the more I spend time considering what I actually need, I’m leaning towards a smaller bus, but I don’t know if that should be a conventional short bus or a cutaway van chassis. The word that comes to mind the most when I think about what I need is “versatility.”

These are the things I know I need and want:

- A bus. I personally need a lot of light, so I value the amount of light that buses provide in their number of windows, as well as the general sense of spaciousness. I’m not interested in other types of conversions.
- Ability to handle mountain pass highway driving. I intend to spend a lot of time in the West Coast and North East over the next 1-2 years.
- Versatility - I want to be able to both drive in cities and boondock. I want occasional access to BLM camping off forest roads when the roads are fairly mild and don’t require significance clearance. I’m not trying to four-wheel, but also don’t want to be 100% locked to pavement.
- Service flexibility - I will not be doing most of the mechanical work on my own bus. I’m willing to pay more for labor in exchange for serviceability and part availability.
- Ability to maneuver and short-term park in urban areas- I am going to utilize a PA system to DJ and do other types of pop-up audio/visual performance from the bus. I need the option to find street-side parking in relatively urban areas, even if it takes forever to find spaces or fail to sweettalk myself out of a ticket.
- Enough rooftop space for a small terrace and solar array. I’d like to have space to put down a couple lounge chairs or a tent. I get the impression this isn't hard on most buses as I've seen a lot of shorties that have a partial terrace.
- Ability to have at least two sleeping surfaces inside through either a bunk bed or my main bed plus a lounge. I want to have the option to meet people along my journeys or invite friends to travel with me on some excursions when I visit them around the country.


Things that aren’t very important to me:

- Bus doesn't need to drive fast as I don’t intend to do a ton of driving day-to-day and I dislike speeding anyway.
- I don’t intend to have a shower at first, or possibly ever. But hopefully I can have that option in the future if I decide to travel with someone full-time who might have different hygiene standards than I do. :biggrin: I do intend to create a private space for a composting toilet.
- I don’t need a full-sized kitchen. I don’t need a full-sized fridge or dish machine, but I still want to have space to prepare food for cooking outside, or enough space to prepare food inside during cold or inclement weather.
- Longevity – this is a hard one. I have really zero idea how long I will live this lifestyle. As long as I put up with it or it puts up with me. My guess is a couple to a few years, but a pandemic has shown nothing is reliably foreseeable.


I hope to start bidding on a bus very soon, so I'm a little worried it'll be harder to find a short van cutaway that is in good shape with the right engine and transmission for me. I'm looking cross state-lines. Thanks for any suggestions and insights!

 

[sportyrick]

Wow what a list, don't expect to check every box, life isn't like that, compromise is the key word. Working on your bus while on the road is extremely hard unless you are a super self motivating kind of person. You will always regret throwing some crap together, always reach for the pinnacle of perfection but is rarely achieved. There are people that will let you drop by and give you a hand, on skooliepalooza anyway, maybe here too.

 

[plexus_nexus]

Wow what a list, don't expect to check every box, life isn't like that, compromise is the key word. Working on your bus while on the road is extremely hard unless you are a super self motivating kind of person. You will always regret throwing some crap together, always reach for the pinnacle of perfection but is rarely achieved. There are people that will let you drop by and give you a hand, on skooliepalooza anyway, maybe here too.

For sure. It’s hard to turn this into a feasible plan without knowing what bus it’ll even take place in. I think one of the biggest for me is making sure I can travel through the Rockies and Northern California without fearing I’m going to break down on the side of the road. I’ve done the California coast by bicycle and saw plenty of automobiles struggling. The other stuff I’m more flexible over. I don’t anticipate my bus will be on the higher end of weight, so I might be able to get by with a smaller chassis.

What I’m able to accomplish before moving in I want to do right. That’s likely subfloor and hopefully insulation. I don’t want to do any framing this summer until I’ve lived in it for a few months and know for sure, or as sure as I can be, what I actually want in the buildout.

I’m leaning more and more towards a van cutaway. I’d be happy if I accomplished a third of what these folks did:

https://youtu.be/hHUjBChvIR8

https://youtu.be/o7MZEOgcYMU

 

[dbsoundman]

An actual school bus will be better constructed, no matter what size. School buses are strong, made of steel, cutaway shuttle buses and the like are fiberglass. I do think trying to find something that has more or less a van drivetrain may suit your serviceability requirements.

 

[plexus_nexus]

An actual school bus will be better constructed, no matter what size. School buses are strong, made of steel, cutaway shuttle buses and the like are fiberglass. I do think trying to find something that has more or less a van drivetrain may suit your serviceability requirements.

Thanks! Midwest Transit has a surprising amount of type B short school buses at decent prices. I'd prefer to not buy locally in IL due to potential rust buckets, but it would be convenient to have multiple to inspect at once.

 

[plexus_nexus]

Does anyone want to chime in on a 2007 Chevy Express G3500 with a 6.6L V8 32 valve turbo diesel with Thomas body? The apparent length (3 windows + disability lift door) looks perfect for me as it appears to be longer than the 4 window van cutaways I've commonly seen, although perhaps the disability lift door is making it appear bigger.

The Allison transmission model is not listed, so I will need to ask the seller. The seller says it runs, but burns oil and may have a cracked head. I'd be willing to fix if the price is right considering it has under 100k miles otherwise, but I'm not about to jump on anything yet.

 

[plexus_nexus]

Connecting some keywords together through Google... Seems like the potential cracked head might be a common problem with the 2007 6.6L diesel due to problems with that year's pistons, right?

"The fourth diesel engine model, called 6.6L LMM Duramax, debuted in 2007 and was nearly the same as its LBZ Duramax predecessor. The difference was new emissions control parts to meet increased air quality regulation in the U.S. at the time. The 6.6L LMM Duramax was equipped with an even more efficient variable-geometry turbocharging system, enhanced exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), and closed crankcase ventilation to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx). Additional exhaust control came from a new diesel particulate filter (DPF) to reduce soot and particulate matter. The diesel engine powered the Chevrolet Express, GMC Savanna, Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD, Chevrolet Kodiak, and GMC Topkick. The engine was known for cracking problems with its pistons. Production ended in 2011."

Source: https://www.skoolielivin.com/gm-6-6l-duramax-engine/

 

[ChurchBuz]

Go with a Chevy 6.0 gas. Cheap, plentiful, reliable, powerful, and nobody hates working on them except the die hard Ford guys

 

[Nawbdy]

What bus to buy? Type this "what skoolie to buy" into Google and start watching, you'll get a lot of opinions.

You didn't say where you're located. Your location could help folks identify potential sources for buses that might be local for you. For instance, AAA Bus in Phoenix is highly regarded, though expensive, and resells numerous school bus types. I visited a salvage yard in Virginia that had over 100 school buses for sale, all types, all configurations, all manufacturers.

If you have an unlimited budget you can get pretty much anything you want, have it built out for you and all you have to do it drive it away. If you don't have unlimited funds then you have to start picking and choosing what are the most important features. Was your original list prioritized? If not I suggest you do that first.

 

[RamRod4]

My vote would be for a short flat nose bus. Preferably rear engine but most of the shorter flat noses were front engine. It will handle well in urban areas and they have great visibility.

 

[PorchDog]

A cracked head on that diesel could turn into a big money pit. Also, I think that model has a CP4 high pressure fuel pump, and they are prone to failure, and when they do-- you have to replace the pump itself, the fuel injection lines and all the injectors. $5000 and up....

 

[Albatross]

- A bus.
- Ability to handle mountain pass highway driving.
- Versatility
- Service flexibility
- Ability to maneuver and short-term park in urban areas
- Enough rooftop space for a small terrace and solar array.
- Ability to have at least two sleeping surfaces inside

Things that aren’t very important to me:

- Bus doesn't need to drive fast
- I don’t intend to have a shower at first,
- I don’t need a full-sized kitchen.
- Longevity

If you want to be able to maneuver--and particularly park--in the cities, particularly in New England, you're probably going to want to put a hard-stop at right around 27 feet. I would even suggest trying to cap it around 24 feet. This basically puts you at the same length as a 1-ton dually pick-up truck, and you can still fit inside most parking spots provided that you can back in and leave your rear overhang past the curb.

I'm really only familiar with BB's myself, and this basically only leaves you with the MicroBird and MiniBird--a short production span model. I am sure that Thomas and other manufacturers have some models, but you'd have to look around.

At this length, you probably won't have a full kitchen, and not incorporating a shower will save some space.

If you get a skoolie, the 'versatility' will largely be met by default, as school buses are designed from the outset to service rougher areas that may not be accessible to other vehicles.

They're also designed to be relatively serviceable, and most of what you're looking at will built on something like the Chevy P-30 chassis or equivalent--essentially a medium-to-heavy duty frame built using 1-ton to a light-medium duty drive-train. On the smaller side, any mechanic worth the price of their tools should be able to work on it, and on the larger side, they're using relatively standardized drive-trains that don't change much, and should still be able to find mechanics that can fix them.

And don't worry, driving fast will be the least of your worries in a skoolie. Most of them can handle grades, but you'll probably annoy plenty of people behind you while doing it. Basically any turbo-diesel should fit that role.

Rooftop space would be the problem, between emergency hatches,and roof air. You won't be able to fit a ton of solar up there, but you can fit enough to fit a basic lifestyle budget. I traveled for something like 3 years in Texas through the Midwest in mine using nothing but 320W solar, and I didn't notice that my alternator wasn't working for more than a year.

On the downside, buses suffer enormously with some of the roughest driving conditions imaginable; not only do they go to all the places that break vehicles, they spend lots of time idling, start/stop driving, multiple drivers, and rough/inexperienced mechanics as well as having a lot of 'patch jobs' that basically just get it 'good enough'.

Be prepared with the pocketbook, as towing these usually starts with something like a $500+ hook-up fee, and $5/mile last time I needed one, almost ten years ago. And your hourly rate for repairs is probably $80-180/hour. And NOTHING on these buses will match the diagrams perfectly.