That is such a kind offer I don't know what to say. Our flight (my wife is coming along) gets to KC at 10:30 AM which is probably earlier than you want to be messing with a drive to the airport.
Will be passing thru Dallas not Houston =(Just breathe in nice and easy, and try to relax and you'll be fine.
Nerves are what have made some bus trips stressful for me and they totally don't have to be that way.
Getting a bus is a pretty fun experience once you get past the shock of it all.
Congrats, and let us know if you have any questions or anything. Oh- and try your best to try and meet Tango. He's in Houston and he's just a **** of a nice guy. Talented as all ****!
The guy at the school district has been super helpful. He says the bus had an oil change about 50 miles before they retired it and it has been parked in the district garage for the last month or so. He went out and started it every so often and confirmed it will start when I get there.
I intend to find some how to drive a school bus videos on Youtube so I know how to make wide turns with the giant ass end / overhang.
Velocipedic
Senior Member
Skoolie in Del Rio
Greetings from Del Rio.. I mean its technically West of San Antonio, but roughly "Southern" I'll be driving out to SPI in not too long. Maybe we can meet up sometime!
Greetings from Del Rio.. I mean its technically West of San Antonio, but roughly "Southern" I'll be driving out to SPI in not too long. Maybe we can meet up sometime!
Well...we got Brutus home =)
I owe a very very special thank you to Magnakansas who drove from Topeka to Kansas City International and picked us up, then drove us all the way to Burlingame Kansas so we could pick up our bus. Then he followed us for 10-15 miles to make sure we didn't have any problems, (like me driving too close to the yellow center line). By the time we picked up the bus it was snowing pretty good--awesome weather to learn how to drive a 40 foot school bus =)
Then he spent an hour with me on the phone trying to figure out why the headlights wouldn't turn off. Turned out it was human error. The key would come out easily if you turned it all the way to the left, (the accessories position) but needed to be "jiggled" to remove it in the correct center position. We came this close to having to sleep on the bus with the engine running in cold snowy weather.
The only other minor issue was when we stopped for fuel and I couldn't get the fuel cap off. I asked a big burly guy at the next pump over to try and after a bit of grunting he got it loosened.
Other than those 2 minor things Brutus performed like a super star. Water temp was a constant 210F, transmission ran at about 120-130F, RPM at 65 was 2,600 with anything below 65 running 2,200 - 2,400 RPM.
One thing I did notice is how bumpy the ride in a school bus is. My hope is that once it is loaded down it will not be so bad. Is it possible to add air bags to a school buss to smooth out the ride? If so I imagine it is pretty spendy.
Anyway, Will if you read this, thank you again for being an awesome human being.
I owe a very very special thank you to Magnakansas who drove from Topeka to Kansas City International and picked us up, then drove us all the way to Burlingame Kansas so we could pick up our bus. Then he followed us for 10-15 miles to make sure we didn't have any problems, (like me driving too close to the yellow center line). By the time we picked up the bus it was snowing pretty good--awesome weather to learn how to drive a 40 foot school bus =)
Then he spent an hour with me on the phone trying to figure out why the headlights wouldn't turn off. Turned out it was human error. The key would come out easily if you turned it all the way to the left, (the accessories position) but needed to be "jiggled" to remove it in the correct center position. We came this close to having to sleep on the bus with the engine running in cold snowy weather.
The only other minor issue was when we stopped for fuel and I couldn't get the fuel cap off. I asked a big burly guy at the next pump over to try and after a bit of grunting he got it loosened.
Other than those 2 minor things Brutus performed like a super star. Water temp was a constant 210F, transmission ran at about 120-130F, RPM at 65 was 2,600 with anything below 65 running 2,200 - 2,400 RPM.
One thing I did notice is how bumpy the ride in a school bus is. My hope is that once it is loaded down it will not be so bad. Is it possible to add air bags to a school buss to smooth out the ride? If so I imagine it is pretty spendy.
Anyway, Will if you read this, thank you again for being an awesome human being.
EastCoastCB
Senior Member
Glad you and the bus made it safely!
magnakansas
Senior Member
hola !
bumpy ride, it is likely some of the leaves in the leaf springs can be removed to soften the ride. That is something to be done after you are all built up and built in.
It's fun to share the happy vibes of a new skoolies. Very glad to have crossed paths with both of you.
It is expensive, but a company called Reyco Granning makes air suspension systems for the trucks. really smoothes the ride.
Very happy to hear you had a relatively uneventful road trip.
william
bumpy ride, it is likely some of the leaves in the leaf springs can be removed to soften the ride. That is something to be done after you are all built up and built in.
It's fun to share the happy vibes of a new skoolies. Very glad to have crossed paths with both of you.
It is expensive, but a company called Reyco Granning makes air suspension systems for the trucks. really smoothes the ride.
Very happy to hear you had a relatively uneventful road trip.
william
EastCoastCB
Senior Member
These guys sell air suspension "kits". They're OEM supplier for Thomas.
https://www.hendrickson-intl.com/Truck/Bus-RV-Medium-Duty
Be prepared for sticker shock.
FWIW- It'll probably ride a little better loaded.
https://www.hendrickson-intl.com/Truck/Bus-RV-Medium-Duty
Be prepared for sticker shock.
FWIW- It'll probably ride a little better loaded.
To be candid Marsha and I enjoyed meeting you guys as much as we did getting the bus. I am looking forward talking skoolies with you for years to come =)
That is my hope as well. I sailed over an unmarked railroad crossing at about 25 mph and seriously all four back wheels came clean up off the ground about six inches. I saw my wife go flashing by in the mirror on her way up towards the roof then come flashing back by on her way down. Being the awesome wife she is she yelled, "Again Daddy again" and we had a good laugh while I tried to get my rear end to unclench the seat.
EastCoastCB
Senior Member
Leaf spring buses "hop" when hitting stuff like that.
Some friends ruined an expensive washer/dryer hauling it home in the rear of their bus.
Some friends ruined an expensive washer/dryer hauling it home in the rear of their bus.
cadillackid
Senior Member
also weigh your bus full of fuel and then get the load charts for your tires. air appropriately and alter as you convert .. yiu never wasnt under-inflated tires.. however over inflated tires can make the ride harsh.. a fully loaded bus like that probably is rated at 100-110 PSI for the tires.. depending on your fully loaded weight you may be able to reduce that some..
a very empty school bus without air springs in the back will definitely bounce!. but thats part of the fun of driving a bus.. that #BigRiggin feel!
-Christopher
a very empty school bus without air springs in the back will definitely bounce!. but thats part of the fun of driving a bus.. that #BigRiggin feel!
-Christopher
I am going to try and post a few pictures soon. Brutus seems to like his new tropical home--especially after 19 years of hauling kids around in the snowy North.
It looks like we only have a 32 gal tank and the fuel gauge only goes to 3/4 mark so I will have to figure out what is going on there. I may just add a second 32 gal tank to the drivers side and then figure out how to plumb them together. I would have preferred more capacity as we will be running a diesel furnace for hot water and heating and 64 gal total is not great. 100 would have been better.
It looks like we only have a 32 gal tank and the fuel gauge only goes to 3/4 mark so I will have to figure out what is going on there. I may just add a second 32 gal tank to the drivers side and then figure out how to plumb them together. I would have preferred more capacity as we will be running a diesel furnace for hot water and heating and 64 gal total is not great. 100 would have been better.
EastCoastCB
Senior Member
NICE, I love it!
You did real good, man. Bus looks great.
Nothing beats the ruggedness of a CE.
Tango-SKO
Senior Member
Should be plenty of room under there to add more/bigger fuel tanks. If traveling a lot in a 40 footer...personally I would want something around 100 gallons just to give me better options on fueling locations and prices.
NICE, I love it!
You did real good, man. Bus looks great.
Nothing beats the ruggedness of a CE.
Yeah and at $2400 I feel like I got a good deal. Tires are probably at 75% or better and it ended up there was an air ride seat. There are also a few buttons mid dash that seem to be for cruise control--tho I have no idea how you would ever reach them while driving and they don't seem to work. I will for sure look into it as 4 or 5 hours of driving with your foot mashed down to the floor kind of sucks.
Speaking of the gas pedal...it has some weird thing where you have to reposition your foot every 5 minutes because it ends up sliding off the right edge--even though you never really feel your foot moving over.
That is actually really good advice as I noticed quite a price difference for fuel on the trip. It was $3.19 in Kansas City and $3.00 in Dallas and $2.70 as we got farther South. So having the larger capacity could have saved us about $50 on this trip alone.
Add to that the goal of this being a single fuel bus with a diesel furnace for hot water and radiant heat and the extra capacity just makes sense.
I have started shopping for tanks and they don't seem to be all that expensive provided I can use what they call a "transfer tank". It will depend on how I end up plumbing everything as I am unsure how that works with fuel pumps etc.. Lots to research =)
Tango-SKO
Senior Member
Roger that. I have seen darn near a buck a gallon difference on a couple of road trips.
cadillackid
Senior Member
I have the little 32 in mine too and it’s a shorty so no room for a bigger tank. I’d like it more if I had a 60. The bus does great on mpg but like mentioned prices can vary as much as a buck or more in a few hundred miles
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