RiskyBUSiness-SKO
New Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2019
- Posts
- 5
Hello all,
We are selling our 2002 Thomas School Bus which we had purchased a little while back (2019) to convert into an RV Skoolie. However, after purchasing said bus, we got pregnant and found out about a month afterward. My wife and I wanted two kids and we don't want a giant age difference between them so we are planning on a second child this year. We tried to convince ourselves that we could have two babies and do this project but after having just the one so far, we are realizing that is at best going to delay our project by several years. Our plans are changing (we are way more worried about where to put the kids in school now) and the bus is just not part of that anymore.
Prior to that, we had made some changes to the bus that would benefit any prospective skoolie project. In fact, this bus is basically a 35ft blank slate, it's been completely gutted and rust proofed but has no customization to the interior. Mechanically, this is probably one of the best buses you could find. it's very low mileage (less than 40,000 miles) and I had a Caterpillar upgrade the engine (CAT 3126) to put out more power and take care of some bullet proofing as well. The fuel system is in great shape and this bus will not leave you stranded anytime soon. We had this work done precisely because we expected to take it off grid and on BLM land. This engine now puts out as much torque as the transmission can safely take so this thing has some get up an go at least for a bus. They also lubed up the chassis, replaced ALL of the filters, replaced some other ancillary stuff and tested it (test results in the paper work). They even commented on how nice a platform the bus would be for a project like this when we picked it up. I have all the paper work for the work as well which will come with the vehicle. I put a brand new starter in it as well just before this work was done. Finally, this bus has brand new tires on it that we put on by the previous owner. We obviously haven't driven this bus around a lot so they are in great shape.
As side from upgrades and new stuff, there are some additional details which might influence your decision. This bus is equipped with with a fairly rare rear end. It has a 5.13 geared rear differential, which means this bus will be able climb mountains better than most out there. Combine that with engine upgrades we had done and this thing will be unstoppable going up mountains and high grades. The bus also has hydraulic brakes, which is a big plus for anyone who does not want to deal with air brakes which tend to leak frequently. Given that you will likely be under the GVWR for your project, these brakes will offer you less headache while providing more than enough stopping power than air brakes would. We had those checked out as well and they are in good shape. This bus has also passed multiple state inspections for large vehicles (not the same for small passenger cars/trucks) and we have paper work for that as well.
Given that we have invested significantly in the bus (it was not cheap when we purchased it) we're looking for $16K for this sale. Before you make your decision, go on youtube and watch some of the most popular skoolie conversion channels and watch the dollars stack up when their buses break down. If you are lucky, you can still live in your skoolie while it is being fixed, if you can find a mechanic to work on it where ever you broke down. Towing a skoolie is no trivial task either and you will pay dearly for that. If you can't live in the skoolie while it is being fixed, be prepared to stay in a motel or hotel, and probably not be able to cook, which means, more money. You will not have to worry about any of that with this bus. It will run without problems for years if not decades and you can have fun with it without anxiety about some unknown problem surprising you on the road. Heck, take this thing all over the continent! It will not let you down!
Here are the TL;DR details for this listing:
2002 Thomas School Bus (Freightliner FS65)
Engine: CAT 3126
Transmission: Allison 2000 series
Rear End Gear Ratio: 5.13
35' Long
Highlights:
- Clean Title, no liens, no salvage, etc...
- Everything works!
- Interior is gutted and ready for new project
- Engine has been upgraded and serviced by CAT in late 2021
- Chassis has been lubed
- Has new starter
- Has new tires (Good Years, not some junky ones)
- Very low mileage bus (less than 40k miles)
If interested, shoot me a message and I will get additional details to you if requested.
Thanks for reading!!
We are selling our 2002 Thomas School Bus which we had purchased a little while back (2019) to convert into an RV Skoolie. However, after purchasing said bus, we got pregnant and found out about a month afterward. My wife and I wanted two kids and we don't want a giant age difference between them so we are planning on a second child this year. We tried to convince ourselves that we could have two babies and do this project but after having just the one so far, we are realizing that is at best going to delay our project by several years. Our plans are changing (we are way more worried about where to put the kids in school now) and the bus is just not part of that anymore.
Prior to that, we had made some changes to the bus that would benefit any prospective skoolie project. In fact, this bus is basically a 35ft blank slate, it's been completely gutted and rust proofed but has no customization to the interior. Mechanically, this is probably one of the best buses you could find. it's very low mileage (less than 40,000 miles) and I had a Caterpillar upgrade the engine (CAT 3126) to put out more power and take care of some bullet proofing as well. The fuel system is in great shape and this bus will not leave you stranded anytime soon. We had this work done precisely because we expected to take it off grid and on BLM land. This engine now puts out as much torque as the transmission can safely take so this thing has some get up an go at least for a bus. They also lubed up the chassis, replaced ALL of the filters, replaced some other ancillary stuff and tested it (test results in the paper work). They even commented on how nice a platform the bus would be for a project like this when we picked it up. I have all the paper work for the work as well which will come with the vehicle. I put a brand new starter in it as well just before this work was done. Finally, this bus has brand new tires on it that we put on by the previous owner. We obviously haven't driven this bus around a lot so they are in great shape.
As side from upgrades and new stuff, there are some additional details which might influence your decision. This bus is equipped with with a fairly rare rear end. It has a 5.13 geared rear differential, which means this bus will be able climb mountains better than most out there. Combine that with engine upgrades we had done and this thing will be unstoppable going up mountains and high grades. The bus also has hydraulic brakes, which is a big plus for anyone who does not want to deal with air brakes which tend to leak frequently. Given that you will likely be under the GVWR for your project, these brakes will offer you less headache while providing more than enough stopping power than air brakes would. We had those checked out as well and they are in good shape. This bus has also passed multiple state inspections for large vehicles (not the same for small passenger cars/trucks) and we have paper work for that as well.
Given that we have invested significantly in the bus (it was not cheap when we purchased it) we're looking for $16K for this sale. Before you make your decision, go on youtube and watch some of the most popular skoolie conversion channels and watch the dollars stack up when their buses break down. If you are lucky, you can still live in your skoolie while it is being fixed, if you can find a mechanic to work on it where ever you broke down. Towing a skoolie is no trivial task either and you will pay dearly for that. If you can't live in the skoolie while it is being fixed, be prepared to stay in a motel or hotel, and probably not be able to cook, which means, more money. You will not have to worry about any of that with this bus. It will run without problems for years if not decades and you can have fun with it without anxiety about some unknown problem surprising you on the road. Heck, take this thing all over the continent! It will not let you down!
Here are the TL;DR details for this listing:
2002 Thomas School Bus (Freightliner FS65)
Engine: CAT 3126
Transmission: Allison 2000 series
Rear End Gear Ratio: 5.13
35' Long
Highlights:
- Clean Title, no liens, no salvage, etc...
- Everything works!
- Interior is gutted and ready for new project
- Engine has been upgraded and serviced by CAT in late 2021
- Chassis has been lubed
- Has new starter
- Has new tires (Good Years, not some junky ones)
- Very low mileage bus (less than 40k miles)
If interested, shoot me a message and I will get additional details to you if requested.
Thanks for reading!!
