which companies made this kind of bus?

[pengyou]

I am looking for a mid engine bus with maximum underfloor storage. Which search words should i use? Which compNies are more likely to have this?

 

[Tango-SKO]

Most mid-engine buses have very little underfloor storage. Can't think of one that has much, if any (?).

 

[Scooternj]

The only midship engine buses that I know of are Crowns; and good luck paying reasonable prices for them since they're becoming "collector's" pieces. Your best bet would be an RE with underbelly bays.

 

[M1031A1]

Peng,

All the major manufacturers made various bus models with some having cargo bay storage built in them from the factory. Cargo bay storage is usually for high school band trips and/or football games when the school is playing at another high school. These buses are more expensive for the school districts to buy. Therefore, these buses are not as common as most school buses. However, with due diligence, they can be found. The best way to determine if a bus has cargo bay doors is to look at the bottom of the bus in pictures or to view the bus personally. If there are large horizontal swing doors below the floor line, then you have a cargo bay bus. Sizes of the bays depend upon how the district ordered the bus.

For example, in Katy, Texas, we have Blue Bird, Thomas, and International buses that are equipped with cargo bays. Yet the older International buses have smaller cargo bays than the Thomas, Blue Bird, or newer Internationals. At the time of the order Katy ISD anticipated a smaller need for cargo bays and ordered those buses based upon that assumption. However, three years later Katy began to experience a large population growth. This compelled Katy ISD to build many new schools. They also ordered a series of new buses at that time with cargo bays twice the size of the previous buses.

So, as I said earlier, the best way to determine if you have a bus with cargo bays is to go visit the bus or to carefully inspect the pictures of the bus before going further.

Hope this helps.

M1031

 

[pengyou]

Thanks to you all. I have heard that the busses without the hoods - engines up front - are easier to drive, so I have ruled them out for now. Also the busses without hoods look less like a school bus to me. I was hoping, by getting a mid engine bus with underfloor storage, that i could put a hot tub in the very rear of the bus, mostly below the floor line, with a cover on top and then put a queen sized bed on top of that. Any hope for this?

 

[pengyou]

What is an RE bus?

If a bus does not have undercarriage storage, will there will be room to mount water tanks, storage containers, etc under the bus without crippling clearance?

 

[CaptSquid]

RE = Rear Engine
FE = Front Engine

Plenty of underbody clearance to mount tanks and storage boxes.

 

[Crazy]

Crowns and Gilligs are the two buses that have mid-engines.

 

[pengyou]

But am I correct in thinking that a mid engine bus would be easier to install a hot tub in the back?

 

[Crazy]

If you drop enough acid.

 

[wunderhut]

But am I correct in thinking that a mid engine bus would be easier to install a hot tub in the back?

I have heard that the busses without the hoods - engines up front - are easier to drive, so I have ruled them out for now.

Maybe I'm lost but it sounds like maybe you are unaware that there indeed are flat nose buses with the engine in the front?

 

[Scooternj]

If you drop enough acid.

Or cut away the frame rails that are the major component of structural integrity of a bus

 

[Alan N]

Wouldn't the rear basement in a Crown be the perfect place for a hot tub?

 

[Tekmbster]

I know some of the Blue Birds have under storage. There's a district near ours that has some with them.