WTF did I just do?

[midview132]

Well hello everyone, I just purchased a school bus because I wanted to do a skoolie conversion and I kind of regret it already. Just purchased a 2002 Thomas Saf T Liner. Drove it home 3 hours from Dayton Ohio to Cleveland area, no problems, thing ran like a champ. It had more miles on it than people suggest but a diesel engine with 250k didnt scare me because diesel engine last 500k miles easily. After two days of owning it , my thoughts have changed and i want to get it out of my driveway. I really liked driving it, although 70mph top speed was infuriating when you know the allison has a 6th speed but you arent allowed to access it, I dont necessarily want to go that much faster, but if the engine could turn a few hundred less RPMs that would have been great. I always had a dream of building out a skoolie, but Im at that point where im just tired of projects and would rather just enjoy things, stressed out right now. The bus came from Georgia so it has no rust on it, but just thinking of getting it out of driveway even willing to take a loss on it. Sad but thats where it stands right now.

 

[rossvtaylor]

If the only thing keeping you from moving forward with the bus is the 6th gear, there are options for getting that unlocked (if you have an MD3060 or similar) for about $400-500. There's a whole thread here, on the forum, about it. Some folks can do it remotely, with some support on your end (like a laptop and interface) and some will reprogram the TCM which you send to them. Regardless, many would be jealous of 70mph and most don't want to go faster than that anyway. My Crown will do 80, but I prefer about 65.

 

[midview132]

Just one thing after another

Got the bus home, sat down and started fixing things. My first was to fix the crap door valve air leaks, they use the push lock fitting that just leak so I got some compression fittings from HD and that was fixed. Then my turn signal lever had a broken wire in it which made the brights stay on. While fixing that small bright switch in it, and getting it to work, my wipers now decide they don't want to turn off and the brights won't go off anyway, nothing responding down that arm except turn signals and hazards. Spent money on new turn signal arm and after replacing it, it didn't fix the wiper problem. After I drove it home I notice that there is a sizeable leak that looks like its coming from the Trans, doesn't leak while just parked. I'm just frustrated and before I go any further, I'm at the point where I may be better off scraping the bus out. Instead of putting anything farther into it.

 

[Hooker-SKO]

Man, sorry to hear all this. I'd normally say this is all to be expected. You can't buy a 20+ year old vehicle with 250,000 miles and not expect to have any issues that will need attention. If these few little things frustrated you this bad, I'd have to agree you need it out of your driveway. However, I think if you change your mindset, take a deep breath, think of the possibilities you might be just fine. Though I will add, you're partially right that 250,000 miles isn't to many for a 500,000 engine, but you do need to factor in, that this 250,000 miles is hard ass school bus miles, so unless this was an activity bus where many of those miles are highway miles and the bus didn't have all the normal idle time that most route school busses do, 250,000 miles can possibly be much closer to EOL (end of life) than you think. It's very very rare that you'll see a route school bus make it to 500,000 miles. Here's the other thing. Do you even know which model transmission you have? In 2002 still common that many busses still had the AT545 which means it's only a 4 speed and No lock up converter so you don't even have Overdrive, and there is NO 6th gear to unlock. If it's a rust free bus and you didn't over pay for it, you should have no problem getting rid of it. Can you say what you want for it?

 

[BarnYardCamp]

The tranny leaking only when the bus is running could indicate that the leak is a transmission oil line that is either loose or damaged. Should be a relatively easy fix. The challenge with oil leaks is locating the actual source, oil leaks at point "A" then gravity and air flow push the oil to point "B" where it then drips to the ground.

 

[Tin Roadtube Vagrant]

You a millennial?

You need to pull yourself up son and realize it takes more than three licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop!!! Think Three years, $10K and a helluva lotta elbow grease. Get back to work and itemize the problems. Eliminate them systematically using the resources on this site and stop whining about what a bad choice you made. We all did something stupid when we bought a used bus and tried to turn it into a Cadillac. Glad you at least realize it early.

 

[Hooker-SKO]

You a millennial?

You need to pull yourself up son and realize it takes more than three licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop!!! Think Three years, $10K and a helluva lotta elbow grease. Get back to work and itemize the problems. Eliminate them systematically using the resources on this site and stop whining about what a bad choice you made. We all did something stupid when we bought a used bus and tried to turn it into a Cadillac. Glad you at least realize it early.

Good Advice but I'm still wondering if he actually did something stupid or not. Obviously his expectations were in the wrong place. I don't know anyone who goes and buys a bus and doesn't take at least basic tools, tie wire, duct tape and the real smart guys even carry at least 2 sticks of chewing gum with them expecting to possibly have some kind of issue on the way back home with it. These are usually 20+ year old vehicles that are sold AS IS. I drove one of mine home and part way through the trip realized it needs a water pump. Thankfully it was a very slow leak in the weep hole and I made it the 150 mile trip without having to add coolant. I also had a plan that if it did start to overheat or run warm, I'd open the heater valve at the driver heater box and bring in several more gallons of coolant from the heater cores and long hoses to the back of the bus, so I didn't sweat it and it ran like a champ at 80-82 mph at times on the way home when I wasn't paying attention to the speedo til I finally just set the cruise at 75 and rolled with it.

 

[Tin Roadtube Vagrant]

For posterity's sake.........

In all cases you're buying a machine in a state of decline.

My last bus was sold because a younger fella had a truck driving Dad. Dad wanted to retire. Son wanted Dad to drive bus for him in retirement. Dad wanted to remain a gear jamming trucker. Son bought him a Cat engine and Fuller 6 sp manual trans. Dad didn't age so well, Lord rest him. Now son can't find another trucker-type to take his place and no one knows how to drive that stick properly. Bus was not in "decline" in a sense of disqualified by inspector. Bus was fleet worthy at time of sale. Bus still had major issues to be addressed even in FLEET LEGAL state. Including all ABS warning devices removed by owner, bad engine/trans mounts, sloppy sway bars, defunct dash, engine leaks, body leaks, etc, etc. Expect major issues upfront, always, even if you think you're a great purchase inspector.

 

[cafspecdel]

I was thinking the same thing. Guy must be a snowflake.

 

[knmtravel]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and take the opposite position the others have. I deeply, viscerally regret the money my husband and I have sank into our buses. I’d give my left kidney to live indoors again. I hate traveling full time more than I can express. So my thought is if you’re having such extreme regrets so quickly after buying the bus - LISTEN TO YOUR GUT!!! Sell it. It isn’t worth it. They’re money pits and chances are unless you have exceptional building skills already, you won’t be able to sell your bus for anywhere near what you put into it if you do build it out. Just look at the for sale ads here and the derogatory comments on many of them. And so many people burn out before finishing anyway as I have. It really, really isn’t worth it unless you have money to burn.

 

[gabrielah77]

You a millennial?
.

Wow. What an insensitive thing to say.
Not everyone is cut out for this you know.
It's not like he signed a contract saying he was going to do this and he's in breach.
You sound like a boring and annoying old person with an attitude like that.

 

[gabrielah77]

You do you

Skoplies exist to give people joy. If you find no joy in the project, there is no shame in pulling out.

I probably start hundreds of projects that I don't finish, large and small, every year. This is an extra big one of those, but so what? Once you got into it, you realized this is not your cup of tea, and that is just fine. There is absolutely no pressure to keep going. You didn't sign any contracts with anybody promising to do this, did you? Don't listen to the haters.

I get it. When I was younger, I ate with my eyes regarding projects. I still do take on a lot more than I can finish. But after extensive self reflection I have realized that those unfinished projects are nobody's problem. They're not even my problem. I've come to the realization that sometimes, just starting a project is all I need to do to get the benefits of that exploration.

Nobody in the world is going to benefit or be hurt by the fact that you did or did not do this thing. This is purely for your own creative process. Maybe just the first few weeks of this project was enough for you to gain some benefit from it, If nothing else, now you know one thing that you thought sounded like fun, but wasn't. Dont do what you don't wanna do, especially for leisure.

Hobbies are processes, not goals or destinations. They exist for nobody's benefit but your own. Do what benefits you.

 

[Nick5272]

Only thing I have to offer as a 24 year old with no background in mechanics who bought a bus is this: it will take so much longer if you don't know what you're doing. What we hoped to accomplish in 1 year looked like it'll take closer to 3-4 years to get it how we want. A job that should take 4 hours for a novice take 10 for a rookie. Add to that the 40-60 hours spent researching and self-teaching, it's suddenly taking 20-30x longer to do what a technically inclined person could do in a day or two. Doesn't help if you have a perfectionistic lean to ya lol. Bottom line: motivation and knowledge isn't enough to finish a build out. You need the time. For that reason we have opted to sell our partial conversion and buy a fully finished.

I can't tell you how much disappointment came with that decision but at the end of the day we got into the game to travel, not to be a mechanic (though I've found a deep love in learning the various skills I have so far). Getting on the road earlier was of more importance to us than having everything figured out. I don't know your situation or if you're a millennial or not, but from a young guy here-- if you don't know what you're doing it will just take exponentially longer. For me it was never a question of "do I have it in me to do this?" but "Do I have it outside me to do this?" And the answer for me, specifically with time, was no.

Best of luck to you friend.

For better or worse, valuable lessons are learned in the leaps of faith that landed us in this forum. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Pinelander2020]

ABS System Light ON

Hello everybody!
I have a Skoolie FREIGHTLINER built by Thomas 1999.
I parked this bus for a year, tried to sale it, tried to exchange it but at the end...I love my Skoolie and I decided to keep it.
Now, I moved from NC to CT but my bus is still in NC parked in an RV Park and I decided to pay a Transport to haul my bus BECAUSE the ABS brakes.
If the ABS light is ON does this mean the entire ABS system is compromised or defective or is there a solution? I read ONLINE that if I move or drive around this ABS system will DeMagnetize itself and return to normal? Is this assumption correct? Do I need to Hite an School Bus mechanic to fix this ABS brakes?
Please, help!!!
Regards
Pinelander 2020
Connecticutt

 

[La Camioneta]

Do the brakes work? I wouldn't pay to have it transported if they do work, and if they don't tow it to a local shop and have them repaired.

If its just a light, its just a light. Bad sensor or reading causing an error code.

 

[BarnYardCamp]

usually, and I stress "usually".
When the ABS warning light is on it means there is a problem with the ABS system, not the entire brake system. There are lots of things that could cause the warning light to come on, I think the most common cause would be damaged/defective sensors at the wheels. Could be just dirt/grease/grime or could be bad sensors. The brake system should still work but if you have a panic stop situation, the brakes could lock up causing control issues.

 

[Tin Roadtube Vagrant]

Wow. What an insensitive thing to say.
Not everyone is cut out for this you know.
It's not like he signed a contract saying he was going to do this and he's in breach.
You sound like a boring and annoying old person with an attitude like that.

No way Kiddo, I'm not THAT old and I'm a lotta fun at parties.... especially when the conversation turns to buses and the generation who've never been spanked.

If I'd have showed up on my dad's porch with a massive bus and said I changed my mind and didn't want it anymore he would have adjusted me. He would have been right. FFWD ahead, if I would buy a bus and bring it home to the wife and tell her (and I'm quoting this person) "but I'm at that point where i'm just tired of projects and would rather just enjoy things", she would divorce me and, again, would have been right. A blunt retort is a minor infraction to the safe space and could do some long term good.

 

[Rucker]

I was thinking the same thing. Guy must be a snowflake.

No need to be harsh on this guy-that will earn you 'ignore' pretty quickly here and you'll wonder why any good advice you provide goes unanswered and unacknowledged.

 

[TheHubbardBus]

No-one should feel shame for realizing somewhere along the way that converting a bus is more time/money/trouble than they're willing or able to commit. Far as I'm concerned you're fortunate to have realized it early, midview.

The BS picture social media paints is exactly that. Broken dreams and abandoned projects don't make for growing a large subscriber base, but you can bet your bottom dollar that for every 'success story' you see, there are a hundred more you'll never hear about where the owners eventually concluded the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

Did some quit due to a lack of character / intestinal fortitude? Undoubtedly. But I'm inclined to believe the majority simply came to their senses and realized that for them, continuing forward would be a fool's errand. That's not being weak. That's being smart.

 

[Rucker]

Did some quit due to a lack of character / intestinal fortitude? Undoubtedly. But I'm inclined to believe the majority simply came to their senses and realized that for them, continuing forward would be a fool's errand. That's not being weak. That's being smart.

Well stated. When someone comes here and asks a question, that's the smartest thing they did all week.

Ideally folks come BEFORE they are up to their axles in mud; but we're all just trying to figure it out as fast as we can.