So, what about a school bus? (Page 1 of 2)

Well, one usually overlooked subject is tires. 19.5 tires, and road tractor tires in general, ain't cheap. Additionally, look into what axle ratings are, and also registration for the weight rating. Airbrakes can complicate things, but some states make the process of turning a bus into an RV, a simple process, while others make it a nightmare.

Looked into this a while ago.

As already mentioned, register it as an RV. 

Are you planning on hauling internally or on a trailer?  If internal, you have to figure out how to load the car.  You'll either need to get really long ramps or lower the floor on the bus.  One decent setup that I saw:  Pie section taken out of the frame right behind the rear axle spring perch, frame then bent down at about a 20 degree angle. Car would then be loaded at an angle. Sides of the bus extended down.  I've got pics, but I'll have to find them and upload them.

We have a 22 passenger citybus. It's registered as an RV(toilet, kitchen and bed). We've had some weird engine stuff to deal with, as could be expected for an older citibus. It's geared for the city but it cruises the interstate fine at 65mph in the right lane. Ours does 8.5mpg empty or 8.5mpg towing. Tows our 3500lbs car on a 2000lbs trailer just fine. The lift is pretty cool though, allowing us to easily get stuff into and out of the bus.

So you said you had too much time on your hands and didn't want to get anything else productive done today? Well, then, do I have a forum for you right on this very topic:

http://www.skoolie.net/forum/

FRPBuzz: when you say city bus, do you mean something based on like an econoline, or like a diesel pusher?

We are going to tow externally so a shorter bus is possible. Also, so we have a car hauler around. Also, because other tomfoolery is planned.

I found that skoolie site, pretty addictive....like crack...you know...or something....BUSES MAN.

I hadn't even thought of gearing! One of the reasons we are doing this is to avoid the mileage kill that is an old diesel with an overloaded enclosed car hauler and having a second car to carry humans in.

We were hoping to get one with the lift gate/ramp still working to carry our tool cab around with.

Awesome! I'll keep that in mind! Thanks.

WHY IS THIS IDEA SO APPEALING?!

You're right. Also, I'm cheap. Scary cheap, and buses are cheap - so what can go wrong!?

When I worked at the Gillig bus factory (writing their manuals), we had frequent visits and phone calls from crazy old coots who had converted old Gillig buses (school, transit, and prison) to RVs at various levels of hooptietude. At least in the case of Gilligs, the initial purchase price can be quite low but replacement parts cost big money, which always outraged the cheapskate crazy-old-coot RV builders.

On the plus side, if you get a Gillig you can probably get help obtaining parts from Dave Schaible, owner of the Model T GT. He was in charge of the Gillig Parts Department for many years.

Jeez, it looks like storing the car inside a school bus takes up more room than I was originally thinking. You'd lose all but the first three or four rows of seats. Still, we could have fold-up bunks in the car area like Tetanus does in their box trailer. That would leave us something like 7' x 7' to fit road seating for 5, a kegerator, and storage for the toolbox, large totes, and other stuff that won't fit in the Dart. That sounds doable. Still, it's a lot of fucking work and added expense, which offsets the initially low purchase price. And whenever we wanted a car trailer for a Random Stupid Thing, we'd have to break out the party bus, which wouldn't be terribly convenient.

The smaller city-type buses would be nicer in many ways- actual adult standing headroom, less work to furnish. They'd probably be geared for city driving, but that being said, compared to the purchase price, a rear end gear swap isn't that expensive. It would require a separate trailer, but used flatbed trailers aren't THAT expensive. I doubt a diesel-powered brick would feel much difference in MPG towing vs. not towing. It would be more convenient to have a separate trailer if we needed it.

So there are basically three options as I see it:

1. School bus, onboard hauling
-Least money
-Most work
-Lowest flexibility for bus layout, meaning less fun on road trips

2. School bus, towing flatbed
-More money: add trailer + tow hitch to #1
-Less work, at least up front
-More flexibility for future layout, meaning more fun taking it on road trips and such
-More flexibility with respect to non-LeMons car towing (Bob's single-cab truck can pull a flatbed if you're gentle)

3. Transit-type bus, towing flatbed
-Most money: add higher purchase price and a gear swap to #2
-Least work, at least up front
-Similar layout flexibility to #2, trading off floor space for overall quality and headroom
-Same flexibility w.r.t. non-LeMons towing as #2

Well, you could find a bendy bus, have living quarters up front and store the car in the back:

Or you could get a double decker bus:

Or a double decker bendy bus!

the original ad you posted is ended, but there is another on the Houston Cl for 2 65passenger school buses for $2500 each. Get it.

Or shop around for  MCI-9 or MCI MC96 or MC102 buses. If you look carefully you can find some of those in the under $10k range. Big Detroit Diesels and Allison transmissions and Stainless Steel chassis. the Million mile buses.

It's too bad we don't race Minis.

http://www.miniguy.com/vehicles/busandm … orty-mini/