1990 GMC Blue Bird School Bus: Regular Car Reviews

[@mythosallen32]

Given how many people have rode in one, this may be the most regular car ever.

[@Official_MikeyT]

It is the true "Volkswagen" if you will.

[@CdoggsGaming]

@@Official_MikeyT if it were a Volkswagen you might as well take a tow truck to school lmao

[@legion9353]

@@CdoggsGaming 🤣🤣🤣

[@latoya08miller]

It's not a car tho

[@tommurphy4307]

@@Official_MikeyT wasn't the 'true' volkswagen really a liar??

[@Remo860]

We had a grumpy austrian man (Gert) driving our school bus. If everyone behaved he would sometimes do a handbrake skid in the snow, with a full size Scania.

[@ZetaFuzzMachine]

That is scary AND super cool!!

[@jd_the_cat]

Hey Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today.

[@faizanhejazi8080]

that sounds fucking EPIC

[@kennethwarring7681]

He's doing this with his feet on the steering wheel in my imagination

[@euro6969]

austrian takumi

[@cedricmaguire9329]

The Blue Bird lifespan went: school, charter, church, poor school district, church, junkyard, whitewater rafting, camper

[@jasonirwin4631]

Don't forget one of those churches could also be poor rural county or town jail.

[@cedricmaguire9329]

@@jasonirwin4631 definitely the second church cycle

[@superadventure6297]

And the original seats stayed in all the way through the whitewater rafting stage. Then everything comes out and you build this^

[@LGTheOneFreeMan]

You forget, a number of these wind up in Mexico as public transportation that will run your ass down with the vigor of a UPS truck.

[@giancarlolugo9586]

@@LGTheOneFreeMan Thats right I'm from Tijuana, and we still have a lot of buses from the mid 80s to early 90s as public transportation, and the fleets from the prívate transportation companies, are those international buses from 99-05 with electric doors and air conditioner.

[@gtoger]

What an enthusiastic young man.

[@RockyFoxxowo]

Drumbeats moment

[@ClaireHarper072]

Toyota 4 runner

[@kevin9c1]

That wheel/hub style is called Dayton and the bolts have to be put on evenly and tightened evenly or the rim will wobble on the hub (we've all seen this).

[@RegularCars]

Thank you!

[@ianmitchell4682]

Taking them off can be hilariously dangerous, too. Those lil wedge things are under pressure, so you gotta loosen the lug nuts without removing them and whack any jammed wedges with a hammer. I've seen those things fly an easy 30 feet servicing brakes on an old dump truck.

[@Glibzer]

@@ianmitchell4682 the nuts hold them if they come flying off?

[@OpeoAslam]

Still used on intermodal chassis, I believe.

[@Tb0n3]

@@ianmitchell4682 that's why you loosen them but don't take the nut off when you whack it.

[@vwestlife]

In the '80s most school buses had a gas engine and stick-shift, at least around here. But by the early '90s they all switched to diesels and automatics.

[@ed9492]

Carpenter Loadstar International. I started kindergarten in 1983 so dated even then.

[@CharredSteak]

Yup, rode on international 3800’s for 8 years. DT466/4speed allison

[@brian5o]

Believe it or not, there is still one manufacturer that offers a manual transmission on a school bus to this day and even more interesting than that, a very small handful of school districts actually order them. It's the Thomas Saf-T-Liner which is built on a Freightliner chassis. From what I gather, the bus uses the same chassis as other commercial trucks which have a manual transmission available therefore the chassis is designed with manual transmissions in mind. Since a manual is available that will work with the chassis, it is available for bus orders, too. I actually love the idea of buses with manuals, even drove an old manual 80s Ford school bus that was owned by a construction company I worked for a bit and it was fun. I came across some sort of a blog online about it, it was some blog for school bus drivers and fleet managers and a few said that they specifically ordered a few buses with the manual transmission and the the bus drivers would actually fight to get to drive them.

[@LN997-i8x]

When I was in grade school in the early 2000's, there were still a few stick-shift school buses floating around our school district. Us automotively minded kids were always on the lookout for them.

[@sgtwizzleteats4130]

@@CharredSteak the International DT466/4speed is a very good combo. I want one really bad.

[@FluffySakii]

I'll never forget my high school bus driver. He'd tell us on Monday that he was picking us up 20 minutes early on a Friday so we could stop to get McDonald's breakfast. Dude kicked ass.

[@sternheim2048]

When I was younger I had this one bus driver that'd play Shaggy on the radio and dish out little chip bags and sodas. He was awesome!

[@tommurphy4307]

@@sternheim2048 that sounds safer than taking monsters to mickey D's

[@kingawsume]

"I feel like any North American high school senior could climb up, into a school bus, and operate it on instinct" According to my father, in the 80s they often did. Seniors who had their license could and did drive the bus route. Some of them were, quote, "not as bad as some of the hired bus drivers." They stopped having the kids drive them about the time he graduated, for, uh, obvious reasons.

[@madmurdoc6425]

These were the buses that when you sat in the back and hit a big bump and jumped you'd immediately become an astronaut while simultaneously getting a concussion!

[@gustavokennedy213]

Yes

[@Larken42]

Yes

[@LITTLE1994]

YES. Been through that before. They're are a nightmare sitting in the back!

[@OpeoAslam]

Did that once when the bus was pretty much empty and regretted it. Timed it wrong, barely jumped, and smacked my head on the roof. Lol

[@gregleuze6657]

That is why I was willing to fight for the back seat. We would start bouncing before the bump to get more air. Vic was the bus driver, a 50ish old Marine that would bang the metal dash with a stick to get everyone’s attention. Don’t recall anyone f*cling with Vic as he stated that he would leave you on the side of the road if you didn’t behave. The older kids didn’t even test him.

[@mattt198654321]

Fun fact, it's a miracle that the "fuel pincher" engine is still running 30 years later. They were basically made from aluminum foil. GM made hundreds of thousands of spare engines for warranty claims. When GM sold off Detroit Diesel years later, the new owners said "no thanks" when offered the Fuel Pincher tooling for free.

[@hendo337]

That's what I heard too, that they're not great.

[@tommurphy4307]

i can't imagine ANY tooling that GM created being worth even paying the trash man to haul away......

[@videodj84]

why fuel pincher engine?

[@CaptOrbit]

@@videodj84 do you mean why the name? I would assume as an incentive for school districts to want to purchase their particular model on the belief that they could save diesel cost over the life of the bus.

[@Blue10AEMia]

I know a lot of people who have them, they aren't bad engines. I'm still running one in a digger truck. They are better than most of this new emissions laden crap.

[@LrulestheworldM8]

Former school bus driver here. Ive driven one of these. My school district had one of these Gmc piles left in their fleet. They called it 'the last resort', and it was often that I ended up with it, because the mercedes engine in my normal bus was constantly needing repairs. I had to floor the pedal to get it to go anywhere, the door required Herculean strength to open, and it was a rusted hulk that was barely functional. On colder days we had to start it with eether. Im so glad my career there only lasted 5 months. Otherwise my right leg would be significantly larger than my left leg by now.

[@knockrotter9372]

Our district had an old bluebird cabover from probably the 1970s dubbed "Old Number 1" as it had 1 decals in the fleet. Now, at the time I'm riding this bus is the late 2000s early 2010s in a very rural district, but there is still a pretty big gap since the prime of that bus's life. It was either the substitute rig or it was the backup if the normal route bus was down for the day, but we loved when we got to ride in it because the old seats were all puffy and comfortable and it echoed like a mother in there (I am assuming because the insulation was non existent). Anyhow having an old bus as a kid was kickass, probably not as an adult or someone driving it though. I think they sold that thing to a church or something.

[@Schmidt54]

US school busses are so weird, in Germany we have regular "line" busses that just happen to carry a bunch of school children. :D In the mornings and afternoons they resemble those Japanese commuter trains because they are so packed with children. Especially fun in the winter...

[@WaffleShortage]

all that as it may be... but it RAN though, right? the Merc shit was in the shop more than it was delivering kids to schools

[@kasparsr]

How about the middle leg?

[@kayEnt3rtainm3nt]

@@Schmidt54 I assume the comment about them being especially fun in winter is sarcasm and you're not actually thrilled about being jammed in a pile of children right?

[@rhigh100]

Here in NC we had student bus drivers up until the mid-late 80's. I was driving a school bus at 16.5 years old. Made about $300 a month in 80-81.

[@omarrolle3842]

Wait…this was a thing?

[@rhigh100]

@@omarrolle3842 Yes. When i was in school every single bus driver in the county were students. It was like that in most of the state except in larger cities where they had adult drivers. Very sought after job when i was in school. Good pay for a couple hours work.

[@TheJMan1K]

That’s literally $900 nowadays

[@Cegros]

@@TheJMan1K jeez as a high school student that is not insignificant whatsoever for just a few hours work

[@TheJMan1K]

@@Cegros didn’t say it wasn’t. Pretty good for a high schooler, I had a friend in football who was working construction bringing in 3K a month. I thought I was balling out at 1100-1400 (Worked as a server part time). Puts it into perspective the idea of work Vs. reward.

[@peterides9568]

I like that the product placement is read in THE VOICE.

[@CertainlyCaro]

t o y o t a 4 r u n n e r

[@JohnD3R]

T O Y O T A 4 R U N N E R

[@kpitts8921]

Let’s see if they do another ad read?

[@JK-uy8yi]

Male pattern baldness is definitely a poop voice kind of man problem.

[@yoisthatahonda8410]

Ｔｏｙｏｔａ　４　Ｒｕｎｎｅｒ

[@Kizzle001]

I like this format much better where the owner actually tells us about all the nuances/details of the build.

[@Gingamechanica]

It may be lack of sleep but at 13:10 Roman peaking in the window made me laugh

[@momanmirul]

like a kid saying “Mom said it’s my turn to play in the funky school bus”

[@burnout10567]

He is just squinting lmfao

[@ArtemisOSX]

Especially with the exposure change at 13:14. Deep-fried Roman peeping.

[@noemunoz4205]

Looking like a half life 1 character

[@thumpertorque_]

He looks like a kid peaking at a girl's dorm changing clothes.

[@Phoolery]

Peggy was a damn good bus driver. She was kind, played the pop stations at a decent level so you could still talk, and knew how to keep the cliques separate and in line. Hope she’s well.

[@TheLeggedOne]

The official car of a field trip to THE DENTIST

[@t.j._edits9669]

Toyota 4Runner

[@sandasturner9529]

Felt that

[@willhutton1516]

The official car of “hey, can you share that ear bud?”

[@ileutur6863]

Its such a cool thing, but I can't get over how "I lost my job cause of covid and now I live in a mobile home on an unstable income" is such a normal thing to say, especially in a 1st world country.

[@Itsmellsfishy]

People forget that we’ve been living the golden age for 90 years. Here comes the PAAAAIN

[@punchy207]

well hey tons of jobs are available now so you outta get

[@billmelcher625]

so many people are buying RVs and switching to this nomadic lifestyle...... because we're supposed to stay home

[@robertnicholls9917]

@@punchy207 People prefer to do what he's doing for even a little freedom, rather than work a shit job that takes up all your life. The ones that pay real well demand a lot of your time, the ones that pay little treat you like garbage AND demand a lot of your time on occasion. Capitalism has finally hit a brick wall. People don't feel like being exploited anymore. The society that created a permanent underclass to feed the rich means that class of people know how to live on less and would rather do it chasing a meaningful life.

[@IHateMyAccountName]

1st world? Pffffffttt, 2nd world with the fancy trim.

[@ahindrance]

The perfect memory to go alongside breakfast. In tradition it's hastily eaten like it's a race and then out the door. Forgetting at least one thing or two before the bus has pulled away. Whether school supplies or spare batteries for your Gameboy Color.

[@VinnyMartello]

I know right!!!???

[@adj789]

my bus driver hit a girl riding a bike

[@JustcallmeGnarly22]

I never rode the bus. But playing Pokemon Red or Blue on a Gameboy Color was bliss.

[@DareToBeDeviant]

@@JustcallmeGnarly22 In one elementary school I attended there was some disturbing kid who wouldn't put his Gameboy down. He'd walk to school playing Pokémon Blue and nothing else, eyes staring at the screen and no situational awareness. Upon arriving at school he'd give it to the office staff and get it after 3pm, every day, every year. Kid had a major bald spot on his head and we joked his brain bailed out from constant Gameboy playing.

[@benny4162]

@@DareToBeDeviant That kid was ahead of his time.

[@augustwatring888]

I was out at a Phish concert not too long ago and as the throngs of hippies meander their way out and back to the lot I ran into my old bus driver from Middle School and High School doing security. I was lucky enough to recognize him after all the time. I talked with him for a minute, thanked him and gave him a big hug for getting me too school and back home all those years.

[@SirBroccolingtonIII]

This definitely isn't going to be a normal field trip.

[@TrueRetroflection]

WITH THE F R I Z Z ?

[@nonsugarnoki]

It’s a regular field trip

[@dotjpeg-bng]

field trip to B R O W N T O W N

[@OrganicWheat]

Smoking toe nails and broccoli

[@CorvusRemalius]

@@dotjpeg-bng n i c e !

[@marknc9616]

I drove school buses for three years. Two of these were in high school which was before the state laws were changed. The third year was when I was in college. I have enough stories to flood this comment thread. I'll tell you this one. When driving an elementary bus, our regular bus went into the shop. The spare bus was a disaster. It had no sound dampening, manual transmission, no power brakes or power steering, hydraulic brakes instead of the nicer air brakes. The bus also came adorned with a ceiling full of graffiti complements of high school kids previously riding the bus. The graffiti contained every curse word known to man. My typically discipline challenged elementary students were quiet as they digested all this new material. The next morning, the assistant principal and another administrator came on the bus to see for themselves what they had heard about. They were furious that this bus had been delivered to elementary age children. However, one of my first grade girls called me over with her hand pointing to a word above. She told me it was misspelled. I looked it and she was right! I was extremely impressed but curious how she would know this information. She was wanted me to be proud of her for spotting this, but I had to keep a neutral face and play the situation down. I couldn't compliment her for knowing this type of information. However, the teenage boy inside of me was wanting to high five for for her finding. I find it amusing that those cocky high school kids couldn't pull something over on my elementary school kids. No way!

[@theusefulidiot4202]

My anxiety would go nuts living in this thing without having every window tinted and curtains drawn

[@davidkastin4240]

Where I live they have Blue Bird buses with tinted windows and a/c 🌵

[@NevyZine]

if i recall correctly some of the mid 2000s buses started coming with window tint

[@nomadben]

I lived on the street in my 8-window hatchback with no window coverings for four months. I had it set up so I was mostly below the window sills when I was sleeping. It sucked.

[@TheRealColBosch]

@@nomadben Oh boy, yeah. Mine was a Hyundai Scoupe.

[@GeneralZapta213]

He teaches people to kick ass for a living

[@truckernation7886]

Don’t tell me that they used the 8.2l eldorado block to make Diesel engines. Didn’t they learn from the first time they did that crap? With the 350 diesel?

[@lustfulvengance]

No this was a legitimate, designed from the ground up diesel engine! It used unit injectors (no injection pump) and it was actually pretty good for what it was!

[@ChiralSpirals]

This guy is the rarest form of beefcake. He's so well built to kick ass that his personality just exhibits extremely chill entergy to anyone around him.... that shit scares me. Lol

[@gaydes1012]

he's ascended from beefcake to teddybear he could easily rock your shit but he won't he'll just be nice to everyone

[@vevo825]

You scare easy..he’s like 5’- 5” tall lmao

[@bluemobster0023]

@@vevo825 he can break your bones and joints like a tick tac

[@vevo825]

@@bluemobster0023 I know who he is guy don’t worry. Still funny

[@girthquake1413]

You're looking at the cleft between his pecs, thinking your face would fit perfectly there, aren't you?

[@Stinkles_]

I really admire this build. It’s tasteful in a way I didn’t think possible for a school bus motorhome conversion. No gross hippie crap, no cheap motorhome crap, just a nice airy loft with style and purpose.

[@civlyzed]

After my dad retired from his mining job, he drove a school bus for 10 years. I got up super early every school day and rode the route with him. He even taught me to drive it. Now I want one!

[@fathermush7404]

When you said he drove a school bus for ten years I thought you meant he used it as his daily lmao

[@civlyzed]

@@fathermush7404 that would’ve been awesome!

[@robertnicholls9917]

@@civlyzed You sound like you had a great dad who knew what mattered in life. He must've cherished those times. Thanks for the story.

[@SteveDew]

"Your average band bus is hornier than the Olympic Village." It's funny cuz it's true.

[@BYLRPhil]

My school bus driver was named Marge. My mom called her Mad Marge, as she drove like a moonshine runner over our rural dirt roads. Fun.

[@100percentSNAFU]

Marge. What a great bus driver name. Mine was Sharron. She didn't take any crap from anyone and would pull that bus right over if there were any shenanigans. I remember she always had a pack of Kools sitting on the dash, and that deep voice to go along with it!

[@kaleb4184]

Seeing all the comments about people’s old bus drivers and their good experiences makes me happy

[@Camhin1]

There's something almost poetic about the opening script of this video, it's beautiful. I didn't grow up in the US but the discussion about the bus driver was extremely relevant to my experience. Thank you Mr Regular.

[@nvrndingsmmr]

I mean you could easily call it poetry. To say there's something almost poetic about it is like saying there's almost a sort of painterly quality to... a painting. Lol!

[@quadcam24v]

I work for a bus company so I thought I'd chime in about the electric fleet conversion: We run anywhere from 7 to 33 seaters, and we only have plans to get one 7 seat electric bus - the Hyundai Staria - when it gets released. Most of the time, we just run older buses on school routes like older manual Rosas or Coasters. It's pretty hard to break even on school runs, especially when you mix owner drivers in, so you'll likely find that private bus companies will be running old vehicles until they can't contractually do so, or unless they are compensated in some other way to go electric. I can't say much about government fleets as I don't work with them.

[@kutayarcan911]

This reminded me of THAT review from season 1: "I was conceived in a shooort bus..."

[@thomasatherley]

I'LL BE YOUR WOMAN NOW

[@RedDeadSpearhead]

"They smashed their crotches together until their genitals were the consistency of RHUBARB"

[@Petrospect]

WHAT DO THESE PILLS DO

[@edim108]

Dodge Avenger: The car for people who... pretty much had it with cars.

[@SMG516]

sponsored by CONSENSUAL SEX

[@bunit1701]

I grew up in a rural area, the old farmer I worked for was also the bus maintenance tech for the school. I assure you that the 12 qt label is for engine oil capacity. This was nessisary because as you mentioned at the start, there were always multiple chassis/engines in the bus barn, and it was best practice to have the oil capacity written on every bus.

[@MikeZdoesitz]

That office chair is living an exciting life

[@james2042]

I had a bus driver who I had for 6 years growing up and she saved my ass a few times as a kid. Once when I was in 1st grade, I wasn't supposed to get on the bus, was instead supposed to stay for the after school babysitting thing. She wouldn't let me off the bus when my mom wasn't home, swung back after the bus route, saw mom still wasn't home, then she brought me back to the school and they were like "oh yeah we were supposed to have this kid" and then it happened again about a month later and she was just like "nope I don't take him on tuesdays" and the school fought with her and they had to double check their records. Thanks Maria

[@theothertonydutch]

13:08 A wild Roman appears! It uses glare! It's super effective!

[@Katana2040]

Shout out to that Secret Wars poster, right above your head. That Jonathan Hickman run was AMAZING.

[@theironworks6797]

Surprisingly, I found a school bus to be easier to drive than my car simply because I can see more of what I need and less of what I don't. The only pain in the ass is tight turns on residential roads, because you're going to need part of the oncoming lane to swing around.

[@wobblysauce]

Yep, you don't randomly go down roads... or you get good at backing up.

[@paahl1572]

I’m a truck mechanic and driving a truck i find I’m more careful than driving my own vehicle.

[@TimberWolf429]

I'd have a supremely easy time driving one of these, I used to drive tractor trailer for a living, and now I drive a concrete mixer, one of the long 5 axle mixers.

[@flowgangsemaudamartoz7062]

@@TimberWolf429 How long does it usually take to get used to these big vehicles? A week or something?

[@scubarubanzaii]

Similarly, I don't think box trucks and tractor trailers to be particularly difficult either. They are designed so well for their purpose.

[@Taped0uT1]

This is a perfect example of why I love this channel. A deep overanalyzing in the best way.

[@theenthusiast9708]

Swedish here, never had a school bus, we walked or biked unless your parents were rich/lived far away/neglected your health. This was a nice insight to a part of American childhood culture. Can still relate to the social hiarchy of seating places from our few class trips.

[@kevinbarry71]

He neglected to mention waiting in the morning for the bus literally at the side of the road with other kids from your immediate area, especially during the winter

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

There is a lot of talk, of course, about school shootings in the US. However, the most dangerous thing a school child does is wait for the bus, get on the bus, ride the bus, and get off.

[@kevinbarry71]

@@JohnSmith-wx9wj especially if you have one of those assholes driving by when the bus is stopped, who disobeys the law and keeps going. Despite all the lights and the big stop sign that comes out on the drivers side. Personally I think the death penalty is appropriate in cases such as that where a child is seriously injured or killed

[@zogworth]

We got the bus to school but it was a regular city bus (UK)

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

@@kevinbarry71 I think a couple years ago, a district close to where I live had a car go off the road and kill three kids waiting. It turns out that's not terribly uncommon either.

[@sals3379]

I thoroughly enjoyed that exposition on childhood bus riding. A pleasant surprise that really took me back

[@Timmy6216]

This bus looks like it's 75% finished. The last 25 would push it over the top and be comfortable. If you change that the battery setup he'd be able to run his air conditioning just fine off the solar. The underside of the bus has so much room to hide all the tanks for the grey water and the freshwater it's just a matter of equipment and having the know how to do it. I'm not sure if the guy who owns the bus will read these comments but I swear he needs to stay away from anything that says Dometic. the company itself is shady as hell you spend hours and hours and hours on hold with them and they like to put up a hell of a fight warranty work

[@nowake]

75% finished kinda like this video huh? lol

[@WestCoastWheelman]

Classic case of 90% done, only 90% left to go. Builds like these are never "done".

[@MitchJohnson0110]

I work as an RV technician and I can tell you a schoolbus is built better than any $100,000 motorhome you can buy.

[@Rocketman1583]

These guys are certainly expanding their horizon

[@gorderumsi6424]

8:31

[@deandupont5503]

Well... They've already done a fire truck and an airplane, so a school bus is pretty sedate in comparison.

[@sportsman48]

@@deandupont5503 and a duece 1/2

[@DoubleOneZero1010]

They reviewed a rv already

[@FearlessLeader2001]

I mean, this is one of the most regular cars in America. Almost every single American has ridden in them at least once.

[@currentsitguy]

The only real nostalgia I have for these is remembering the day I turned 16 and knew I could drive myself and never have to ride one again.

[@Kreege]

lucky. My High school had limited parking so only juniors and seniors got spaces. I had to endure nearly the entirety of my sophomore year riding the bus still even though I could legally drive.

[@davecurlett2227]

In 1st grade, I had the most awesome bus driver named Aldee. He would randomly just stop the bus at times and start throwing candy around yelling "PARTY ON THE BUS!" and then start spinning donuts in a cul-de-sac (it was more just driving in circles). He had the biggest smile on his face every day, and he was always able to cheer me up on the dreadful ride to school. If there was anyone in the world made to be a bus driver, it was him. RIP you crazy man

[@TheWinnipegRailfan]

That has gotta be the coolest school bus I've ever seen. The guy's got a whole business setup in there! (Toyota 4Runner)

[@jeffrittenour8202]

When homie said he got the bus for $2,000, I showed my wife and she said, "start packing baby."

[@Kris_T_]

London had bright red half-cab double deck buses called Routemaster for about 40 years. When they were finally decomissioned in (about) 2005, they flooded the market, TFL were selling thousands of them so they were dirt cheap, also about £2000. Now the older examples are worth £35k and climbing.

[@hambrabai1256]

School buses generally don't sell for much of anything when they are retired due to their niche role. The local fleet retires all vehicles after 15 years regardless of mileage or condition and they sell them straight to the salvage yard for 500 dollars a vehicle. It's weird driving big Mercedes or Caterpillar engined buses with barely 120,000 miles to a salvage yard to be cut apart or sold off as storage sheds.

[@Kris_T_]

@@hambrabai1256 I'm a bus driver in the UK, I worked for one of the biggest bus operators in Europe. Over here, buses are general purpose. We use regular buses for schools. The company I worked for had engines rebuilt every 400'000 miles,and would sell vehicles at about 25 years old. Usually at this age they sell for 6 to 10 thousand GBP depending on condition. Deals can often be had when large companies replace entire fleets, 2 grand is an epic bargain for a bus that runs.

[@jaxes88]

Just pay attention to what he said about paying for tires. Also if any mechanical breakdowns happen that are beyond your abilities to repair that'll cost a fortune to fix too. I looked into doing a bus conversion for awhile but decided it wasn't worth the money. Buses become cheap to buy, but they never become cheap to maintain/repair.

[@jeffrittenour8202]

double deck bus would be fuckin crazy

[@vectoredwolf]

God I love these videos. As a kid who grew up in Pennsylvania, in marching band, knowing jack all about cars. These are the best

[@robertshelton3796]

LOL I'm tempted to buy keeps just because they agreed to sponsor RCR and they KNEW what they were getting into

[@deltacx1059]

20:34 hated changing those, the little brackets with the nut in them like to shoot off is you loosen then all at once so you have to do it a certain way to keep yourself safe.

[@thepylonperspective]

The official car of, “If you kids don’t quiet, I swear I’ll violate my parole to make you be quiet…”

[@ScubaSteveM45]

You think you're witty and all but even back in the 80s and 90s school employees were heavily vetted to make sure they didn't have some lengthy criminal record like that

[@ryano.5149]

@@ScubaSteveM45 He he...you say that, but in my lifetime, my alma mater had to scramble to find a different bus company because of improperly vetted drivers... Granted, it was mostly a paperwork technicality, but it was HUGE NEWS in Speck-on-the-map.

[@ScubaSteveM45]

@@ryano.5149 most PTAs then and now would have a nuclear shit-fit if they let violent felons get behind the wheel of the school bus. Hell one of our cougar-y English teachers at my high school let 3 students run a train on her during her prep period at school and she literally surrendered her teaching credentials and moved out of state in disgrace after word got out. That was her deal with the school district to keep them from telling the cops

[@sousay2000]

@@ScubaSteveM45 you must miss her

[@Bartonovich52]

@ M Scuba And the kids knew that how….. exactly?

[@Novalarke]

"Hey Mister Schoolbus Driver - do you mind if we smoke?" "Smoke? Hell, I don't care IF YOU BURN!!!!"

[@tonydesaire9326]

23:21 hydroboost setup with electric motor backup in case of engine stall. Speed cuts = handles/grips to lift the hood.

[@rowe4x4]

Correct. Power steering hydroboost for the brakes. With electric backup for if the engine dies

[@aspecreviews]

So you're telling me that you could technically have Start-Stop in one of these buses? Considering how often they're stopped, that would be great.

[@pootispiker2866]

@@aspecreviews No, it wouldn't be great. The engines would be trashed routinely.

[@robertclark6349]

The school buses I remember were Thomas bodied IHs. Early eighties S series with gas engines and manual transmissions. In the bus yard were older Loadstar buses, some with the fiberglass hood and a couple with the old butterfly hoods that were robbed for spare parts and were gutted out and used for storage sheds.

[@andrewstewart1464]

There's a 1993 international sitting at an intersection near our local Harbor Freight that's for sale. Someone all the lights and seats have been removed already. It's been painted white and the windows have been tinted, no doubt to manage the sheer amount of heat that would accumulate due to the high greenhouse effect. I would have bought it already if I had a place to put it. EDIT: I found a place to put it, so I bought it!

[@puddle-brigade]

How’s it going now, dude?

[@bhzaddybhzolby1705]

We had a bus driver who was way too young to be a bus driver, her name was Keisha, she was 22, and she absolutly hated dealing with pre-teens. One day someone kept banging on the roof and throwing stuff at people and he got up and she brake checked him over the seat in front of him I mean both feet on the brake pedal, from 45 to 0. She said someone stopped short in front of her, but we all know why she locked the brakes up on that bus.

[@artinyyk]

The bowl of shrapnel on the dash is an interesting choice, I'm not sure that magnet will hold up in a crash.

[@Heyitsallgoodman]

Let's not even go in the direction of "in a crash.." as there are no good options. Let's just hope we die from the injury instead of living with them

[@ScubaSteveM45]

Dude did you know why school buses don't have seat belts? They're so massive it's game over for anything or anyone you hit

[@henryrodgers7386]

That's not shrapnel, that's SNACKS!

[@nauthizzz]

It's a schoolie, in the event of a serious accident there's way more stuff to be worried about getting impacted by then that.

[@-Anthracite]

@@ScubaSteveM45 until you hit another bus then you can really call it game over 😂

[@ChrisAldridgeNC]

This. This was the first time I've ever intentionally watched the (Toyota 4Runner) entire sponsorship bit in any video. Bravo!

[@TrueRetroflection]

Those windows look so lick-able

[@Kris_T_]

I bet they've seen a tongue or two

[@willhutton1516]

My buses had heating and cooling from “heat pipes” if you could call them that, going along the left and right bottom edges of the bus. The ran all the way to the back, then dropped down. They’d only get slightly warm to the touch, cause of the massive surface area, but they made the bus bearable in 5 degree weather. -20 with wind chill.

[@caso3253]

I work at a bluebird dealer in georgia(their stomping grounds), cool fact they were a very religious family and believed the #7 was a holy number and every bluebird bus is measured in 7 inch increments throughout the whole vehicle and all part numbers are 7 numbers until fairly recently. Also we now already have fully electric busses and they are cool as hell

[@adam_cs1489]

Fully electric? That sounds awesome. Got a link to an electric model?

[@roddydykes7053]

@@adam_cs1489 you could probably just Google “electric Bluebird bus”

[@arturos.l.2248]

Electric buses are slow and don’t make noise

[@lazerklien5037]

Bluebird still makes shit busses. I drive a 2022 and under 2k miles the engine light came on, the emergency door buzzer won't shut up, and plenty of other issues. We have 40 busses in the fleet and we don't have a single functional one

[@Trendyflute]

@@lazerklien5037 Praise Jesus!

[@andymantoronto]

Loved this review, I like that you're getting newer cars to review but your channel has always stood out for me because of reviews like this!

[@jvleasure]

Ruth was a helluva driver. High water in the bottom of a valley, log laying across the road, buh-bam! No problem. Currently there is a dude that used to drive for bands. I forget who... but anyways, he looks like "The Dude" from Lebowski, and everybody calls him "The Dude." Has a plaque from his touring days that says "CUSTOM BUILT FOR THE DUDE" in his bus. Cool.

[@russellzauner]

Might actually be the dude. The dude is a real person. Really. Jeff Dowd.

[@jvleasure]

@@russellzauner this dude is Gene. I asked my wife "what's the dude's name that drives buses?" And she was like "which dude?" Repeat 3x😆

[@brockjennings]

On the ride home from a field trip, our teachers would lead us into multiple renditions of, " two-four-six-eight, who do we appreciate, bus driver, bus driver yay bus driver!!!". Ah memories.

[@jlang8213]

23:40 I don't think those are supposed to be "speed cuts". I think they are grab points to use when opening the hood. He even appeared you use them for that purpose.

[@mattmatthews5414]

100% what they’re there for.

[@_RiseAgainst]

I didn't want to be the one point that out, he was so excited.

[@zechsblack5891]

Fair, fair, but they are clearly a bit more swooped than function demands.

[@mattmatthews5414]

@@zechsblack5891 function partially demands that they don’t get packed too full of ice or dried mud to be used in an emergency, so they have to be shaped to encourage turbulent wind to pull debris out.

[@holysirsalad]

@@mattmatthews5414 Little holes help with drainage, too

[@DerCrawlerVomUrAnus]

I love how this guy basically adresses everyone with "DUDE!" and the video cut off right in the middle of a conversation about PA weirdness.

[@Hausch13]

RCR's sponsored content is all I wanted it to be.

[@rihe2692]

TODAYS VIDEO IS SPONSORED BY MANSCAPED

[@mimidotcat]

t o y o t a 4 r u n n e r

[@Lndmk227]

Your picture... is perfection for your comment.

[@Hausch13]

@@Lndmk227 I'm unironically taking this as both a compliment and an insult. Thank you!

[@Lndmk227]

@@Hausch13 No insult intended at all. It just made me smile. XD

[@wronggg]

Gummy bear? It's been in my pocket, so they're real warm and soft.

[@sledmaster89]

Those are called "Dayton" hubs, I used to have to deal with them on old school semi trailers. Kind of a pain in the ass compared to regular rims, those little locking wedges behind the nuts can be dangerous to take off. Make sure to keep the nut partially on before you hammer them off

[@man_on_wheelz]

I've heard about these when I took diesel classes in automotive trade school. They didn't teach us how to work with them, but they definitely taught us what they were, and how it's common to have them put on crooked. Now you're telling me the locking wedges get stuck on and come off with great force... does not sound like a good time working with these wheels.

[@sledmaster89]

@@man_on_wheelz I didn't like them, I used the handle of a sledge hammer or something like that as a straight edge to help line them up. Alot of screwing around compared to a standard rim like they use now lol

[@man_on_wheelz]

@@sledmaster89 Wow! Yeah, that sounds like a real P.I.T.A. I never removed a truck tire from a regular truck rim either, most of my work has been on cars, but I'd imagine it's just a similar concept at a larger scale. Yeah, I'll be sure to steer away from busses with these wheels when I'm ready to buy one.

[@chrisweber8899]

They're not too bad for tire changes, but for brake jobs they're a real pain in the ass having to do a full wheel seal job with every brake job since the drum is behind the hub

[@sithticklefingers7255]

Some wisdom from my middle school bus driver circa 2009~2010: “There should never be any screaming on the bus. The only reason would be if we go off a 40 foot cliff -in which case, I will LEAD the scream. But there’s not many cliffs around [insert small midwestern city] though, so please no screaming on the bus. Thank you.” Thanks for 4 years of memories, Fran. You had to be there, and if you know you know.

[@deez26788]

The back of the bus in high school was a casino/brothel lol the kids with cars missed out 😆

[@acca5512]

These old GMC busses were cool. I rode these to school from 1987 thru 1990 Freightliner did make buses in 90s. I see them still in use.

[@gfel9468]

I absolutely love the small town talk. Thanks for leaving it in 👍🏻

[@BlueTrane2028]

The "mid state PA" talk part was fantastic, since I grew up in Berks County and know the surrounding areas well.

[@vr4787]

My pop worked on a lot of these in his day, it was difficult finding parts for these pre-internet if you weren’t a fleet manager cause most auto stores don’t carry bus parts.

[@SkorpyoTFC]

23:00 it's a hydraulic booster. The giant cast iron sleeve bolted up between the master cylinder and firewall is hydraulic assist. No idea whether it's run off of the power steering circuit or a separate hydraulic pump system.

[@javidaderson]

23:34 those "feed holes" are actually hand grips to open the hood.

[@quillmaurer6563]

Just a couple days ago a friend and I (both RCR fans) were talking about how RCR should do a school bus. And here we are!

[@bachouttapocket]

Seeing RCR getting sponsors warms my cold dead heart

[@SaidHead2]

TOYOTA 4RUNNER

[@Audiomancer]

THIS...is how advertisement should be. I enjoyed the advert, and remembered what it was for. I'll even talk to people about this, increasing the value of the commercial:)

[@naganuina]

Holy shit some company agreed to sponsor you?

[@mattmatthews5414]

Keeps tries to sponsor any KZbinr who gets at least 50K subs.

[@CardboardSliver]

He's been sponsored before.

[@mattmatthews5414]

@@CardboardSliver the little Bluetooth speaker… kove?

[@tonygarcia1075]

I love the fact that I'm laying in my 1970 blue bird watching this

[@Levenstone132]

Love these American school buses. I remember our school buses in the UK of the 1970s .Normal service buses with an essence of sweat,diesel and Player's No. 6. That hierarchy thing? There's a life lesson.

[@nthgth]

It wasn't really a hierarchy - you sat where you wanted. If anything it was just a reflection of your priorities.

[@guitarmansegovia]

To answer your Freightliner question, yes. From 1998 to 2006, they had the FS65 chassis, mated to Blue Bird, Carpenter, but mainly Thomas (which they own). My current assigned route bus is a 2021 Thomas on Freightliner C2 (designed specifically around the M2 chassis, introduced to school buses in 2002).

[@98erics]

Great video as always. Thanks for the upload. That's oil capacity. That's for the new guy at the shop or the dude who bought it so he doesn't have to keep checking it to get the right amount in. The only reason it's there is it's a convenient place for the guy to see on the same side as the oil filler cap. *edit- I just noticed this one has a filler cap on both sides. The Ford IDI V8 only has it on one side. Plus coolant is measured in gallons since it's sold in gallons. It would take at least 8 gallons to fill the radiator, engine, both front/rear heater cores and all that hose.

[@agrippa1234]

ahhh, I'm a recently retired teacher, you're giving me flashbacks

[@uncletido99]

This is a conversation about bus drivers i never knew i needed

[@acemobile9806]

Fewer & fewer guys left who know how or have the tools to run the rack on 1 of those. Find a 2-stroke Jimmy guy or an old RR mechanic & be friends with him. Stay on top of your fuel filters & pray an injector doesn't go bad on you. Get it out on the road often, don't just sit there idling it day after day. DO NOT overheat it under any circumstances, get an auxiliary temp gauge installed & mounted on the metal defrost duct above the steering wheel. Watch the gauge on uphill pulls, anything over 210, back off & let it rest. 8.2s are bad about blowing head gaskets, moreso in turbo versions which you don't have. Tire/rim is what's called a split rim, extremely dangerous in the hands of the untrained. Find an old-school Mexican guy from the old country & get friendly with him, fewer shops are willing to mess with them anymore due to liability. Brakes are what's called Hydroboost, borrows hydraulic pressure from the power steering pump to create assist for the regular braking system much like a vacuum booster would. Common on all diesel-powered light-duty trucks & even some cars like Mustangs. My 2 cents, hope it helps.

[@Stjaernljus]

Crash protection, a metal bar at tooth level. Driver airbag, magnetic bowl of screws.

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

6:54AM bus to high school: kids in the back smoked pot every morning. You could see the driver's eyes in the big rearview mirror as the smell rose up: she never intervened, just wanted to get to school and open up all the windows for a few minutes before she gave a bunch of inbound grade-school kids a contact high. -those kids graduated from high school...eventually! (They were just at risk during first period exams...)

[@StevenGarcia-im8rr]

When a sponsor pays for an ad read, I wonder if they actually watch whatever channel they pay to know what to expect.

[@CobyStrausser]

Tiny was my Pop-Pop, or my father's grandfather; a.k.a. my great-grandfather. He drove the school busses after years of driving dump trucks. I recount his thick accent with fond familiarity, as you do. I am glad to have stumbled across this impression now as a reminder for me.

[@QueenSephy2002]

Yes, Freightliner did/does make school buses, cause our school buses up here in NWPA were Freightliner, Ford and GMC

[@digitalrailroader]

Yup, and Daimler Truck and Bus (who owns freightliner) also has their own school bus body builder too (Thomas Bus)

[@QueenSephy2002]

@@digitalrailroader Oh we used Thomas Buses when our football team made states

[@sanjuyon_]

Man, I miss Bus Driver Dave when I was in elementary school. Everyday he wore a different hat and had a unique handshake with every single kid on the bus, and on the way home every afternoon we'd blast We Will Rock You and sing along. He was in his mid 60's then and had to retire because of leg surgery, but I'll never forget him.

[@rdsyafriyar]

That Keeps sponsorship part is equally as hilarious as the rest of the video. Stay weird, RCR.

[@CertifiedSunset]

I had a bus driver by the name of Kevin, he is probably my favorite bus driver that I'de ever had back in high school. He always gave the loud kids in the front the shit they deserved and he was chill with everybody in the back because we were quiet and kept to our selves. Me and the other seniors held a certian mutual respect for Kevin, a hardass with a fatherly discipline but agreeable nature. There was no other bus driver like him in our little rural school of 400 kids, he comanded those who rode his bus and demanded order unlike the seemingly overpolite pushovers who drove the other buses. I miss Kevin, he was one of the only adult figure I respected and trusted completely during my high school days other than my own parents.

[@TexanTheFirst]

These old bus chassis are more solid than your average RV, by far!

[@VinnyMartello]

They had to survive years of children and angry bus drivers. They had to be tough!!!

[@LITTLE1994]

Yeah.

[@Jpdrums317]

Commercial truck chassis, essentially. So good.

[@leegraves8878]

Plus they seldom spring a leak. Unlike rv's that usually have all kinds of water damage within the first few years. That is how me and the wife are going if we get to become snowbirds.

[@Bartonovich52]

Uh… I guess. RVs are built on heavy duty truck chassis as well. Mine is identical in every way to an Ford F-350 dually. Maybe not as large as a bus chassis, but it also doesn’t carry as much redundant weight either. Leaks? Usually only from the air conditioner. Mine leaked… pulled the unit, sealed the screw holes for the roof vent that used to be there that they neglected to seal, put a new gasket in, and never had a leak again. How could it when the roof is an otherwise solid piece of aluminum vs the riveted together roof of a bus?

[@henryrodgers7386]

Freightliner does indeed make school buses. The cabover I rode home for three years was a Fright Liner. Good old bus 111. Tragically, it was murdered by a Kamikaze Subaru a couple years back.