Thoughts on where to go from here.

[Ben_jamin_here]

So I am going to get a 5 ton (or something bigish like them), it is just a matter of which one. I have this thing where I won't buy something unless it has 2 or more actual purposes if I can help it. Here is the goals and what I looking for:
(First I have 8 kids (and who knows more may show up, it has happened before) so it has to be able to seat people even if they are in car seats)
Can convert easily to 15 passengers
- things like box on back or easily added
- cab convertion to enable full pass through
- air conditioning front and back installable
- comfortable seats up front

Diesel engine that is all mechanical
- I want to be able to rebuild with personal machinery if possible (which I have so why not use)
- I hate working on computers when I am supposed to be working on a car or truck

(This one deals with duel or single tire set up)
Over wheel track system for just in case
- I do just enough off road snow and mud travel that these may come in handy as an extra for the truck

Central air tire inflation

Price should be less than Sprinter van overall
(This will be a cash based vehicle)

Either manual or automatic transmission can be driven, reliability is most important in this area.

Would like 500k+ miles between rebuilds for average.

Would also be farm truck able
(This is the reason a Transit or Sprinter are getting pushed out. Full sized vans use to be 1 tons with lots of seats, now they are woosy tons with lots of seats, which means there duel ability has tanked in my opinion)

Would like to be able to travel 1200 miles on sigle fill up (might take many gallons)
- I know this will take some aftermarket set up, but the truck needs to have space to put that in essentially.

OK now the part where I lay out my years of research, but lack of experience will show through and you all get correct me.

15 passenger conversion:
I have a 15 passenger van that is giving up the ghost, but the interior/ seats are in good shape that I am planning on moving them over to the truck for the back seating.
I have been looking at the expando van versions but the expandability is not needed and the extra windows that I would need to install would take nearly as much work as building a box and placing it on a straight frame or a cargo bed where I just add walls and roof.
The cab pass through will require a change up of exhaust as well as relocating the spare tire but considering how many people have done crew cab conversions with these that seems totally do able.
As far as AC I was planning on putting in electric systems to run some after market deals. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on running 'ducking' from an engine driven unit that I need to install or buy a truck that had someone already put one in?

Engine:
I have been looking at the 8.3L Cummins, mostly because it seemed to last longer. That being said the older 250 Cummins seems like it is more straight up mechanical. What is the reason for the government to engine swap? Was it reliability, EPA junk, or something else?

Tires duel or single:
I have seen lots of trucks doing singles in the back, and as far as looks seems better to me personally, but I don't buy things for looks. I have read though that singles get better fuel mileage and/or pick up speed. Is that true? The reason I ask is the over the tire track system I am looking at does better performance with a duel tire set up, so the single tires would need a reason to get/keep them.

I think that is where I am at. If you can think of additional things I need to be thinking about let me know. Thanks

 

[Jbulach]

Sounds like you need a short bus. Search The Google for “5 ton school bus” for examples…

 

[Mullaney]

So I am going to get a 5 ton (or something bigish like them), it is just a matter of which one. I have this thing where I won't buy something unless it has 2 or more actual purposes if I can help it. Here is the goals and what I looking for:
(First I have 8 kids (and who knows more may show up, it has happened before) so it has to be able to seat people even if they are in car seats)
Can convert easily to 15 passengers
- things like box on back or easily added
- cab convertion to enable full pass through
- air conditioning front and back installable
- comfortable seats up front

Diesel engine that is all mechanical
- I want to be able to rebuild with personal machinery if possible (which I have so why not use)
- I hate working on computers when I am supposed to be working on a car or truck

(This one deals with duel or single tire set up)
Over wheel track system for just in case
- I do just enough off road snow and mud travel that these may come in handy as an extra for the truck

Central air tire inflation

Price should be less than Sprinter van overall
(This will be a cash based vehicle)

Either manual or automatic transmission can be driven, reliability is most important in this area.

Would like 500k+ miles between rebuilds for average.

Would also be farm truck able
(This is the reason a Transit or Sprinter are getting pushed out. Full sized vans use to be 1 tons with lots of seats, now they are woosy tons with lots of seats, which means there duel ability has tanked in my opinion)

Would like to be able to travel 1200 miles on sigle fill up (might take many gallons)
- I know this will take some aftermarket set up, but the truck needs to have space to put that in essentially.

OK now the part where I lay out my years of research, but lack of experience will show through and you all get correct me.

15 passenger conversion:
I have a 15 passenger van that is giving up the ghost, but the interior/ seats are in good shape that I am planning on moving them over to the truck for the back seating.
I have been looking at the expando van versions but the expandability is not needed and the extra windows that I would need to install would take nearly as much work as building a box and placing it on a straight frame or a cargo bed where I just add walls and roof.
The cab pass through will require a change up of exhaust as well as relocating the spare tire but considering how many people have done crew cab conversions with these that seems totally do able.
As far as AC I was planning on putting in electric systems to run some after market deals. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on running 'ducking' from an engine driven unit that I need to install or buy a truck that had someone already put one in?

Engine:
I have been looking at the 8.3L Cummins, mostly because it seemed to last longer. That being said the older 250 Cummins seems like it is more straight up mechanical. What is the reason for the government to engine swap? Was it reliability, EPA junk, or something else?

Tires duel or single:
I have seen lots of trucks doing singles in the back, and as far as looks seems better to me personally, but I don't buy things for looks. I have read though that singles get better fuel mileage and/or pick up speed. Is that true? The reason I ask is the over the tire track system I am looking at does better performance with a duel tire set up, so the single tires would need a reason to get/keep them.

I think that is where I am at. If you can think of additional things I need to be thinking about let me know. Thanks

.
Looking at the suggestion of a Web Search from @Jbulach I came across a 5-Ton frame with a school bus body on it. Picture below. That looks pretty amazing for hauling that many people. It would solve the pass through because the co-pilot could easily get up and move about the cabin. If 15 passengers is about right or even 20, this wagon would be large enough to have passenger space. You could easily have a changing table, a wash room, a bathroom and even storage space in the back. Maybe with solar panels and a generator to charge and run the independent air conditioning system (maybe a Mini-Split).



Something that needs to be considered is ride comfort, Air Ride seats up front will make life better for the driver and co-pilot. Using the seats you already own would be good - but not as comfy as air ride seating for your passengers. With that many of them, you may need better suspension 'cause little people get grumpy after a lot of riding. Especially if the seating isn't really comfortable...

If you go for the bus, some insulation inside would help and dark tinted windows might be a plus. Independent Air Conditioning would be a big plus because the 250 Cummins doesn't need to lose 35 horses to run a truck mounted AC.

I would love to see what you come up with...

 

[chucky]

SIC !!! Thats a sweet whip !

 

[HDN]

Have you considered a GM passenger van? The 3500 series are 1-ton vans and can tow at least 5000 lbs depending on the drivetrain. I just bought a 2002 LWB 15-passenger van for my wife and she absolutely loves it. I put in a new head unit to modernize cabin connectivity, especially with Android Auto! You can probably get a bargain on any of those vans older than 2003, just get something with a V8 at a minimum. You can find a ton of GM 1-ton passenger vans for less cost than a Sprinter or Transit 350 - I spent a ton of time looking! Plus the GM vans have conventional modern truck disk brakes, with the older ones having drum brakes on the rear. The Transit in comparison has some European configuration I was told was hard to work on.

That said, if I were you I'd just get both a 1-ton GM van and a cargo truck like the M923/25. Have the wife ride with you up front and put all the kids in the back and go for a romp on the farm! Load the truck with stuff you don't ever want to put in the van, and use it to tow anything the van can't handle. Then when you need to go at road speeds in comfort, throw everyone and your luggage into the van and jet I kinda do that now with my deuce and van.

 

[Ben_jamin_here]

I didn't even know 5 ton buses where a thing. Thanks for the suggestion @Jbulach and @Mullaney for pulling in a picture. This will definitely be my next thing to research.

 

[Ben_jamin_here]

Have you considered a GM passenger van? The 3500 series are 1-ton vans and can tow at least 5000 lbs depending on the drivetrain. I just bought a 2002 LWB 15-passenger van for my wife and she absolutely loves it. I put in a new head unit to modernize cabin connectivity, especially with Android Auto! You can probably get a bargain on any of those vans older than 2003, just get something with a V8 at a minimum. You can find a ton of GM 1-ton passenger vans for less cost than a Sprinter or Transit 350 - I spent a ton of time looking! Plus the GM vans have conventional modern truck disk brakes, with the older ones having drum brakes on the rear. The Transit in comparison has some European configuration I was told was hard to work on.

That said, if I were you I'd just get both a 1-ton GM van and a cargo truck like the M923/25. Have the wife ride with you up front and put all the kids in the back and go for a romp on the farm! Load the truck with stuff you don't ever want to put in the van, and use it to tow anything the van can't handle. Then when you need to go at road speeds in comfort, throw everyone and your luggage into the van and jet I kinda do that now with my deuce and van.

Good suggestion, we have a 1 ton right now and back when it ran well it would tow 10000lb but I almost have to tow more than that just to get all the gear on site some times. Just Kidding. Mostly Kidding, because do still pack into the full size van and frequently run out of space forcing a trailer. I just feel like we have outgrown the 1 tons and need something more versatile, so we are expanding our scope of vision to look into other options.

 

[customcarswy]

So just a thought the cheapest and easiest route might just be to 4wd convert one of the city transit busses(usually e450/f550 chassis) or even a short school bus? If you get the right one you should be able to scavenge all the parts from a donor truck. Figure a lift and 35’s will get you most places you’d want to be going with 8 kids haha. The benefits would be you can do 75+ down the highway and probably get double the fuel economy of a 5ton. I think a lot of the non school busses already have a/c systems in the rear as well. And honestly driving a 5ton for more then an hour starts to seriously set in some driver fatigue even on an air ride seat…they are a full time job keep on the road. You aren’t gonna wanna be playing with the radio or trying to eat a sandwich cruising down the highway. Just some thoughts. And even little things like swapping a spare or finding a place to do tire work become a real issue.

 

[ihavea65]

.
Looking at the suggestion of a Web Search from @Jbulach I came across a 5-Ton frame with a school bus body on it. Picture below. That looks pretty amazing for hauling that many people. It would solve the pass through because the co-pilot could easily get up and move about the cabin. If 15 passengers is about right or even 20, this wagon would be large enough to have passenger space. You could easily have a changing table, a wash room, a bathroom and even storage space in the back. Maybe with solar panels and a generator to charge and run the independent air conditioning system (maybe a Mini-Split).

View attachment 874488

Something that needs to be considered is ride comfort, Air Ride seats up front will make life better for the driver and co-pilot. Using the seats you already own would be good - but not as comfy as air ride seating for your passengers. With that many of them, you may need better suspension 'cause little people get grumpy after a lot of riding. Especially if the seating isn't really comfortable...

If you go for the bus, some insulation inside would help and dark tinted windows might be a plus. Independent Air Conditioning would be a big plus because the 250 Cummins doesn't need to lose 35 horses to run a truck mounted AC.

I would love to see what you come up with...

Wow...I have a 5ton....with those tires, and a bus about that length...The bus has a 454 Chevy BB.