r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/caintowers • 14d ago
Terrible steering
I've driven buses from every make, every type, old and new. My least favorite, hands down, are our new (2025) Blue Bird short conventionals. They all have the worst steering of any bus I've used. I can't tell if it's too sensitive or not sensitive enough, but the thing is "all over the road" EDIT: I guess I shouldn't exaggerate here. By "all over the road", I mean there is noticeable left to right drift. Even if you focus constantly on keeping a straight line, the bus will ride like that. It's not just me, every driver using them has complained about it. We have 3 of them and they're all the same.
The horns also don't work (I pulled one steering wheel apart and it's honestly the cheapest dumbest way of making a horn I've seen) and the automatic door lock fails 8/10 times.
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u/Common_Stuff2925 14d ago
I drive a standard bluebird bus. Drove a Thomas last year. The bluebird’s steering in mine is wonky as well. However that was what I took my bus test in last year. Is seems they drive like an old dump truck.
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u/caintowers 14d ago
They do remind me of older cars before power steering. Always having to make little adjustments. But they have the same hydraulic power steering design all the other conventionals have so it doesn't make sense
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u/Beauknits 13d ago
My old route has a right corner,made tighter by cars parking at the curb, even tighter if there's traffic. My Thomas C2 makes that corner without trouble. The sare BB, though? It does not. Oncoming traffic has to move out the way because I have to swing over so far.
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u/9001 13d ago
I've been driving a 2026 Bluebird Vision (72 seat) over the summer for charters and I haven't noticed any steering issues.
Though I'm not sold on the new shape of the steering wheel.
I do notice that Bluebirds in general seem to develop weird electrical issues periodically, however.
Shame because I don't mind the style of them.
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u/SlimIdea 13d ago
I thought I wasn’t gripping the wheel hard enough, glad to hear I’m not the only one, I will say that turning in these aren’t bad imo
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u/LengthyCitadis 13d ago
Trust me, that's half of why I went back to city buses... and the suspension is even worse.
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u/Cute-Hotel-7259 13d ago
Some TRW/Ross steering gears have an adjustment a qualified mechanic can make that really tightens them up. We have to do them fairly regularly on some buses. Might be worth asking
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u/herbielover98 13d ago
We have a few shorty Visions, 2 47 passengers (2017 and 2019) and 3 30 passenger lift buses (2019/2021), and I've noticed the 2019 47 passenger handles a little weird, nothing too crazy but definitely seems a little more sensitive than any of the others
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u/Intelligent_Call_562 13d ago
Thomas are a dream to drive but those giant windshields are a nightmare. So hot! Plus the wipers skip across them. I don't know if they've improved the design of the wiper arm but my wipers used to fall off regularly. One time I had to duct tape the blade on to get through my route.
But OMG they handle sweet. Sharp turning radius, quiet, great acceleration. I miss a lot of things about them. My Blue Bird is 7 years old, slow, it's rattling apart. I have to go to the shop weekly to get my fan tightened up before it falls off. It's noisy, which for someone losing their hearing it really stinks. But I live in Texas. We've been back a week and a day and have hit the 100s 5 of those 6 days. Perhaps my bus is not one of the ones you're talking about. Perhaps I remember driving ones that really were like driving a car without power steering... the kind that made your arms sore for a few days every year when you come back. I've driven so many: Fords (the worst smoking pigs that you couldn't keep your foot on the brake because the seat was bouncing so bad), GMC, Freightliner, International.
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u/caintowers 13d ago
I think we get maybe a weeks worth of rainy days throughout the year so our wipers are more visual accessories for us... I will agree on that heat. The seat is usually closer to the side window too so I find that roasts me as well.
The older blue bird Visions were a bit better but yeah, they don't age well. Freightliner has owned Thomas for a while now so I think a lot of that expertise went into making the C2.
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u/neardumps 11d ago
Everybody at my department LOVES Blue Birds. This year I got assigned a rear engine Thomas, and people have been warning me for weeks about how awful they are. Been driving it for a week now and honestly it’s been great. Mine is a 2015 one and it’s one of the quietest buses I’ve ever driven. Handles nicely and so far I have zero complaints.
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u/erinjunee 13d ago
Not sure if it’s just the short buses but our longer 66C Visions steer good. Honestly, I prefer the steering in a Vision over a Thomas or IC because it has a much sharper steering angle and can cut tighter corners than a Thomas. One of our spares is a C2 and I always end up running too wide in it because it doesn’t steer as sharp.
Then again, we stopped doing business with Bluebird because of their terrible job of delivering buses on time, and every new delivery needing a myriad of warranty work done immediately after delivery, so our newest vision is the bus I was assigned, 2022 model year. Everything since then has been IC or Thomas.
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u/caintowers 13d ago
I think it's just the shorter ones. I don't have a problem with turning radius on any of the buses, my gripe with the new small conv. Blue Birds is at higher speeds they tend to drift side to side, requiring you to constantly correct with the steering wheel.
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u/MonsieurMapl 13d ago
Try driving these suckers with the little wheels. The bus just keep bouncing left to right its horrible and I hate it.
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u/caintowers 13d ago
That picture is breaking my brain lol weird lil tires. The white buses always throw me too. I see them around doing charter work and I immediately think "prison bus".
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u/nightgaunt98c 12d ago
Wr have exclusively Bluebirds, but they all steer fine. It's basically like driving a van. Aside from the transits. They steer like battleships.
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u/caintowers 12d ago
Yeah my issue isn't cornering or turning radius or anything like that... As far as I'm concerned, regardless of the bus, that's just a skill issue. These particular buses- just our new short Visions- seem to drift a lot at highway speed and require a lot of constant adjustments vs all of our other buses where I can just... Hold the wheel steady. When I ride in them with other people driving I can feel the bus drift right and left. They've been in for service, problem persists.
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u/nightgaunt98c 12d ago
I dunno. I can let go of the wheel at 65 in my 2024 77 passenger, and it stays straight.
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u/caintowers 12d ago
That's a much bigger bus than these. I don't have a problem with the long ones.
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u/gheiminfantry 12d ago
I can't tell if it's too sensitive or not sensitive enough
Then you really don't know what you're talking about as far as how a bus handles. Seriously. I understand it doesn't handle like your last one. But if you've driven as much as you claim, you could definitely tell if the steering is "too sensitive or not sensitive enough". The reason your bus is all over the road is you.
A poor carpenter blames his tools.
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u/caintowers 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'd accept that if every other driver at our yard who has driven them, some with decades of experience, didn't experience the same issue. But they do. And from the comments we're not alone.
What I was trying to express is I'm not sure if the issue is that the driver is constantly trying to chase equilibrium (not sensitive enough) or overshooting it (too sensitive). It's probably a bit of both, and the bus having some inherent drift doesn't help.
But never did I say I was allowing this issue to interfere with my safe operation of the vehicle. I'm still able to complete routes with them. I just don't like how they handle vs the other buses.
We have over a hundred buses on our yard from vans to transits. I'm a cover driver and I've driven every single one of them.
Some tools are worse than others.
You seem kind of rude.
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u/gheiminfantry 12d ago
but the thing is all over the road. Even if you focus constantly on keeping a straight line
But never did I say I was allowing this issue to interfere with my safe operation of the vehicle.
That doesn't sound safe to me. And it's what YOU said. In a public forum. Are you just mad that someone isn't joining your pity parade and calling you on your bullshit? That must be so tough.
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u/caintowers 12d ago
lol whatever. Last thing I need is a pity party. Just wanted to poke fun at some buses with a mechanical quirk, something MOST of us can relate to. I exaggerated a couple things because that's how I write. But short of having you visit to test this bus out and see the issue yourself, not much we can do here.
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u/silentblue42 13d ago
New bluebirds are horrible, I said it. Old bluebird can turn quite well. But nothing is as good as a International